The Horse Farm - Chapter 2-41

The rain was still falling when Louise dashed from Antonio's car into her own. "Gross!" she exclaimed as she pulled the door shut and wiped the water from her forehead. She set her purse on the floor, slipped out of her jacket and hung it carefully on the back of the passenger seat. 

Louise started the engine, turned on the wipers and headlights, and switched the fan to the Defrost setting. She waved to Antonio; he waved back and pulled away.

Louise took a deep breath and let herself relax back into the driver's seat. The air in the car had a moist, fresh smell. She gazed past the raindrops and the wipers that struggled to keep the windshield clear. Her thoughts weren't focused. She felt an urge to call Terri but decided against it.

"Terri has her own problems," she thought to herself. "Besides, she's probably with Francisco."

Calling Jo was out of the question. Those feelings were too raw. Louise couldn't even think about her. The conversation with Antonio brought it all back, her own infidelity and Walter's counter-infidelity with her close friend. 

"God, what a mess!" Louise said to herself out loud.

The windows were relatively clear now; the Defrost setting was working. Louise checked traffic carefully in both directions and pulled out of the space. 

Louise thought over her conversation with Antonio as she waited for the traffic signal to change. She felt remarkably tranquil, almost as though they had met for sex instead of a drink. 

Seeing him again was surreal after all that had happened. Thankfully, she still felt comfortable in his presence. He showed no animosity toward her despite the harshness of the breakup and the unfortunate way that he had found out about Walter. 

Louise always enjoyed listening to Antonio; she liked to watch his eyes and hands as he let his thoughts flow. The accent and the imperfect English were cute, but the appeal ran deeper that that. He was expressive and open. He didn't seem to fear the judgment of others. He just said what he wanted to say with confidence, at least to the degree that he could while communicating in a second language. This directness was one of the qualities that had attracted her in the beginning. He always made her feel at ease. It's probably why she fell in love with him.

Louise reached over and powered on the radio. She dialed down to the jazz channel at the lower end of the FM dial. Jazz is the perfect soundtrack for introspection - the warm chords of the guitar, the breathy urgency of a wailing saxophone. Jazz expresses emotion without the distraction of words. It raises the spirit and makes you feel as though you're floating toward heaven.

And it does this very well until an ad for an online dating service comes on and kills the mood. 

"God damn it!" shrieked Louise as she slammed the radio's power button with her fist.

Louise suddenly felt an uncomfortable tension tugging at her face. She choked back the urge to cry as she dialed Terri.

The phone rang several before Terri answered. "Hey, Lou, are you okay?"

"Hey, I'm so sorry!"

"No, it's okay, what's up?"

Louise began to cry. "I think I'm just really upset."

"Lou, were are you? Are you driving?"

"Yes," she sobbed.

"Well, maybe you should pull over."

"It's okay, I'm almost home."

"Do you want to call me when you get there and tell me what happened?"

"Okay," Louise sobbed.

"Louise, is Walter back?" Terri asked.

"No. Tomorrow."

"Hang on a sec." Terri covered the phone. Louise could hear muffled voices in the background. "Louise, I'm coming over."

Louise started to regain some of her composure. "Are you with Francisco?"

"Yeah," Terri answered. "But it's okay. It sounds like you need to talk."

"No, you should..."

"It's okay, Lou. I'm gonna come over and stay with you tonight."

"Are you sure?"

"It's okay, Lou. Really!"

"Okay."

"All right, listen," Terri instructed. "I want you to hang up and drive very carefully. It's raining hard."

"Okay."

"And I'll see you in a little while."

"Okay," Louise said softly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Lou. Just get home safely."

"Okay."

"Okay, bye!"

"Bye!"

  

'The Horse Farm'

Copyright © 2016 Daniel R. South

All Rights Reserved

The Horse Farm - Chapter 2-40

Antonio jumped to his feet as Louise rose from the table. "Here, let me help you with your coat."

"Thank you," she acknowledged gently.

Antonio opened his walled and placed two twenty-dollar bills on the table. "I'll walk you to your car."

"Don't you need change?"

"No, that should be about right."

They walked toward the door. Louise turned toward Antonio as he reached for the handle: "You don't have to come with me."

