Adán Rouco was in his studio the night before he left for London, working on his work, when Paulita came running in, putting on her little shoes.
The little boy crawled up to sit on Adam Rouco’s lap and pleadingly asked, “Daddy, can you take me with you on the plane to Estrella in the morning?”
Adán Rouco said with a slight smile, “If Paulita also flies off to Estrella, who will take care of her brother for daddy?”
Paulita pouted, “Ah, well, then I’ll stay and watch my brother for Papa. Papa, you must bring Estrella home.”
The little milk bag carefully instructed him.
Adán Rouco put the little bundle on the floor and indicated: “I’ve got it, go to bed now, daddy has to work”.
Paulita nodded her chin and then stood on tiptoe to bring her little face closer, “Good night, Daddy, kisses.”
Adán Rouco leaned over and kissed his daughter on the forehead: “Good night, Paulita. ”
Only then did Paulita run off to her room, happy.
Adam Rouco’s eyes were soft and loving as he watched the little boy’s short, cute back.
The WhatsApp rang and it was a message from Estrella Berrocal.
“Adam, are you asleep?”
Adán Rouco returned the message: “Get ready to work”.
The other end was quick to call: “Ah…? Keep working, it’s late on your part, staying up late is not good for your health.”
Adam Rouco suddenly asked, “What hotel are you staying at in London, is the atmosphere good?”
Estrella Berrocal just thought that Adán Rouco was worried about her stay, so she sent him a direct message telling him which hotel she was staying at and that the surroundings were fine and not to worry.
Estrella Berrocal seemed to want to talk to Adán Rouco, but the man was already “indifferent” and said he had work to attend to, so Estrella Berrocal had to give up and said “oh” in frustration. Estrella Berrocal had no choice but to say “oh” in frustration, not realizing that Adán Rouco was flying to London in the morning to see her.
…
London, England.
After visiting the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Estrella Berrocal met Ricardo Prats in front of the school and approached him to say a few words.
Just as they were about to separate, Ricardo Prats had a nasty fall and Estrella Berrocal rushed to his aid.
“Ricardo, are you all right?”
Ricardo Prats’ face was an unnatural red, Estrella Berrocal approached him and touched his forehead, it was boiling. “You seem to have a high fever, I will accompany you to the hospital”.
Estrella Berrocal looked for a cab, but Ricardo Prats insisted: “Not to the hospital, I don’t want to go to the hospital”.
“But his head is hot, and if he doesn’t go to the hospital he’ll get burned if he doesn’t get the temperature down.”
“Star, I really don’t want to go to the hospital, why don’t you take me to my apartment and rest, I would love to sleep now.”
Estrella Berrocal could not resist: “Good”.
Back on the floor, a fever reducer and a bag of ice and alcohol to cool the body should also work.
…
Estrella Berrocal had a hard time helping Ricardo Prats down to the floor.
“Come on, this way.”
Estrella Berrocal took him to bed and Ricardo Prats fell into bed and fell asleep with his arm resting on his forehead.
“Where’s your first aid kit at home, is there a thermometer?”
Ricardo Prats replied stunned: “It’s in the kitchen cupboard”.
“Wait for me, I’ll get the thermometer and ice pack in a minute.”
Estrella Berrocal turned around and ran to the kitchen for the first aid kit and to the refrigerator for a bag of ice to take to the bedroom.
Ricardo Prats took his temperature while covering his forehead with an ice pack.
Estrella Berrocal asked with concern, “Do you want water? Are you hungry?”
“A little bit.”
“Then I’ll go to the kitchen to boil water and then come check your temperature.”
Estrella Berrocal plugged in the electric kettle in the kitchen before returning to the room and taking the thermometer handed to her by Ricardo Prats. “Thirty-eight and a half degrees, it’s not too high, for the moment let’s lower the temperature physically, if it doesn’t work, we’ll have to take a fever pill.”
Ricardo Prats’ voice was hoarse with fever: “Please, Estrella. ”
She smiled and rightly said, “It’s nothing, we’re related.”
Ricardo Prats’ burnt, clouded gaze abruptly regained a glimmer of clarity as he stared at her and said, word for word, “But I don’t consider you my relative, much less my brother-in-law.”
Estrella Berrocal froze for a second and hurriedly avoided his gaze, pretending not to hear him, “The water must be boiling in the kitchen, I’ll get you a glass.”
With that, she got up to leave, but Ricardo Prats grabbed her hand: “Estrella, I can’t do that. I can’t call my brother-in-law as if you were his wife, much less call you sister-in-law”.
“…”
Estrella Berrocal withdrew her hand from his palm with determination, “Ricardo, it is an indisputable fact that, whether you can or not, I am the wife of your brother-in-law, the wife of Adán Rouco. ”
“Star, have you ever had your heart set on me, even a little?”
“No.”
Estrella Berrocal blurted out those two words and hurried out of the bedroom and ran to the kitchen.
When he went to pour the boiling water, his mind wandered a bit and he burned his finger, frowning in pain.
Ricardo Prats still had a fever and Estrella Berrocal wanted to leave but was not sure, so she brought him a cup of hot water and prepared some rice porridge.
…
Adán Rouco had just gotten off the plane and called Estrella Berrocal, but there was no answer.
He didn’t think much of it and went straight to the hotel where he was staying.
Adán Rouco sat in the hotel lobby until late at night, but Estrella Berrocal did not return to the hotel and did not answer his phone calls.
The man’s patience exhausted, and on the other hand, fearing that something had happened to Estrella Berrocal, he was about to go to the local police station to call the police when Estrella Berrocal’s call came in.
Adán Rouco’s frown loosens slightly as he picks up the phone: “Why don’t you answer the phone?
Estrella Berrocal, who had just left Ricardo Prats’ apartment and got into a cab, said apologetically, “I haven’t looked at the phone right now, somehow it’s on silent, I didn’t know you had called me so many times.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m in a cab and I’m on my way back to the hotel.”
Adán Rouco frowned slightly and asked, “Why are you back so late?”
Estrella Berrocal bit her lip, she didn’t want to tell him, so she casually lied: “I met a new designer today and I got to know him quite well, so …”
“A male designer?”
Estrella Berrocal rubbed her neck and deliberately said, “Mr. Adam, if I say you are a male designer, will you immediately fly to look at me?”
“You try it.”
The man spat out a name in a forceful tone, but it sent a shiver down Estrella Berrocal’s spine.
If he talked to any male designer until midnight, Adán Rouco feared he would break his neck, and he shook his head in a hurry.
When the cab pulled up at the hotel entrance, Estrella Berrocal got out of the car with her purse and craned her neck as she made her way to the hotel, more or less exhausted from taking care of Ricardo Prats all night.
Just as I was entering the hotel lobby, I saw a familiar, clean-cut figure.
“Adam!”
Surprised and delighted, Estrella Berrocal ran and jumped directly on top of Adán Rouco, who, fearing she would fall, was quick enough to hold her steady.
Estrella Berrocal’s watery eyes looked at him with starry eyes: “What brings you here? Why didn’t you tell me?”.
She hung on him, so excited that she forgot for a moment that it was a hotel lobby, and Adán Rouco, with his eyes downcast and a faint smile in them, sneered, “Mrs. Estrella, everyone else is watching us.”
With a quick glance, Estrella Berrocal saw that several of the employees in the hotel lobby were looking at them with ambiguous eyes.
She blushed and prepared to get off Adam Rouco, but the man’s hands were now firmly grasped and had no intention of letting go.
“Adam, put me down now.”
Adán Rouco raised an eyebrow: “You have thrown yourself on me and now you are ashamed?”.
If you hug, you’d better take him to his room.