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I
have been watching the wall clock that is hanging in the conference room during the whole meeting. I don’t even know what they are saying. I just know that few minutes ago Jorge wrote me a message to let me know he is already waiting for me outside. I’m dying to see him.
I sip my glass of water once more; my mouth turns dry when I think about him. I move in my seat, anxiously. Please, let this finish once for all... anyway, I have no idea what they were talking today and I want to begin my vacations as soon as possible.
Unconsciously, I hit the long dark wooden table with my fingers. The girl next to me watches me troubled to try to make me stop at once. I can’t! If she would have a man like Jorge waiting for her in the door, she would be more nervous than I am.
...data shows that a major part of our costumers demand more objective information opposite to the subjectivity avalanche that... I hear at the bottom. Bla bla bla. Such an agony... thinking of meeting Jorge now, makes me shiver. I should kiss him at the party. I should take the black tie he was wearing and give him a movie kiss. And after that day, why we haven’t kissed yet?
The girl next to me watches me again with some murder eyes. I hit the table with my fingers all over without noticing. I whisper I’m sorry but it doesn’t make her change her angry face.
...although, we should focus in research journalism, news costumers consider recreation an important factor to, somehow, run away from reality during an instant, that is why... that is why we should finish now, please...
Fifteen minutes later, we finished the endless meeting. I am the first who leaves the room; almost running, like if a fire would be declared and the building were burning from the basement. Already in the hall, before going out, I calm down, breathe deep, I don’t want Jorge to see me sweating for the first time after those days. I rub my jeans and fix my blouse to take out the invisible fluffs. I put on my gray short sweter, my bonnet and my pink woolen scarf. I’m ready. I breathe again and...
“Vacations already, right?”
A smiley guy approaches from behind me before I go out. He shall have some twenty five the most although; he is a little bald on his temples. I think I know him but I don’t remember from where.
He locks his dark eyes on me, waiting for an answer.
“How?”
“I mean, you are hurry. I saw you a little nervous in the meeting.”
Oh... there he was... I am not very good at faces, can you see?
“Yes” I answer smiling and moving to the door “A whole week of doing nothing, nor reading news.”
“You do well” he says laughing “I just came back from my vacations and I still don’t catch up.” He opens the door to let me go out.
“I’m Oscar, by the way” and before I can react, he has kissed me in both of my cheeks.
“Laura” I tell him a little confused.
I don’t like to be kissed by people I don’t know.
“If you want, we can begin your vacations by drinking something. Let me invite you a beer somewhere next.”
“I’m sorry...” I give a glance to look after Jorge and I find him supported at his car in the sidewalk in front. My face expression completely changes and I draw a huge smile instantly “He came to look after me.”
This Oscar looks in the same direction that I do and sees Jorge standing, hands on his jeans pockets with a no friendly face.
“Your... brother?” I deny with my head “Cousin?” I deny again “Gay friend?”
“No... I’m sorry” and I smile to not be rude and avoid extending this conversation that I don’t want “Have a gentle come back to work.”
I say good bye with my hand and cross towards Jorge, I try to hide my outrageous enthusiasm.
“I finally finished!” I say excitated when I get close to him.
No, I couldn’t dissimulate very well but lucky me, Jorge is distracted right now with other thing. He is still looking at the opposite sidewalk. I turn to follow the trace of his sight and, I see he is following this Oscar with his glance.
“An admirer?” he asks me looking at him with intensity; it seems he wants to melt him at distance making his rest to be spread all over the sidewalk.
“I don’t know him at all, he introduced himself when I was about to go out. He asked me to go and drink something after the meeting” Jorge stares at me in a total silence, waiting for anoher phrase. Is he upset? “He asked me if you were my cousin or a gay friend” and I smile at him been funny.
His expression finally changes. He tries to stand serious but I’m sure he is holding a smile.
“Your gay friend?”
“I’ll start to believe that too...”
Jorge only smiles sidelong. He hits my hat softly. He passes the back of his hand along my cheek and my skin reacts making my whole body shake. I need to be touched this way again. Or better, I need he doesn’t stop touching me that way this life.
I love the taste he has to select cars. A five doors black Lexus, beige leather seats, wooden gadgets and I supposed all of the extra devices a Lexus possesses. Safe, elegant, sophisticated... Like Jorge himself.
I quickly look at him. Jeans, black shirt with the two upper bottoms untie to let some chest hair be shown and a black jacket. I’m drooling... that two days beard looks great at him, makes him look ease and it turns very attractive to watch.
He turns his glance for a moment to look at me and he watches I am smiling while I see him.
“Too informal or I passed the test?”
“I’ll have to give you an A”
He smiles more that pleasant of course. Making your ego grows never hurts anyone.
“By the way, we have to go to a place first, I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, of course, where?”
“Don’t worry, its close” he answers with no answer.
Silence for a moment.
“I have done something” he speaks again.
I watch him curious. He is serious again. Jorge the lawyer is back.
“What?”
“I was thinking yesterday on how hard it is to try anything in Salamanca.”
