Return To Be Mine

FATAL ATTRACTION

ESTEFANÍA

Joshua was giving me that wounded look, the same one he had looked at me with at the altar two years ago.

At least I could get an answer to his treatment since that day. If I was lucky this time. No matter how much I asked him why he had changed his mind, he only spoke to me about karma and my sins. Nothing else.

When I met Joshua four years ago, things were different between him and me. We had an enviable relationship, we always laughed with each other and hardly ever fought, except when it came to the biggest slice of pizza. It seemed like we were made for each other.

I remember it was a summer night when we first met. I was working as a waitress at one of the city's most prestigious restaurants to pay for my education, and above all, to survive. I was alone in the world, I had to eat somehow.

The only one with me in life was my friend Josué, who had recommended me at the restaurant so that I would be accepted immediately when I went for the job interview. Despite knowing that being a waitress was hard work, I didn't give up. The tips helped me make ends meet, and that made me happy.

I saw Joshua for the first time, sitting at one of the tables I served, on a Saturday night. He was with a woman he was courting at that time. At least that's what I thought when I saw them together.

The girl smiled all the time with her red lips, tossing her blonde hair from time to time in an act of flirtation. I noticed that he ignored her while staring at his phone, and I could see that the interest was only coming from one side. Her.

"Good evening, welcome, my name is Estefanía and I'll be serving you tonight," I extended the menus to them, placing them on the table, as protocol indicated. "I'll leave the menu for you to look at. Can I offer you some wine or something to drink? Any appetizers? Or would you prefer to wait?"

"Good evening, Estefanía," the blonde greeted, never taking her eyes off her companion for the night.

She seemed to be interested in him, but he didn't seem to care about her company. He was absorbed in his own world.

"A bottle of wine will be fine," he said, still not taking his eyes off his phone. He ordered one of the best wines in the house, which excited me because with the commission from the sale, I had enough money to cover my rent. However, I had to hide my excitement.

She looked at him with a coquettish air, trying to get his attention with her low-cut top, but Joshua didn't seem to care. He took the menu without looking around. He had an attitude of indifference towards everything around him.

I apologized to them, turned around to get the wine and give them time to choose from the menu. I had left them alone when I stepped away. When I returned with the bottle, I couldn't help but overhear part of their conversation.

"...that's why I'm so excited. Vicky and I are going to try on wedding dresses in Paris. Next week, I'm going with my friends for a bachelorette party, and they arranged for me to have an appointment with a very famous designer. It will definitely be the wedding of the year," she said.

Joshua was focused on the menu. He had a look of "get me out of here, please."

"Alright. I hope you have fun with your friends," he added politely. His attention was still elsewhere.

"What are you going to do for your bachelor party?" I knew they were engaged at that moment.

"I don't know."

They fell into an uncomfortable silence. I felt the tension at the table and decided to wait a bit longer before approaching.

"Next week, we have to go try the menu. I was thinking of having a French-style dinner," she tried to break the ice with him.

"Whatever you want. It's up to you," he said.

I decided not to interrupt their conversation and waited for things to calm down between them.

"Aren't you excited about our wedding?" the blonde asked, a bit stressed.

It was fortunate that the restaurant was busy, so their argument went unnoticed, except by me, as I was relatively close to them.

Joshua looked up at the woman for the first time since they had arrived at the restaurant. He still had that serious look he came with. He sighed.

"Paola, I'm sorry to tell you this, but you and I both know that our marriage is not based on love. I'm sorry, but if I'm here having dinner with you, it's because my parents insisted that I spend time with you. I'm not interested in the wedding details. So, I trust you," he said.

Paola swallowed and nodded.

"Alright." She paused. She looked dismayed. "At least we could try to get along." She looked away at a random spot on the table.

"That's fine," Joshua smiled briefly.

Paola's eyes welled up with tears. My boss saw me from a distance, urging me to hurry because the restaurant was full that night and there were many tables to attend to. I had to go back to take the order in the midst of the tension between them.

When I asked for their order, Joshua's eyes met mine for the first time. I felt an electric current run through my body as he looked at me with those blue eyes. It was something unexplainable, something that only happens once in a lifetime. Our gazes locked for the first time, feeling a strange emptiness in my chest. It wasn't the way he looked at me, nor was it the way our breaths quickened our chests. There was something more that we couldn't understand, and we couldn't help it.

The attraction was instant, although I didn't know if I should call it love.

***

However, despite the beautiful memories flooding my mind, I must admit that finding myself in the present with him as my husband, my new future was uncertain.

I got up from bed clumsily.

"Did I know? Of course I knew," he clenched his jaw, showing his teeth as if he wanted to destroy me.

I felt a tightness in my chest, as if screams were stuck inside me.

"Why did you marry me? If you knew what happened and it affected you, why continue with the marriage?"

I didn't look away from him. He still looked as handsome as the first day I met him. I didn't want to see him like this anymore.

"Because I found out before entering to wait for you at the altar."

My lips trembled. I closed my eyes, trying not to think. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and uncontrollably, the tears silently poured out. I walked past him to leave the room.

I noticed Joshua looking at me with his teary eyes before I left the room.

I couldn't be there.

I took refuge in the garden, crying silently for everything that had happened.

It took two hours for me to come back into the house. I didn't want to run into him, but to my misfortune, as I entered, we bumped into each other face to face when I opened the door to the vestibule.

I lowered my gaze. I didn't want him to see my swollen eyes from crying so much.

"There will be an anniversary party at the company next Saturday, and everyone expects me to attend with you. The chauffeur will pick you up at eight in the evening," he said.

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to continue with this."

Our marriage was a sham.

"Estefanía, you're going to that party whether you like it or not." His tone of voice wasn't severe, but it was authoritative.

"Why don't we just stop, Joshua?"

"Because I don't feel like it."

"You could give me a divorce, and that would end everything for us."

"Giving you a divorce would make things easy for you. Eight o'clock on Saturday. You better be ready, or there will be consequences."

It was the first time he had shown up in three months, and I didn't know what he was trying to achieve by taking me to that party. The last few times we had appeared in public, he had completely ignored me. He only approached me when a photographer was nearby, taking pictures of the guests and the event in general.

Having said that, Joshua left the house, leaving me alone, as always. I turned around to see him get into his car and leave the house that was supposedly ours.

I didn't hear from him again until the following week when Camilo, the chauffeur at his disposal, came to pick me up to take me straight to the party. An event that would undoubtedly change my life forever.