Return To Be Mine

DARN CINDERELLA

ESTEFANÍA

I hadn't paid attention that my graduation party was that same week. Nor did I realize that my general medical practice was also in progress. I had taken my exam for the specialization and... well, now I have to wait.

“You can't be more absent-minded, woman,” Josué scolded me.

“I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that we were graduating today. I've been absorbed in the hospital, and I also wasn't aware that the practice had already finished.”

“What would you do without me, Estefanía?”

“I'd be lost without you, my love.” We had always spoken to each other that way. Josué and I had that part of affectionate siblings. We had always had each other.

Josué had accompanied me to do my panic shopping. We went to find my last-minute graduation dress. I didn't want to wear the one I had used at the party the last time I saw Joshua. It brought back bad memories, and I didn't want to be associated with Joshua because of that dress. Besides, I wanted to buy one with my own effort.

Ms. Adela had left me some money as a thank you for taking care of her for a year, besides being my graduation gift from her.

We headed to the mall, until we reached a formal dress store. I tried on several dresses until Josué and I found the perfect one.

“You're going to look like a goddess with that dress.” My friend was looking at me proudly, while I looked at myself in the mirror. “Your husband is missing out, the jackal.”

I sighed.

“I don't want to think about him tonight.” I turned to my friend, who was looking at me with pride. “This is my night and it has taken blood, sweat, and tears to finally become a doctor.” I turned to see my reflection. I was young and had a future ahead of me. The word "doctor" echoed in my head. I felt a sense of joy starting to rise from my stomach. I bit my lower lip, and couldn't help but turn to look into my friend's eyes. “Damn, Josué, we're doctors now.”

He nodded, furrowing his brow and smiling in slow motion. He put his hand to his mouth.

“Damn, yes... D*** it, Fanny. In the end, we made it.”

We started screaming with excitement and held hands, jumping for joy, because one of our biggest dreams had come true.

“And this tattoo? I hadn't seen it before,” Josué asked me as he helped me zip up my dress.

“It's a pansy flower. They're my favorites.” I remember when in a rebellious impulse I got it on my lower back. When Joshua discovered my tattoo, he gave me a bouquet of pansies the next day. I had told him that I wouldn't accept any other flowers that weren't specifically those.

“And what do you think with them?” he asked, making a play on words.

“How silly. It's the flower of innocence, modesty, and decency. It also signifies the birth of love and...” I took a breath for the irony I was about to say, “fidelity.”

“You are faithful to your dream. Stick with that.”

I smiled with a bitter sweetness, but Josué was right.

That night would be our night and no one else's. So, nothing better than some good shoes, a charming dress, and a lot of dancing could make me forget about that bitter taste.

I made sure there was no trace of Joshua in the house that night. Since I didn't have anyone else to share that moment with besides Josué, Juventina offered to go with me, and on the other hand, Jaime had told us that he would be on standby in case my husband came to the house to leave like two damn Cinderellas before midnight. I hoped that wouldn't be the case.

Jaime took me and Juve to the event venue. When we arrived, Josué was there with his boyfriend Misael waiting for us at the entrance.

“Fanny, d*** it! You look incredible!” Josué shouted as he saw me arrive.

I blushed immediately.

“My girl has always looked like this. Even with that gray uniform they make you wear sometimes.” Juventina was such a sweetheart.

I just smiled.

“They're right, honey. You look so good that your husband looks like a fool for not being by your side.” Misael hugged my friend and they admired me.

“Enough with the compliments. We all went through this. I'm not the only one.” We started laughing. “Now let's go, I want to dance until my feet hurt and make this dress worth it. It cost me more than half of my last paycheck.”

“Always so modest,” Josué mumbled.

The graduation party was wonderful. The ceremony had been that morning, and I had an amazing time. I graduated with honors, and achieved the first phase of my dream. That morning, the only person I shared my victory with again was my friend Josué. My soul brother.

I headed to the dance floor with my friend while Juve had an interesting conversation with Misael, as they both had a fondness for painting. He was a painter, but for her, that was a dream that was cut short.

“It was worth it, Fanny!” Josué shouted. We were both jumping to the rhythm of Dua Lipa.

“What did you say?” The flashing lights were hitting us directly in the face.

“Run!”

We kept dancing until our feet screamed for a break. Josué went straight to the table where Juve and Misael were still talking. I signaled to them that I was going for a drink. They nodded. The high heels were torturing my feet, but I didn't want to lose the glamour. Lately, I didn't have many opportunities to dress up like that, the way I liked. In the end, the pain in my feet won, and I ended up taking off my heels.

I approached the drinks bar with the shoes dangling from one hand. I ordered a glass of rosé wine.

