Alba looked at Ernesto with wide eyes and asked in surprise:
-Do you know that…?!
Alba choked without finishing the sentence.
“Since I’ve shared my biggest secret with him, I should trust him a lot and love him a lot. But what’s the use? Anyway, I’ve lost all memories about him…”
After a good while, she asked again:
-Don’t you mind?
“Don’t you mind that I like your best friend?”
Ernesto looked straight ahead and answered:
-Alba, you no longer feel anything for Carlos after being with me. Only when you forget me, your loving feelings for him will come back. Maybe you mistakenly put your feelings for me on him?
Alba nodded her head slightly. She looked at Ernesto who was driving and couldn’t help but chuckle as she caught a glimpse of the vague slap mark on his cheek in the gloom.
Ernesto noticed it and said pretending to be angry:
-What are you laughing at? This is your doing!
Alba, with no intention of apologizing, stubbornly defended herself:
-It’s all your fault. Isn’t it you who has come to harass me all of a sudden? Everything I’ve done is just my conditioned reflex.
Ernesto concentrated on driving, and couldn’t help but bring a happy smile to his lips as he evoked some distant memories.
-The first time we officially met, you slapped me, and the second time we met, you slapped me again, and in the end I went to work with two slap marks on my cheeks, which caused quite a sensation in the company. And in the days that followed, you would hit me or threaten to knock my teeth out when you were in a bad mood…. -Ernesto told Alba what had happened with great enthusiasm.
Seeing that the man knew his own “vices” so well, Alba was a bit embarrassed and coughed dryly a few times.
-That’s my style. If you don’t like it, now you can…..
Ernesto, staring straight ahead, interrupted her in a firm voice:
-I like your temperament, and I like it very much. What does it matter that you’ve forgotten me? Don’t be so burdened mentally. I will pretend to you again, and let you feel my deep loves to you by practical measures.
Alba averted her eyes, a little moved, and, after a while, asked:
-Why did I slap you the first time I saw you?
Ernesto arched his eyebrows slightly and, after a moment of deliberation, told the truth:
-Because I kissed you without your prior permission.
Alba sneered, thinking that this guy was really a bastard, and asked:
-And the second time?
Ernesto coughed dryly and answered:
-I kissed you again.
Alba grimaced and said scornfully:
-Why am I in love with such a shameless rogue as you?
Ernesto refuted with a little disgust:
-You call me a cheeky rogue? But before that you told me that you wanted to give yourself to me and you wanted to give birth to many children for me.
Alba was so astonished that she almost choked on her own saliva.
“What, what kind of love affair do I have?!”
-You’re lying to me! -Alba screamed and refused to admit.
– “I’m not lying. You can ask Micaela if you don’t believe me.
“What, even Mica knows about this? Oh, how embarrassing!”
Alba became very embarrassed and hurried to change the subject. Thinking about what she had just said, she was quick to ask:
-What do you mean when you said we met “formally” for the first time?
Carlos stopped the car, waiting for the red light to turn green, looked at Alba and explained:
-At that time, Carlos had just fallen in love with Micaela, and one night you and Micaela went to Moontime together. There that lowly model, Ivanna, intentionally messed with you, and you stepped forward to defend Micaela. Do you remember that?
Alba remembered everything after a moment’s thought and said:
-Yes, that day I was drunk and it was my brother who took me back home. -Exactly. That night, I was upstairs, watching you and seeing Gael Mariano come out to help you. At the time, I didn’t think I loved you to this extent.
The traffic light turned green and Ernesto started the car again.
Alba was silent, with different mixed emotions. At that moment, Mica and Carlos had just gotten together, and she herself had not yet felt anything for Carlos, and she had even advised Mica to be brave in love.
“Speaking of which, why was I attracted to Carlos? I didn’t have much contact with him in everyday life from the beginning, how could I fall in love with him in the end, how strange love is!”
Until now Alba could still remember the moment when her heart throbbed for Carlos, when she picked up her cell phone at the Mangzarent Nation fountain and captured a photo of Carlos affectionately holding Mica in his arms. That photo Alba kept in her secret album instead of sending it to Micaela.
Maybe love is never rational and when it comes, no one can resist.
Sighing inwardly, Alba looked at the scenes rushing past the window, forced herself to stop thinking about those bitter moments and turned her head to ask:
-Where are you taking me?
-Home.
Alba was speechless. Mica had told him that she was living with him, but now in this situation….
Ernesto took a quick look at her and said: “What are you worried about?
-What are you worried about? I am not your rival in the fight. Besides, Carlos has just returned from a business trip, can you afford to disturb the times alone between Micaela and him? Be good. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to his house, okay?
At the thought of Carlos’ icy stare, Alba slightly clenched her hands and didn’t refuse.
Soon, the car pulled into the subway parking lot of the luxurious neighborhood. Ernesto got out and guided her to the door of the house.
-The password to open the door is your date of birth.
Alba wasn’t too surprised about this, she simply entered the password and pushed the door. Ernesto turned on the lights and Alba examined the whole room. Everything seemed unfamiliar and a little bit familiar at the same time.
Ernesto casually put his jacket on the sofa, rolled up his sleeves as he headed for the kitchen, and asked:
-What do you want to eat?
-Do you know how to cook?
Ernesto stopped and turned around to look at Alba, who in turn looked at him with a suspicious expression.
“Heh, looks like this woman completely forgot everything about me.”
Ernesto turned around and with a jerk pinned her against the wall, his handsome face very close to hers.
– “I, your boyfriend, am the best in the world and I am good at almost every aspect: doing your laundry, cooking for you, earning money to support you, among other things. Besides, I know all your preferences very well. You can even say that I know you better than anyone else. Forget that Miguel, because your husband can only be me. Don’t worry, if I could get you out of your obsession with Carlos once, I can do it countless times.
At his words, Alba’s pulse raced violently. She was pretty sure that what the man said was probably true, although it all seemed crazy and exaggerated.
Looking into his deep eyes, Alba thought of his loving, smoldering gaze when he had pinned her down on the sports field kissing her and had to admit that for a moment she had been drawn to this dominant man.
-So how well do you know me?
Ernesto leaned toward her and whispered in her ear:
-I’ve even explored your most intimate part. Besides, I know you like it… Ah!
Ernesto leaned over and covered his stomach with his hands.
Alba withdrew her fist, kicked him one more time and cursed in an angry voice:
-Sinvergüenza!
After saying this, she chose a room at random, rushed in, and then closed the door heavily.
Ernesto straightened his waist and sketched a mischievous smile.
“Among so many rooms, you chose our master bedroom. Honey, what a good choice you made!”
With that in mind, he turned and went to the kitchen.
Now Ernesto no longer felt so alarmed at being forgotten by her, because he believed himself capable of making her fall in love with himself all over again.