Just Rules (15 page)

“Hello?”

“Wow, that was fast,” said Tim, on the other end of the line. “Did you happen to be glued to the phone?”

Mac gulped, trying to find his words.

“Yeah.”

“Is there something wrong?”

“No, not at all,” he said, clearing his throat

Tell him that you slept with Susana. Tell him.

“You sound strange,” insisted Tim.

“How are things going with Amanda?” Mac asked, trying to take the focus off of him.

“A little better.”

“Really?”
Thank God. He doesn’t want to get back together with Susana.
“I’m really happy for you, Tim.”

“Well, the only thing I was able to do was convince her to go out to dinner with me, and she barely spoke a word. But I suppose you could say I’m making progress. Jeremy is another story. I think that I am growing on him”

Mac noticed how happy his friend was and decided that it wasn’t the best moment to tell him that he slept with the woman who had almost become his second wife.

“Send me a picture if you can. I would love to see my nephew. I hope he looks like his mother,” he joked.

“Honestly, he looks a lot like me,” said Tim, and you could already hear in his voice the love he felt for his son.

“Well, it could be worse, I guess.”

“Have you seen Susan?”

“No,” he lied. “Why?”

“Yesterday I got a call from the travel agency to check if I had received the refund for the honeymoon and I thought about her.”

“I thought you guys weren’t going to go on a honeymoon,” said Mac.

“Yeah, but a few weeks before everything went down I convinced Susan to take a few days off. We were going to spend a few days in Hawaii. That girl works too much,” he breathed. “Although I now realize that I’m not in love with her anymore, and probably I never really was, I care about her a lot. And I’m worried about her.”

Mac would have loved to tell Tim that he didn’t need to worry about Susana anymore, that that was his right, his job.. But he didn’t, and not because of Tim, or him, but because Susana had sent him that damn message apologizing for last night. Surely the first time she slept with Tim, she didn’t send him a message a few hours later telling him that she regretted it. No, with Tim she surely stayed over and they slept together the whole night.

He felt like punching his friend, his best friend since he was a kid, and one of the few people who had always been there for him.

He couldn’t go on like this. That woman was going to drive him completely crazy. Susana was right. Last night wasn’t going to happen again. He wasn’t going to let it happen again. His life was complicated enough as it was and Mac didn’t need Susana playing with his head. He had to put a stop to it, just like she had done.

“Susan is OK,” he said, clenching his teeth. “If I hear of anything, I’ll call you, but she’s got her friends and family. And you’re not part of that anymore.”

And I’m not either.

“You’re right, Mac. I guess I just feel guilty.”

That he understood. Tim was a very good guy and surely having left Susan the way he did was eating him away. He took a deep breath and let conversation continue.

“Maybe when you come back you two can be friends,” he suggested. “When are you coming back, by the way?”

“I don’t know yet. There are still several weeks until training starts, so I haven’t made up my mind.”

“Let me know, Tinman.”

“I will, Mac. Take care.”

After hanging up, Mac stared at the cursed telephone for a few minutes.

Or maybe an hour.

To hell with it.
He wasn’t a coward. He never had been. He always tried to be faithful to himself in order to achieve his dreams without being influenced by his family
.
And he was going to keep doing it. He was great at breaking the rules without anybody finding out, in life, in football, and now with Susana. Yes, nobody could ever say their relationship was
normal
, but he wasn’t willing to lose the chance to find out what that woman was capable of making him feel simply because they threw themselves at each other after spending months at each others’ throats.

He grabbed his phone and typed:
No way.
He sent the message to Susan and threw the phone against the wall so that he wouldn’t receive another stupid text again.

Eleventh rule in American football:

Interception:
when a defensive player intercepts the pass from the rival quarterback before the ball hits the ground, gaining possession for his team.

SUSANA

No way.

Almost four hours after sending my message and that is Kev’s answer.

No way.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?
No way
am I going to accept your apology?
No way is this
goodbye? Or
no way
is this happening again?

