Page 99 of Tell Me What You Want, Or Leave Me

“OK,” I say with a sigh. “I love you.”

I hear his breathing as he makes me wait a few seconds that seem eternal to me.

“I love you too.”

When I hang up the phone, my stomach isn’t happy and my throat is burning, and I run to the bathroom thinking I had way too many mojitos.

I have a terrible day. I feel like crap, and I decide to stay in bed and sleep. That evening, when I hear Eric’s car, I feel better and get up. I don’t run because I don’t want to upset my stomach again, but, when I leave our room, I hear the front door open from the top of the stairs as Laila greets my husband.

“Jude is resting,” she says. “She’s not well.”

“What happened?” I hear Eric ask.

Peeping over the landing, I watch them and listen to the young woman explain.

“Her head hurts; she didn’t want to eat anything. She drank too much last night.”

“Did you drink too much too?”

Laila nods. “Between you and me, I’m not surprised her head hurts; she and Marta smoked like fiends, and I lost track of the number of mojitos they had while dancing.”

I’m blown away.

And as I’m dealing with my shock, she continues. “By the way, Björn was at Guantanamera too.”

“Björn?”

I don’t like the face Laila wears when she nods.

“He came with a woman and had a good time with her, but also with Judith. Well, you know how your friend is. He doesn’t waste an opportunity when it comes to a woman alone.”

I’ll kill her. I will kill her.

I’ll tear out her eyes and wear them as pendants.

I can’t see Eric’s face. From my vantage point, I can only see his back, and I notice it’s stiff. This is bad!

“Thanks for the information, Laila,” he says without further ado, then heads to his office.

He opens the door and, leaving her at the threshold, closes it in her face.

Damned girl. It’s clear the goodwill between us is over.

I’m about to go downstairs and cut off her ears, but at that moment Simona comes in with Calamar in her arms.

“C’mon, let go of that monster and go prepare my bath,” Laila says.

On hearing that, Simona stares at her.

“The only monster I see here is you. Prepare your own bath.”

Olé and olé and olé, my Simona! I’m about to jump in, but I shut up. Björn is right. The girl is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and it’s best to handle this carefully.

At night, Eric is not very communicative. I try to talk to him, but in the end, I give up. When it gets this bad, it’s better to leave it.

When we go to bed, he turns his back to me. He’s clearly still angry. I breathe while waiting for him to say something. But, nothing.

In the end, I put my mouth to his ear.

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