“I can't believe my life has become so miserable, everything is topsy-turvy,” complained Morgana over the video call with her friend Lorena, while stranded in traffic at five o'clock in the afternoon in the city.
“All you have to do is look him in the face and tell him once and for all that he can go to hell itself”.
“It's not as easy as you think,” she tapped the steering wheel twice to sound the horn. “I just tried it, and the idiot threatened me”.
“What do you mean?”, her friend has, upset. “Why the hell didn't you tell me anything?”
“The truth is that I didn't want to burden you with my problems, you already have enough with your mother's illness,” she excused herself.
“What you say is absurd, Morgana,” Lorena reproached her, “But you still haven't answered what that idiot Joe is threatening you with”.
Morgana thought about it for a moment, even though she had been living that ordeal for three months, she was ashamed to talk about it. But in that instant, she was so desperate that she didn't really care.
“It's a little delicate,” Morgana said very softly, “I owe him a lot of money”.
“Since when?”, Lorena was alarmed because she didn't even imagine that she had that issue.
“Ehm two months ago,” Morgana knew her friend was not going to like the answer.
“How much are we talking about?”, Lorena needed all the information.
“Three thousand seven hundred dollars,” she replied after a sigh.
“Fuck!”, Lorena exclaimed with exasperation. “Forgive me for asking, but why so much money? I don't know why you didn't tell me first”.
“I didn't really ask him,” Morgana defended herself.
“So?”
“Do you remember the heart attack my dad had months ago?”, she asked.
“Of course”. Lorena answered.
“Well… he was with me when I applied to the bank for the loan, and without telling me anything he deposited the amount… and I… well…”
“You thought it was from the bank, and the idiot didn't tell you. Is that it?”
“Yes, and the worst thing was that I did it right away. Two days later I found out through a call from a bank executive telling me that the credit application had been denied,” she paused. “I told him, and he told me that it was a gift, that I shouldn't worry, that that was why he was my partner. To support me, and he can be to stay with me in good times and bad”.
“Great!”, Lorena expressed sarcasm.
“It wasn't all that bad…”
“It was good while your relationship lasted,” Lorena said curtly. “That guy didn't suit you, and you know it, he's a…”
“Idiot? Miserable? Maniac?”, she finished.
“All that and more, but now what does he want from you, Morgana?”.
“Aside from screwing up my existence,” she mockingly asked, “He wants me with him again or hand over his money”.
“He's a bastard!”, said the young woman on the other end of the line, “What are you gonna do?”
“I wanna pay him for his shit, of course. But while that's going on, I have to put up with it”.
“That's not fair…”
“I know, but he gave me a deadline, and he claims that if I don't do what he says... He will tell everyone in the office that I am a scamming bitch”.
“Those of us who know you know that you are not a scamming”.
“Thank you, but just right now for me, the important thing is to get another extra gig”.
“You will find it,” Lorena encouraged her. “I have to hang up now, I'm at the doctor's office with my mother”.
“That's okay, thank you.”
“Morgana…”
“Yes?”
“Even if you have a lot to thank that man for… He doesn't own you, and you don't owe him anything” She stopped a few seconds, “I don't think even money because nobody told him to be the knight-errant rescuing damsels in distress”.
“I know it,” she said, after bursting out laughing.
“I'm serious, Morgana. Your relationship with him was toxic, even destructive”.
“Don't remind me it…”
“That guy caused you a lot of problems, he made you lose potential clients because of his jealous scenes, and you almost got fired from your job because of that. You got sick of nerves, don't give him the importance he doesn't have”.
“I know it…”
“Well, I'm just giving you my point of view, Morgana”.
“Don't worry about me, hun”.
After saying that, they both ended the call.
Morgana tightened her grip on the steering wheel and took a long breath. She couldn't tell her friend that there had never been a relationship with Joe, they were never boyfriend and girlfriend. They just went out to parties, had a good time, and that was it.
