Page 103 of Stronger Than Fate

“I wish we could control our hearts. I want you to be immensely happy, but I'm not the person who would bring you that happiness. I love you with all my heart, but not in the way you do,” I said, my heart crying with sadness.

“I know, Dali, I know. I'm well aware that your heart belongs to someone else. I wish I could change what I feel, but I can't, and I also wish I could make you stop suffering for that guy, but I don't have that power either. We're both 'unrequited,' but I imagine our hearts will heal.”

“I'm sorry, Sean.”

“You don't need to be. Like you said, we don't control our hearts, and that capricious feeling does whatever it wants with us. I do need to apologize because I shouldn't have kissed you. Forgive me, beautiful.”

“Let's forget about it and promise me that the fact that we've had this conversation won't affect our friendship,” I pleaded.

“Let's be realistic, it probably will affect it, because I don't think you can look at me with the same eyes from now on. You'll feel sorry for me because...”

“I won't do that,” I interrupted him. “I promise. I don't want people to feel sorry for me, and I won't do to you what bothers me.”

“You promise me.”

“I promise you, and let's do something. Let's continue with our dance, and heaven help you if you throw yourself on top of me again. If you do, you'll get a strong knee to your private parts.”

“Understood,” he said, smiling and putting his hands over that area as protection, which made us both laugh. “Turn that music up loud, and if they kick me out for making noise, I'll go with you to Uruguay.”

And that's what I did. I played the song and we went back to holding hands and spinning, singing, laughing, and forgetting—though we only managed this last part for those few minutes.

The next day I left Paris and Sean. Part of my heart stayed with him. Now that I knew with certainty what my friend felt for me, it hurt my soul to think he was suffering. I knew what it was like to be unrequited and I didn't want him to go through that pain. Although I was clear that I had never encouraged those feelings, I blamed myself for his unhappiness.

When I arrived at Carrasco International Airport, my brothers were waiting for me. I had already spotted them, but they were still looking for me. I started walking faster to get closer to them, and when they saw me, I ran toward them and we embraced in a three-way hug.

“How we missed you, little demon!” exclaimed Bastián.

“We were about to go looking for you,” said Lolo.

“I missed you more,” I said.

We left the airport to head to the hotel. On the way, I told them about all the places I had visited with Sean and all thebeautiful sites we had seen. Although we talked very often, it wasn't the same as telling them in person.

It was Friday evening and the hotel was very lively. I asked my brothers to give me time to take a shower, and then I would meet them to go to dinner. As soon as I got to the suite, I sent Sean a message to let him know I had arrived safely.

“I arrived safely, handsome.

Behave yourself and study hard.

Good luck on your exams.

Love you»

His response came immediately:

«Thank you for your visit.

I love you more…

But you already know that»

Since he had confessed his love to me, he had started saying the phrase«I love you more»and the good thing was that he said it with a mischievous smile, which reassured me that we could take it naturally and that our friendship wouldn’t be damaged.

After taking a long hot shower, I put on a white sleeveless dress and high-heeled sandals. It was early December and the temperature in Uruguay was high, and that particular day was very hot.

I had asked my brothers to have dinner at the hotel because I was quite tired and didn’t feel like going out.

We met at the hotel restaurant and had a very pleasant time. I knew they wanted to ask me questions, so I decided not to avoid them.