"It's okay," he assured her. "I want to hit the gym and then get back to my room in time for the match."

"Soccer?" she asked.

"Football."

"Football ... right!" she mused with a grin.

Antonio opened the door for her.

"Oh, God! It's raining!" Louise cried.

"Wow! It really is!"

"I didn't bring an umbrella!"

"Where are you parked?" he asked.

"I'm way out there!" She pointed toward the far end of the lot. "There weren't any spaces closer when I arrived."

"I'll drive you to your car. I'm parked right here." Antonio motioned toward a black, late-model Mustang.

"Are you sure?"

"Sure, I'm sure!" he insisted. "Come on!"

Without hesitation, he dashed out into the pouring rain and opened the passenger door for her. Louise raced toward the car holding her purse over her head. Antonio walked briskly toward the driver's side and let himself in.

"Oh, no! You're soaked!"

"We're both soaked," he said with a matter of fact tone. "Bad timing, I guess!"

The comment implied multiple meanings in Louise's mind. "Yeah, I guess!"

The Mustang's V-8 engine roared as Antonio pressed the accelerator pedal. Louise's eyes opened widely. "Oh, this car is so YOU!"

"Do you like it?"

"It sounds nice," she observed. "And it doesn't leak."

"Have you ridden in a Mustang before?"

"In high school, I think. - Don't tell my mom."

"Well, they're a lot more powerful now," Antonio boasted.

"I rode in a Ferrari once. That was pretty powerful."

"Wow! when was that?"

"Another story for another time." Louise pointed to a car as they drove slowly down the row. "This is me."

Antonio pulled into the space adjacent to Louise's. "There! You will not have to walk too far!"

"I can't believe there are so many spaces now!" she grumbled. She realized that she sounded irritated. "I'm sorry for complaining."

"It's okay," he assured her. "No one likes getting caught in the rain."

"Anyway, thanks for the ride!"

"My pleasure!"

"Geez, it's still coming down!"

"Probably, it will slow down in a minute," he said. "Hey, listen..."

Louise turned toward him. She felt uneasy about what he might say.

"I'm sorry about the Friday thing," Antonio said. "I didn't intend to upset you."

"It's okay," Louise said calmly. "She just blurted it out at a stressful moment."

"Beth?"

"Yeah."

"She seems pretty excited to go," Antonio noted.

"Yeah, because she has a thing for you!"

"I don't think so."

"Oh, yeah! Totally!"

"Well, it's okay because I don't have a thing for her."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure, Louisa."

"You're sure that you're not looking to hook up with somebody this time."

"Well, I wasn't looking to hook up with her."

"Oh! My! God!" Louise exclaimed with a look of contemptuous disbelief on her face.

"I'm sorry. That didn't mean ... it wasn't what it sounded like," Antonio said sheepishly.

"Well, it sounded pretty bad!"

"Entiendo. Really. I'm sorry. I just meant..." He paused for a moment.

"You meant...?"

"I meant that I am not attracted to Beth, not even a little bit. Okay?"

"You're sure?"

"Louisa, I told you that I am sure."

"I mean, are you sure that that's what you meant?"

"Ah, you are playing games with me now!" Antonio complained playfully. "You know that my English is not that good."

"Okay, just checking," Louise said as she reached for the door handle.

"Why don't you come with us?" he asked.

"Come where?"

"El viernes," he suggested. "Friday - come to dance. It will be fun."

Louise cringed. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why isn't it a good idea?" Antonio realized that was pressing her a bit, but with his smile he let her know that he wasn't trying to be pushy. "You can bring your boyfriend."

"Oh, that's an even worse idea!" Louise blurted out with a look of shock on her face.

"Oh, so he knows about me."

"No," she explained. "He doesn't know about ... anything. But I don't really want him asking questions either, do you know what I mean?"

"Entiendo. Está bien."

"And besides, dancing really isn't his thing."

"Okay, well, it was just a thought," Antonio said.

"And it was a nice thought," she said. "Now, I have to get home."

"Sí!"

"And you have to go to the gym."

"Yes!" He said with a smile.

"And watch your football game."

"Soccer game!"

"Oh, don't try to pull that one mister!" she scolded.

