Chapter 12 - She Baffles Me - mduno
I went downstairs to have breakfast after the ordeal I had with Brenda last night. I had to shut her up with an extra zero in her pay, and that was the end of her hysteria over the run-in with Veronica. The good part was that when she tried to act "dignified," I could dominate her; she was a great submissive.
She let herself be treated more roughly, and I used every toy I wanted on her. That was wonderful for my perverted needs. Then I told Onion to take her away; I don't want to see her vagina for one more day, or ever again. I won't overlook her scene.
I had to tell Rat not to let her into any of the estates and Guillermo not to call her for any of my events. Ana set up breakfast; my right-hand woman waited as always with the day's itinerary.
I sat down and bit into a green apple. There were some delicious huevos rancheros, a basket of bread, and a cup of hot chocolate. She started serving ten plates, and after a few minutes, Onion sat to my left.
"The job was left in a taxi heading to the airport," I confirmed.
On my right was Rat. Then the others came into the dining room: Turd, Blackie, Crispy, Cherry, Snake, Itchy Butt, Knife, and Rotten. We were all served the same breakfast.
"Boss."
Rat spoke. For the past few days, he's been analyzing me with eagle eyes. He knows I've been doing things out of the ordinary, and even I don't know why I've done them.
"Do you think she's trustworthy?"
He left the translated letters from yesterday on the table. I knew who he was referring to. I looked at him for a few minutes, then at the guys. As if they understood, each one focused on their plate.
"She doesn't belong to our circle, nor is she a call girl. Besides, she didn't rat us out at Juan's meeting. But if you want, we can pay her off and shut her up."
"Boss, the woman already knows some routes. That's not good." He was right; it was dangerous.
"I'll talk to her. Now let's have breakfast."
Knowing I had a reason to talk to her again pleased me. After breakfast, they got up from the table to go about their tasks. I read a couple of interesting articles in the newspaper, took another apple, and it was time to go back and change.
Simon stayed a while longer, entertained with his computer. As I entered the living room, Veronica came in, and since I've known her, my insides tensed up. She smiled so innocently.
"What are you doing here?"
She raised her perfect eyebrows and put her hands in the pockets of her wide pants. She dressed in loose and covered clothing. The times I've seen her at parties, she never shows more skin than necessary; she's always covered. It hinted that she had curves.
"Hi, good morning! How did you wake up? I'm fine, thanks!"
I sighed deeply. I knew I was rude, and I had no reason to apologize. I never have! I limited myself to looking at her, crossing my arms as a signal of "speak quickly, I don't have time." I noticed her nervousness; she sighed.
"Not a good time, right? I don't want to bother you. I just came to invite you to the Marc Anthony concert; it's tomorrow at the stadium..." I didn't mean to, but I laughed. Her face turned red, and she looked at the floor.
"Veronica, do you know the nonsense you're saying?!"
The red on her face intensified. For a moment, I thought she would choke. I felt sorry for her; she was foolish to invite me to that. I see this woman has built up quite a fantasy.
"You should say: I can't, thanks for the invitation, but I have unmovable commitments. Let's leave it for another time. Your attitude is not the right way, Roland!"
I felt anger. I bit the apple in my hand again to feign indifference. She made me nervous; I didn't know what to do with the situation between us.
All I wanted was to get her into my damn bed and fuck her as many times as I wanted, through those three holes she has to give me pleasure. I wasn't interested in her in any other way, and yet, why didn't I like seeing that look directed at me?
"Sorry... but the fact that I took you home yesterday wasn't meant for you to think we have some kind of relationship." I explained with my hands too. She looked at me that way again... "I don't care about that crap."
I regretted looking into her eyes. She was an open book, and I felt uncomfortable; she managed to transmit her feelings to me. Like that night when I saw her fear. Since when did I care about a woman's mood? What the hell is happening to me?
"We agreed to be friends yesterday..." she whispered, biting her inner lip. Damn, is she going to cry now? Women sure cry all the time.
"Your concept of friends is very different from mine, Veronica." My words were what I wanted to tell her, but they tasted like acid. It was better to push her away. My craving for her would pass with ten more women.
"Let's be clear, girl, I'm not interested in anything more than getting you into my bed. If you're available, go upstairs."
I pointed to the stairs. If looks could kill, Rat would be murdering her by now. Her eyes welled up again, and she turned around. That act gnawed at my insides. I didn't pay attention to my body, so I decided to finish the conversation, in the glorious style of Roland Sandoval!
"Think about it; I can make you enjoy an hour. Believe me, you'll make money!" She wiped the tears from her eyes. Damn, was she crying? She turned around.
"Mr. Roland!"
It was the first time she called me by that title, and I didn't like it coming from her. Hearing her call me by my name was pleasant coming from her mouth, as I also imagined something else between those lips.
