In the afternoon, Adán Rouco was in the studio taking care of the work pending for so many days, and Estrella Berrocal was in the nursery with Paulita watching over Lucio.
Estrella Berrocal hugged Lucio and looked at her son with tender eyes: “It has only been a few days and your brother has grown much more”.
“My brother is a big eater and drinks more milk than I do.”
Estrella Berrocal said amused, “My brother is still young and feeds mostly on milk, which he certainly drinks more than you do.”
Paulita brought her little face close to Lucio, clutching a rattle in her little hand and teasing him, “What do you see here, brother, do you like it?”
Lucius didn’t even blink and had an indifferent look on his face, completely disinterested in the rattling.
“My brother is so cold.”
“It sounds like the personality probably follows your father.”
Estrella Berrocal’s hands were a little sore from holding him and she put Lucio back in his bassinet without crying.
It was then that Paulita asked, “Estrella why did you and daddy run away? I couldn’t see you as soon as I woke up, I didn’t answer your calls and I thought you and daddy didn’t want me and my brother.”
“How could Dad and I not love you and your brother? We just thought if we told you, you would cry and not let us go, so we didn’t tell you, and Dad and I will be back in a few days anyway.”
“Bullshit, it’s obvious he’s been gone for many days.”
Estrella Berrocal looked at Paulita with a soft look and took the little girl in her arms. “So, Paulita misses Estrella?”.
“Hm, I don’t want to.”
“Really? But Estrella misses Paulita so much. How about a kiss?”
Paulita hugged his little arms very proudly and said: “I’m going to give you a kiss since you miss me so much”.
The little boy gave Estrella Berrocal a big kiss on the cheek.
Estrella Berrocal couldn’t help but give the little girl a kiss on the cheek as well: “She’s still our Paulita. ”
Paulita, sitting in Estrella Berrocal’s arms, heard the sound of rain coming from outside and with a little twist of her face, looked out the window.
“Star, it’s raining outside again, is it okay if I don’t want to go to school tomorrow?”
Estrella Berrocal couldn’t help herself: “What kind of person stops going to school because of bad weather?”.
No sooner had she uttered the words than a flash of headlights came from the courtyard, shining into the window and stabbing Estrella Berrocal in the eye.
“Strange, who comes to our house at this hour?”
Estrella Berrocal got up and walked to the window and only dimly saw, in front of the patio door, a parked car with a tall, upright man who looked somewhat familiar … he seemed to be … Jonathan Tasis?
Paulita also came running: “Estrella, who is that?
“He seems to be Dad’s friend …”.
Since Analena Lozada came back to life, Jonathan Tasis and Adán Rouco have not coincided, but Estrella Berrocal does not know if they have turned their differences into good ones, except that Jonathan Tasis no longer seems to target Adán Rouco when it comes to shopping.
The door to the nursery was pushed open and Estrella Berrocal looked back to see Adán Rouco and said, “Adán, I think I saw Jonathan Tasis downstairs…”
“I’ve seen it, I’ll go meet him.”
“Oh, there you go.”
Estrella Berrocal wondered what Jonathan Tasis was doing on La familia Rouco at this hour looking for Adán Rouco.
…
Downstairs, outside the courtyard.
In the darkness, it was pouring rain, but Jonathan Tasis stood alone in the doorway, without an umbrella, looking a little forlorn, as if his sharpness had been washed away by the rain, leaving him only helpless and haggard.
Adán Rouco comes out of the villa with a black umbrella and frowns slightly as he approaches the iron gates.
Jonathan Tasis had only seen him in such a state of despondency once before, besides today, and that was after the death of Analena Lozada.
Rain, sliding down the brow bone, slid down, and fear and dread filled Jonathan Tasisari’s voice, “Annalena Lozada came to you?”
“No, I haven’t had any personal contact with her – what about her?”
