Page 92 of Tell Me What You Want, Or Leave Me

“She did something very ugly, and I’m not going to talk about it. I would rather Björn tell you what happened. But that horrible girl is a bad seed...a very bad seed.”

We remain on the bed and watch how Luis Alfredo Quiñones recovers from the gunshot to his chest but suffers amnesia and can’t remember anything, not even that Esmeralda Mendoza’s his lover and that he’s the father of a beautiful boy. She suffers. We suffer.

Mother of God, what a melodrama!

Soon, my accident is forgotten. Eric and everyone else have taken very good care of me, everything’s going very well, and I sometimes have a terrible fear of being too happy.

Eric and I argue a few times about my going back to work. He thinks if I do, it’ll take time away from us and cause problems.

I want to work and can’t stand to have limits imposed on my life so every time we talk about it, one of us ends up storming out of the room and slamming the door.

Also during this time, Eric, Flyn, and Laila go to the shooting range a couple of Sunday mornings. I refuse. I don’t like guns and prefer to keep them out of my life.

One morning, Eric calls me from work and asks me to go to Björn’s office to sign some papers. When I ask him what they are, he tells me the documents are our wills, and that leaves me cold.

After a few minutes of reasoning through it, I realize it’s for the best. I know it will avoid problems for my family if something should happen to me.

At the office, everyone greets me affably. I’m Mrs. Zimmerman, and they’re a little surprised to see me here, except Helga, who greets me warmly. I blush a little when I remember what she and I did together at that hotel so many months back.

Oh...the heat!

When I get to Björn’s office, the memories make me sweat. The last time I was here, I ended up on the desk, nude, with my legs wide open. When Björn sees me, he stands and kisses me on each cheek.

He very professionally shows me the docs Eric has already signed, and I discover our friend is not only a lawyer but also a notary.

Handsome, good-hearted, elegant, a lawyer, and a notary...excellent! He tells me Eric has named my father, sister, and nieces as beneficiaries. That moves me. My husband thinks of everything.

Afterward, Björn suggests we have lunch together. I accept. I want to know about Laila. It’s killing me!

We walk arm in arm to the restaurant. Björn is constantly joking around, and I can’t stop laughing. We order wine and toast to the many years Eric and I still have to live. We’re laughing but just about ready to really start talking when some friends of his show up and sit with us. We have to put off our talk. I set aside the wine and order a Coke.

One afternoon when I’m bored at home, Sonia calls. She wants me to come over. I have nothing better to do, so I say yes. Norbert drives me. Once I arrive, my mother-in-law receives me as warmly as ever. We’re chatting when, suddenly, Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” comes on the radio.

“Do you know that every time I hear this song, I remember the first time I saw you dancing like a crazy woman at that hotel in Madrid?” says Sonia.

“Seriously?”

She nods.

“I love that song.”

“Me too!”

We both laugh.

“Well then, let’s dance,” she says.

My mother-in-law is the best! She raises the volume, and we begin to dance and sing.

Marta comes in, sees us, and quickly joins the party.

When the song ends, we’re still laughing. Sonia’s housekeeper brings us some beverages, and I quickly claim a Coke. I’m so thirsty.

“All right, Mamá, now that we’re past the moment of euphoria, what’s going on?”

That gets my attention. There’s something going on? Mother and daughter quickly look at each other; then Sonia turns to me. “I need your help.” Now it’s Marta and I who take a quick glance at one another.

“You know I broke up with Trevor Gerver a few months back, right?”

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