The more Nilson walked, the more anxious he became, remembering the chicken soup in the pot, which he hoped had not burned to dryness.
When we returned to the courtyard, we caught the rich smell of chicken soup and Micaela became hungry.
Nilson was immensely satisfied and felt he had all the talent to be a chef.
Micaela had been walking all afternoon and had long been tired, the afternoon temperature had dropped and it was now slightly chilly, she washed her hands in the sink outside the kitchen and immediately went back inside, sat down at the dining room table and tried to rub her calves, but her stomach was in the way….
Nilson came in with a bowl and placed it on the table in front of her.
-Have a bowl of soup first and I’ll go prepare dinner.
Nilson turned and walked out.
Micaela looks at the bowl in front of her, the soup looks rich and tasty, a chicken thigh shows half of the bone and the skin has been peeled….
She also discovered that she does not eat the skin of chickens and ducks, and when she kills them, she peels them all….
Micaela forced herself to repress the slightest hint of emotion that arose in her heart, she was really hungry, she took the spoon of soup and blew it cold to take a sip, in truth, it tasted very good….
As night fell, Nilson prepared dinner and served it on the table.
Chopped white chicken, Jumping lotus root and a pickled cabbage.
Today Micaela had a very good appetite, maybe because she had walked a lot today, and because she had let some of her emotions out and was not so depressed, the food looked all delicious to her.
Nilson looks at Micaela and feels immensely satisfied….
When he finished eating, he cleaned up the dishes and took the water, which he had heated with an electric wand before dinner, to the bathroom.
Micaela, as usual, hid in her room.
Nilson knocked on the door.
-Moya, you haven’t bathed for three days, can you smell if you’re showering?
Micaela at the door was standing in front of her closet struggling with this, unconsciously she raised her hand and smelled herself, usually she had to shower every day, the previous two days were fine, at least she didn’t sweat, today she walked all afternoon and was covered in sweat….
Carlos wonders if he would have held a grudge if he had been near her.
His girls don’t smell good anymore and they stink….
He tries not to sweat, just because he doesn’t have a change of clothes….
Her mind flashed back to the old days in Teladia, when she would be speechless at the appearance of new clothes in her closet, and she wondered how many times she would have asked him the same question:
-Carlos, why do you like buying clothes for me so much?
Carlos, then, took her in his arms and asked her:
-Do you want to know?
Micaela nodded as Carlos turned around with her in his arms and pressed her against the soft bed, with deep eyes and a muffled voice.
-Men buy clothes for women to take off with their own hands, of course?
Micaela shook her head, though this reason was a bit ridiculous, even though she was convinced that Carlos wouldn’t mistake her and Nilson for having something, she just didn’t want him to find her and see her wearing clothes bought by another man….
Carlos only wears clothes he buys, and he does!
He doesn’t want to wear clothes bought by other men!
But right now, was she really going to insist on not bathing for ten days because of a dress she didn’t wear that he had made up?
This is a little hard to swallow?
-I ordered the house maid to buy the clothes for the closet, I didn’t buy them.
Nilson’s voice rang out again.
Micaela shines in front of his eyes….
-The water is carried to the bath for you, I’m going to make a call to somewhere with a signal, I’ll be back soon, don’t be afraid.
Nilson finished and went out.
It was completely dark and he was sure that Moya would not venture out at this hour.
There is no signal here, and where you can get cell signal you have to walk a little further uphill.
With his cell phone light on, he walked further and further up the hill.
A few moments of guilt rose in Nilson’s heart as he thought of his roadside rant…..
-You gave me poison when I was so young, and this is you not giving up to hurt me?.
He was a child then too, he only knew that he could not leave Salamonsa, and Moya was leaving, and once she was gone, he feared he would never see her again, and he wanted to keep her….
If he had known then that his actions had ruined the hopes of the whole Echave family to change the fate of future generations, he would not have done that….
The man, who will not reach the age of 45, will die if he does not return from three months away from Salamonsa, leaving the woman he loves alone in the world, and even strictly forbidding the departure of women so that Salamonsa does not become extinct, and later his son will have to face such misery, and his daughter will have to fear that her husband will abandon her before her time….
Who would not want to escape such a fate?
But at that moment, how could she think about such deep and long-term things….
Finally, finding somewhere with Internet access, she dialed the phone to her assistant and the call was quickly answered.
-Mr. City.
Nilson looked in the direction of the house down the hill and asked:
-What about Carlos?
-Lord of the City, he has a right hand man from Anlandana, the revitalization of the new economy, is going non-stop, with obvious results, and he has been personally looking for Miss Moya for the last two days, I suspect?
Helpers?
It was undoubtedly Diego, whose passport had been extended along with the statute of limitations, and seeing that the assistant had stopped talking, Nilson asked rhetorically:
-Do you suspect he will find this place?
-Yes, my lord, every step of his search has been precise, the general direction has been set and the search will begin tomorrow in the direction of you and Miss Moya, and he is investigating it, looking for people close to you, and he has thought of many ways to do so, each practical….
The aide stopped talking a little and Nilson raised an eyebrow, his voice a little lower.
-Do you admire him very much? Do you want to go to work for him as an assistant?
Nilson heard his assistant swallow….
-No no, Mister of the City, I didn’t mean that, I meant, Mister of the City, take Miss Moya somewhere else?
-No need. It would take her a long time to find this mountain, and even if she did, she might not find this one. It’s a ‘living maze’, and the reason farmers would give up on this mountain in the first place is because the terrain is too complicated.
He’d like to see if Carlos can really do it!
The assistant did not insist and talked about other Pesla City matters.
Finally, Nilson gave up:
-You don’t want me to catch you.
After a pause, he asked again:
-I’m here, you didn’t tell anyone, did you?
The aide paused for less than a second and stepped back.
-Of course not.
Nilson’s eyes kept looking only in the direction of the house, the simple yard, the humble house, the pale orange lights, none of which made him feel warm, it was his and Moya’s home for life, and he was willing to do it…..
-Keep track of Carlos’ movements.
Nilson finished and was about to hang up when his assistant’s voice was heard:
-Lord of the City, remember to change the medicine in your wounds so they don’t flare up.
Nilson clenched his fists, hung up the phone and returned.
Back in the yard, looking at the clothes drying at that end of the house, Nilson raised an eyebrow, she actually put the laundry, drying it somewhere else, not hanging it with her….
Why is this twisted virtuoso so cute?….
The evening breeze was blowing, and the white-bottomed coat was tossed at an angle by the wind, which behind it, causing a blush to appear on Nilson’s handsome face and quickly brushing his eyes….
We return inside to find Micaela sitting in the hallway, not hiding in her room….
She had washed her hair, not yet completely dry, and was wearing a light blue down coat, zipped so high you couldn’t see her collar, coral pink fleece pajama pants on her legs, wool slippers, and on her curvy legs rested, in her bag containing the medicines and gauze she had to change….
Micaela looked at Nilson, who had stopped in his tracks, and looked away, with a couple of twinges in her voice.
-The water is hot for you, go take a bath and then come change your medicine.