Jonathan Tasis’ voice trembled a little, “Analena Lozada disappeared, I looked for her all over La Ciudad Santa and I couldn’t find her, I thought she was coming to see you before she left so…”
Adán Rouco purses his thin lips, his eyes sink slightly and, after a few seconds of reflection, he decides to speak: “Jonathan, the Analena Lozada you see now is not Analena Lozada, you should wake up”.
In the pouring rain, Jonathan Tasis growled, “She’s the one! She’s Analena Lozada… she’s the one!”
“I looked her up and she is Analena Lozada’s own sister, Eleanora Lozada. ”
“No, she is Analena Lozada, there is no one in this world that looks exactly like Analena Lozada, no … she is Analena Lozada…. …”
Adán Rouco quietly interrupted his thoughts and said, word for word, “Analena Lozada is long dead, and the girl who appeared later was Eleanora Lozada. ”
“Boom!”
Jonathan Tasis clenched his fist and punched Adam Rouco hard in the face, looking at him with reddened eyes, “She is, if I say she is, she must be.”
Adán Rouco tasted a splash of blood but did not fight back, watching Jonathan Tasis turn and stride into the car.
…
Estrella Berrocal, who was leaning out the window watching the commotion below, naturally saw Jonathan Tasis punching Adán Rouco.
Paulita blinked in amazement, “Dad didn’t really fight back even when he was beaten, was that guy really powerful? So powerful that Dad was afraid to hit him back?”.
Estrella Berrocal: “…”
Daughter, shouldn’t you be worried right now because your father is hurt?
“Your father who didn’t want to use violence, and hitting people is not going to solve the problem, so you’re not allowed to follow suit, okay?”
Paulita nodded with her little chin, “It’s smarter to run away quickly when you can’t hit someone.”
Estrella Berrocal: “…”
When Adán Rouco returned to the house, Estrella Berrocal glanced at the corner of his bleeding mouth and frowned, complaining, “Jonathan Tasis, what kind of man is he? Why does he hit people?”
Estrella Berrocal went to get a tissue to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth. “No, I’m going to put an ice pack on you, it won’t be good if it’s bruised and purple tomorrow.”
When Estrella Berrocal returned with the bags of ice, Adán Rouco was sitting on the sofa, talking to Santino Yepes on the phone.
“Send someone to look for Analena Lozada and keep me informed if there is any news.”
After hanging up the phone, Estrella Berrocal sat down, holding an ice pack for him, and said, “He hit you and you’re going to help him find someone, huh? No. Annalena Lozada has disappeared?”
Adán Rouco gave a slight “hmm” and said, “This Analena Lozada, not Analena Lozada. ”
Estrella Berrocal’s brow furrowed even more, “What do you mean?”.
“It’s Eleanora Lozada, Analena Lozada’s own sister, and she’s supposed to be back for revenge; she’s the one who sent someone to cut my brake fluid line and lure me to Pico del Teide when I crashed into the sea earlier. ”
“How come you never told me about this?”
“Because it’s what I owe Analena Lozada, this life, and it’s a way of giving it back to her.”
Estrella Berrocal threw the bag of ice she was holding directly into his hand, “Adán Rouco, I’m not going to let you do that again, do you know the helplessness and fear that Paulita and I went through at that moment, after we had your funeral, on the seventh day of the first month, I lit candles in my room to wait for you to return and I ended up burning the curtains and causing a fire There was a fire…. I …”
Even now, when I think about it, Estrella Berrocal still finds those days unbearably gray, even dark.
Adán Rouco pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly, “I’m sorry Estrella, I won’t leave you again and I won’t let you have the opportunity to experience that helplessness again.”
“You’d better mean it.”
Estrella Berrocal reached out and punched him on the shoulder, looking at him with slightly reddened eyes, “By the way, doesn’t that Jonathan Tasis know that the current Analena Lozada is a fake?”
“He is the person in the world who knows Analena Lozada best, and even I found out, I couldn’t not suspect anything.”
Estrella Berrocal’s watery eyes widened, “So … Jonathan Tasis has been lying to himself?”