Micaela woke up hungry, front and back….
Suddenly I remembered that I had planned to make Carlos a birthday cake, cook some of his favorite dishes, have dinner together, then sing birthday songs, blow out the candles and eat the cake….
As it turned out, neither of them complied and they jumped right into kissing and hugging and rolling around on the bed….
Micaela’s little face warms up quickly and she opens her eyes, still not enough light to see Carlos clearly in front of her….
He was leaning very close, his soft hair falling naturally, softening the lines of his slightly cold face, his long, narrow, deep-set eyes were closed at that moment, his thin lips pursed, his breathing light, showing that he was sleeping soundly….
The arm she was leaning on was around her shoulders and the other around her waist, not letting go of her even in her dreams….
Without Carlos’ embrace since he left Salamonsa, this winter had been colder than ever, and last night, one of the best nights she had slept….
She could not look away from Carlos, she could not look at him for more than a few seconds before looking away….
One morning, when she was back in Salamentro for New Year’s Eve, he told her that he had seen her sleeping for hours…. She didn’t believe him at the time, but she does now, and she realizes that it is a blessing to be able to gaze at his sleeping face as peacefully as she does now….
-Gollum Gollum….
She was startled to hear a rumbling in her stomach and was relieved to see that Charles had not moved….
No dinner for him, so how about breakfast?
As soon as the idea popped into her head, she couldn’t wait to put it into practice, she couldn’t remember how long it had been since she had cooked for him….
He had only pulled back a little and, before she could move the large hand around his waist, he came back up, his thin lips brushing her forehead, his deep voice full of drowsiness.
-Micaela, it’s early, sleep a little longer…..
Micaela’s heart skipped a beat and she reached out to embrace him, a gesture that seemed to please him, and the large hands at her waist tightened their grip a little more…..
His arms, the safest place in the world,….
The woman remained silent for a while, then carefully pulled away from his hand and finally managed to disengage herself from his embrace and get out of bed, looking in the direction of the closet, with yesterday’s words echoing in her mind:
-Check out the closet later, I’ve got a bunch of new clothes for you…..
The floor was carpeted and she walked barefoot to the closet, opening one of the closet doors with her hand, icy, then the next, then another….
Several closets filled with her clothes, dresses, suits, gowns, robes, casual clothes, year-round, inside and out, and a compartment dedicated to pajamas of various materials;
The shoe closet is also full of shoes of all styles, and there are several pairs of slippers, with no duplication….
Micaela covered her mouth with one hand, her heart was beating fast, and with trembling hand she opened the last closet door and saw only a few sets of clothes that she had packed for him when she left Salamonsa, and finally she could not stop the tears coming to her eyes…..
Is buying her clothes also her way of taking the iron out of her thoughts?
…
Carlos unconsciously squeezed his arms as he saw them empty and woke up startled, sitting alone in the big bed….
For a moment he thought that everything last night had been a dream, and a great sense of loss was about to consume him, until he saw his clothes neatly folded at the foot of the bed, and then he came to himself….
Yes, how could it be a dream when the air was filled with the fragrance of the girl’s body?
Carlos’s mood instantly shot up….
Although he was glad that the girl had prepared clothes for him to wear, he preferred that she wake up in his arms, preferably changing her clothes manually himself….
He quickly got dressed and went into the bathroom to clean himself, Carlos raised an eyebrow when he saw that the clothes in the laundry basket were not there either, foreseeing that he was staying in Salamonsa for two days so he had sent the maid back, had the girl gone to do the laundry?
Carlos pulled himself together and went downstairs to look for her, but stopped at the kitchen door?
The girl was wearing pink woolen slippers, in a pretty style with a rabbit’s head he had chosen, blue chino pants, a white sweater, long hair pulled back in a simple low ponytail at the nape of her neck, revealing her delicate white ears, and a brown apron around her body, standing in front of the kitchen fire, holding the handle of a pot in one hand and a spoon in the other, raised and brought to her lips….
This beautiful image is so deeply engraved in Carlos’ mind that, years later, he still remembers it and feels it vividly….
Approaching a few steps closer, I heard the girl murmur:
-Well, the kitchen hasn’t gone backwards, make sure Carlos eats it all…..
A smile tugged at the corner of Carlos’ lips, and he approached her, hugged her from behind and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
-It’s so beautiful…
Micaela was startled to see how that man had come out of nowhere and asked unconsciously:
-What’s really nice?
Carlos gave her another kiss and answered:
-It’s good to have Querida.
Carlos followed her movements and looked at the two bowls of noodles, white noodles, golden eggs, green vegetables, brown mushrooms, rich soup that made him hungry just looking at it….
Carlos clenched his arms, his muzzle full of self-recrimination.
-Micaela, I’m sorry I forgot to feed you last night and ate you….
I was thinking of feeding you ginger soup and then going downstairs to cook or order food at a restaurant, but she said “it’ll be hot later” and her sanity went out the window….
Micaela paused in her movements and said with some regret:
-I thought about making you a cake and watching you blow out the candles and make a wish…..
Carlos’ nose came close to the back of her neck and his voice faded a little.
-I rather liked the way I spent my birthday last night…..
Micaela blushed even more, remembering that she seemed to have taken the initiative the night before, and, somewhat embarrassed, hurried to say:
-To go out to dinner…..
Carlos released her and brought two bowls of noodles to the table.
Sitting across from each other, Carlos tasted the soup and it was excellent!
They both ate extremely well, even as they ate their noodles, without making any “slurping” sounds.
Then, as Micaela said, Carlos ate all the noodles, not even the soup, and when she couldn’t eat any more, there was some left in the bowl, which he took away and then offered to go wash the dishes.
Carlos came out of the kitchen after washing the dishes and saw the girl sitting on the living room sofa, cell phone in her hand, fingertips jumping on the screen, little face flushed with the shy expression he knew….
Who are you talking to that shows such a face?
Carlos repressed the jealousy that had momentarily surfaced, rolled down his sleeves as he sat next to Micaela, slipped his left arm around her shoulders, glanced at the phone with apparent nonchalance and asked:
-Micaela, where do you want to go today?
Yesterday I had explained to her about Diego’s company and today she could skip the office.
The woman looked at Carlos without hesitation as she sniffed and said:
-I don’t want to go anywhere, just home to wash your clothes and cook.
Doing what all wives do for their husbands?
These are the things that normal couples do every day, but they are the things they want the most…..
Carlos looked at the girl and a steady stream of emotion surged in his heart and drew her further into his arms.
-Darling, I’ll do all of this, you stay by my side.
Micaela snuggled into his arms and softly responded yes….
Carlos kissed her forehead and asked:
-Talking to whom?
Micaela was a little embarrassed to have her phone in Carlos’ hand, with her little face buried in his arms.
-See for yourself.
She didn’t know how to respond, or how to explain to Carlos….
Carlos looked down at the lit screen, a dialogue box with Lluvia, flipped through it sharply, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips….
Nilson was quick enough to “eat” Lluvia….
Then another message appeared:
-Moya, I can’t take it anymore, last night I was so close to doing what he wanted, do you think it would seem too unrestrained of me to give in to him?
Carlos’ mouth quirked into a smile and he quickly replied:
-Okay, less than a year can’t let him get away with it!
Second response from the other end:
-Yes!!!