"Hi Rob, are you all right?" I'm calling you several times and you don't answer. I'm worried, call me.
Monday's classes are like every day. The students are excited about the subject I'm teaching and I'm happy to be doing what I like. At lunchtime, as I leave the University, Rob is smiling and waiting in front of my car.
— Hi, gone. I've been worried about you this weekend. - I say unlocking the doors with the automatic control.
— Do you swear? “I thought you'd be more concerned about the bra size of that girl over at Rachel's.
“That's an after-lunch topic. I suppose that's what you came for, to have lunch together, isn't it?
“Of course I do, but I want to talk to you while you drive.
We laughed at each other and got in the car. On the way to the restaurant, I tell him everything that happened this weekend with me. From Ellen's escape to the end of last night alone in my house. He makes fun of me for my solitary orgasm sessions. He – rightly – says he never saw me like that again, hinting at things from the past, but I don't give her leash and say that I don't ever want to go through what I once went through in my life. Then we remained silent until his favorite restaurant I chose to eat because I wanted a nice place to tell him about Janeth. We ordered the food and ate more than half of it in complete silence.
— Rob — I break him — I don't really know how to do it, I don't even know if it's right, but… — he stops eating and looks at me waiting for me to finish — I have to tell you something about Janeth that I don't know if you...
— You can stop… — he cuts me off — I already know everything.
I frown and go silent. I think I swallowed my tongue with the food because I can't get a word out. He sees my face and starts laughing, not understanding why I'm so funny I start laughing too.
"What's the laugh, Rob?" And how do you know everything?
“I'm not an idiot, Nicholas. I imagined something like that after that night of ours with that friend of yours.
- I didn't understand.
“You may be a scoundrel to all women, but you never pulled me into this life. You never encouraged me to betray Janeth. Never. Not once, and that day you were throwing me at that woman. — he goes back to eating — Then I suspected everything and started to go after it. And as the saying goes, he who seeks finds.
“But I could be throwing you on the woman because you're getting divorced.
- No. - He says complacently - You wouldn't do this if you didn't think Janeth deserved it. I know I liked her for being my wife so you wouldn't lead me to believe she deserved to be cheated on if she hadn't already cheated on her before.
It is true. Although I thought it was a mistake that he married, I wasn't blind to not see that he was happy and that alone was reason enough to like Janeth. But seeing that she was cheating on my best friend, I evidently went crazy with rage.
“Besides,” he continues, “I didn't fall for the 'I was at a friend's' thing she told me the next day. So I followed her the other day and ended up seeing what I didn't want to see, but I was sure I would.
- Why did not you tell me?
“It wasn't a conversation one would want to have with a friend. I knew it would be difficult for you to tell me and I wanted to avoid it. I saw today that it was right. You were nervous all through lunch and when you decided to speak I saw that you looked like you were in pain.
“It's not an easy thing to deal with. You're my best friend.
- No. No, it is not. But thanks for the intention, you're quite a friend Nicholas.
On the one hand, I'm glad I don't have to tell him, but on the other hand, I'm really sad that he had to deal with it on his own. And here I thought I had a bad weekend... He must have spent hell at the convention he was at.
“I'm sorry I kept calling Rob, I was worried about you, but I'm a badass I know. You must be wanting to be alone and I'm bothering you. You did well not to answer.
— Nick my boy, I didn't answer because I wanted to be alone, on the contrary, I didn't answer because I was very well accompanied.
- What? I asked in amazement.
“Exactly what you heard.
“Wait a minute, I don't understand. As well, very well accompanied. He raises a sarcastic eyebrow at me and it's my turn to gawk. - I don't believe.
“Well, believe me, Nick. I was very busy this weekend. I met a doctor there who made me review the study of the human body.
I can't hold back the laughter. It's good to know that Robert is okay. In fact better than I imagined. I wanted to be a fly to see his weekend in New York.
— And here I thought you were in the worst. — I joke — I felt bad because I thought my problems were bigger than yours, but they really are, aren't they?
- It seems so. - the bastard smiles - So tell me, how are you going to solve this?
“There's nothing to resolve. Yesterday I went to Rachel's, paid her bills and closed this matter, because as she said, I'll probably never see her again.
Her words that I thought were bad at the time, but don't seem so bad now. To change the focus of the conversation of my life... – love? No, sexual – I ask him about Janeth and he says he will give her a divorce with all the demands the bitch has made, even if he can leave her with nothing for being cheated on, but just to get rid of it once and for all. For a moment, I envy him for controlling himself so much and not succumbing to a broken heart. I wish I had been stronger. I toast him and we finish lunch before going back to our lives.
The rest of the week goes by pretty quickly. The end of this week is much better than the last. I take advantage of it every night and during the day I go back to the NGO. The week after this one comes and goes the same way. Robert and I have been hanging out together to enjoy life and from what he's been telling me Janeth is in a very well guarded and locked up place. The same routine takes over my days, and I somehow feel satisfied with everything, although... Although I have the feeling that I'm missing something that I don't really know what it is or how to explain it. It seems I have a void. A cold I've never felt before. Something inside me just changed and deep down I know what's causing it, but whenever I find myself thinking “about the cause”, I get distracted by something, or rather someone.
Fifteen days later, I'm getting ready to go to Rachel's House. She told me that a woman from Los Angeles would be good fun and I immediately accepted. On the way, I stop at a traffic light and watch the movement around me. It must be almost eight o'clock at night and I see many people entering their homes to enjoy the warmth of their home on a Friday night, but I also see couples crowding restaurants and bars, and students celebrating the end of another week of classes.
I don't know why, maybe because the figure moves a little fast, I look down an alley and see a female figure falling to the ground with a blanket over her body to protect herself from the night's cold.
From a distance I can't see straight, but the figure looks wounded. I turn right exactly where the alley is and when I pass very close to the figure I saw from afar, I can see who it is.
It's Ellen. And she really is hurt.