Page 117 of My Heart's Doctor

“Then? I don't understand,” I asked, confused.

“Why is it difficult for you to forget what you experienced with that son of a bitch?”

“William, don't talk like that in front of Aurora,” I scolded.

“She's not listening to us,” he said, looking at her, then looked back at me and insisted, “Well?”

“It's not easy to forget pain. I'm not saying everything I experienced with him was bad, because if I did, I'd be lying. But our separation was painful and disillusioning, and that's what's difficult to forget.”

“He seems to still have an interest in you,” he stated.

I shook my head and smiled ironically.

“Even you don't believe what you just said. William, we were married and he was the one who abandoned me. Do you think he could have any interest in me?” At that moment something dawned on me, I don't know if it was a gesture from him or remembering Lino's face when he was talking to me, but I wasoverwhelmed with anguish and couldn't hide it. “I understand now, what you're saying is that I'm not good enough as a wife, but he might be interested in continuing to sleep with me,” I stated. “After all, if he happens to have a partner, he can rest easy because I won't complicate things with pregnancies. Is that it? Is that what you think?”

“I didn't say that.”

“Then tell me, what interest could a person who abandoned you because you couldn't give him children have?”

“I don't know,” he said, shaking his head, “and that's what worries me, because in his eyes I could identify the desire he feels for you.”

“And in mine? What did you identify in my look?”

He looked at me seriously, as if he were evaluating me and thinking very carefully about his answer.

“No; you just seemed nervous and upset.”

“And I was. It wasn't pleasant to run into him. In our last conversations, he was very hurtful,” I said, and a flash of anger crossed his blue eyes. “Lino awakens nothing in me... nothing, not even resentment anymore. A great friend once told me thatfor every disappointment, there are new hopes waiting to bloom, and with you I was able to confirm she was very right,” I affirmed, caressing one of his cheeks with my hand. “Thank you for taking care of me, because I know you did today and I felt protected. I love you.”

William came closer and kissed my lips.

“Promise me that if you run into him again, you'll let me know immediately. I don't like that guy, he was looking at you in a way I didn't like, as if he could claim you as his.”

“William, I love you. I love the family you've given me. My past is just that, the past. You are my present and my future, and I couldn't be happier about that.”

Our lips moved closer to kiss again, but...

“Mom, Dad, I’m hungry,” Aurora bellowed, and we looked at each other and smiled.

After lunch, we left Aurora taking her nap and went to the Civil Registry to sign up to get married. Since Christmas was approaching, we decided we would get married after the traditional holidays, so it would be in mid-January. I immediately contacted my friends Sylvia and Orson to tell them the great news, and both were so surprised they couldn’t respond and I think they even stammered. When they finally managed to react, their screams left me deaf. I had to promise them that we would meet for dinner that night so I could tell them everything in great detail.

“William, I just had a group call with my friends Sylvia and Orson, and we agreed to meet for dinner tonight because we haven’t seen each other for several days, and they also want me to tell them about our wedding.”

He was sitting at his desk looking at something on his laptop. He raised his head and looked at me seriously.

“Are you going alone?” he asked, with a calmness that gave me the impression he didn’t feel.

“I was planning to. It’s not that I don’t want you to come, but it’s a gathering of friends to chat about our things and maybe you’ll get bored or even feel uncomfortable.”

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know yet. I suppose some restaurant,” I replied, downplaying his bad mood.

“Like the one where we met and you ended up completely drunk?” he asked ironically.

Confirmed, he was annoyed. Did he think we were in the Middle Ages and I could only go out with him?

“Exactly, like that one. Maybe we’ll go to that same place because we like it a lot,” I replied, being just as ironic as he was.