“You’re a wonderful father, Guillermo. Besides, your whole family loves Nina. I’m sure she’ll grow up knowing how loved she is.”
“Would you like to come back when the snow starts falling?”
She looks at her hands. “Do you think it’s a good thing for me to become so present in her life?”
I walk over to where Olívia is and pick her up, sitting back down in the chair with her in my arms. “Can I answer differently?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t think it’s a good thing for you to go anywhere far from me. Far from us.”
Boston
Caldwell-Oviedo Tower Hotel
Returning to Boston was a reality check. In the little universe we created this weekend, everything seemed right in my life, more right than it’s been for a long time, but now that we’re back to work, tension has spread within me once again.
As I walk hand in hand with Olívia through the hotel lobby, I notice heads turning, albeit discreetly, to see us pass.
It’s the first time she’s been back at work here after the grotesque episode she was a victim of, since on the day of the press conference, as soon as we finished with the media, she decided to work from home.
During our time in the mountains, we reached an agreement about her pursuing what she loves. Olívia loves cooking and everything related to gastronomy, and I told her I thought it was a waste to hide her talents behind a job that didn’t stimulate her. After much arguing, she decided to apply to Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts next semester. It’s a highly regarded culinary university worldwide.
She’s scared but also very excited about the idea, and she sent a message to Julien telling him the news.
They’ve formed an unlikely friendship, as our chef tends to be irritable with most humans. When he praised her from the first day they met, it was like witnessing a miracle. So when Olívia told me after the call that Julien invited her to do an internship in his kitchen, I wasn’t surprised.
I noticed she was worried about the debts she’d incurred to pay for her mother’s medical expenses. That’s why she hesitated to start college, even with the Caldwell-Oviedo group covering the scholarship.
I had already resolved this issue, but with the storm we were involuntarily part of in the past few days, I forgot to reveal this secret. When I told her everything was paid for, she got angry and told me I didn’t have the right to pay off her debts without discussing it with her first. Of course, she was right. I apologized but confessed I wasn’t sorry. I just wanted to relieve her of that huge burden.
Olívia would never have been able to finish the installments with her salary, or rather, it would have taken many years to do so. Maybe a lifetime.
She was upset for a few hours, but in the end, she forgave me.
There are many good things about our country, but the healthcare system is not one of them. Even with excellent health insurance, if you or a family member gets sick for a long period, the chance of accumulating thousands of dollars in debt is huge. That’s what happened to her. She owed about half a million in medical expenses.
“They’re staring at me,” she says as we walk.
“Don’t lower your head. Look at them, too.”
“I’m not that brave.”
“Don’t let them see you’re scared. Some people live to smell others’ fear.” I make her stop walking and hold her face. “You’re very strong, little firecracker.”
To my relief, she starts laughing.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m remembering the reporters’ faces when you called me that last week.” She wraps her arms around mywaist and rests her head on my chest. “Thank you for being so amazing.”
“I’m the one who got you into this mess.”
“No, Guillermo, it was that crazy woman. Speaking of which, how are things going? Have the accomplices confessed?”
“One of them, the woman, Charlotte, provided a text exchange between her and Kathleen. It seems she wasn’t the first person my ex-secretary asked to participate in the scheme. Just the only one who agreed.”
“But why? I never did anything to her!”