Louise looked into Antonio's eyes. She had an overwhelming urge to kiss him in that moment. He lips were parted and her heart was racing. If she had known for certain that he was feeling the same way, she might have gone for it. But neither of them made a move. The moment passed.

"Thanks again for the ride," she said as she unlatched the door.

"Thank you for meeting me."

  

'The Horse Farm'

Copyright © 2016 Daniel R. South

All Rights Reserved

The Horse Farm - Chapter 2-39

Quebracho was located near the corner of a large, L-shaped shopping center. The parking lot was busy and most of the spaces were taken. Louise parked near the far end of the lot and walked past two other restaurants, a gym, and a row of specialty shops.

"It figures that I couldn't even find a good space!" she muttered.

A bouncer in a black suit stood beside a double door of dark wood and faux iron work. He pulled one of the doors open as Louise arrived. She wondered whether he was going to ask her for identification, but he didn't.

Antonio was sitting to Louise's left at a table across from the bar. He smiled and rose to his feet; his slender six-foot two-inch frame and raven hair turned a few heads.

"You were right!" Louise exclaimed.

"About what?" Antonio asked while slipping Louise's jacket gently from her shoulders. 

"It is a nice bar!"

"I'm glad that you think so," he said, relaxing a bit. "And listen! No tango music!" 

Louise let out a laugh. "I guess you were right about that, too!" she said with a beaming smile.

A muscular waiter approached the table. "What can I get for you, Miss?"

"Malbec? Not too dry?"

"Right away!" Louise glanced at the waiter's body as he walked away. "Maybe he belongs to the gym next door," she thought to herself.

"Thank you for coming," Antonio said.

"You know I always come for you," Louise teased with a wink.

"Oh, well, your sense of humor hasn't changed!"

"Sorry!" Louise said, now feeling mildly embarrassed. "I just couldn't waste a setup like that."

"I'll have to be more careful," Antonio said with a grin.

Louise glanced around the room. The dark wood had an aged look. A staircase with a decorative iron railing led to a second level with additional tables. A series of black and white photos lined the walls.

"Is that Buenos Aires?" she asked.

"Yes," Antonio answered without much emotion.

"You couldn't find a place with pictures of Montevideo?" she joked.

"You know, I have tried!"

"That's what this town needs," Louise remarked. "A good Uruguayan restaurant."

"Indeed!"

They shared a brief and nervous laugh.

"Malbec for the lady," said the waiter as he placed the glass before Louise. "Would you like a refill, sir?"

"I'm okay for now," Antonio responded. The waiter moved on and took glasses from another table into the back.

"What are you drinking?" Louise asked directly.

"A Sauvignon Blanc from Chile."

"That sounds refreshing!"

"Yeah, but now that I think of it, I should have gotten the Malbec."

"Would you like a taste?" Louise asked.

"No, that's okay. I don't like to mix red and white."

"I'll drink to that!" Louise raised her glass, and Antonio responded in kind.

"Okay, so why are we here again?" Louise asked.

"I don't remember," Antonio said. "I think you asked me to have a drink with you."

"No, you asked me to have a drink with YOU!"

"I did?"

"I think so?"

"Maybe you're right," Antonio conceded. "Or maybe I'm just drinking too much."

"That can happen," Louise observed.

"So, anyway, I wanted to say that I'm sorry for snapping at you the other night."

"You didn't snap," Louise countered. "You were being honest. I think that if anyone should apologize it's me."

"No apology necessary," Antonio insisted. "Not between us."

"That's sweet, Antonio. But, obviously, this situation bothered you."

"You could say that."

"Well, again, whether you think it's necessary or not, I do apologize for hurting you."

"Thank you," he paused for a moment. "I understand. I do. Things between us..."

"...kind of happened fast," she said, completing his thought.

"Yes," he agreed. "Very fast."

"And at the time, I don't think that I realized that it was going to turn into something serious."

"Entiendo. No digas más..."

"I should have told you," she insisted.

"I guess so," Antonio pondered. "But then, maybe things would have been different. Or maybe they would have been the same."

"Do you think so?"

"It's hard to say. It's in the past."

"I know," she said. "I just don't think that you would have been interested..."

"I was interested in you from the day that we met," Antonio confided.

Louise's heart raced. "Really?"

