Chapter 190 - This I Am, You Decide - mddos
Gustavo
"Of course, Saray."
"You're an idiot!"
Gladis hung up on me. I closed my eyes to control the anger inside me. I took a deep breath and set my phone to record, a habit I had during negotiations that had always helped us. I slipped it into my shirt pocket.
"From the look on your face, did something happen?"
"I don't know what else to do to make the woman I love believe in me. She heard my voice and hung up." I had no idea why I said that to a stranger.
"Forgive my boldness, I’m just getting to know you. I dared to ask if we could speak informally because I already have that trust with Roland. I could be your mother, for God's sake!" The lady looked at me intently, it was like being scanned by old Josefina.
"I'm not asking for advice, but let me tell you, at fifty-five years old and with some experience, don't waste your time on a woman who doesn't know how to value you. I don't know you, I don't know your sins, even if you were a murderer, a thief, a womanizer, if you spoke to her clearly and showed her how important she is to you, and she still refuses to accept you.
"It's not worth it, don't waste your time. Look at you, you're an attractive man. Sorry for the comment, it's obvious she doesn't love you the same way you love her. No matter how many traumas, you can't waste your valuable time on a person who lacks the courage to let go of her past and release what makes her bitter.
"I hope I've been clear with my message. Live your life, there are thousands of women waiting for a good man." She looked at me again. "That ring you have saved, that young woman hasn't earned the right to wear it proudly."
"How do you know about the ring I bought for her?" Only Arnold knew.
"Let's say it was intuition. I like analyzing people, and your friends are married men." I looked at her. "Oh! Doesn't it surprise you that I know?"
"Doctor, I could spend a whole week telling you about the countless magical, paranormal, or spiritual moments and events I've experienced. It wouldn't surprise me if you were someone special."
"I'm just a woman with intuition and maybe a developed gift."
"I'll take your advice. Gladis showed an act of immaturity a few minutes ago, it's also proof that she doesn't trust me. I've never talked to my mother about a woman, she was the first in my thirty-three years. Apparently, I was wrong."
"If you've given and shown without getting the result, don't waste your time. Let her be the one to seek you out."
"Thank you. I already sensed this, and if Gladis looks for me, believe me, it would be a miracle."
"Miracles exist. Well, now, to what we came for, these are the balances and reports you asked for."
"Why did you need an investor?"
"My clinic is small, we have the basics, and I'm focused on gynecology, as that's my specialization. My dream has always been to have more areas. Besides, my separation led to dividing the assets, which decapitalized me when I bought out my ex-husband's share. I have two debts with the bank, the rest is transparent."
"I looked into the bank yesterday, very honest of you to say. And don't worry, Saray, Roland always has vision."
We continued working for another half hour. Then I got a message from Rata giving me the times I had to babysit my godson, and I smiled. I took all the information, brought it to the car to read it peacefully in the office, I have to give Roland a report.
I had a few minutes left before presenting myself in the neonatal unit. If I'm going to distance myself from Gladis, I'll do it directly. I took out my phone and sent her a note, I was going to attach the audio, but unfortunately, she was a skeptical woman.
Hi, Gladis.
I won't write much this time, nor will I apologize like in other similar circumstances; I haven't done anything wrong. I'm just writing to say GOODBYE, and please apologize to Enrique for me for not taking him to the promised places.
"I'm tired of you not believing in my feelings. I shouldn't have to pay for the damage from your past, and it's a shame that it has left you so withered. For over a year, I've shown you with actions how important you are in my life. It saddens me that I haven't been enough to help you overcome the insecurity that has consumed you.
Take care and give Enrique a kiss from me.
P.S. I've sent you the audio of the conversation with the lady who will be the new partner in the consortium, Dr. Saray Jones.
P.S. Officially, I will stop bothering you. I grant you what you've always asked for when you were angry. I'm stepping away, and I wish you the best in life.
I arrived at the neonatal room, which was now exclusively for the Sandoval family. I smiled; I shouldn't have been surprised. Three other babies who also needed to be in incubators had been moved to the room next door; for now, this area belonged solely to my friend's family. There was a bed where Verónica was placed, holding one of the babies.
Cebolla was taking off his shirt, and they gave him a cloth. They sat him on a couch and handed him a baby. A dark-skinned nurse pulled me and asked me to do the same as Cebolla. Roland was sitting on a couch with one of his children. It seemed he had the youngest. Rata was talking to some nurses.
"Thank you, Gustavo." I looked at the lady; that woman was an angel. I made a gesture that it was nothing.
"It's always a pleasure, ma'am. Besides, will I be holding my godson?"
"Dante is with Verónica, feeding him. He's the hungriest one." I smiled, not just at Roland's comment but at the situation itself.
"Forgive me for saying this, but this scene is epic. Never, ever did I imagine we would become a real family." The lady smiled at my words.
"Gustavo, Gladis will be Dante's godmother." That hurt.
"You are the ones who choose." The looks from my friends and the lady were inscrutable. I shrugged. "Verónica, don't you think it's been a long time and nothing?"
"Your heart should answer that."
"Comparisons are disastrous. You forgave a troubled past; she can't, and combined with her past, I can't handle her insecurities anymore."
"Anyway, she is the godmother," she said, and I nodded.
"I'm not childish; tell her that. Nothing except God will make me give up being Dante Sandoval's godfather. What is true is that you need to be careful with the crazy Arnold." Rata and Cebolla's laughter woke up Victoria.
"It's okay, baby," Miguel consoled her. "This uncle of yours is unconscious. It's okay, my love."
He began to soothe her. They sat me on one of the couches, and I put on that cloth, which was a wrap in which they placed the baby—it was Enrique, Gladis's son's namesake. They put a blanket over us, and I prepared to relax. I would be in this position for two hours. I had the shift from nine to eleven in the morning, then the one at five in the afternoon. I looked at Roland's son.
"They look like you, Boss," I said.
"I carried them in my womb, and they look like their father. That's unfair!" Verónica commented, and we all laughed.
"You call me 'boss' again, and I'll become one just to shoot you." I burst into laughter. "You know, Gustavo, Mrs. Josefina said that time we talked so much in her backyard on her birthday, that it was up to me to truly be happy and bring along the people I care about." I looked at him; he was next to me.
"That afternoon she said: you will find happiness if I decide to change, and she wasn't wrong. I adore what I'm living right now."
I smiled at him without saying anything. Part of me wanted that marital world that four of my friends had embraced—Roland, Simón, Miguel, and Daniel. I really thought I had found the mother of my children, but no, it was time to look elsewhere. Gladis... how it hurts to feel that we will be history.