Chapter 41 - He Needs This - mduno
Something was wrong with him, even if he didn't say it, his silences spoke volumes. The few times he did want to talk, I let him go as far as he allowed himself.
"Why, Cielo?" he commented.
"Because it used to be easier for me, now it's harder to be more..." He fell silent. How frustrating it was! Why was it so hard for him to open up to me? "Beautiful, I'm arriving tomorrow and I hope to have normal days. And thank you for the words you've been saying to me these past few days." I smiled.
"Won't you call again?"
"No, I'll wait for you at my house."
"I'll be there. I have a surprise for you."
"Should I let my imagination run wild?"
I bit my lips, wanting to make him wait until the last day and drive him crazy with anticipation, but he'd had a rough few days, and he had respected our agreement. That's why I decided to sleep with him.
"Maybe... For now, I'm talking about another kind of surprise, remember you have to earn the other one. This surprise is much more beautiful."
"There's nothing more beautiful, nor will there ever be, than your delicious... between your legs." I burst out laughing. "Think of me."
"You don't have to say that, since I've known you, Mr. Roland, you've occupied my mind all the time."
"Thank you."
The call ended. I stared at the screen and waited for it to turn off.
"I'm ready! Where are we going?" Lorena came out of her room tying her hair into a ponytail. "Can I have some cereal?"
"Of course, I want some too."
When we finished, I heard Raúl's motorcycle. I opened the door and he brought it into the living room, parking it in its usual spot. He greeted us with a kiss on the cheek, took my car keys. Meanwhile, we finished breakfast, I fed the dog, carried him, and waited to be picked up.
When the horn sounded, we went out. Lorena was like a child on her way to a party. I sat in the front passenger seat, she took the back seat, holding D'Artagnan.
"This is quite the ride."
Raúl smiled at Lore through the rearview mirror, and she smiled back. There wouldn't be a problem if his look wasn't complicit in something hidden. Once we started, the SUV that was watching us followed.
"Is something wrong?"
"Nothing," they both answered at the same time.
"You two are up to something, so spill it. I hate those looks."
"Sensitive, are we?" Raúl said as he accelerated and took the highway. "Where are we going?"
"To buy Christmas decorations." They both looked at me. I shrugged. "We'll buy what's needed to decorate Roland's house, we'll spend the candle night there tomorrow."
"Won't he be mad?" Lorena asked. "He's very reserved."
"He's my friend and he'll have to respect that. You were here first." I looked at them. "I won't spend candle night without you, and I also want to be with my boyfriend."
"Is his house big?" Raúl asked, expecting an answer.
"It's huge! It'll cost a fortune," Lorena smiled.
"Will you buy it regardless of the price?" she asked.
"No restrictions," I commented, and their shouts deafened us.
"Having a millionaire friend is incredible!"
Raúl took the main avenue, heading to the store.
"Tomorrow we'll go buy the clothes you earned for spending the day and part of the night with me." I took out my phone and called Roland's house.
"Hello?" It must be Inés.
"Inés?" It was good to inform her.
"Yes." She was a bit wary.
"Hi, it's Verónica..."
"Miss? What a pleasant surprise! The young man isn't here."
"I know, I called because he's coming tomorrow, and I want to surprise him. Will you be there around noon? I need your help."
"With the greatest pleasure."
I could tell from her voice how much she liked the plan.
"All set."
I commented after talking to Roland's housekeeper. Raúl backed up to park the car. We left the puppy in his crate, with a slightly open window. I had left him some chewable bones. Then I approached the car that was following us and handed the keys to the guard.
"In case you need to check on him." I looked at Cebolla, the bodyguard took the keys, and Cebolla got out and followed us.
"Without sparing any expense?"
Lorena asked again. I smiled. Once inside, I took them to the ATM, made the first withdrawal, it was good to have some cash, I requested the receipt, showed it to them so they could see, there should be less than a hundred million in the account. Raúl whistled.
"Almost one hundred and twenty million?" I snatched the paper and looked, there were twenty million more, my face turned red. "Dear, if he gives you this much money now that you haven't given it to him, imagine when you're his wife?"
"Shut up!" That was enough, Roland, what does he think?
"Relax, Vero." He stroked my hair. "Let's spend money on his house."
