Page 97 of Stronger Than Fate

“I have it too,” Bastián said.

My brothers had a very good relationship with Sean, and it didn’t surprise me that they had exchanged phone numbers.

Just after seven in the evening, we were arriving at the airport. I completed the check-in procedures, always accompanied by my brothers, and then said goodbye to them. I tried to appear calm and make them see it as a vacation where I was visiting a friend, but both they and I knew clearly that my departure was for a more depressing reason, and that was what distressed us.

After a journey of almost twenty hours, I landed at Paris-Charles de Gaulle International Airport the following night. The trip had been torturous. Having all that time to think, my mind hadn’t stopped replaying everything that had happened, and with each minute that passed inside that plane, I felt more depressed and discouraged. The saddest part was that I missed him terribly, which made me want to slap myself. Now I carried many memories on my shoulders, and it wouldn’t be easy to forget, but I was going to put all my effort into it.

When I passed through the airport gates and spotted my friend searching for me among all the people coming through, the emotion of our reunion took over me. As soon as his eyes met mine, a smile lit up his face and he opened his arms for me to runand take refuge in them. I almost ran to him and threw myself into his arms, hugging him as tightly as I could. I had missed him so much.

“You can’t imagine how much I missed you!” I exclaimed, while I continued embracing him with my arms and with no intention of letting go.

“Of course I can imagine it because I missed you just as much or more than you did.”

“More, I doubt it,” I said.

“Well, I think so.”

He separated himself a bit from me and looked at me seriously.

“You’re more beautiful than ever, but I can see in those eyes that you’re sad.”

“A little, but it will pass.”

“Well, let’s go because it’s freezing out here and I want to get home, have dinner, and talk with you calmly. You have a lot to tell me.”

“You too,” I said, remembering his secret love, but Sean looked at me and made no comment.

My friend lived in the Marais district located on the right bank of the Seine, one of the most vibrant areas of the city where you could find museums, interesting shops, restaurants and bars, and which was characterized by its colorful atmosphere and cultural offerings. The trip from the airport took almost half an hour. During that time, I told him in great detail everything that had happened with Sol and, although he was surprised, he kept insisting that he had always seen something about her that he didn’t like.

I was charmed by his apartment. It wasn’t very big, but it was a warm and very modern place. The large windows in the livingroom overlooked a most picturesque cobblestone courtyard. The bedroom also had a view of that courtyard and not only had a bed, but also a desk and a large wardrobe.

“Well, beautiful, let’s have dinner because I imagine you’re famished, and I assure you that I am too.”

“Did you cook?”

“Don’t tease me, you know very well that I’m a terrible cook and I could never make a dish as elaborate as this one,” he said, pointing to a meat lasagna that he had already placed on the table and which looked delicious.

“France is the cradle of gastronomy, maybe living here you’ve learned some cooking secrets,” I said, smiling.

“Me learn to cook? Even if I stayed here the rest of my life, I couldn’t make this lasagna,” he replied, also smiling.

“You’re probably right. Well, how can I help?”

“Take the bottle of wine and the water pitcher to the table,” he ordered, while he finished setting the cutlery.

We sat at the table and began to devour the delicious food.

“Mmmm, this is delicious,” Sean said.

“It is, thank you so much for waiting for me with this tasty dinner.”

“We needed to eat something hot and hearty because it’s terribly cold. The weather is one of the things I’ve found hard to get used to; it’s colder here than in our country.”

“They were having extremely high temperatures in Uruguay now.”

“Yes, I know, I always check,” he said, looked at me seriously and added: “Do you want to talk about your relationship or would you prefer we talk another time?”

“Another time. Right now I’m tired and I don’t think it will take long before I fall asleep. What time do you have to go to the university tomorrow?”