Page 54 of My Heart's Doctor

At nine-thirty in the evening I was entering the restaurant where I had arranged to meet Leonor. I already knew it and was aware it was a good place with exquisite food, which was the only thing that cheered me up a bit. As soon as I entered, I spotted her waiting for me. Leonor was 35 years old and a pretty woman, but she tried so hard to attract men’s attention by showing off her assets that, in my eyes, she ended up looking vulgar, and truthfully, I was completely immune to her presence. I approached and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, and she immediately clung to my arm.

“Williii, how have you been? You look very good, more handsome every day. You’re like wine, you improve with age,” she joked with a silly smile, but I didn’t find it the least bit funny.

“How are you, Leonor? Do we already have a table assigned?”

“Yes, it’s on the terrace because it’s a wonderful night, I’d say even romantic. Let’s go,” she said, tugging at me, and I prayed to all the saints for a little patience to endure the entire dinner with her.

The restaurant was packed and the only free table was the one reserved for us. We sat down and she immediately began talking about her modeling career, because she was in the same profession as Cristina, and all the fashion shows she had done lately. I had to make a great effort not to get up and run away.

“Do you want to know about Aurora?” I asked, to get her to be quiet and end this meeting as soon as possible.

“Yes, of course; but let me finish telling you about my latest fashion show,” she said, and continued with her story.

While she was talking, I began looking at other tables and, at the table across from ours, something, or rather someone, caught my attention. I couldn’t see her well because the man at her table was blocking my view, but I was sure that woman hadto be… Devon! She was in this restaurant. At that moment our eyes met and I couldn’t hide my surprise, though she didn’t seem surprised, so I assumed she must have seen me much earlier. Leonor kept talking to me, but I could no longer hear her voice, I only had eyes and all my senses focused on Devon. She was accompanied by a couple and, even though the man had his back to me, I could have sworn it was the one who was with her at the Enfoque Corp. party.

The waiter brought our plates, but I had already lost my appetite. She wasn’t even looking at me, she only looked at her companions, talked with them and, occasionally, smiled. She never looked at me again and that started to bother me. Devon hadn’t called me and I could justify her because her work was very demanding, but she had gone out with other people, and that made me think she didn’t feel the same desire I did to see each other again.

You're an idiot, I told myself.

I decided not to look at her anymore, though I wasn't always successful and found myself observing her again several times. She looked gorgeous.

A while later, the three of them stood up and left the place, still without looking at me. Our eyes never met again.

Why is she acting this way?, I wondered.

After thinking about it, I realized it was logical that she wouldn't look at me. She surely thought I was on a date.

Damn it!

Leonor’s voice brought me back to reality.

“You’re a bit distracted today, Willi. Besides, you’ve been staring at that table with three people. Do you know them?”

“I thought they were acquaintances, but when they stood up, I got a better look and they weren’t,” I lied. I didn’t have to sharedetails of my life with anyone, especially not her. “Leonor, I’ll have to leave because I can’t get home too late.”

“Already? But I thought we were going to spend some time together.”

“No, you were mistaken. Come on, I’ll walk you to get a taxi,” I said, because I wanted to talk to Devon as soon as possible.

“Aren’t you going to drive me home?” she asked, and I think she pursed her lips into a pout.

“I can’t. As I said, I need to get home early.”

I paid for dinner, we left, and the first thing I did was hail a taxi so Leonor would leave at once.

“I’ll call you in the next few days so we can go out again,” she said, hanging on my neck to give me a kiss that would have landed on my lips if I hadn’t turned my face away.

I looked at her seriously, but she smiled smugly and got into the taxi.

I went back into the restaurant and up to the nightclub because something told me I would find her there.

I wasn’t wrong. She was sitting in a secluded area and, luckily, at that moment she was alone and hadn’t noticed me. She was looking toward the dance floor, but her mind seemed to be elsewhere. Without wasting a second, I headed over and stood beside her.

“You didn’t call me,” I reproached her, because it had been choking me and I was suffocating.

I noticed she gave a start and then, very slowly, turned her body and looked at me seriously.

“Good evening, Mr. Cavaller,” she greeted, returning to formality, which annoyed me even more.