I smiled. Lore didn't understand anything, she lived in her artificial world and one of her mottos was that everything was solved with money. There was nothing else to do but take a deep breath and continue. I'll talk about it later.
I bought the biggest and bushiest tree, we bought hundreds of lights, ribbons, ornaments of all kinds, Christmas dolls. I spared no expense on the accessories to create a giant nativity scene in that beautiful entryway his house had, in that great garden.
We bought everything, you could only see Santa Claus decorations, a reindeer, a snowman, etc. Also, hundreds of lanterns and candles to light up tomorrow. I almost forgot the Christmas carol song. We had many items, palm tree lights, and reindeer lights. His house will look beautiful.
It might seem cheesy, but the Festival of Lights was important. My mother used to tell me how fundamental that day was; it was to prepare homes for the arrival of baby Jesus and to welcome the Virgin Mary to bless the homes.
It all depended on each person's beliefs, regardless of the religion you practiced. What mattered was respecting them, believing, and following their doctrines. Some were more complex than others and, from my point of view, many in the world had forgotten the essential aspect of God.
Believing was simple, yet sometimes we get caught up in insignificant trivialities, excluding the fundamental... Love. They forgot that it was the soul that the Superior Being looked at; your actions, manners, joys, and efforts to achieve your well-being.
But no! We criticize the way people dress, how they have fun, the music they listen to, whether they have long hair, short hair, extravagant haircuts, or if they paint their skin. That was the only thing that mattered, forgetting the actions, the virtues of your neighbor. We focus on prohibiting rather than loving and respecting the human being, your equal.
Even though we are different. And that was the greatness of it, what made us unique in the world. Life would be so different if we accepted our neighbors with different tastes, forgetting that each of us has the capacity to think about what is convenient and accepting that we live in a society with rules that must be followed.
Life would be more beautiful if we gave away smiles... anyway. Christmas reminded me so much of my mom. I arrived at Roland's house before noon with a truck full of items. Raúl and Lorena stood there dumbfounded, looking at the entrance of the house, it was beautiful just like all his creations.
Inés opened her eyes wide, looking at me embarrassed. Cebolla greeted and shrugged seeing how the woman who had looked after them was staring at him.
"Miss, the Boss..."
"I know he doesn't like it, but it's what he needs." His housekeeper looked at me for a moment, sighed, then nodded and smiled. "We'll be up late, do you have staff? It would be a great help."
"Of course, and I'm very happy." As she walked away, I called her back.
"Inés, by seven o'clock tomorrow night, we need to make sandwiches, buñuelos, and hot chocolate."
"I'll do it, miss." Her eyes shone in a way I couldn't describe.
"No! We'll do it together, don't think I'll leave you alone in the kitchen."
We started, Raúl took care of the electrical part, Lorena decorated the stair railings and the entrance, Inés and two maids took care of changing the beds, the linens, and the kitchen. I took care of the Christmas tree, and once finished, I moved on to the nativity scene in the garden. Raúl had already set up the lights, with Cebolla helping him under Inés' orders and two other workers.
Roland liked everything in one tone or at most two, but I wanted to give it color. The garden decorations, all the lights that were put up were in the representative colors of Christmas.
We finished exhausted past midnight, the employees, including the guard, stood with their mouths open, amazed at how well the decorations had turned out.
I was hugging the reindeer I had bought. He'll scream to the heavens, the reindeer will end up on the floor. But it doesn't matter, he needs Christmas. It was a wonderful white house with several colors. The only thing left were the hundreds of lanterns that would light the path from the entrance to the house and the surroundings.
"I thought you had gone crazy buying so many lanterns, and look, we'll be short if you want to light them from the entrance."
Raúl's face was dirty, he had to go up and down the roof, his helper looked the same, they also took care of the trees.
"Skinny, it's the first time the Virgin will enter, it has to be magnificent."
I said, his look was, that's your faith, I respect it, no need to speak, I was putting everything on the line.
"We should go."
I commented, since we arrived my puppy had been playing with his siblings, now he must be sleeping with his mother.
"Stay the night, there are several rooms."
I looked at Inés, thanking her, and headed to the house.
"Which room should I stay in, Inés?" The phone rang, it was very late. "Yes?"
"Beautiful, can you tell me what you're doing in my house?" Crap, is he mad?