Looping

Looping
Paulo Perez seemed to wear the same sour expression as always, but this time his gaze held a strange glint. However, Simon didn't care what that old man thought.
"I didn't do anything," Salvatore replied, hands in his pants pockets. "But her ex-boyfriend did. Why don't you ask him?"
"You proposed to her! You should take care of her," Paulo approached, narrowing his grayish lilac eyes. "I want you to stay away from my daughter, Salvatore. You've caused her enough harm in her life!"
"I can guarantee that I took better care of her than you ever did in your life!"
Simon always knew Paulo needed to see the truth, just as he knew the old driver would never welcome that sight. But what he didn't expect was for the old man to have the courage to advance on him and punch him in the eye. In the next second, he only noticed his mother and Paola standing between him and the older man.
"How dare you?!" Paulo shouted, his eyes on fire.
"You never took care of Paulina!" Forgetting everything, Simon began to say everything that man needed to hear. "At the moment when your daughter needed you the most, you almost kicked her out of the house, believing she was capable of trying to seduce a pervert like Pierre! She suffered abuse and grew up with the image that she was always wrong in the story and that's why she ended up getting involved with the idiot Muller." Stepping back a little more, Salvatore could see the surprise in the older man's clear eyes. "If you had been on her side, maybe Paulina would never have made all the wrong choices in her life!"
"Simon, please, that's enough!" Mirela pleaded, looking desperate from her son to the driver.
"Yes, that's enough." Salvatore held his eye that was beginning to throb. "Despite everything, Paulina wouldn't want her father to get hurt."
And without saying anything else, Simon turned his back and headed for the mansion, followed closely by his mother. It was time to look elsewhere.
Paola took her father's trembling hand and pulled him inside, muttering something about getting an ice pack. But Paulo no longer heard anything, his mind stuck in the looping of Simon's accusations.
~~
SATURDAY, JULY 30, 2016
Simon
Missed voice call at 7:53am
I understand you're upset, but hiding and not responding to my messages won't solve anything. My mother and Paola said you're okay, but I want, NEED, to hear your voice.
I just want a chance to explain myself.
Paola
I would have kicked Simon's balls if he still had them when he showed up at the mansion today. The man is not doing well, he doesn't even seem like the arrogant Salvatore we love.
Dad doesn't say it, but I can tell he's worried about you. He and Simon had a fight this morning. Things got ugly...
For the love of God, woman, tell me what's going on!
~~
Paulina was awakened by the phone. At first, she ignored it, thinking it was Simon or someone else giving their opinion on her life. The persistence made her pick up the phone to turn it off, but as she read the word on the screen, she swallowed hard. Dad.
She should have anticipated that phone call. Paulo Perez was not a fan of messages and would certainly take the chance to show, once again, his displeasure with his failed eldest daughter.
Not answering would be the easy, but temporary and unnecessary way out. He would persist until he was answered. That was how her father was when he wanted to give her a sermon, persistent.
"Good morning, Dad!"
"What do you think you're doing, Paulina?" Not even a simple greeting before the reprimand, she realized she was upset. "I didn't raise you to disappear in the face of problems." Of course he did! Wasn't bowing down the same thing? She held back the sharp reply on the tip of her tongue and patiently waited for the rest of the scolding. "Leaving everyone worried is childish and irresponsible. Come home! We are your family and, bad father as I may be, I would welcome and protect you."
It was the hurt in her father's voice that made Paulina's armor crumble. For the first time, she felt he was worried about her. She bit her lip, feeling her throat burn.
It was a fact that she hadn't gone to the mansion because she was afraid of her father's reaction. Two broken engagements in less than two months had to be a record, and not in a positive way. She feared that this would be emphasized and thrown in her face by her father.
"You're not a bad father..." she minimized gently.
"That's what that arrogant boy made me see. If I were a good father, you would be here, not with strangers."
— Who said that? — It was a question whose answer she knew. She had heard her father refer to only one person like that thousands of times.
— Simon. I demanded that he stay away from you, leave you alone, and told him that he had already done enough harm with what I thought was an absurd relationship. — Paulina was grateful for her father to finally take her side, although she was uncomfortable with the notion of an absurd relationship. — He said some things to me...
— Simon is no one to say anything to you! — she interrupted with anger bubbling in her veins at Salvatore for insulting her father. — I didn't go home because I knew he would show up there. — Half-truth, enough to dispel any wrong impressions caused by Salvatore.
— That alone wouldn't have stopped you.
No. That was undeniable, so she chose to stay silent.
— If your mother were here, she would know how to take better care of you and your sister.
Paulina remained quiet, not agreeing. Remembering her parents' relationship, she realized how her mother blindly obeyed Paulo, even when she knew he was wrong. That's why she opted for what she considered safe and affirmed:
— Dad, you do the best you can, never doubt that.
— I'll do better from now on — he promised.
Despite all the pain that tore her heart, Paulo's words brought a smile to Paulina's lips. For the first time, she didn't feel like she had disappointed him.