AS I WAS leaving my flat today, I ran into Felipe, who was arriving at his office on a motorbike. I was happy to see him, as we hadn’t bumped into each other for a long while. I must admit I no longer saw what had attracted me to him the first time we met. When I ran into him again, he was just a shy, unremarkable young man.
‘Hello there!’ he said, parking his bike. ‘It’s been a long time!’
‘Hi there Felipe! Yes, I’ve been rather busy. How are things?’
‘Could be better. I’m preparing a press pack to send to foreign magazines. Trying to drum up publicity. I’ve even had a call from one in South Africa.’
‘Wow! You’re going to be really famous.’
‘All I want is for the company to be successful.’
‘I’m sure it’ll work out. You’ll see.’
‘Do you think so?’ He didn’t seem very sure.
‘Of course. And if you need any help, don’t be afraid to ask. Who knows, I might be useful.’
‘Of course, of course! Thanks anyway,’ he said.
We said goodbye, and he went off with his helmet under his arm. While I was trying to cross the road, he suddenly shouted at me.
‘Hey, Val! You speak several languages, don’t you?’
‘Yes, why?’
‘Can you speak English?’
‘Yes, quite well.’
‘I’d like you to help me with my publicity. I have to write it in English, and I don’t know very much. Would you mind having a look at it when you have time?’
‘Of course not, count on me. I’ll call in at your office, OK?’
‘Fine. And thanks again.’
I crossed the street.
I stopped by at Felipe’s office to look at his publicity pack. The English was so bad it needed redoing from scratch, and I told him so.
‘You’ll have to start again. I can do it, with your help. You can’t send it out as it is. It’s full of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.’
Felipe was downcast, especially as I didn’t beat about the bush when I told him how awful it was.
Eventually, after Felipe asked me who I took him for, I stormed out. We had such a bad argument I swore to myself I would never get in touch with that asshole ever again.
In the evening, Sonia rang to tell me she had found her soulmate: a handsome twenty-three-year-old musician she had met completely by chance. In the metro, as she was leaving work. He dropped his violin at her feet, and she helped him pick it up. They started talking about music, and he gave her some free tickets for a concert he was giving.
‘See? I told you that you would find someone when you least expected it. The trick is not to be looking desperately for someone to come along. If you go around like a crazy woman begging a man to fall in love with you, they all run off in the opposite direction.’
She agreed with me. But now I have no lover and I’ve lost my friend too, because she wants to spend all her time with her lovey-dovey. And I’m condemned to be the wise woman who has to rely on casual encounters.