“Haven’t you always felt like you don’t have many friends at home, so why not go if it’s a class reunion. Just to catch up with old classmates I haven’t seen in years.”
Estrella Berrocal smiled sweetly at him, her watery eyes staring at him, and said, “Adam, you sure have changed, I didn’t think you would like me to go to a party like this.”
Adam Rouco reached down and touched her flat belly, kissed her forehead and said meekly, “When you grow up, I may not let you go around, so take advantage of the fun while you can.”
Estrella Berrocal burst out laughing: “Are you going to keep me locked up as a national treasure when my belly grows?
“Certainly, I’m happy to do it if you don’t mind…”.
The man stood in the doorway, his thin lips kissing her from her forehead to the tip of her nose, about to land on her lips when Estrella Berrocal gently pushed him away, blushing a little.
“Paulita is in the living room.”
Still dominant, Adán Rouco placed a kiss on her lips, but quickly parted them.
Estrella Berrocal’s ears burned red.
Paulita threw down her school bag and ran to Estrella Berrocal: “Star, help me make the strawberry cake! I’m so hungry.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.”
…
On Saturday afternoon, Estrella Berrocal had just changed clothes and dressed up when Claudio Belles called her, urging her to come quickly and sending her the address of the restaurant.
When he came downstairs, Adán Rouco was sitting with Paulita on the sofa in the living room.
As soon as Paulita saw Estrella Berrocal, she blinked her big eyes and said with a big smile, “You would look very pretty today!”
Estrella Berrocal had applied light makeup and concealed the scar that had not faded from her face with concealer, so that the mark was barely visible and her skin was in perfect condition.
As he approached, Adán Rouco could smell the faint scent of a perfume on her, a gardenia scent that smelled good.
“One of your first high school sweethearts? Dressed so daintily?” scoffed Adán Rouco.
Estrella Berrocal shuddered: “How do you know I’m exquisitely dressed?”.
He could not see.
Adán Rouco frowned slightly: “It’s been eight hundred years since you’ve worn perfume, but suddenly you do, and that’s sophisticated?
The corners of Estrella Berrocal’s mouth twitched and she made no sound.
She picked up her purse and said, “I’m off then, don’t wait for me to come back for dinner tonight, I might be late getting home.”
Adán Rouco pulled her back and asked her, half jokingly, half seriously: “Is there really a first love?
“…”
If there was, he couldn’t tell her!
“I’ll walk you there.”
Estrella Berrocal stopped him: “Facundo Montes just left me, why are you going with me to meet my first love?
Adán Rouco had already taken her by the hand and was heading for the exit.
Estrella Berrocal followed: “Paulita, don’t you mind?
“The old man and Felipa are at home and will take care of her.”
“…”
Adán Rouco is not looking forward to meeting his first love, is he?
…
Adán Rouco asks, “In which hotel?”.
Estrella Berrocal pulled out her phone and looked at the message, “At the Banyan Tree Hotel.”
He hadn’t been to the Banyan Tree Hotel a few times because it was quite expensive and usually only business people went there, like Adán Rouco, for example, and it was a bit pricey to book a high school party there, and he wondered who had organized it.
The black Maybach arrives at the Banyan Tree Hotel.
Estrella Berrocal gets out of the car with her purse, “I’m off then”.
Adán Rouco nods, “Call me when the party’s about to end and I’ll come and get you.”
“Okay, got it.”
Estrella Berrocal got out of the car and watched him leave not long after, and was about to turn around to enter the hotel when a shrill female voice came from behind her.
“Estrella Berrocal?”
He turned his head to look and it was Fidel Dimas, who was sitting in the back seat of his high school.
As for why she could instantly remember Fidel Dimas, it was not only because this Fidel Dimas was sitting in her back seat, but also because Fidel Dimas had not failed to antagonize her much during her high school career.
When the professor approached him, Fidel Dimas said that he had seen Estrella Berrocal cheating to exempt herself from responsibility. Since then, Fidel Dimas has taken a dislike to Estrella Berrocal and Estrella Berrocal has taken an even greater dislike to Fidel Dimas.
Fidel Dimas got out of a red Ferrari, stepped on the latest Armani heels and headed her way.
“After all these years, you’re still dressing as discreetly as ever.”
Fidel Dimas spat as he folded his arms and looked at her with mild contempt.
Estrella Berrocal couldn’t agree with her silver glitter dress, with its shiny logo, in case people didn’t know how much it was worth.
“Of course I’m not as good as Fidel, I’m not as good as Fidel with all the designer labels.”
Dressed like a show model, she wanted to tell the world how much her outfit was worth.
Fidel Dimas grunted, “You have a good eye for detail, I can buy you a unique piece.”
From the driver’s seat of the red Ferrari, a man, still dressed to the nines, got out, “Honey, you forgot your purse.”
Estrella Berrocal got goosebumps when the man called Fidel Dimas “Querida”.
Fidel Dimas carried a Hermes bag valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars in one hand, while holding the bespectacled man at his side. “Let me introduce you, this is my boyfriend John, Darling, and this is my high school friend Estrella Berrocal.”
The man with the big, thick chain around his neck took off his sunglasses and put his sideburns to his mouth as he watched Estrella Berrocal, looking flirtatious to the extreme.
“Excuse me, I’ll go in first.”
Estrella Berrocal didn’t bother with them and turned around and walked into the hotel, still faintly hearing the grunts coming from behind her.
“Honey! Look what he means!”
“Okay, okay, come on in, I’ll pick you up after the party.”
“You’ll have to pick me up, show you’re a man of stature.”
Estrella Berrocal almost burst out laughing as she walked forward, what a childish climbing mentality, Fidel Dimas had not changed at all.
When she was in high school, she remembered having a crush on a tall, skinny boy in her class who was on the varsity basketball team and was a great player, probably at that age, girls had crushes on boys who played basketball. Fidel Dimas, who had a crush on him, naturally confronted her in various ways.
Maybe she didn’t like the boy very much at first, but only because he was fighting with Fidel Dimas, so she didn’t resent him and secretly fought for him.
Once inside the hotel’s large private room, Estrella Berrocal pushed open the door to find a table full of people seated inside.
For a moment, standing in the doorway, she froze for a few seconds, a little embarrassed because there were few people at that table that she seemed to recognize, and none of them looked familiar.
But just because she didn’t remember didn’t mean that others didn’t remember her.
Just as Estrella Berrocal was about to slip in and take a seat without any presence, someone she didn’t know who had initiated the conversation broke her thoughts.
“Hey, Jago, your girlfriend is here.”
Jago Linares.
Estrella Berrocal remembered it naturally.