Right after final exams, Estrella Berrocal received an invitation from Claudi to come play at Imperial and stopped by the school to see Paula Rouco, who wanted to return with her to La Ciudad Santa.
Estrella Berrocal had just arrived at the girls’ dormitory and had called Paulita several times, but no one answered.
Estrella Berrocal had to walk into the dorm and ask the resident aunt, “Hello, I am the mother of freshman English student Paula Rouco, may I go to her dorm to see her?”
Seeing Estrella Berrocal’s friendly face and elegant dress, the hostess said, “Yes, you can check in here.”
Estrella Berrocal checked in and went to Paula Rouco’s hostel.
The bedroom door was open and someone was inside, but Estrella Berrocal politely knocked on the door anyway.
Buena, who is packing to go home, turns her eyes and sees a pretty woman in the doorway whom she remembers a little, but doesn’t remember where she has seen her before.
“Are you?”
Estrella Berrocal smiled slightly and said, “I’m Paula’s mother and I couldn’t get through to her on the phone, so I thought I’d come wait for her in the bedroom. Are you her roommate?”
Buena realized that it was no wonder she looked familiar; Paula Rouco’s parents had come to the dorm once at the beginning of the term.
“I’m her roommate. But … don’t you know she doesn’t live in the dorm?” asked Buena shyly.
Estrella Berrocal frowned slightly, “Not in the dorm, he didn’t tell me, where else does he live if not in the dorm?”
I don’t think Adam Rouco bought Paulita a bachelor pad near the school, but if he had, he would have told her and she wouldn’t have been unaware of it.
Buena saw an opportunity to tease: “Paulita is living with her boyfriend, aunt, didn’t you know? I thought Paulita had told you and received grief from the family before she went to live with her boyfriend.”
Boyfriend?
Estrella Berrocal’s brow furrowed even more.
Since when did Paulita have a boyfriend? And is she living together?
This was certainly a thunderclap that caught Estrella Berrocal off guard.
“Yes, Auntie, did I say something wrong?” Buena looked like a witticism and covered her mouth.
Estrella Berrocal said, “No, thank you, I have things to do, so I’ll leave you.”
“Take care, Aunt.”
Buena watched Estrella Berrocal’s back as she walked away, a smile of triumph crossing her eyes.
Paula Rouco is not afraid of the world, but she is afraid of her parents, isn’t she?
Let her parents educate her on how to behave.
…
Estrella Berrocal came out of the shelter and got a call from Paula Rouco.
“Hi Estrella, I was in the cafeteria and it was too noisy to hear the phone, did you miss me when you called?”
Estrella Berrocal was not happy to hear her daughter’s soft, childlike voice, but her voice was slightly cold: “Paulita, I’m here at the Imperial, I’m under your bedroom, come see me.”
Paula Rouco’s alarms went off and her heart beat like a roller coaster.
Shit, Estrella wouldn’t have known she had moved in with her boyfriend!
Paula Rouco didn’t even finish her lunch and ran toward the dorm building with her backpack.
As she neared the back of the dorm building, Paula Rouco caught a glimpse of Estrella Berrocal. “Estrella!”
Paula Rouco ran up to her, breathing heavily, “Estrella, why did you come without saying hello?”
Estrella Berrocal looked at her gasping and said, “If I had greeted you, I probably wouldn’t even have known you had a boyfriend, let alone that you had the nerve to live with one now that you don’t even live in the school dormitory…”
“…” Paula Rouco’s little face turned white on the spot.
“Tell me, Paulita, what other scandalous secrets are you keeping from me and your father?”
Paula Rouco immediately shook her little hand and head like a rattle, “No more! I swear!”
Estrella Berrocal bit her lip, feeling that this was too big for her, and pulled out her phone to call Adam Rouco.
Paula Rouco grabbed her phone as quickly as she could, “Estrella what are you doing?”
“Call your father and tell him what you’ve done.”
“No!”
Paula Rouco, with a sobbing face and a flat mouth, grabbed Estrella Berrocal’s hand and shook it petulantly, almost crying, “Estrella, please don’t tell dad yet, okay? Estrella, you said you love me the most, so please help me hide it for a while, okay? If I don’t tell, if you don’t tell, daddy won’t know!”.
Estrella Berrocal looked at her with a frown and sighed, “Paulita, usually I can help you hide when you get in trouble, but you know you’re too bold this time? No, I have to call your father and tell him, and sooner or later he’ll find out, and this time, I won’t be your accomplice.”
“Star, no… I’m wrong I can’t? Please, Star, daddy’s going to make me put on my face.”
“Face the wall there is light, Paula Rouco, you know you’ve gone too far this time?”
Paula Rouco, with tears in her eyes, nodded her head hurriedly and politely, “I know, I’ve gone too far, Estrella save me you, don’t ever warn daddy. ”
Estrella Berrocal was so frustrated by her pouting that she dropped her little hand and said with a straight face, “I can keep your father out of this for now, but you need to tell me exactly who your boyfriend is, how long you’ve been dating him and who he is.”
Paula Rouco put her little hands up in a vow, “Definitely.”
Estrella Berrocal took Paula Rouco to a quiet coffee shop near the school.
Estrella Berrocal ordered a latte and Paula Rouco ordered a cappuccino and a small muffin and cake for dessert.
Estrella Berrocal looked at her daughter with a serious expression, “From now on, confessions are lenient and resistance is hard, so be honest.”
Paula Rouco’s face fell: “Are you my real mother? It’s like torturing a prisoner.”
“Paulita, now you are a prisoner, and when your father comes to torture you, it won’t be simple torture, it will be severe torture.”
Severe torture …
Paula Rouco shrunk her little neck and shuddered.
“What was the man’s name?”
“Severo Laris.”
Estrella Berrocal growled softly, “What a name, and it goes with yours.”
Paula Rouco, upon hearing this, immediately narrowed her eyes wide and smiled in agreement, “Yes, of course!”
Estrella Berrocal threw cold water on her, “But no matter how good the other’s name is, your father and I are not going to match it.”
Paula Rouco’s heart dropped to her feet and she gave a fierce, milky “Oh.”
“Is he from your school?” asked Estrella Berrocal.
“Yes. He’s our Alumni. A third-year student.”
…
Estrella Berrocal got to know this Severo Laris a little better after asking all the questions.
“Arrange for that boyfriend of yours to meet with me.”
“Ja? Estrella, are you going to give him a hard time?”. Paula Rouco’s little face was sour.
Estrella Berrocal frowned, “He kidnapped you, shouldn’t I give him a hard time? If it were your father here today, I’d be waiting for him to get his ass kicked.”
Paula Rouco puffed up her little mouth: “But from the beginning, I was the one who chased him, he didn’t kidnap me, I managed to get a boyfriend, and you and daddy are going to scare him away?”.
Estrella Berrocal: “…”
Listen, is that what a girl should say?
You’re not married yet, so why are you giving your elbow?
“That Severo, what kind of compulsion did he put on you? He bewitched you so much that your mother and father won’t address you.”
Paula Rouco grunted, picked up her little school bag and sulked up to walk forward.
Estrella Berrocal looked at the little girl with a mixture of good humor and amusement and reached out to tug on the strap of her school bag, “Come on, come with me to the hotel.”