The Politician.

IX. Why would I do such a thing?(2)

It’s been a whole week since Daniel and I last spoke. I’m seeing him at the office again today and tomorrow. He’s still not here. He and Mariduena are much later than usual. Both of them value punctuality, and are always at the front door two minutes before eight AM.

I’m waiting for him to give me a date and a place. I’m not sure if asking him on the date in the first place possibly led him to believe that I would have to prepare the whole thing. Maybe I should take the initiative once again, and tell him to meet me on Saturday at some random romantic restaurant that Bianca will certainly provide me with details about.

I don’t go out for dinner very often. I’ve gone once with Carla and her family, to some Bistro near her home in Condesa, and maybe three more times to some random ones with Bianca and Pedro. Besides that, Selena and Rebecca have been trying to convince me to go on a night out with them for months, but with how busy things have been recently, it has been difficult to find an extra free slot in my schedule that has not already been allocated to Bianca.

I don’t know about restaurants and, more importantly, I don’t know romance. I need to find the perfect place, with equal amounts of fun and privacy. The environment needs to be calming, i am already anxious enough as it is; it is better if i don’t stress out about yet another thing.

This is something I’ll have to work out with Bianca’s help again, before i even bring it up to Daniel; that is if she does not go with her evil plan to potentially sabotage me.

Maybe I’ll just pick a date and let him choose the place.

Ah, here he comes, looking busy and concerned; passing by everyone with a determined “Hello”. He walks into Carla’s office, picks some things up, then heads straight back out. I expect him to come back any minute now, but almost an hour goes by, with no sign of him.

Maybe I missed him coming back in while my eyes were glued to the computer.

I’ll just wait for tomorrow; he must be busy.

It is the next day; still no sign of him. I thought that maybe I should give him my home phone number. Maybe we will have a better chance of planning our date if we speak outside of the office. All of this would be resolved if i owned a cellphone, but no matter how many times people try to convince me to get one, i still feel as though it is a terrible idea. I can’t tell them why, for obvious reasons. If i mentioned how i was afraid of being tracked, then they would ask more questions and be weirded out by my answers. Not to mention that divulging any information about my past will put them and I in more danger than necessary.

Paulo understood that. He has not called in months, and Bruno has to find some private time to call secretly now. The last time we facetimed, Paulo caught him. While Bruno did not get a chance to hang up soon enough, I was able to hear most of his concerns.

Paulo was worried about the same thing I: was worried about putting Bruno in a dangerous position. It was enough that he helped me leave Jamaica, move to his home country and find me a good job and apartment. He even went as far as paying the first six months' rent for me.

Paulo believed that everything should stop there. He was happy to see me safe, but that did not mean that my brothers were not still after me, and that they might also want to find who helped me escape. According to Paulo, because of this, Bruno needed to stay as far from me as possible. He was right, of course. So i stopped calling too, and I stopped answering. I was even starting to wonder if I should not just get rid of the laptop he helped me pay for, it was almost essential for work, and helped me keep contact with friends without the need for a phone. But maybe it could be just as helpful in tracing me, if anyone were to pay the right people.

I wait for Daniel the entire day, but only see Mariduena come in and out a few times. I contemplate potentially asking him where Daniel is, but i hesitate to do so, every chance i get with him.

He comes back in a third time. Now is my chance.

“Is Daniel not coming in today?” I ask him, while he sits on the chair facing Mr. Sanchez’s desk, waiting for him.

“No. Not for a while. He has a lot on his plate.” He responds, refusing to look at me, and refusing to let his face express any sort of importance given to our exchange.

“Oh. okay.” I won’t ask anything more.

“He needs to focus, you know. This office had too many distractions.” Once he gets to that final word, he looks at me directly.

I hate when things are insinuated. I would rather all things be obvious and said clearly.

“Distractions? I’m distracting him from his work, you mean. That is why you asked him not to come here anymore?” I start to boil again. I calm down before the end of the sentence. I can’t let him or anyone else believe that he has some sort of effect on me.

“No. Not at all. Why would I do such a thing? I only thought you two were friends. And that is just fine. I don’t see why a friend would be so distracting.” He smiles, as if he is winning a secret chess game.

I’m not playing. I smile, and refuse to retort, especially not in the way that he expects.

He goes on, about things that I can hardly hear anymore, and i keep ignoring him; he tries to get my attention, but Mr. Sanchez shows up at the ideal time, to save me from this misery.

He hands me a pamphlet with information that i inquired about months ago, for some volunteer work.

Despite Mariduena believing that he is my biggest problem, that is far from the truth. December is a difficult month for me; Christmas, a difficult holiday. I can’t take time off without something peaceful to do during this time, and I have always been interested in volunteer work. I specifically asked for places outside of Mexico City, to discover some new places and get away from the city. There are so many things that i did not keep with me from living in Kingston, but the peace I got from living by the ocean, in nature, is something that will never leave me. Mexico city was not the most active city in the world, but it still had city-like tendencies. I need quiet, I needed to start reading again, like I used to when i was younger.

Maybe I could invite Daniel for a few days after Christmas, if the date went well; if we even made it to the date at all.

One thing is certain; Mariduena is bothered and is now fully placing himself between me and any sort of enjoyment that does not involve him and his dreams.

I need to take initiative again, and not let this get in my way. I know when Mariduena Dessarollo is based, and i know that Daniel has his office there. I’m going to wait for my lunch break and head there via taxi; i’ll make it there and back just in time. But i have to be quick and hope that Mariduena does not have the same idea, to go there at the same time.