A two-hour drive took three because Nilson told Ian to slow down….
The car was almost at the residential building where Lluvia lived when Nilson picked up Lluvia, who was sleeping against him, and gently pushed her….
Unsupported, Lluvia immediately fell back against the door….
In Nilson’s heart inexplicable emotions and the urge to drag her back….
Fingers twitching, he ended up sitting on the edge with Estela in his arms, as if the image of the woman falling asleep against him a moment ago was nothing more than an illusion that never came to pass….
Ian took it all in stride and spoke hesitantly:
-Mr. Nilson, what do you think of Dr. Rain, what’s wrong?
Nilson averted his eyes to the car window and asked instead of answering:
-What do you think?
Ian immediately regretted asking the question, he dared not speculate on Mr. Nilson’s mind, but his mouth preceded his brain:
-Do you like it?
A silent room…
Ian glanced nervously in the rearview mirror, Mr. Nilson’s expression was calm, as if the question he was asking was insignificant, but he also knew that Mr. Nilson’s mind was rarely on his face….
Nilson didn’t answer, and Ian didn’t dare pursue the question, when Rain’s sleepy voice suddenly rang out:
-Who likes who?
Her dazed eyes looked at Nilson and her hand scratched her hair.
-Do you like me?
Nilson looked at Lluvia and said calmly:
-I like Estela.
Lluvia’s sleep was fading, her whole body woke up for a few moments, she sat up straighter and made a disgusted face as she reacted with a jerk to the question he had asked her.
-I don’t give a damn if you like me, you’d better not like me!
Then he stretched and, with a very indecent yawn, looked out the car window.
-Gosh, I woke up and came home!
As we were talking, the car pulled up under the building where Rain lived.
Looking at the family home for a second, Rain turned her eyes to Nilson, annoyance rising in them.
-I didn’t tell you my home address, how did you know I lived here?
Without waiting for Nilson to speak, she reacted immediately, the coldness in her eyes increasing.
-Mr. Nilson, you are a very powerful man and it would be easy for you to investigate my background, but why go to all that trouble, you can ask me if you want to know and I will tell you everything.
He then threw his own backpack on his back first, before going to hug Estela, turn around and push open the car door to get out and head straight for the building.
-Rain…
Nilson hurried down as well, watching his back through gritted teeth.
This woman can’t turn the other cheek!
Before chasing after him, she still opened the trunk of the car and pulled out some of her things before striding after him.
This is a somewhat low-class neighborhood, with houses of old construction, no subway parking and residents’ cars parked on the roadside….
Naturally, there are no stairs in the apartment building, and Lluvia lives on the sixth floor, which is an effort, and with Estela in her arms, she lets Nilson, who has long legs and big steps, reach her very easily.
-Luvia, I asked Ian to check you out, but I didn’t mean to hurt you at all, I just wanted to know more about you…..
Rain gasped and stopped in front of his house, took a deep breath, calmed his breathing, turned and tilted his head to look at Nilson.
-OK, so now you understand clearly, thank you for bringing me back, please come back!
Nilson frowned, was she that angry, did she think she was intruding on his privacy?
Then, without hesitation, she apologized:
-Luvia, I’m sorry, this is my fault, I promise I won’t do anything like this in the future…..
Rain forced herself to look away when she saw the apologetic look in his deep eyes.
-It’s nothing, my penniless birth origin is no secret, and besides, there’s no such thing as later or not later, we wouldn’t have crossed paths anyway.
A sharp displeasure rose in Nilson’s heart, the object in her hand fell carelessly to the floor, one hand rested on the door behind her, the other grabbed her chin and lifted it, making her look at herself.
-Do you hate me that much?
Rain looked at him nonchalantly and answered with a jerk:
-Yes! Very, very annoyed with you!
Nilson’s anger was rising.
-You’re lying! You hate me, how could you be so good as to follow me to the office this morning, and how could you be unprepared and let me stay in your room so long last night? And how could you take the initiative…?
Nilson stopped his mouth violently, and Rain, as if he didn’t feel it, couldn’t pull away from him with Estela in his arms, so he responded forcefully, as he twisted his head to free himself from his confinement:
-Broma, did I hold you last night, did I try so hard to get rid of you that you forgot? Besides, if you hadn’t taken my luggage today, are you sure I would have followed you? Don’t forget that you’re bugging me about Estela, and I can’t say no to you because Estela suddenly likes you so much!
In Nilson’s mind there was some confusion, wondering how the subject had come up here.
His intuition told him that Rain was definitely not angry about this, maybe she was a little upset about his private investigation of her, but not so much that she would make such a drastic change because of this….
He suddenly remembered the question Ian asked him in the car, he didn’t answer but Lluvia suddenly opened up….
Nilson realized that yes, his sequence of reactions upon waking up was clearly an attempt to hide the fact that he had heard Ian’s question.
Nilson frowned, looked at her and asked:
-Luvia, do you want me to like you?
Rain’s efforts to break free of him stalled, and she looked at Nilson….
Nilson looked at her too, and a flash of guilt rose in his eyes as his mind flashed back to Moya’s face, and he whispered:
-I said I could give you anything but love, and you know very well that I only have… in my heart!
Rain stomped hard on Nilson’s foot, who today was wearing black leather slippers, and with enough force that Nilson had to let go of her and take a step back, about to jump up and grab his feet….
-Mr. Nilson, is your ego getting the best of you? Please don’t get so worked up, a moment ago it was very clear that I hated you and now you say I expect you to like me?
I made it very clear last time that I was going to marry a man I loved and who loved me, and since you liked Estela so much that you were pestering me for her, I’m giving it to you, and maybe she’s still a stumbling block in my quest for a husband!
Lluvia sounded agitated, her whole body trembled a little at the last words, then she seemed to make up her mind and tucked Estela into Nilson’s arms….
Nilson unconsciously hugged Estela, so tightly that Estela woke up and screamed.
-…
Rain just felt a sharp pain in her heart, but she turned around and pulled out her keys, opened the door and walked in, turned around and slammed it shut!