Did Kev chose those exact words on purpose to drive me even crazier?

I run my fingers across the screen just above his number. I want to call him and not just to riddle him up but because I want to hear his voice. I know I’m not going to do it, I don’t want to face what happened and if I talk to him I will have to.

I can still feel him moving inside me. I keep feeling his torso pressed against my breasts, his hands holding my face, his forehead touching mine while he whispered my name and climaxed.

I’m not calling him.

I leave my phone on the sink in the bathroom again —yes, it’s pathetic, since I sent him that message I can’t be away from that damn phone— and get undressed.

I have decided to take a bath. The bathtub is full of bubbles; I’ve put on one of my favorite albums in the background and I’ve got a novel waiting for me on the stool.

I stick my right foot in the water to test it out. It’s perfect.

My phone rings and I don’t even think about not answering it, but I turn around so quickly that I almost fall to the ground.

“Hello?”

“Susan, are you OK? You seem like there is something wrong.”

“No, I’m fine, Parker.”

I didn’t know he had my cell phone number.

“I hope I’m not bothering you, but I got your number from the files at the T.V. station,” he explains to me, answering the question I didn’t get the chance to ask.

“Wow, Parker, breaking the law, huh?” I flirt just to see if I’m capable of it.

Parker laughs.

“It’s a very important matter. I’m sure the jury will understand and find me innocent.”

“I am sure they will. What’s it about?”

“I have tickets to the opera this Friday.”

“That’s what is so important?” –I laugh-. “Tickets to the opera? ”

“Yes, of course. One of the partners from the T.V. stations gave them to me and I have to go with someone or he’ll try to marry me with one of his daughters.” –Pause-. “They are hideous. ”

“Poor Parker,” I tease him

“Have mercy on me, Susan.”

I can just see Parker in his office, or maybe in his luxurious apartment (which I’ve never been in), smiling, and going over the list of women in his head, his little black book. I know if I tell him no that he will call another woman and it doesn’t bother me. And if I tell him yes, on Friday night he will treat me as if I were the most beautiful woman in the world.

Parker isn’t going to change my world.

“Susan?”

“Sorry,” I clear my throat. “Yes, OK. I’ll go with you to the opera and protect you from the hideous daughters.”

“You’re the best, Susan. I’ll pick you up at six.”

Parker says goodbye and I get in the tub. I am not going to be able to relax like I had planned. Despite having just accepted a date with another man, it is Kev’s face that I can’t erase from my mind.

It won’t even go away when I go under water.

Days go by without any word from Kev. He hasn’t come by the T.V. station or my house, and he hasn’t called me or left me a message.

I don’t miss him, I can’t. I just can’t stop thinking about him.

I still don’t know what the hell
no way
means, but I suppose that it doesn’t matter anymore. He must have forgotten about the message, about me, and about what happened in his house.

I am going to do the same.

Surely my date tonight is going to help get there.

I have chosen a red dress for tonight. It’s not new although, I wore it a few months ago to a charity ball that Tim and I were invited to. I have chosen it because it flatters me and because the night I wore it for the first time Kev looked at me more furiously than he normally did.

Yes, I know, even if I try to not think about him, he’s always on my mind.

How is it possible that he’s taken over my life so completely?

The doorbell rings and I rush to get it. Parker looks amazing. He is wearing a tux and looks like he’s just stepped out of a James Bond film, but my stomach and my heart couldn’t care less.

“You look gorgeous,” he says, bending down to kiss me on the cheek.

“Thanks, you too.”

I grab my purse and we leave my apartment. Parker has a car waiting for us. It is one of the black vehicles the directors of the T.V. station where we both work use and that makes me think that maybe Parker is more up to the scale that what I thought.

The ride to the opera is pleasant. Parker chats with me and between questions he throws in some other compliments.

He even makes me laugh a few times.

