“Alonzo?”
Lucila couldn’t wait to get close to him.
As Alonzo was so small and tiny sitting on the floor, Lucila simply sat on the floor too, thank goodness the hallway was already carpeted.
Lucila tilted her head to look at him: “Look this way, little one.
Alonzo turned his head to look at her, and looked at Lucila with his dark eyes for a couple of seconds before reaching out with his little paws to pick up a toy and place it in Lucila’s hand.
He then went on to play with his own.
Lucila cried and laughed as she held the toy, she was getting it bad, wasn’t she?
Xabat, who was assembling the toy for Alonzo, looked at her at that moment: “Lucila?”
Alonzo passed her a small car and Lucila spun its wheels as she said, “Yes, you bought all this?
“I thought the kids would like these toys”. Xabat handed Alonzo one of the assembled toys and showed him how to play with it.
Any other child would have been eager to take it himself, but Alonzo watched Xabat’s demonstration before taking it.
Allyce thought Alonzo might be like that, if compared to Severo.
Some children are quiet and introverted by nature.
It didn’t matter what kind of person Alonzo would become, what mattered was that he was healthy and well, and that was more important than anything else.
With Lucila and Xabat with Alonzo, Allyce turned to get Neto’s things and ordered the maid to prepare some drinks and snacks in case they were hungry.
With these orders, Allyce went to the studio to call Severo.
Knock, knock!
Allyce knocked on the door before pushing it open: “Everyone’s here and it’s time to get ready for dinner.
Severo was sitting behind his desk, not knowing what he was doing, and Allyce leaned against the door when he finished speaking and waited for him to respond.
“Hmm.” Severo replied without looking up before putting away all the papers in front of him and getting up to head for the door.
He went to the door and took Allyce’s hand as they walked down the stairs together.
…
The dinner was plentiful, some dishes were cooked by Allyce herself, while the rest were cooked by the family’s maids.
When dinner was ready, Allyce let the servants leave.
When it was time to start the meal, Severo suddenly said: “One more moment”.
“Who else?” This was asked by Neto.
Severo looked at him and said: “Victorino”.
Just as the words fell, the sound of a car engine could be heard outside.
Victorino’s silhouette soon came into view.
As the servants had left, Victorino pulled out his own chair and sat down.
The table was rectangular, with the Allyce family seated on one side and the others on the other, and Victorino was conscious of sitting on the other side.
When Victorino sat down, he said, “Sorry to have kept you waiting”.
“Are you out too? I don’t care, you’re late and you’ll be punished with a drink, we’ve been waiting for you for a long time, I’m starving”. Neto slammed a tall glass on the table with a thieving smile.
Neto and Xabat had known Victorino for many years, and although he had always been distant, clean-cut and obsessed with medical research, they had known each other for many years, and even the most distant person had come to consider Neto a friend over time.
The more distant they were, the more tolerant they became.
Victorino is a doctor and hardly drinks.
Before arriving, he was working on a drug to stop Severo’s ageing, but once again he failed.
He was in a bad mood and had become a little agitated.
So he poured himself a glass of wine and drank it without saying anything.
He surprised both Xabat and Neto with this action.
Allyce’s face also showed a look of surprise.
“Ahem …”
Victorino, who rarely drank, choked on his drink after a heavy gulp.
Xabat, who was sitting next to him, hurried to pour him a glass of water.
The atmosphere suddenly became a little strange.
Severo took the floor at that moment and said: “Let’s eat”.
The group quickly separated from the strange atmosphere and began to eat with great enthusiasm.
Allyce was fine with Victorino’s arrival, but was a little confused as to why Severo had suddenly called Victorino.
Only at the end of the meal did Allyce realise that Severo had not asked Victorino to come to dinner, but had asked him to come and drink with the other two.
Allyce felt a little sorry for Victorino in her heart.
Severo is a man with a dark heart.
Severo did not drink because he had a weak stomach, so he was the only sober man at the end.
Severo did not arrange for anyone to take them back, so he asked the maids to take them to their rooms and put them to bed.
Some took time to calm down after getting drunk.
Alonzo, on the other hand, went to bed after dinner because he hadn’t had a nap in the afternoon, and they were still drinking at that time.
When they returned to the room, Allyce went to check on Alonzo and saw that he was sleeping peacefully before getting up to take a shower.
She had also had a little to drink earlier and was slightly drunk.
Only when he finished did he realise that he had not brought his pyjamas.
She must have put him to bed after looking at Alonzo, she was really drunk and forgetful.
Severo had just gone to the studio and his own towel had just gotten wet, so he wrapped it around Severo’s towel and slipped out with his slippers.
Severo was not sure what he was doing in the studio and had not yet returned to his room.
Allyce was about to towel off and change into her pyjamas when the door to her room opened.
“Is … finished?” Allyce paused for a moment before finishing her sentence.
As he spoke, he hurried to remove the bath towel he had already torn off.
Even though they had been together for so long, she still found it embarrassing to undress and change clothes in front of Severo.
I was about to go back to the bathroom with my pyjamas in my arms.
“Change here, it’s not like you haven’t seen it before.” Severo raised his eyebrows slightly, a small smile on his face.
He closed the door behind him and turned to Allyce.
Allyce glared at him and continued walking towards the bathroom.
Before she could take two steps, Severo grabbed her hand and the next thing she knew, he was pressed up against her.
The summer clothes were thin and Allyce’s bare skin could feel the warmth of Severo’s chest.