THE ORIGINAL NOVEL WAS WRITTEN IN SPANISH, I APOLOGIZE FOR THE TRANSLATION. IF YOU WANT TO READ IT IN SPANISH LOOK FOR IT UNDER THE SAME PSEUDONYM AND BY NAME "GIRO DEL DESTINO"
I went to my room and after looking for a suitcase, I put some clothes to take away. I quickly finished arranging my clothes and after taking the suitcase I went to Kate's room to say goodbye. She had already got up and walked me to the car, I put the suitcase in the back seat and sat behind the wheel.
—Promise me you'll call me. —Kate said to me very seriously, pointing a finger at me.
—All right. —I said, rolling my eyes.
—If you don't, I'll be able to come and get you. —she said, leaning both hands against the window.
—It's okay. —I said, rolling my eyes at her again.
—I mean it. —she said to me again.
—Okay, Mom, I'll call you. —I said smiling.
—See you Sunday night. —she said cheerfully, pulling away from the car.
—See you Sunday. —and saying this I started the car and got out of the parking lot on my way to the Lincoln Tunnel and from there to I-95 S.
Once on the highway I put the top down and let the fresh air hit my face. I drove quietly, while listening to a variety of my favorite bands. According to Kate herself, she said that I had very strange and varied tastes, although we agreed on many, she liked other things like classical ballads. By the time I realized it, I had already moved to I-280 W, and I was on Broad St, just around the corner from home. I parked the car in the garage in the driveway and got out by taking my suitcase with me.
I was closing the car and setting the alarm when the front door opened and my mother came out to greet me with open arms.
—How was the trip? —she asked, hugging me.
—Quiet, just as I remembered. —I told her as I kissed her.
I hugged her at the waist as we walked towards the front door. The house continued exactly as I remembered it, the stone path from the entrance to the door, the green grass all along the front with many flowers. To the right is the garage and to the left is the white fir, the branches of which were right up to one of the windows of my room on the upper floor. I entered the house and like the exterior, the interior continued exactly as I remembered it. The walls with their pale colours, the photographs of the family, mine from childhood and those of my parents in the pictures on the fireplace and on the small table in the living room.
—Go upstairs and get some rest if you want. —my mother told me on her way to the kitchen.
—Yes, that's what I'm going to do. What time does Dad get home? —I said to her as I was heading for the stairs.
—It should arrive at 5:30 pm. —my mother said from the kitchen.
—Ok. —and saying this I went upstairs to my room.
My room was just up the stairs to the right, and it was exactly as I remembered it, even the bed my parents had put in for when Kate came with me was there. I left the suitcase in one of the beds and went to the windows to open them and ventilate the room a little, first I went to the front and then to the side. As the warm, fresh air entered through her, I couldn't help but close my eyes and breathe in the fresh scent of being home again...even if only for a few days.
When I opened my eyes, they ended up in the house next door, which was only 10 meters away from mine. The house had been empty for years, it was where Chris used to live. Never in all the times I had come home had his name crossed my mind, but the dream of the other night was still fresh in my memory. I moved away from the window and lay down on the bed for a while, the night before I had been very agitated and although I wasn't physically exhausted, mentally I was, and my eyes gradually closed until I fell completely asleep in just a few minutes.
By the time I woke up it was getting dark, I took a change of clothes out of my suitcase and went to the bathroom in front of my room to take a quick hot shower. I went back to my room after the shower and went to the windows to close them. But when I was closing the one of the side, something caught my attention, there were several lights on in the house next door. What stranger? Who would have moved out? I closed the window and then went down from the room to the kitchen where my parents were cooking dinner.
—Hello, Dad. —I said as I went over to him and gave him a kiss and a hug.
—How are you? Did you rest? —He said as he hugged me at the waist.
—Yes, shall I set the table? —I said, taking the plates and cutlery.
—Yes, honey, I'm going to serve, and I made your favorite.
—Shrimp in hot sauce. —my father and I said in unison.
—You don't change, and roast potatoes. —mom said with a smile.
—Great. —I said as I took the tablecloths and started setting the table for dinner.
As soon as I finished setting the table my parents brought dinner and we started eating dinner quietly, so long ago I hadn't eaten dinner at home, much less my favorite meal. While we were having dinner I remembered about the lights next door and decided to ask my parents.
—Who is living next door? —I asked curiously as I swallowed a bite of food.
—I don't know, honey. —mom replied.
—Have you ever seen them? —I asked again, surprised, putting a spoonful in my mouth.
—Well no. —thoughtful daddy said for a moment.
—They haven't met them even once. —this was really strange.
—No, apparently they're very secretive. —mom said as she took a sip of water.
—We only see the lights on every other weekend, they'll be ghosts. —my father replied in a mysterious tone.
