Chapter 9
1051 Words
-You tell me.
-I think about adoption.
Was she crazy?
She wanted to have his son, but not to give him away.
If she wanted to, at that moment she would tell him about her childhood, her adolescence.
adolescence.
But no. What did anyone care about her past?
It was hers, and she alone had suffered it for her own enrichment.
Suddenly she said something unexpected:
-Alice, shall we have dinner together tonight? I could talk to him about some things.
He was a nice guy, human.
He could be a great friend, apart from his profession as a gynecologist.
-I invite her,- he added. I'd like to get to know her better.
What for?
-I'm sorry, doctor,- she said, because she would rather not have any close friends.
I thank you for your good wish.
-Don't dine with me over there...
-Well, no...
He reached for the prescription pad and wrote:
-Take it. Take those tests and come to see me on Thursday.
* * *
She went down the street alone, thinking about it all.
Why should she?
The doctor was good, but she preferred him to be just a doctor.
Man, dude, no.
That night she pestered Juan again.
-But, Alfredo, why?
-Curiosity.
-So alone?
No, no, maybe it was something else.
But he preferred not to analyze what it was.
-You go, you rummage, you grope... Juan, you know how to do all that.
-And of course,- Juan despaired, -with women who know where they're going, what they're looking for, what they're looking for.
what they're looking for, what they want. But that girl... she's not looking for anything.
-Are you sure everyone pays so much money for a simple massage and a sauna?
sauna?
-Go and see for yourself.
-Juan, don't you see? I respect her. I still don't know why I do it.
-Because she's respectable. I'm telling you, I know women well, and I know those
and those slums where they hide their lightheartedness.
-You suppose she...
-Look, Al, I don't know anything about that. But I don't dare to find out either.
She decided that afternoon.
He had her free.
Why not after all?
He could lose her as a client, but he could certainly win her as a s****l friend.
as a s****l friend.
Or could he?
He was not a sadist or a r****t.
But he was a man with his logical cravings, and he certainly wanted Alice.
Alice.
Enough to expose his dignity?
Yes, he did.
He knew how much he stood to lose as a professional, and how much he stood to gain as a man.
as a man.
He didn't tell anyone.
Besides, his fellow clinicians were unaware of all the racket he had in his mind.
in his mind. Only Juan, but perhaps Juan himself was unaware of his intimate obsession.
Because he knew he was obsessive, obstinate.
It was hot. In the apartment he was drowning.
He went to the pool. He swam for a long time, as if he wanted to dissipate all the toxins.
all the toxins. Moral and physical toxins.
In the middle of the afternoon, around five o'clock, he went home and took a shower, and got dressed.
dressed.
He had to go.
To tell him what?
He didn't know yet.
Maybe tell her about the future child, and about the childless parents hoping to adopt
one.
That child Alice was going to have could be adopted. Why not?
He would live a placid life, oblivious to his mother's problems?
But did she have problems?
Did she have any problems?
He didn't know her at all, he didn't know where she came from. He only thought he knew
what he saw through her eyes. Mature, thoughtful, enigmatic, firm at times, hesitant at others.
at times, hesitant at others.
Which one to choose?
He saw himself before the house with the elegant doorway.
She did not hesitate.
She entered the elevator.
It was the time she was working.
What would she say?
He wasn't going in a professional way, but quite the opposite, as a client.
But... what was he looking for?
He didn't know.
With his jeans and white sweater... he didn't look like a doctor. Y
he didn't feel like a doctor either. He felt like such a lonely man.
ALICE dismissed the two ladies who had gone for a deep cleansing, a massage and a sauna.
a deep cleansing, a massage and a corresponding sauna. She felt tired. Until
Until then she had not felt tired. The pregnancy was undoubtedly responsible for
for the fact that her daily work made her more and more tired every day. Nothing was noticeable and no one knew her condition.
no one knew of her condition.
Kind in her work, correct, delicate. But her life had nothing to do with her profession.
her profession. On the other hand, she was neither communicative nor in any way wished to be pitied.
pity for her. She therefore preferred to remain introverted.
It was almost eight o'clock. She still had two more massages to give to two gentlemen who one day
who went in there one day thinking, no doubt, that the whole bush was oregano, and they were mistaken
that, in time, they became two regular customers, but they never tempted the young woman again.
tempted the young masseuse again.
She thought, as she wiped the sweat from her forehead, of the good that Daniel had done her with his presence.
her with his presence. It was curious, yes, to see Dan learning how to give massages, to
the sauna to work well, to share with her the daily chores.
A veterinarian turned -esthéticienne- turned out to be the most fun thing in the world.
the funniest thing in the world.
A great person, that Dan. A great man and a sincere companion.
Inside the white coat, with dark circles under his eyes due to fatigue, a great desire to finish
to finish and to lie down on her bed to rest without sleep... she was gripped by a strong desire. The
life was sacrificial. She earned money, it is true, but with sacrifice and effort.
Every evening she ended up exhausted.
She was running the back of her hand across her forehead when she heard the doorbell ring.
- Writer