We arrive to our destination and when the chauffeur stops, Parker gets out to open my door and to help me out of the vehicle. The opera is amazing. There is a red carpet in the entrance, and hanging from the main balcony there are various velvet flags embroidered with the name of the foundation that sponsors the event.

We are in the entrance chatting with some of Parker’s friends that he just introduced me to when a chill runs up and down my spine and I feel like someone is watching me.

I can feel the exact spot on my body where those eyes are starting at me, and the way they make me tremble. I don’t need to turn around to know to whom they belong to but I can’t help it either.

I move my head slightly to the right and when I see Kev a few feet away, just standing there, I can’t breathe.

He’s wearing a black suit, a white shirt and a black tie, and he looks scruffy. He stares at me. The muscle in his jaw is trembling and I see that he flexes the fingers on his right hand.

His eyes shine like never before and deep down inside I swear I can see rage.

And pain.

I open my mouth to say something to him. I feel the urge to explain to him that Parker works with me and that it doesn’t mean anything, but the vulnerability I thought I saw in him disappears and his face closes up again. I instantly regret the loss of intimacy and I feel my eyes start to sting.

I have to talk to him. I wet my bottom lip, trying to find the words to say, and just then Parker puts his hand around my waist.

The rage in Kev’s eyes hurts me physically, and I close the lids so I don’t have to see him anymore.

When I open them Kev has disappeared. I turn toward Parker, hoping that I had imagined the entire thing, but then I see Kev with Mike, the coach of the Patriots, and his wife Margaret, walking into the opera.

Everyone says the opera is wonderful, that the soprano is magnificent and that the musicians are second to none.

I don’t hear a thing. I can’t stop thinking about how Kev looked at me in the entrance.

And about how he has refused to look at me since then.

Kev is seated in box seats just in front of us. I can see him perfectly, and being the stubborn man that he is, he looks at the stage the entire time. He is so rigid you could break a beam with his neck.

There are times when I think he’s looking at me again, like when Parker puts his hand on my thigh. But when I look up, Kev is still completely hypnotized by the stage.

The applause intensifies and the lights progressively come on.

Intermission.

Thank God.

“Would you excuse me —I say to Parker— I have to go to the restroom. I won’t take long”

He smiles and stands up. With exquisite manners Parker tells me that while I visit the bathroom he will go get us some champagne.

I answer with my good girl smile and practically run out of there. I have to splash some water on my face and regain my composure as soon as possible.

I see the light that points to the restrooms and I walk towards it, and I’m only a few feet away when someone grabs me by the waist and pulls me toward some curtains.

In less than a second, I find myself with my back against the wall of some empty box seats and with Kev right in front of me.

He keeps holding my waist with one hand, while he rests his other one on the wall near my face.

“Do you mind telling me what the hell you are doing here?” he asks, with his lips just inches from mine.

I lift my hands and put them on his torso. I think I was going to push him, but I’m not sure.

“I was going to ask you the same thing. Anyone can see us here.”

“This box seat is always empty. Nobody can see us —he promises me, but then he squints his eyes and adds— why are you worried about people seeing us?”

“Move out of the way,” I say to him, refusing to answer his question.

“No. You let him touch your waist.” I feel him tighten his grip just there. “And your thigh.” He moves his hand right away and with a movement that doesn’t quite fit with his enormous body, he slides it under my dress until he places it possessively on my thigh, which Parker had previously grazed.

“Step back, Mac.”

“Open your eyes and tell me again.”

Did I close my eyes?

I open them and see Kev’s face. His jaw is clenched and a thin layer of sweat is covering his forehead. His temple is pulsating.

He is angry and hurt.

And he is scared.

“What happened the other day was a…”

He doesn’t let me finish. He bends down and kisses my lips. He places them slowly on mine and separates them slightly. During a second he only breathes in and out and his breath fills my insides and makes me tremble. Then, his tongue caresses my bottom lip over and over again, until a moan slips out between us and our mouths melt together without asking for our permission.