—Or maybe spirits. —My mother laughed going along with it.
—Or they only use it on weekends. — I replied.
That seemed to be the obvious thing.
—If that's what it's supposed to be. —mom agreed with me.
—That's a strange thing. — I said still intrigued.
Why someone buy the house just to come over on the weekends, it didn't make any sense.
—Strange things happen here all the time. —dad said.
—You're right. —I said while we were all laughing.
We finished dinner and after helping to clear the table and wash the dirty dishes, I decided to take a walk around the city. I left the house and started walking to Lincoln Park, which was six blocks from my house. I walked around, sat in the park for a while, and then I came home. And as Dad said, strange things happen here very often, when I was getting home I could see a couple coming into the house next to me from afar, although I couldn't see who they were. At least it wasn't ghosts or spirits who turned on the lights. I continued walking up to the house and went straight up to my room, put on my nightclothes, and lay down on the bed.
I took my cell phone and rang Kate, the cell phone rang and she didn't pick up, how strange, after the sixth ring she answered.
—Yes! —she replied agitated.
—Kate, are you okay? — I asked her worried.
—Yes, perfectly, why you say that.
—Because you took so long to pick up the phone. — I asked her worried.
—Ah, it was far away from me, how you're doing over there. —she asked quickly changing the subject.
—Well, I just got back from a walk, how about your parents?
—I should have accepted your invitation and left with you, my parents are not at home, they had to make an urgent business trip. —she said and I could hear disappointment in his tone of voice.
—At least they warned you. —I asked her.
— They sent me a short message, as usual. —she answered me and I could hear in her voice that she was disappointed.
—You can come if you want, so you don't spend the weekend alone. — I tried to cheer her up.
—I'm not spending it alone. —she replied this time with a smile.
—No! — I told him very curiously.
—Elliot's with me, I invited him over for the weekend, I hope you don't mind.
—Upset with you, on the contrary, I'm happy for you. —I told her very excited.
—Thank you, I'll call you tomorrow. —she said goodbye to me.
—Have fun, say hi to Elliot for me, bye.
—Chao. —and hung up.
I knew she wouldn't waste her time. After talking to Kate, I lay in bed for a while, thinking that I would finally start working at the MET on Monday. Half an hour later I had put my head on the pillow and fell asleep.
The rest of the weekend passed quickly, on Friday Mom and I spent the day shopping and walking around the city. In the evening Kate called as she had promised and we were talking until late at night when we said goodbye to sleep. Saturday was spent in a SPA relaxing. On Sunday Dad had a barbecue in the backyard, and in the afternoon around 3:00 pm and after saying goodbye to my parents, I got in the car and left Newark behind to return to New York. I decided to come back early so I wouldn't get caught up in the night. The return trip took longer than usual as there was an accident on I-95 and traffic slowed down.
By the time I got to the apartment and parked the car in the underground garage it was about 4:30 pm. I went up to the apartment and to my surprise I found Kate sitting on the kitchen island, abstracted thinking, that was strange. She was never so thoughtful, she never even heard me come in, she was so focused on whatever was going on in her mind.
—Don't think about it and say yes. —I told her as she turned sharply and made a good jump off the sidewalk.
—Ana, you're back early. I didn't hear you come in. —she said smiling and came to me and hugged me.
—Yes, I've noticed. —I told her as we hugged.
—I was thinking. —she replied with a blank stare again.
—On Elliot, I guess, or I'm wrong. —I said smiling.
—Yes, I was thinking about him. —she said as she sat on the sofa in the living room and I accompanied her to her side.
—And what did he tell you that had you thinking? —I asked him curiously.
—He invited me to a party. —she said simply, but that was not enough to make him think so much.
—And you said yes, of course. —she stared at me.
—I told him I didn't know if I could go. —she said to me worried.
—What do you have to think about? —I asked her intrigued.
—The party is at his house, he wants to introduce me to his family and friends. —he said hesitantly.
—And what's wrong with that? —I asked her.
—I feel like this is going so fast, we only met a week ago and I remind you that I slept with him the day I met him, I'm not like that, I don't feel ready to meet his family so fast. —she said, putting his head in his hands.
—You love him. —Kate raised her head slightly and looked at me sideways.
—Yeah, I think so. —she replied stared at me with his blue eyes.
This was the first time I saw her hesitate in a relationship, she was not like that, she was very sure of herself. Apparently this relationship was completely different from all the other relationships she had had.
—I know I'm the least good at talking about relationships, but you told me yourself that you felt that he was the one, I think you should go, if he wants to introduce you to his family and friends it's because he loves you too or at least feels that you're important to him. —I told her honestly as she smiled.
—You think? —she said hopefully.
—Yeah, I think you should go. — I answered her as I got off the couch.
—Then I'm gonna call him and tell him to pick me up. —she said very excited to get off the couch.
