Paula Rouco is on a long distance bus for the first time in her life.
After asking Lastra for the exact address of Severo’s house, she ventures there, not quite sure if he would be angry.
Severo Laris is the only person she has ever met who is more suspicious than her father.
But still, she wanted to go to him and explain, face to face, what her relationship with Angelo was.
Mostly because she missed him, she ran to town to look for him without his family knowing.
The thought of seeing Severo Laris in an hour or so made the mood better.
On the other side of the window, the sky is darkening, the bus is speeding down the highway, and although the ride is boring, you can’t sleep through the jump.
…
After an hour and a half of travel, the bus arrived in the city and one by one people got off, the place Paula Rouco was going to, called Cordoba City.
It wasn’t long before the bus driver warned, “Cordoba City is here, get off if you need to get off.”
Paula Rouco shot out, loaded up her school bag and exited the car through the back door.
Next to the station, there are many motorcycles and electric Mazdas.
Someone is hurrying, “Where to, little girl? I’ll give you a ride.”
“I want to go to Cordoba City 29, how do I get there please?”
“Ten dollars, I’ll take you, it’s too far from Cordoba City, you can’t walk.”
Without haggling, Paula Rouco jumped straight into the car and after a bumpy ride, they arrived in ten minutes at the entrance to the town of Cordoba Ciudad.
The driver said, “Girl, find out for yourself exactly what number it is, Cordoba Ciudad is a big town and there are also ex Cordoba Ciudad and post Cordoba Ciudad. ”
Once Paula Rouco had paid, the driver drove off in his electric car and she was left alone at the entrance to the town, momentarily confused at the number of families.
She couldn’t go from house to house, and the old teacher said there was an earlier Cordoba Ciudad and a later Cordoba Ciudad, so she couldn’t find Severo’s house even if she searched all night.
A glance at the phone showed it was nine o’clock.
Paula Rouco called Severo Laris, but there was no answer.
The girl, carrying a small school bag and a cell phone flashlight, had to walk into town and search every house.
…
Severo Laris had finished showering and came out of the bathroom while his mother Modeste was washing dishes in the kitchen.
“Severo, just now I heard your phone ring, but I’m not very good at answering it, so I didn’t give it to you. It was your classmate calling.”
Severo Laris picked up the cell phone he had on the table and looked at it, caller ID, lita.
The call was returned and the phone was turned off.
Severo Laris frowned slightly.
Soon after, Severo Laris turned on his computer to get ready for work, but couldn’t help but pick up his phone and open Facebook.
Tapping the Paula Rouco dialog box, he sent a message, “Phone on.”
But after a long time, there was still no response.
Severo Laris, in a somewhat optimistic mood, closed his computer after glancing at the stock market direction chart.
Rufio’s call came in.
“Severo, has Paulita arrived at your house yet?”
Severo Laris’ brow furrowed: “My house?”.
“Yes, Susana told me that Paulita ran to your town in a bus and just now Paulita called me to ask me if your house was in the old Cordoba City or in the later Cordoba City, which I don’t know…. ”
Severo Laris shuddered, hung up the phone, put on a jacket and went out.
Modeste came out of the kitchen and wondered, “Severo, where are you going at this hour?”
“My girlfriend is here and I’m going to pick her up.”
Modeste stared at him, “A girlfriend? You’re in love, huh?”
Severo Laris was already on his way out the door and Modeste reacted with a smile on his face; the boy was finally getting the hang of it.
…
Paula Rouco had wandered around town in the dead of night and couldn’t find Cordoba Ciudad-29, and now her cell phone was dead, so where was she going to find Severo’s house in the dark of night?
It was a cold October night in the city, and she was freezing in only a thin dress.
After managing to reach the door of a house and seeing someone in the courtyard, Paula Rouco hurried to ask, “Excuse me, do you know where the Severo family lives?”
“I don’t know, I have never heard of this person, Cordoba Ciudad is very big, you are talking about a son of this family, then for sure I don’t know, you will have to say the names of his parents, maybe I know them”.
Paula Rouco was lost; would she be left tonight lying on the town road, sleeping in the middle of the street, if she kept looking for each family?
It’s very cold.
…
Paula Rouco was nowhere to be found in Severo Laris’ Cordoba City, so it is assumed that she fled to the old Cordoba City.
Severo Laris’ steps were swift and wide, and she was anxious; there was little law and order in this city, and for the moment there was no watch if any miscreant led her along the dark roads.
Arriving at the old Cordoba City, Severo Laris saw at last the small, slender figure standing in the dull, yellow lamppost, laden with a yellow school bag, walking dazedly.
The taut heart strings relaxed for a moment.
It’s a good thing she’s okay.
Paula Rouco’s head was bowed, but seeing another figure in the lamppost, she looked up and saw the cold, grim face of Severo Laris.
Maybe she was too anxious to see him, or maybe she was too cold to think about it, so she jumped up and threw herself into his arms.
“I can’t find your house … I’ve been looking for a long time and my phone has run out of battery.”
Severo Laris turned away from her, his eyes downcast as he scolded her, “Who gave you permission to come to me alone at night?”
“…”
Severo Laris’ brow furrowed deeply and his gaze was even harsher, “Paula Rouco, do you think this is funny? This is where you belong?”
He was fierce and yelled at her, and his eyes reddened with aggression.
“How is it not my place to come, this is your house, is it wrong for me to come to you?”
She had come all this way to meet him, and he screamed in her face.
Severo Laris looked up and clenched his brow bone, exasperated and impotent, as if he were suppressing his temper.
Paula Rouco was running a runny nose, the tip of her nose reddened and her watery eyes misted over, making her look especially pained.
“I miss you! I’ve been on a bus for almost two hours, I’ve been looking for you for almost an hour, I’ve called you and you don’t answer, I’ve sent you Facebook messages since I came back to La Ciudad Santa from vacation and you don’t answer, so what am I going to do, I have to come looking for you!”
“That made me like you so much, and I knew you didn’t like me that much, so I had to keep taking the initiative.”
“Severo Laris, do you despise me because you think I’ve taken the initiative to the point of losing the reserve a girl should have?”
“I didn’t want to come to see you either, but it’s just that I missed you and wanted to explain what happened that day at the airport.”
“Me, I’m just afraid … That you’ll never speak to me again.”
Her eyes were red from crying.
Severo Laris reached out and grabbed her wrists, pulling her into his arms and lowering his head to kiss her on the lips.
The two figures were entwined in the streetlight, the man’s large hand grasping the back of the girl’s head in a long, long kiss.
Until the girl in his arms was on the verge of having difficulty breathing, the man released her slightly, but his big hand was still cupping her little face and he said in a low, husky voice, word for word, “I will not ignore you.”