That was really the issue between them, that Joe wanted something she couldn't give him. She would never give up her job, her lifestyle for any man, and the guy who wanted to be with her… Well, she had to adjust, because there was no other way. She didn't earn her job at the lotto every Sunday.
She had worked very hard for years and had started from scratch. Likewise, she was very proud of her accomplishments. That's why she refused to let one slip-up, one bad decision in choosing a playmate, and everything she fought for go to shit.
She went to turn on the car radio, as the cars were starting to move. She mumbled a curse when she saw the caller ID. Without a second thought, she turned it away. Almost instantly she received a voice message, although she was dying of curiosity, she didn't hear it.
Every word Joe had said to her before leaving the restaurant where he had summoned her echoed in her head.
“Don't think you can hide from me, Morgana. You're a complete bitch, how could I not have noticed before. But don't worry, I'm gonna finish you.”
Rage overcame her, and with clenched fists and with all her might she gave a couple of blows to the steering wheel.
“How could I have been so stupid!”, she questioned herself in a loud and broken voice, despair was going to make her cry once again. “How did I let it come to this?”
She tried to calm herself by reaching into her purse for a bottle of water, so that the lump in her throat would melt away. After taking a long drink, she looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror.
“I'll do anything to get out of you, Joe. I'll get you out of my life forever”, she promised herself.
──────⊰·☆·⊱──────Morgana was opening the door to her modest office, having finished her presentation in the boardroom. Everything went better than planned, although for a moment she thought she wouldn't make it. Since she hadn't been able to sleep the night before, Joe Carson's offensive words echoed in her head.However, she turned his anxiety and uneasiness into something productive. As she was in the habit of doing. The soft knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts.“It's finally Friday!” Lorena came in and sat down in the armchair in front of Morgana's desk.“Yes, I was really looking forward to the weekend,” Morgana gestured with her mouth. “The truth is that I'm a little tired, you don't know how I long to get home and take a shower in the bathtub with a nice glass of wine”. “Is that your plan for today?”, questioned the newcomer. “Since when did you become so boring? I thought you'd be joining me tonight”.“Where to?”, Morgana did not remember anything.“Today is Mr.
──────⊰·☆·⊱──────The impression was so weird, that without saying that she had accepted his uncle's proposal to go to study at a business school in Miami, she left without saying anything that same morning. But that was not all, because she was the protagonist of another surreal scene. The weekend, when she arrived home for a visit after months. She found his mother pregnant, and that his parents had remarried.When she confronted her uncle, with whom she kept in touch, but he worked on oil rigs in the middle of nowhere. He told her that he had been as surprised as she was, but that love had very strange ways of manifesting itself.“Maybe that's why I'm alone!”.Morgana remembered her uncle's words to him that day, after she had experienced that episode with Joe, she thought if she was going to follow her uncle's path.She shook her head, and when she opened the door of his apartment he found Sultana, his dachshund. She had been given to him by Sergio, a very special friend she had,
──────⊰·☆·⊱──────Arthur had a faraway look on his face, as he took a sip of his whiskey shot, letting the amber liquid run down his throat. He wanted a little break, after a busy day.“What a look on your face, man,” Micah said by way of greeting, at the same time patting his shoulder.He glared at the newcomer, then gestured for him to sit down next to him.“It's all bullshit,” he replied, shaking his head, and placing the empty glass on the bar counter.“What do you mean?” “When it's one thing, it's another,” Arthur shrugged. “Sometimes, even all together”Micah motioned to the barman to pour him a drink and join his friend.“What is it now?” He asked, before raising his drink and making a toast gesture.“Women!” exclaimed Arthur. “Some are a walking complication, but for some strange reason, necessary.”“All women?,” Micah questioned, motioning with his hands to put quotation marks, “Or are you referring to a specific woman? Because of that bad mood of yours, I take it you're ref
