Page 119 of Through My Window
She’s very beautiful, I think to myself. Then those blue eyes that my Greek god inherited from her fall on me and she raises a perfect eyebrow.
“And who are you?”
FORTY-ONE
The Boyfriend
Silence reigns as Claudia and I stare at Sofia Hidalgo. Out of all the possible reactions I could imagine, Claudia’s was not one of them. It reminded me of the sayings: “People are not what they seem” and “Never judge a book by its cover.”
When I first saw Claudia, she struck me as submissive: a service girl who was used to lowering her head in front of her bosses, who had witnessed the best and worst moments of the family she worked for but said nothing about it.
Boy, was I abysmally wrong.
Ares’s mother waits for my answer, not bothering to hide her contemptuous look. I can’t speak. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m very intimidated by this lady. Sofia crosses her arms over her chest.
“I asked you a question,” she says. I clear my throat.
“My name is Ra-Raquel.” I extend my hand to her in a friendly manner. She glances at my hand and then back at me.
“Well, Ra-Raquel,” she mocks my stutter, “what are you doing here?”
Claudia stands next to me, and with her head held high and a firm voice, she speaks for me: “She came with Ares.”
At the mention of Ares, Sofia raises an eyebrow.
“Are you kidding? Why would Ares bring a girl like her?”
“Why don’t you ask him yourself? Oh, right, communication with your children is not your forte.”
Sofia presses her lips. “Don’t start with your little tone, Claudia. The last thing you want to do is provoke me.”
“Then stop looking at her like that. You don’t know her.”
Sofia gives us a tired look. “I don’t have time to waste with you. Where is my husband?”
Claudia just points to the door, and Sofia walks through it, leaving us alone. Finally, I feel like I can breathe. I clutch my chest.
“What a scary woman,” I say.
Claudia smiles at me. “You have no idea.”
“But you don’t seem to be intimidated.”
“I grew up in that house. I think I developed the ability to deal with intimidating people long ago.”
It makes sense, I think, remembering how intimidating Artemis is, and even Ares before I got to know him well, and now this woman? Claudia must be immune to these kinds of strong personalities after growing up surrounded by them.
“I noticed, I just thought that since she’s your boss, you . . .”
“Would let her intimidate me and treat me badly?” she finishes for me. “She’s not my boss. Juan is, and he’s always protected me from that witch, especially after . . .” Claudia stops. “I think I’ve talked too much about me, tell me about yourself.”
I sigh, and we sit down.
“There’s not much to tell. I’ve just fallen under the Hidalgos’ spell.”
“That’s obvious, but I see you’ve gotten that idiot to admit his feelings.”
“How do you know?”
