Chapter 15 - It Makes Me Act Differently - mduno
We looked at each other for a second, I couldn't hold her gaze, why couldn't I? It was something new, she made me nervous. She touched the dog's belly. I was surprised to see how Galaxia let herself be petted, my old lady came in with the breakfast tray and was astonished.
"Be careful, miss. Galaxia only lets the master pet her, sometimes Rata, and she tolerates me because I'm the one who feeds her," she said, placing the tray on the computer table before leaving.
"Inés, my name is Verónica, thank you very much for the hospitality and sorry for any inconvenience caused to your routine." She expressed herself well, making me realize how crude I can be. "Please, don't call me 'miss,' it makes me feel silly."
I repressed the urge to laugh, because she was indeed silly, a virgin at this age? She wasn't even ugly.
"It's out of respect and admiration. Besides..." I looked at Inés. "It's nice not being the only woman in the house."
"Galaxia?" I intervened. "Come here, precious."
I called my dog, and both women made faces as if they wanted to kill me. I sat on the edge of the bed laughing, clapping my hands for her to come. Not with her usual agility, her condition prevented it, and I started petting her belly. I didn't like the way she looked at me, there was a strange gleam in her eyes.
"Deep down, you have a little heart, Roland Sandoval." What the hell was she saying?
I burst into a huge laugh, I had forgotten the last time I laughed so hard. She got up to sit in the chair by the drawing table, which I use for my many sleepless nights. She had nice legs, I looked away, why the hell was I noticing that? Galaxia moved away and sat next to Verónica.
"She likes you."
"Roland, Galaxia will give birth in less than two days, maybe even today." I observed my dog.
"Do you recommend taking her to the vet?"
"I'm a vet." I confirmed, missing that detail.
"Whatever my dog's doctor orders." She started eating, and I preferred to leave her alone.
"Thank you, Roland."
"You're welcome. Galaxia, come here."
I didn't bother her and let my housekeeper bring her the medicine. I was already acting weird. I locked myself in the office with the dog for a while, then she left, Inés came in sporadically to bring me snacks, then lunch. Simón also came in at the end of the afternoon.
"Boss." From his face, I didn't expect good news. "The Cárdenas and the Jiménez are not happy about the convention, they're quite upset that we held it without them."
"I don't care what they think, Rata. It's my damn business! Let them figure out how to move their merchandise, I fulfill my part, the rest is their problem."
"Let's not tempt them, Boss."
Something bad was brewing in the filthy world I move in, they think I don't notice.
"Rata, for my safety, I have you, idiot. You'll get me out of any situation. You're the best in Colombia and the world at that. Plus, we have an excellent support team."
"Don't joke about that! So, they're not going to the convention?" He sat in the chair across from the wooden desk. "I have to set up the sound for the conference, which will be in eight languages, I can do that. In the meeting room, I have no problems. But at the events? We'll hire five guys to translate, and then get rid of them?"
"Let's take Verónica." I don't even know why I said it, damn it, I chose her.
"The miss? The one who stayed in your room last night?"
"Yes." I didn't dare look at him, I imagined how he must be looking at me. "Any problem?"
"It's just... I thought you liked her and... Are you sending her to the slaughterhouse?"
"Kill her." No... no, no. I don't want her to die! Or, do I?
"She'll be a translator, I'll pay her for that, she won't be a snitch. She knows five languages; Japanese, Mandarin, French, Portuguese, and English, and I know Italian and English."
"She's a girl, Boss, trapped in a pack of wolves, she's very pretty, don't you think they won't make or propose anything to her?"
"If she hasn't accepted me, and I've offered her a ton of money, she won't accept anyone."
"The American, John Hoolt, is quite handsome, what if she likes that kind of man?"
I hadn't thought about it, and if she likes him... What? Damn it, do I care? To disguise it, I shrugged.
"You're the boss."
"When we're close to traveling, I'll hire her and she'll come with us."
"Second topic to discuss with you." I turned in my chair, I had been working for a long time. "It's five days in Santa Marta, how many women do you want to bring?" I hadn't thought about it.
"Two." Simón widened his eyes.
"Two? Are you sure? Will you repeat a woman?"
Simón leaned back, analyzing my expressions. Disguise it, Roland, for your own good. Will you spend three nights without sex?
"Sure, you know, women I've never seen before and make sure they know my rules."
"Yes, Boss. And three, we can say Galaxia has started the birthing process." He laughed. "The vet is working right now, the dog started bleeding." I opened my eyes wide.
"Why didn't you mention that first?"