"Yes. I still remember thinking ... that I shouldn't be thinking what I was thinking. Does that make sense in English?"

"Yes, it makes sense," she said. "Because I felt the same way. I even told my friends and ..."

Louise stopped. She realized that she had just admitted more than the should have.

"And what did they say?"

"Well, it was obviously a complicated situation," Louise explained.

"I understand."

"I mean, they didn't discourage me from getting to know you - since they knew how I was feeling. But they didn't want me to get hurt, either."

"It sounds as though your friends are very understanding."

"Yes and no," she muttered thinking about Jo and the night that she had spent with Walter. Louise still felt partially responsible; she had been with Antonio that evening.

"Are you okay?" Antonio asked.

"Yeah. Let's just not talk about that anymore."

"Okay," he agreed. "But, now, things are good with you ... and the guy?"

"Walter," Louise asked. "Yes, things are fine."

"Well, I am relieved to hear that everything returned to normal."

"Normal," Louise thought to herself. "Nothing about my life is normal." 

Things hadn't been normal since the day that this dashing man had first walked into her life. She was fascinated from the first day, not just with his looks, but with his gentle voice and cultured manner. Despite her best intentions, she fell in love, deeply in love, and she sensed that he felt the same for her.

When he returned home at the end of his assignment, she cried for two months - every day - and never let on to Walter that she was heartbroken. That's not normal. It was torture. And when things finally seemed to be getting back on track, she discovered that Walter had had affair with one of her closest friends.

"None of this is normal!" Louise thought. "It all started with him! He's sitting right in front of me, and he doesn't know any of this. Should I tell him? Should I open up and be honest? My God, he'll think that I'm a crazy person. I'll probably get fired."

"Louisa?" Antonio asked.

"Huh?"

"¿Estás bien? Are you okay?"

"I'm ... I'm good. Sorry! The wine ... the wine is really good!"

"Would you like some more?"

"No," Louise decided. "I think maybe I should probably go. Is that okay?"

"It's fine," Antonio insisted. "I'm glad that we were able to talk."

"Yeah! Me, too! It was nice."

  

'The Horse Farm'

Copyright © 2016 Daniel R. South

All Rights Reserved

The Horse Farm - Chapter 2-38

Antonio avoided looking toward Louise as he entered the conference room. He exchanged pleasantries with a few colleagues and then took a seat on the opposite side of the table. The seat selection could have been random, but it appeared to Louise that he wanted to be as far from her as possible.

The meeting plodded along. Louise rested her chin on the palm of her hand, the tips of her straight blond hair just reaching the table top. The participants flipped through the presentation, but Louise never opened her copy. At one point, she realized that she was holding a pen but couldn't remember what she had intended to do with it.

Antonio was Louise's first thought in the morning, but all of the thoughts that followed seemed confused and ambiguous. Had she misjudged his motives all this time? His communications had ended abruptly once he returned home to Montevideo. She assumed that it was because he wasn't interested. Was he hurt when he found out about Walter? If so, why didn't he confront her? Why let things go unresolved for so long?

As the meeting concluded, she rose and walked toward him. She stood and waited for him to finish a brief conversation and then approached.

"Hey, do you have a minute?"

"Yes," he answered softly. "I was just going back to my desk."

"I thought about what you told me last night."

"There's nothing to think about. It all happened long ago."

"Not that long!" she argued.

"True. But it doesn't bother me anymore. You're happy."

"Well, it bothers me that we never had a chance to talk about it."

"I understand," Antonio said softly. "And that's my fault."

"No, it's not anyone's fault." Louise paused for a moment. She wasn't sure exactly how to continue. "Do you think we could talk now?"

"I am a little busy now..."

"No, I don't mean here," she clarified. "Maybe we could get a drink sometime."

"You would want to do that?"

"I would like to talk about it."

"OK, then, when would you like to talk?"

"I'm free after work."

"You don't have to get home?"

"No, he's traveling," she confided. "He's coming back tomorrow."

"I guess Fitzgerald's is not an option," Antonio said with a wink.

She felt relieved at this glimpse of humor and began to smile. "Yeah, I don't want to come home smelling like beer and fried food."

"There is a trendy place called Blue," Antonio offered. "Have you been there?"

"Where is it?"

"It's in the lobby of my hotel."

