Page 83 of Until You Came Along

“Ask me anything you want to know,” he stated decisively.

“See, that’s exactly why we need time, to get to know each other. You don’t think I’m going to give you a questionnaire as if you were in a job interview.”

“You overthink everything. If we want to be together, let’s live together and that’s it.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple.”

“Delfina, I want to wake up next to you, I want to leave the office knowing I’m going to come home and spend time with you. What more do you need to know to realize I want to do this?”

“Commitment,” I stated directly.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean a future together, Hermes. I mean love, without it it’s impossible to talk about living together long-term. I’m not demanding anything; I understand what you feel, or rather what you don’t feel, but if this relationship is already difficult for me knowing I won’t be loved in return, imagine what it would be like living together. The first few months might be good, but I’ll end up yearning for something that will never come, and blaming myself and you for it.”

“Why is that so important? We want to be together, the sex between us is amazing, and, and...”

“And what?”

“We said we would trust each other,” he finally said, exhaling sharply, and I was certain he wasn’t convinced of what he was saying.

“Please, Hermes! You can barely say it. It’s obvious you still don’t trust me.”

“I told you to give me time.”

“And I told you I would, but now I’m the one asking for time and you won’t accept it. Does that seem fair to you?”

For a few minutes he stared at me with a furrowed brow without saying anything, but I didn’t back down and looked him straight in the eyes without blinking.

“I have no argument against that statement. It seems that, for now, I’ll have to give in.”

“I wish you were doing it because you understood me,” I said.

“It’s difficult when you can’t have something you want so badly.”

“Welcome to my world,” I said ironically.

Hermes looked at me in silence, but it was obvious that my comment bothered or... hurt? him.

“Fine, Delfina, for now let’s leave this topic, though it’s not finished. I’m just giving you some time before we revisit it.”

«Perhaps we’ll never revisit it,»was the first thing I thought.

He brought the cup to his lips and drank the coffee in one gulp, as if he wanted the beverage to help him swallow his anger or disappointment at my refusal. While we finished breakfast in silence, I heard someone knocking at the door.

“Were you expecting someone?” he asked.

“No,” I said, as I got up to answer it.

Hermes remained seated and continued eating his breakfast, seemingly trying to show disinterest, but I noticed that he followed my every step and remained attentive to the situation. When I opened the door, I found a smiling and wide-awake Baco.

“Good morning, gorgeous! I stopped by to say hello at this hour because it’s hard to find you these days. You’ve completely forgotten about this friend.”

“Don’t say that! Come in,” I said, stepping aside to let him in before closing the door.

As soon as he entered, Baco stretched out his arms for me to join him in a hug.

“No hug for this abandoned friend?”