“I saw you at the ceremony this morning.” A male voice startled me. I jumped in surprise.

“Oh my God. Doctor, you scared me.” Dr. Montes de Oca was next to me, ordering a glass of wine. He smiled at me.

“I don't think I'm so ugly as to scare you.” I laughed softly. It was ironic that he said that because he looked like one of those Hollywood actors. “Have you considered the offer I made you?”

“I don't think I can accept your offer, doctor.” There are many things that are still not in their place. “I applied for my specialization exam here in this city.”

“It's a shame that the best grade of the generation is rejecting my offer. My offer still stands because you truly have the potential to do it. I can get you accepted into the university in my city.”

“How could you do that?” I furrowed my brow at such an offer.

“Let's just say it's the advantage of being who I am.” He raised his eyebrows at me. “And you know very well that university is better than Parkyard, the one you applied to.”

“I...” I was speechless.

“Talk to your husband about it. I'm sure he can understand. If you change your mind, you already have my card.” He took his glass to leave, but not before pausing. “Oh, and by the way, call me by my name, Marcelino. I hate being called "usted".”

I smiled at him.

“Thank you so much, Marcelino.”

I watched him disappear into the sea of celebrators. I stayed there, lost in my thoughts. I remembered that I had had an argument with Joshua before he asked me to be his girlfriend.

***

He had circled around the restaurant twice a week for a month. Usually, he would come at the last hour, before we closed the restaurant. My boss would receive a nice tip from him so that I would be the one to serve him. The first two times, I didn't think much of it, as I took it as a coincidence that I had to serve him. But after those times, my boss would approach me and order me to attend Joshua's table, as he was coming alone and not with the blonde woman I had seen him with.

“Why don't you sit down and chat with me for a while?” He invited me to his table one of the last times he had come.

By then, I was a bundle of nerves because that raven black hair and those blue eyes caused butterflies in my stomach. It had been like that since the first minute I saw him.

“Excuse me?” I raised an eyebrow at his invitation.

“I'm inviting you for a drink. Sit down.” He smiled at me. He gave me the same look he had given me since day one. That electrifying feeling I had with him had not disappeared, on the contrary, that electrifying feeling was growing.

I laughed softly.

“No.”

He furrowed his brow.

“Why not?” He smiled mischievously and I felt my cheeks burn.

“Because... I'm at work?” I questioned him sarcastically.

“Oh, good point.” He put a hand to his chin, thinking about what he would do.

“What do you do after the restaurant closes?”

“I clean my station, the tables I attended, refill whatever is necessary like the salt shakers, and if there's chaos in the kitchen, I have to help with dishes. So, I have to hurry.”

“Well,” he got up from his seat when he saw he was the last customer. “Then I'm going to help you so you can leave faster. Where do I start?”

“What?” It was inevitable for me to turn as red as coals. “No. If you do that as a customer, I'll get fired.”

Joshua started by taking his dirty dishes towards the kitchen. I followed him from behind.

“Give me that, please.” I was in a panic.

“I'm going to tell your boss that I'm helping you as someone who's courting you.”

That man was taking my breath away with his words, and my heart was pounding from the craziness he was doing.

“You can't come here and say that you're courting me.” I couldn't help but laugh out loud. “Who in their right mind tries to win a woman over by washing dishes?” I managed to take the dirty plates from his hands.

“Why not?” he shrugged.

“At least you could say that you're my friend and wait for me to finish work like a normal person would.”

He shook his head, pursing his lips.

“I can wait for you outside if you want to reject my offer to help you clean, but not the part about being friends.”

“Why not?”

“Because a man and a woman can't have a selfless friendship. At least not on the man's part.” He shrugged.”

“I beg to differ, I have male friends, and there's no problem with that.”

“And I'm not saying that you can't have a normal conversation with them, but they will always have the intention of taking you to bed. The reason they approach you is because you seem attractive to them, if it's not that, there are two options, either they're gay or they find you too ugly.”

Joshua had always been attracted to men.

“I don't agree with you. If you can't be my friend, then I think it's time to pay the bill and go home.” I smiled, pointing to the exit.”

“I could say that I want to be your friend, and then you would think that I don't find you attractive, and holy mother, you are more attractive than a fusion of Angelina Jolie, Megan Fox, and Jennifer Lawrence.” I couldn't help but laugh. “So, if I told you that I want to be your friend, I would be lying.”

I walked towards the kitchen. He followed me.

“So, you want to take me to bed,” I stated. “But you have a girlfriend.” I stopped to turn around and look him in the eyes.