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea..."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I wasn't thinking of it that way."

Antonio thought for a moment. "Have you been to Quebracho?"

"Que-what?"

"Quebracho. It's a new place. Argentine steakhouse. But they have a really nice bar."

"They don't play tango music there, do they?" Louise asked suspiciously.

"I think only on Sundays or Mondays," Antonio said. "Most of the time they play techno music."

"That seems odd."

"It's what Americans who drink like to listen to, I suppose. The guy just wants to stay in business."

--

Walter dialed Susan's phone. Her voice mail greeting sounded professional and, given the circumstances, annoyingly upbeat.

"Hi, you've reached Susan Chen! I'm sorry that I could not take your call at this time. Please leave your message, and I'll call you back!"

"Hey, Susan, it's Walter. I don't know if you saw my texts. I just wanted to make sure that you got back okay last night, and I wanted to wish you a good flight. I'll, uh, see you back in the office in a couple of days. Just give me a ring or send me a text to let me know you're all right. Okay? Okay. Um, talk to you soon."

  

'The Horse Farm'

Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South

All Rights Reserved

The Horse Farm - Chapter 2-37

Louise dialed Terri's phone from the car.

"Hello?"

"Am I a horrible person?"

"Well, hi Terri! How are you doing?" Terri mocked. "Oh, I'm fine Louise! How's everything with you?"

"I'm sorry," Louise exhaled. "I'm really sorry. How are you doing?"

"I want to know why you think you're a horrible person."

"Okay, well, I went back to the office..."

"Oh my God!" Terri screamed. "He wasn't there was he?"

"Well, yeah."

"Louise! What did you do?"

"We just talked!"

"Are you sure?"

"I mean, it's not like I was going to do him in the copy room or something."

"Louise, this is YOU talking," Terri scolded.

"Okay, well, maybe if I still liked the guy, I would have done him in the copy room. But I don't, and I didn't."

"Why was he there?"

"Some of them went out to an Irish pub. He stopped by to use the bathroom."

"Oh, that's a lame excuse."

"Whatever, I didn't verify that he actually used the bathroom."

"Well, that's a relief."

"I can't believe you."

"Okay, I still haven't heard why you're such a horrible person."

"He confronted me. About Walter."

Terri's voice suddenly took on a tone of concern. "He knows about Walter?"

"He knows that I have a boyfriend. And that I did when we ... hooked up."

"What did he say?"

"He asked me why I didn't tell him."

"And you said - 'DUH!'"

"That's not funny!"

"I'm sorry, Lou!"

"I didn't know what to say. I mean, he's right."

"He knew all along?"

"He found out just before he left," Louise explained. "Someone at the office said something."

"Oh! That person is definitely coming off of your Christmas card list!"

"Be serious."

"Okay, so, do you think that's why he blew you off when he went back to South America?"

"I think it's a real possibility."

"So, maybe he isn't a player?"

"That would kind of change my opinion of the guy."

"But you don't know if it's true."

"I don't."

"I mean, he could have found out anytime. And maybe he's just trying to make you feel bad so you don't think he's so much of a scumbag."

"I guess," Louise admitted. "Anything's possible. I don't know. I'm tired. By the way, did you talk to Francisco?"

"He called me."

"Was the wicked blonde witch still there?"

"She and the kid went out to dinner," Terri explained. "Then she went back to her hotel. At least, that's the story."

"That's the story," Louise repeated.

"That's the story, morning glory."

"How did he sound? And what did the kid say?"

"Oh, he just told them that he's going off to school, to the university as planned. I guess for a while he was thinking about not going."

"Well, if your dad's rich..."

"I don't think Frank would look upon that too fondly," Terri said.

"I know," Louise assured her. "I was just kidding."

"Okay, so are you good with this guy?" Terri prodded. "Are things going to be weird in the office?"

"I have no idea," Louise said.

"When does Walter get back?"

"Day after tomorrow."

"Okay, don't do anything stupid!"

"I won't," Louise assured her.

"Call me if you need moral support."

"Okay."

"Goodnight!"

"Good night!"

