Page 78 of Tell Me What You Want

I refuse to write Eric any more emails. But in the end, I can’t help myself; I send him a one-word message:Dickhead!

29

Friday

My desperation is through the roof.

No news. No calls. Nada.

Clearly, I was just his plaything for a few days, and now all I can do is forget about him.

Plus, my supervisor is on the verge. Today she embarrasses me in front of several colleagues. I don’t tell her to stick it, because I need this job.

In the evening, my friend Azu calls, and we agree to go to the movies. We seeI Want You, and I end up crying ... I cry like a baby. It’s beautiful and sad at the same time. I feel just like Ginebra, a misunderstood but hardworking young woman who’s madly in love with a man who has lots of secrets.

As we leave, a group of friends who’ve been waiting for us tease me. Nobody quite gets how I could cry like this over a movie, and they suggest we go to Plaza Mayor for a bite to eat. They know that I’ll like that and it’ll lift my spirits.

Between edibles, there’s a river of beer, and I finally manage to get my smile back. After that, we go for more drinks, and by four o’clock in the morning, I’m myself again—I’m laughing, having a good time, and dancing like a maniac, although by then I’ve drunk Madrid’s entire supply of rum and Coke.

The next morning, I’m rudely awakened by my doorbell.

I cover my head with my pillow, but the ringing is persistent ... Pissed, I get up and pick up the intercom.

“Who is it?”

“Hey, Auntie. It’s Mami and me.”

Oh God, this is all I need.

I open the door for them because I have no choice. My little niece hurls herself at my neck as soon as she sees me, and my sister, noting the state I’m in, walks past me without a word, plops down on the couch, and turns on the TV. As soon as my niece sees SpongeBob SquarePants on the screen, she disappears from my side.

I make myself some coffee. My sister’s face is serious, and I know she’s going to come at me with a deluge of questions at any moment.

“What the hell happened to you that you look so utterly wrecked?”

“Raquel, I was out partying last night, and I didn’t get to bed until seven this morning. I’m dead.”

“Well, the party must have been something. Your condition speaks volumes.”

“It was,” I murmur, reaching for an aspirin. I need it.

“Were you with that dreamboat you’ve been going out with?”

“No.”

Her face kind of slumps, and mine must have too at the mere thought of Eric.

“What’s going on with Eric? That’s his name, right?”

“Yes.”

“Are you still seeing him?”

“No.”

“I have to say, Judith, I don’t understand you. Fernando would die for you, and you pass on him. Then you find another interesting man who’s interested in you, and you lose him!”

“Fuck a duck, Raquel, could you please shut up?”

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