The next morning, Estrella Berrocal was awakened by the alarm clock.
She reached out in a daze to turn off the alarm, but felt nothing by her bedside and opened her eyes, but there was no sign of Adam Rouco in the bedroom.
Estrella Berrocal lifted the sheets and stood up, her legs faltered and she was about to fall, her face hot at the memory of what had happened.
She ran downstairs, in her pajamas and slippers, and the lion cub pounced on her, rubbing against her ankles, early in the morning, when Paulita was the only one eating dinner at the table.
Estrella Berrocal frowned slightly and asked, “Paulita, where is daddy?”.
“Good morning Star, Dad told me he had a very important meeting today so he went to the office early.”
“But it’s Saturday, why does he have to work?”
Paulita shook her little head, then got up from her chair and walked over to Estrella Berrocal, grabbed her hand and shook it with her little hand, blinking her big eyes and asking, “Estrella, are you going to England?”
Estrella Berrocal froze, almost forgetting about it, “Yes.”
“Star, will you please not go away? My brother, me and daddy are going to miss you.”
Looking at Paulita’s pitiful face, Estrella Berrocal knelt down and reached out her hand to caress the little girl’s head. “I’ll be back soon, I can’t leave Paulita and Lucio either. ”
“Really, Estrella you’re not lying to me, are you? It’s a long way to England and will you really be back soon?”
Estrella Berrocal reached out and hugged Paulita: “Really, I don’t lie to my Paulita. ”
Paulita put her little arms around her too, nodding her little chin and saying in a milky voice, “Then Estrella you must come home soon, or my brother and I will be miserable.”
Estrella Berrocal was so taken by her cute little face that she raised her hand and scratched her nose: “Okay, the truth is that I won’t be long, I’ll be back soon. When I get back, your father and I will get married and Paulita will be our little flower girl, okay?”.
“Really? Yes, yes, yes.”
Estrella Berrocal accompanied Paulita to breakfast and still could not resist the urge to call Adán Rouco.
But when he called, it was Santino Yepes who answered.
“What can I do for you, ma’am?”
Estrella Berrocal pursed her lips: “Mr. Santino, where is Adam? I’m going to England today, aren’t you going to see me off?”.
“This … Mrs. BOSS is in a meeting and has quite a full schedule today, I’m afraid …”
Estrella Berrocal was a little lost: “Well, tell her to remember to take care of herself and not only to work”.
“Yes, ma’am.”
After hanging up the phone, Estrella Berrocal always felt that something was wrong.
Shortly after, Facundo Montes approached and said: “Ma’am, when my boss left for work this morning, he asked me to take you to the airport today. What time does your flight leave?
“The flight is at two o’clock in the afternoon, Facundo, today I will eat early at home and then we will go to the airport.”
“Good.”
Paulita took a black card out of her pocket and handed it to Estrella Berrocal, “Estrella, keep this, dad told me to give it to you, dad said the code on this card was your birthday.”
Estrella Berrocal froze and took the bank card.
In fact, Adán Rouco had given her some bank cards before, but she had been living like a parasite in the Rouco family and had no need to spend her own money. Probably because when you live in a privileged environment for so long, you forget the importance of money, because it is not scarce.
But why didn’t Adam give him the card himself?
This card, which looks like an Adam Rouco add-on card, should have no limit and can be used anywhere in the world where there is an ATM.
He was always so considerate, even when she didn’t ask, he could think of something she needed.
…
After lunch, Facundo took Estrella Berrocal to the airport and Paulita accompanied her.
As we parted at the airport, Paulita hugged Estrella Berrocal’s thighs, her two big eyes reddening and crying, “Estrella, you mustn’t lie to me, you must come back soon!”.
“If I lie to you, I’ll be punished never to see you again, okay?”
In reality, he is only leaving for a few days.
Paulita flattened her little mouth and looked at it angrily, like an angry bunny: “No good!”.
Estrella Berrocal knelt down and wiped away the little boy’s tears. “Stay with your daddy and your brother for the next few days, I’ll be back soon, and when I get back, I’ll buy you something delicious, okay?”.
The milk bun smiled and asked, “How long will it take you to come back?”
“Soon.”
After easily coaxing Paulita, Estrella Berrocal told Facundo as she left, “Facundo, go home with Paulita and take care of yourself on the way”.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Facundo takes Paulita’s hand and turns to leave as Paulita steps back to look at Estrella Berrocal.
Estrella Berrocal stood still, smiled at the little boy and waved, “Come back.”
“Starina you have to come back soon! Or I’ll get angry!”
“Yes, I’ll be back soon.”
Estrella Berrocal thought she wouldn’t cry, but when she turned around, her eyes were still a little wet.
It’s not that she’s really going away for a year and a half, why is she so melodramatic, is it because she’s finished having two children?
Thinking about Paulita’s miserable little face made her heart ache, forget it, she was not a big career person, she was a family person like her, she would be away from her husband and children for at most a few days, I guess that was the limit, it was just a few days to visit the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and study, she would be back soon.
…
Rouco Group building, President’s office.
Santino Yepes noticed that Adán Rouco was in a bad mood today and sat walking around in a constant state of distraction.
“Boss, why don’t you go to the airport and meet your wife? Maybe the lady hasn’t left yet.”
Adán Rouco pursed his thin lips and said nothing, no, by the looks of it, he is going to the airport.
Santino Yepes added: “Boss, in fact, if you really can’t let your wife go, you can absolutely ask her to stay, and she definitely doesn’t want to leave you for that long, but it’s just that none of you are saying anything, and you’re still blatantly supporting, so naturally it’s not good for her to stay.”
“That’s his dream, how am I going to stop him, besides, it’s only a year and a half, wouldn’t it seem too autocratic if I did that?”
Santino Yepes asked coyly, “So you’re not really meeting your wife at the airport today?”
“It doesn’t go, it’s not very good to be separated.”
With these words, Adán Rouco raised his hand and opened his laptop.
Santino Yepes let out a soft sigh and said no more.
When Santino Yepes had left the office, Adán Rouco’s phone rang a little and it was a message from Estrella Berrocal.
“Adam, I’m catching a plane soon, can I call you when I get to England?”
Adán Rouco did not want to answer, but through the screen, as if sensing his sadness, he tapped a word with his finger, calm and affectionate: “Yes”.
How can it be bad, he couldn’t wait for her to call him every day.
After a few seconds, Estrella Berrocal sent another message: “Please take care of the two children these days”.
Adán Rouco still returned a word: “Good”.
Estrella Berrocal, increasingly distant and desperate to get his attention, sent another: “Are you busy right now? Why are you talking like a robot? You didn’t even come to see me off at the airport today, really work is more important than Ms. Estrella. ”
The words are followed by a condescending crying emoji.
Adán Rouco did not know how to respond.