  

'The Horse Farm'

Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South

All Rights Reserved

The Horse Farm - Chapter 2-36

Louise pushed through a revolving door and stepped into a shimmering marble lobby. She presented her identification badge to the evening staff at the security desk and walked toward the elevators. "The first stop is the bathroom!" she mused as she rode up to her floor.

The office suite was dimly lit. Louise didn't see anyone working as she navigated the corridor to the restroom. Once she arrived at her desk, Louise checked her email to see if anyone had requested changes to the presentation. Luckily, they hadn't.

The team would need about fifteen copies for the morning meeting, but Louise always printed extras in case someone joined unexpectedly. She opened the print dialog, verified that the collate and staple options were enabled, and sent the job to the large printer on the other side of the floor.

Louise left her purse on the desk. No one was around, and she'd have to come back anyway to lock the printouts in her file drawer. 

She walked past a row of glass offices on her left and a sea of cubicles to the right. "Corporate heaven!" she thought as a sly grin stretched across her face.

Four of the presentations were ready by the time that she reached the copy room. She removed them from the hopper and flipped through one deck to make sure it had printed correctly. In the back of her mind she could hear Sharon complaining about the cost of printing multiple copies on single-sided pages, but tough luck. Presentations don't print well double-sided, and it's difficult to negotiate the pages when they're stapled.

"What are YOU doing here?"

Louise turned to see Antonio standing in the doorway.

"Jesus! You scared me!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't think that anyone was here."

"You shaved your beard."

"Yeah, something new," he acknowledge. "Do you like it?"

"I... I have no idea," Louise responded, searching for words. "I'm just making copies..."

"Oh, for tomorrow. Good idea!" Antonio noticed a look of mild shock on Louise's face. "I'm sorry. I just stopped to use the bathroom. A bunch of us went to Fitzgerald's."

"They don't have a bathroom there?"

"They do, but after I left, I felt like I needed... Never mind. - You should have come with us."

"I had a thing."

"Bueno. La proxima vez."

"You know I don't like Fitzgerald's," she argued.

"Another place, perhaps..."

"Are you going dancing with Beth?" Louise had no idea why she asked this or why she asked it now. It wasn't planned. In fact, she felt instantly mortified as she heard the words falling out of her mouth. But there they were. There was no taking them back.

"I... no!" Antonio responded emphatically.

"Because she said that you asked her."

"I'm not going with HER," he clarified. "A bunch of us are going. On Friday."

"OK!"

"I would have asked you, but ... you're busy."

"I'm busy," Louise confirmed dispassionately.

"Don't worry," Antonio assured her. "I'm not going dancing with Beth."

"It's none of my business."

"You're right, it's not." Antonio's voice now sounded irritated. "And besides. I think I learned my lesson the last time."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I really have to go to the bathroom." Antonio walked away as quickly as he had appeared.

Louise's mind searched for answers. "Did that conversation really just happen? Why did I say that thing about Beth? What did he mean when he said that I was busy?"

She realized that she still had a copy of the presentation in her hand. She looked over at the printer. She hadn't noticed that it had stopped, but all twenty copies were ready. She gathered them and took them to her desk.

Louise picked up her purse, pushed in her chair, and walked around the corner to the area where Antonio's desk was located. He was seated there, his face and long black hair illuminated by the blue light cast by his terminal.

"I'm sorry," Louise said. "I shouldn't have asked about Beth. You're right. It's none of my business."

"It's OK," he said without looking up at her.

"What did you mean? About the last time?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he said.

"You don't want to talk about it," Louise repeated. "Which is strange, because you did everything possible to get me on your latest project. So, I guess maybe you wanted to talk to me about something."

Antonio lifted his head as though he were looking past his computer toward some distant object; he then turned quickly to face Louise.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.

"Tell you what?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you were seeing someone? Last year, when I was here."

"I..." Louise realized that she had never told Antonio about Walter.

"I mean, we were together. Really together, or so I thought. And then three days before I left, when I told someone in the office that I had dinner with you and thought that you were really special, they said, 'Oh, but she has a boyfriend'."

Louise's eyes were downcast now. She struggled to find her words.

"I mean, what if the guy had come after me..." Antonio continued. "...with a knife, or something?"

"Antonio..."

"Go home, Louisa!"

"I..." 

"Go home to your boyfriend."

  

'The Horse Farm'

Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South

All Rights Reserved