“It's obvious that I want to take you to bed, but more than that, I want to get to know you. There's something strange about you and I just want to find out, okay?” I was silent for a moment. He had felt the same way as I did. “And about the girlfriend, actually...” He sighed. “It's my parents who want her to be my girlfriend.”

I remained quiet. We looked at each other for a moment. Finally, I sighed.

“It's better if you find me hideous, so you can be my friend.”

“I don't think that's going to happen.”

We smiled. That night, Joshua had paid my boss a good tip to let him help me clean up at work and take me home.

***

I smiled as I remembered what had happened.

I stared at the place where the doctor had gone and wondered if I looked hideous enough to strike up a friendship with me. Nah, he had been quite professional in offering me the opportunity to do my internships at his hospital.

At the end of the night, Jaime had come for me and Juventina at the party venue. It was four in the morning, and it had been one of the best days of my life.

“Any news, Jaime?” I asked as I got into the car with Juve, after saying goodbye to Josue and Misael.

“Nothing, Fanny. Did you have fun?” Jaime started the car.

“You have no idea how much fun Fanny has. She's terrible at dancing, and yet she does it. What a brave soul.” Juve joked.

— I accept that I'm terrible. — I laughed. There was no need to lie about something that was obvious.

We arrived home exhausted but happy. As soon as I got to my room, the first thing I did was throw my slippers aside and flop onto the bed. I was about to fall asleep when I heard my phone ring. It was probably Joshua telling me they had arrived home, but when I opened w******p, I saw that it was an unknown number.

I opened the messages, and in that moment, my life changed. My breath left me, and tears began to flow uncontrollably as I saw the pictures of Joshua in bed with another woman. It was Paola.

Paola: What you took from me has returned to me.

I threw the phone aside. My tears were blurring my vision and thoughts. I had to get out of here and risk being found. I had to risk tearing Joshua out of my heart. With tears in my throat, I got up from bed, took off my graduation dress, and put on jeans and a blouse that Josue had given me.

I ran to grab a suitcase to pack the few belongings that I had bought myself, leaving everything else behind, including the gray clothes. My life with Joshua was over. The pain I was feeling was the same pain he had felt two years ago. I felt like my life was being torn away, he once told me that.

Once I had packed everything, I sat down to write a letter to him, tears slightly dampening the paper. When I finished, I left it folded on my bedroom desk along with the wedding ring. Taking it off felt like knowing I was letting a dream come true die. We would continue to hurt each other if I stayed, and I was beginning to replace love with hatred.

In a fit of rage, I started destroying everything in my room, from pictures on the walls to the electrical appliances that went flying and crashed on the floor. I stormed out of my room, screaming and throwing things in my path, as if that would somehow hurt him.

Juventina and Jaime came out immediately upon hearing the disaster I was causing.

“Ahhh!” I screamed furiously, throwing a picture of our wedding to the ground.

“What's wrong, my girl?” Juventina asked me.

“What's wrong? This is what's wrong.” I handed her the phone for her to see the pictures. I immediately grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Jaime stared at me in shock. “I'm not going to kill anyone, Jaime.” I walked past him, and I went to the floor, destroying the picture of him and me with the knife, as if I wanted to kill that memory of when we had a photoshoot one week before our wedding.

Juve and Jaime let me vent while tears streamed down my face, feeling choked in my chest. I stopped when I grew tired of doing it. The housekeeper hugged me, and I cried a little with her. Once I had calmed down, I wiped away my tears and finally spoke.

“I'm leaving. I don't want us to keep hurting each other, and I don't want to hate him, but I'm starting to. Now I know what he felt.” I wiped away my tears.

“But you have accepted your mistake, and I think it's okay for you to start fresh somewhere better, my girl.” Juve was in tears, just like Jaime.

“Leave Fanny, we'll take care of Mr. when he comes.” Jaime smiled at me sympathetically.

I hugged them both.

:Thank you for everything. Thank you for supporting me so much and for supporting me in becoming a doctor. I promise to come back and thank you properly.” They were the only ones who had helped me over these past two years.

“Take care, my girl.” Juventina said.

“Do you want me to take you somewhere?” Jaime asked. He was concerned about my emotional state.

“No. I don't want to involve you any further. I don't want you to know where I'm going, because I don't want him to find me or know about me again.”

I smiled at them in the midst of a devastated home, just like my marriage. I took my suitcase and left Joshua's life without a trace of me.

“My girl.” Javier hugged me. The older man had always had a paternal instinct towards me. “If there's anything we can do for you...”

“You've done too much for me, and my life won't be long enough to thank you for your support in helping me achieve my dream.”

I left like a damn Cinderella, without leaving the glass slippers behind.