Chapter 20 I know who you are
"Do you know a footballer by the name Raul? I ran into him at the pool yesterday." I ask Alette at breakfast the next morning.
"Sorry, boo, I'm not allowed to talk about the other patients." She shrugs while shoveling scrambled eggs in her mouth.
"Sorry, it's just that I know him from high school, I was just surprised to see him here, that all." It's still wild that he would be at the very same resort I am, but if he is Black like I think he is, he must have been following me. It would also explain what he was doing in the city if he was injured. Maybe he had his surgery there.
"You know Raul Garcia?" Alette halts the fork to her mouth. "Damn girl, you know all the good ones. Please invite me to your home after you get back, maybe my husband is hiding there somewhere."
Has he been stalking me? I caught him in the auditorium once when I was a freshman and rehearsing, but he's so slick, he just said he always watched the girls dance.
He fits the bad boy image perfectly. And he was always wearing a black leather jacket, so similar to the one that Black wore.
Could it be?
And if it's him, what am I going to do about it?
Do I confront him? Demand that he tells me what he's been doing? Why did he break into my apartment? Should I just come out and ask?
"He doesn't live in my city." But he did say he was injured and cut from Texas, so he came back. Did he come back for me? Was it just a coincidence that he found me in that street that night ?
I have to be brave and sought him out.
I know there are about five villas on the resort, if I can only find out which one he's staying in at. Maybe I can spy on the villas and find out which one he stays in.
"Do you want me to arrange that the two of you have dinner tonight?" Alette asks, continuing to eat not even knowing that she has just made my task so much easier. "You can meet at the dining hall, if you want that."
"Yes." I say immediately.
I just have to smell him, and feel his hands. Then I will know if he is Black, maybe I can kiss him.
I've been thinking of Black's lips every single night when I lie alone in my bed and he doesn't come. I will immediately know if it's him or not.
I do my usual routine after breakfast. I do Pilates with Alette, and then swim afterwards before getting ice and heat therapy. I don't see Raul at the pool again, but if Alette can pull off the dinner, it would be so great. I'll be closer to knowing Black's true identity.
She lets me know that he agreed to dinner, and I take extra care with my appearance that night.
I wear a short dress, because Black liked it. I can't wear heels, but I put on flat glittery sandals and ditch the boot.
He's already waiting at the dining room when I arrive dressed in black jeans and a black T-shirt, solidifying my suspicions.
That's the reason I gave him the name Black, because he never wore another colour.
"Madison, you look beautiful." He kisses me on the cheek, and I take in a big whiff before he steps back and pulls out a chair for me.
Raul smells great, like freshly cut apples on a spring morning.
But he doesn't smell like Black.
There's no amber and musk tickling my nostrils.
That could be explained, though. Maybe he wears different colognes like I wear different perfumes all the time.
"How long have you been here?" I ask when he takes a seat, my gaze going to his lips.
They look full and inviting, and I have to somehow kiss him on the lips so that I could know.
"About a month or so." He smiles sadly. "I had surgery at home before coming here."
Wouldn't he have a limp of he had knee surgery, or required to wear some type of cast?
Or maybe he had the surgery just after he broke into my apartment, because I know for sure Black wasn't limping. No, he was a solid rock of hard muscles that seemed like a tree trunk.
But that puts Raul in the city when everything went down. Maybe he just had a great specialist that put him back on his feet quickly.
Raul Garcia is fascinating to talk to, and he keeps the conversation full of banter and light hearted, the opposite of the personality I thought Black would have.
No, Black was all growling when he was thrusting into me violently.
Maybe Raul's personality changes when he's in the bedroom. That has to explain it. And he wears different colognes or aftershave.
Because when he shakes my hand goodnight, his palms are callused.
Just like Black's.