Shit. No, no, no... he regrets. I think I don’t want to listen to him. I notice my heart almost runs out through my mouth.
“I found out something” he explains “and I hope you don’t feel bad. We are not going to Salamanca right now.”
“What?” I claim upset, looking through the window. I try to find out where are we going “Jorge, I don’t like motels neither any of this stuffs, I am sorry but...”
“Do you think I would take you to a place like that?”
He even seems offended.
“Well, I don’t know. Regularly, when a man tries to surprise me things go out wrong.”
He starts laughing of my confession and stops watching the road to see me again for few seconds.
“I know you are not like other girls, don’t worry. What I don’t know is what kind of men you have been dating so far to lead you say that” his face turns a little dark for an instant “Any case, I have done a small craziness and I don’t want you to think I am a psychopath or any thing close.”
“Ok, now you are scaring me... Where are we going?”
He makes a gesture with his head to indicate me to look farther and I see some highway panels with different operating instructions to several terminal points.
The airport?
“But, why is that?”
I can’t believe it. I drop a laugh that I can’t repress no matter how hard I tried. I just have a sudden euphoria only by reading T4 in the deviation Jorge just took.
“You were right, Salamanca is too small. We can’t start anything in a place like that. I think London and Paris are more appropriate places to prove if this can be good. Besides, you said yesterday that I could convice you I wasn’t like beginning Mr. Darcy in England and...”
“But... but how... when...”
Words don’t come out of my mouth. I eventually see at the airport operating instructions and at Jorge and I am lost.
“I kept thinking yesterday after we talked on the phone. I called to a travelling agent that I know in Madrid to make the reservations and I visited his office today in the morning to get everything” and he points with his gaze at the glove compartment “I know this is very spontaneous but, we both are in vacations, we both are adults and those places are near.”
I open the glove compartment and I see a travell agency envelope. I open it: flight tickets, hotel reservation... with two rooms. What is this? The idea of a gay friend starts to make sense.
He takes a deviation and he looks at me right when I am with my forehead frown watching the room’s reservation.
“Don’t you like the idea?” he asks, concerned “Tell me the truth, if you don’t want or you feel pressioned... Notice I have reserved two rooms. This is just to be able to stay far from everything and have the chance to know how it would be in the reality. I don’t want you to think that I am trying to take advantage of you or anything.”
That is the reason of the separate rooms? I haven’t met a man like that my whole life. He is a perfect Mr. Darcy. I can’t help to remember the scene he finds Lizzy visiting Pemberley for the first time and how gentleman he shows himself. He is trying to prove he is different from what I believed so far and I have a happiness feeling growing inside.
I have a Mr. Darcy in the seat next to me and he is only for me.
“Jorge, I love the idea, I mean it” I calm him with a sincere smile.
He breathes relief again while I look after a bill among the papers, I can’t let him pay for all this. London on Sunday, three days at Paris and two more days back in London. Oh, Eurostar! I love travelling in that train.
“I can’t see the bill... You have to tell me how much I have to pay. This things last minute are not exactly cheep...” and even less with all of the stars I’m watching in the hotels reservations.
“Oh no, Laura, there’s no place to discussion. I don’t want to talk about money” he says emphatic.
“Do me a favor, I can’t let you...”
“Laura, I said there is not discussion about that topic.”
“This is not a discussion, is just that I can’t...”
“Laura” and the energetic tone he uses silence me at instant “end of the discussion.”
He is very stricted when he wants, not anybody can do the opposite when he talks. In this moment I am next to him feeling like a little girl who has been punished for some mischief she doesn’t understand. He has such a stricted tone...
“You know, this is the first time I do something like this in my life!” he comments in a relax tone.
“Really?”
He nods with his head, drawing his perfect smile.
“It’s never late” and he makes a pause “or I hope so...”
I don’t know why but I think he is not talking only about the spontaneous travelling.
He parks the car in the T4 parking few minutes later. Although, in my status of total excitatement it could be actually an hour and a half and I wouldn’t notice real time.
He opens the trunk of the car and he takes out two rigid cabin suitcases, a red and a black one.
“Are you sure its going to be only six days? You have luggage to month and half at least...”
He closes the car and keeps the key in his pocket, grabbing the suitcases, one per hand, and rolling them through the entrance.
“Both of them are not mine.”
I look at him confused. He seems to be having fun because of me, until he finally explains what those two suitcases mean.
“There was time to go shopping. You have some clothes in one of them, I hope you don’t mind.”
“Jorge!” I exclaimed disgusted “you can’t buy me clothes and expect for me not to pay it.”
“I already said we are not going to talk about money” I try to reach one suitcase to help him charge them “There is no discussion eather about who carries the luggage in this relationship.”
“Can’t I even hold my suitcase?” I say laughing, with some illusion after he mentions the word relationship.
“Exactly, you can’t. I’ll carry them.”
No matter how serious he tries to appear, I know deep down he is having fun making me mad. A funny Jorge, wow... Who would believe it.