—When is it, today? —I asked her frowning.
—Yes. —she said marked Elliot and walked away from me.
I went to my room to change my clothes and a few minutes later with a big smile on her face Kate came to me.
—I see you're happy. —I said smiling when I saw her happy.
—Yeah, Elliot picks me up at 7:30 pm.
—You come back? —I asked with an eyebrow laceration.
—I don't know, I'll text you so you won't worry, I'm going to take a bath. —and she left me sitting on the bed in my room very happy for her.
I looked for the suitcase in the living room and took it to my room and put it aside, I didn't feel like unpacking, I would do it another time.
I went to the balcony and opened the door for the air to flow, took my sketchbook, the Ipod and sat there to make another one of the many sketches of the New York sights while listening to music. Half an hour later Kate came into my room with her towel wrapped around her body. I took my hearing aids off as soon as I saw her come in.
—I need help, I don't know what to wear. —she said worried.
—I don't think I'm the best person for that. —I told her, closing the notebook.
—It doesn't matter, I need moral support. —she said as he pulled me into his room without even caring if the balcony door was open.
As I entered his room I found all the clothes in the closet on the bed, only a few pieces were still on the coat racks. I had never seen Kate so desperate, let alone not knowing what she was going to wear, she always knew what to wear, except today. I sat on the bed while Kate showed me all the clothes and said why she couldn't wear them.
—This is very formal, very casual, very sexy, very low-cut, a little low-cut. — and so it went from piece to piece.
An hour later I was lying in her bed, still watching Kate not knowing what was coming, and I was about to lose my temper.
—Kate, what's the point of the party? — I asked her, I was dizzy because of all the latest design clothes around me.
—They were going to celebrate some investment, or so I understood. —she said to me, sitting on the bed exhausted.
—Okay, so why don't you wear the red dress that's still in the closet, which is neither too casual, nor too low-cut, nor too sexy. —I said smiling.
—I really like that dress. —she said as she got to where she was in the closet and took it out.
He put it on and stood in front of the full-body mirror to look at it.
—You'll leave Elliot with her mouth open, you'll see. —I said excitedly.
— See, you were useful, I'll take this one. —she said with a smile.
—Then I can go now. —I asked her as I got out of bed.
—Yes, thank you. —and saying this I walked out of his room back to my iPod and my sketch.
Around 6:45pm, I decided to take a bath and as I left the bathroom I went to the kitchen to prepare some dinner. I was in the preparations for dinner when the doorbell rang.
—I'm going. —I yelled at Kate from the kitchen as I walked to the door.
—If it's Elliot, tell him I'll be right out. —she replied from the room.
I opened the door and in front of it with a huge smile on her face and dressed in dark jeans, white and black American shirt was Elliot. He seemed a little surprised when he saw me there instead of Kate.
—Hello Ana. When did you arrive? — he asked in amazement, apparently he did not expect to find me there.
—In the afternoon, I decided to return early instead of late at night. — I replied very smilingly.
—Kate didn't tell me you were coming back early, but I would have invited you to the party too. —he said with regret.
—Don't worry, plus, I'm exhausted.
—Kate is here. —he asked looking inward above my shoulders.
—Yes, come in, she's just finishing up. —I told him by opening the door and inviting him in.
Elliot walked in and stood there while he waited for Kate.
—I'll let her know you're here. —I said walking to her room.
There's no need, Ana, I'll be right out. —she said, leaving the room and walking to Elliot.
Elliot didn't say anything just looking up and down at Kate as she continued with her mouth open. Kate came to him and smiled at him.
—You were right, Ana, he was left with his mouth open. —Kate laughed at me while Elliot closed her mouth quickly and laughed too.
—You look beautiful in that dress. —he said, smiling and holding her by the waist.
—Thank you, we'll leave whenever you want. —Kate said to Elliot as he kissed her lightly on the cheek to keep her lipstick from running.
—So let's go. —Elliot said as she opened the door.
—I'll let you know if I stay. —Kate said to me as he arrived at the door.
—Ana, don't worry about Kate, I'll take care of her. —He said, pressing it harder against him.
—Yes, I know that.
—And don't worry, we're not coming back today. —He said as Kate looked at him in surprise.
—Okay, then I'll sleep peacefully, have fun. —I replied with a smile.
—Next time you're coming with us, that's a promise. —Elliot pointed a finger at me.
—All right, bye-bye. —I said as they left the apartment closing the door behind.
I went into the kitchen and finished making dinner consisting of macaroni and gravy, cheddar cheese and meatballs. I sat down to dinner while I watched the movie Warm Bodies. The movie ended and I was almost asleep, turned off the TV and went to bed. I set the alarm on the alarm clock and as soon as my head touched the pillow I fall asleep.