Page 42 of Until You Came Along

“Talk to you later.”

???

I returned to my apartment after ten at night. I was feeling a bit depressed about what I was going to do the next day. I had to admit that it saddened me not to be able to be with Hermes, but I knew it was for the best, and that gave some peace to my troubled heart. Since I had already had dinner with Serafina, I took a shower, put on a nightgown, and prepared some tea to drink in bed while reading a book. Before going to bed, I called Baco to ask how the family meeting had gone.

“Hello, neighbor!”

“Hello, stranger. I stopped by your place today, but when I didn’t find you, I imagined that last night’s date lasted longer than expected,” he said, joking.

“You imagine wrong. I was at Serafina’s house all day.”

“Look how boring you turned out to be!”

“Enough, shut up and tell me how the talk with your family went,” I demanded, and I realized that lately, all my conversations had Hermes as the main subject.

“It went well. It was difficult to convince my brother, but he ended up accepting that starting next month I'll work half-time at the company so I can dedicate more time to painting.”

“Are you satisfied with that?”

“It’s a big step and for now I’m satisfied because I understand that I can’t leave the company overnight, but I also know that now that I’ve explained everything I think about working there, in the short term I’m going to try to distance myself from it.”

“What did your brother say?”

“He didn’t take it very well, but I was still surprised that he was much more open to listening to me than on other occasions. I suppose it was because this time I had my mother’s support. Yesterday when we ran into you and your friend, we were just arriving because he insisted on seeing the paintings I had in my apartment.”

“And what did he think of them?”

“I think he was pleasantly surprised. He praised them a lot and told me I have a lot of talent.”

“That’s wonderful, Baco! I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you. I have a lot to thank you for because if you hadn’t insisted on sending that painting to my mother, this probably wouldn’t have happened.”

“I think that, sooner or later, it would have happened anyway. You’re a great artist.”

“And you’re my number one fan.”

“Don’t doubt that for a second. I’ll see you tomorrow, I’m going to bed.”

“Sleep well, beautiful.”

“You too.”

Feeling calmer and happier after my conversation with Baco, I went to bed with my tea and book. Normally reading disconnected me from all the day’s stress, making my mind stop thinking about everything I’d experienced and focus on the story in my hands, but that day it wasn’t working its magic and I was turning pages without having any idea what I was reading. Besides, having slept so much in the afternoon, I couldn’t relax and fall asleep either. A few minutes after midnight, the doorbell rang, making me jump. Very cautiously, I went to the door and looked through the peephole.

It was Hermes.

What is he doing here?, I wondered.

The doorbell rang again.

“Just a moment,” I said, as I went back to my bedroom for my robe.

“You don’t need to go put on your robe,” he commented from outside.

I froze.

Does this man have X-ray vision or can he read minds?, I questioned myself.