When our eyes met, I saw so much... Disappointment? Rat stopped at the entrance of the living room and listened to what Veronica began to say.
"I am priceless! Make sure that’s clear in your head! My worth is something you are light-years away from. I am worth love, protection, caresses, attention, giving your soul and life with the hope of caring and protecting in ways you can’t even imagine!" she raised her voice, it was a lecture, her tirade.
"I need someone who stays in my bed to wake up every day! I must be unique in that aspect for the man, I deserve nothing less, I must be the only important thing in his life after the Creator! And since you don’t offer that, you will never sleep with me! Unlike you, who is a pleasure distributor, I am a woman for one man."
I tried not to laugh, I really did, but I couldn’t, nobody believes that. I clenched my jaw to avoid bursting into laughter, but it was impossible. I accept that she doesn’t sleep for money, but she must have slept with some of her boyfriends; she spent the other night with her current partner and was Juan’s girlfriend for almost four years. She was a liar. The laughter made her even angrier.
"Yes, you’re right, I will never give that."
I bit the apple once more, gave her a sarcastic look, I even felt like laughing again. The strange thing was the weird sensation in my stomach, I tried to hide it, but it’s been happening frequently lately. I’ll visit the doctor to get some medication, I must have gastritis or something.
"My intention was to establish a friendship, from the little I’ve analyzed about you, I realized you like listening to Marc Anthony’s music and I thought about inviting you, that was all."
"You are..."
"Shut up!"
The girl turned out to be bossy, nobody yells at me and lives to tell. Who does this old woman think she is?
"Don’t worry, I hope this is the last time you ask me to sleep with you. I won’t allow you to offend me again." Was she challenging me?
"Everyone has a price, you’re no exception. And you have one chance to get out of here..."
There was no need to finish the threat. Her eyes changed and the sadness in them messed up my strange way of dealing with her. I pointed to the door, she was just an old woman. She lifted her head, we locked eyes again... The apple in my stomach turned into a bomb of acid.
I couldn’t hold her gaze, I turned around and met Rata’s completely bewildered look. I never lowered my gaze to anyone. This action made him understand what he’s been suspecting for days. She turned on her heels and left. I waited for her to close the door… Well, she slammed the door!
"Who does that bitch think she is!" I threw the rest of the apple against the wall.
"Someone important in your life, even if you don’t admit it." I looked at Simón. He raised his hand to silence me. "She’s the only one who has managed to make you change security plans at the last minute, the only one who has managed to get you into a club twice, the only one I’ve seen you dance with who wasn’t a teacher…" I shot him a look that said "don’t cross the line."
"I wanted to show you she’s with other guys."
"Her best gay friend doesn’t count!" I walked over to him and stood in front of him.
"The guy she slept with, is he gay?" The acidity in my stomach eased a bit.
"And the other four are study buddies, they rarely go out."
He wouldn’t lie to me, he was my head of security and friend. If he said it, it was because he had already investigated thoroughly. Rata was the only one who dared to confront me. He was the one who taught me to fight, he was also my brother, my buddy, and still maintained his rank of inferiority, he and the rest of my close team. Everyone respects my authority.
"What do we bet? I’ll prove my theory, she’s not a slut, but she must have someone to vent her vaginal loneliness with."
"I bet the Coveñas cabin that she’ll go with her gay friend or her friend Lorena."
"If I win," I smiled, "you’ll pay me ten million dollars."
"You want to ruin me!" He crossed his arms, thought for a second. "Deal, and you’ll give me three months off for the overdue vacation and send me a different woman each week."
"You’re very sure, you’ll be left without savings, Simón." I said, laughing.
"You’ll be left without the cabin you built for meditating. I’ll buy the tickets and make sure to get a good spot."
"How will you know where she’ll be?"
"When have I not done my job well, Boss?"
Rata went to the study where he had his intelligence equipment. He was my second in command, a great friend, and sometimes took on the role of brother. Only he, Cebolla, and my good security team had my trust, they are the best, we have trained to be what we are now.
Indeed, he got the best tickets. We were in a privileged spot, with money you get everything, it was the asset to achieve goals. According to Rata, Verónica had VIP tickets.
I hadn’t seen her until several songs into the host’s concert and when I did, she was singing her heart out to "Who am I lying to." Ironic song. My guts churned when I realized I lost the new cabin, she was alone, not even with Raúl. Absolutely alone. Was she stupid? Simón had seen her following my gaze.
The reflection of the lights highlighted the light brown color of her hair, she dressed too simply, hiding the features of a beautiful figure and, as she said a few days ago, natural curves. How can someone attend a concert alone? Why does she always surprise me? What am I trying to prove? Deep down I felt calm and at the same time happy to see her alone. Why do you unsettle me so much, Verónica Vásquez?