I ran towards the back terrace. When I entered, Verónica had her dress stained with blood and was immersed in her task. Galaxia was lying on her side, I couldn't avoid seeing that scene, it was better to wait outside. I stayed in the kitchen, letting her do her job. Would it be convenient for her to see me vulnerable? In my house, I am... Minutes passed slowly, Inés came in and out of the kitchen, I decided to change places, I went to the living room, it was already night, Verónica arrived. I saw that her leg was bleeding, my concern for my dog ended there.
"Four puppies were born, she's doing well with her kids."
He made a face. I reached her, that girl makes me act differently.
"You're bleeding." Me, worried?
"I hurt myself, I'm going to change the bandage."
I watched her head towards the stairs, hiding the pain as she ascended. I approached and carried her, her gaze... Why do I feel uncomfortable when she looks at me that way? I don't understand what's happening to me. I left her in the bathroom, handed her the gauze and the necessary supplies to clean herself.
"We should call the doctor," I said. She was hurt pretty badly.
"I just hurt myself a little. Help me, it's hard to treat myself alone." Damn!
"What should I do?"
"Remove the dirty gauze and clean the wound."
She took a sterilized gauze, dampened it a bit, added some antibacterial soap, and handed it to me. I didn't say anything. My hand touched her leg... Think of something else, Roland! The wound was on her inner thigh, closer to her sex than I had imagined.
Everything inside me churned, concentrating on my dick. It was a different sensation, burning from within. It was also true that I hadn't had sex in several days, that was it. To hell with abstinence, I need to fix it tomorrow, that's why it was hard to restrain myself...
Damn! I had only touched her leg. She was going to have two ugly scars. She handed me another damp gauze to clean it, I repeated the process until I was sure the wounds were clean. She handed me another, and I covered the wound. In a few days, the stitches would need to be removed.
The situation became compromising, and the bathroom felt like the car again, the night I took her home, the afternoon she helped me translate the letters. There was too much static in the air.
"All done, rest, Veronica."
I left the bathroom without looking at her, and I did it as quickly as possible, my dick was erect.
"Good night."
I noticed the disappointment in her voice. It was better to keep her as far away from me as possible, she was just a girl and I was no good for her. I visited my dog in her room, located at the back in a privileged spot. I found her in her bed with her four puppies beside her. I petted her ears, she barked as if introducing me to her kids.
"They're beautiful, Galaxia. I'll only keep one, we'll find homes for the other three, for now enjoy them while you have them together."
I went back to the living room, poured myself a whiskey as I passed the bar. Am I going to drink? I added ice. I went to the room where I usually listen to music, turned on the iPhone, selected the folder with the songs I used to play on the guitar.
The first song played, I sat down to think about everything and nothing at all. What the hell was... something was happening to me! Why do I feel empty inside? I have what I swore to get, I can buy whatever I want, whenever I want, in any quantity I want. Isn't that what I wanted? So, what’s wrong?
"That's one of my favorite songs."
Veronica's voice came from behind me, I smiled. The song was the one she sang her heart out to when I saw her at the concert, "Who Am I Kidding?"
"I can't drink, but if you don't mind, I can join you with some juice."
"No problem."
I got up, took out an orange juice, the song ended, she reached the bar, now "Fable" by Eros Ramazzotti was playing and I got lost in the lyrics. I created a foolish fantasy... Could it be true? Is that what I wanted? No. No. No. I need to kill this at the root.
"Veronica, tomorrow you'll be taken home."
"Okay." I continued before she could say anything.
"I have a trip, you need to leave first thing in the morning."
I finished serving her the juice, she received it with that look I didn't like. She had no right to look at me that way, I didn't owe her anything and definitely didn't owe her explanations. She finished the juice and headed to the stairs, I didn't move from the bar until I heard her close the door.
I sat on the couch with the bottle of whiskey beside me. I don't know how much time passed while my mind went blank and other times relived the sight of her bare breast, the touch of my hand on her leg.
With these aggravating factors, it will be hard to get rid of the desire I have to devour her. After the fourth glass, I headed to the intelligence room. Rat was watching me as if reproaching something.
"Yes, Boss."
He spoke in an accusatory tone, I raised an eyebrow, what bug bit him? He turned in his chair, facing me. The intelligence room was where Simon gathered information from the surveillance cameras installed on our properties and those of our partners nationwide.
Only he could see them and then delegate tasks to his team. We had a global network, a giant systematic spider working with satellites. His specialty was systems, he was an expert in that, and like all of us, he specialized in what he was good at.
That's why he studied everything related to systems, electronics, weapons, and military training. The lab was in the basement, it didn't exist on the house's blueprints.
"Nothing, well..."
I stopped, what was I going to say? That I turned into an idiot because I don't know. Something happened when I heard Veronica's voice?