──────⊰·☆·⊱──────“Come on Arthur! I'm not the only one who enjoys a beautiful woman at his side”. He winked. There are others who get better benefits than getting in her lap.“You're a fucking bastard!” Arthur let out a laugh.On the latter, Micah was absolutely right. He owed his lifestyle and comfort to his group of friends who contributed to it. Chief among them was Jennifer. Who helped him acquire the penthouse at Gables Estates in Coral Gables. One of the most luxurious areas of Miami, and her BMW Eight Series Concept. According to what she said, it was one for her birthday, and the other for their relationship anniversary. Sometimes I thought that woman in his life weighed more than a shackle.In his relationship with the congressman's wife, not everything was so bad. In bed, she knew how to please him completely. There was a time when he thought he was completely in love with her. But knowing that she belonged to another man and that he was just a slip of the woman, made him o
──────⊰·☆·⊱──────Morgana had always been surrounded by gallant men, but like the man who had kissed her hand, she never thought it was possible. Such experiences only exist in romantic movies.«Oh my God, I’ve run into Mr. Darcy!»She scoffed, seeing Arthur’s theatrical attitude. Referring to the protagonist of the story Pride and Prejudice. Written by Jane Austen.“I feel a bit ignored,” said a voice.Everyone turned to see where the complaint came from.“This is my partner and friend Micah Sabag,” Arthur said, motioning for the Israeli to move a little closer to the group.“Sabag?” Albert gritted his teeth and held out his hand. “You're from the shipping company, right?”“Yes, I am,” he responded with a smile.The shipping company was one of Arthur's businesses, hidden from Jennifer. For that reason, Micah was the legal representative of the company.“I saw you at one of the merchants' association meetings a few months ago”.It could not be denied that Albert had a very good memor
──────⊰·☆·⊱──────Before Joe could retort rudely to her friend, Morgana decided it was time to do something, because the atmosphere was very tense.“I'll be back in a moment,” she informed them, taking advantage of a waitress coming in her direction to put the two glasses on her.“Where are you going?” Lorena asked very softly.“I'm going to the bathroom for a moment, I promise I won't be long”.She turned around before her friend could say anything. For the third time that night, she felt Joe's voice very close.“Morgana, don't think you'll get rid of me so easily, you little thing”.“Leave me alone!”“No way, babe. Don't dream it”, he said.“Piss off, Joe”.She practically ran out to the bathroom, as she closed the door she rested her head on the material, and placed her purse on her chest.«How could it possibly have come to this?!»«How did I fall into the clutches of this man?!»«What will I do now?!»She questioned herself, she couldn't afford a scandal. Lorena had been on the v
──────⊰·☆·⊱────── Morgana stood on the spot a little dazed, all she could do was look to the side, as if she felt a little insecure. The least she had expected was for the new acquaintance to introduce himself to her like that. “So?” Arthur asked again, waving his hands a little and squinting at her, “Do you want me to serve you as a cab or not?” She looked nervously to the side again, not wanting to give Joe a chance to find her, she made her way to the vehicle walking as fast as her six-inch heels would allow. She heard clearly the instant he lowered the locks. “Of course!” Morgana as she opened the door and quickly climbed in. “Anything to get out of here right now”. Arthur immediately started the engine of the luxury car, clicking his teeth as he looked in the rearview mirror and saw that the man who had tormented the woman next to him was outside looking for her. Then she let out a chuckle, the idiot, not even aware that he had taken her. «Imbecile!». For a moment there
──────⊰·☆·⊱────── He motioned to the young woman and led them to the table. It was then that he regretted it, for the right place that had been recommended to him was in the garden. It was true that they could see everything from there, and everything was newly remodeled. He had known the owner since he was a teenager, and he knew the quality of the food. But still, he thought he was giving him a bad impression, and that for Arthur was terrible. “Where did you hear about this place?” Morgana wanted to know, as they sat down at the table, and the waitress handed them the menu. Arthur felt a little uncomfortable. «How do I tell her I worked here on the weekends when I was in high school?» “One of my employees brought me here,” he lied. The truth was that he had helped the owner with all the improvements. “It was a very good choice…” Morgana looked to the side. “Arthur…” he finished, shaking his head and making a dramatic gesture, he added: “I can't believe you don't remember my n