FenixArdiente

The noise was coming from the gym. Samanta thought thieves were inside; what she saw through the half-open door left her breathless and changed how she felt about her mother.

He was pretending to wait for someone at the entrance when the three women came over laughing. One asked if I was free that night. I had no idea how far it was going to go.

When I left them alone in the hotel bar, I only wanted to give them some privacy. I never imagined she’d go upstairs with another man and I’d be left waiting downstairs.

I went upstairs to see why the girl in the back room was screaming. I never imagined she’d drop the towel and ask me to look, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

I thought I was the most disciplined man in the faculty. Then she leaned against the empty classroom door and made it clear she knew everything I was hiding.

I go out to the bus stop without underwear, not to go anywhere, but to find someone who will look at me the way he looked at me that Thursday in March.

Damián arrived every Friday with wine and the smile of an exemplary husband. Tomás slept happily on the other side of the wall, unaware those noises were the only truth they had left.

I never get involved with clients, I told him. But his body was already pressed against mine and my own voice sounded like a lie as I closed the garage gate.

I opened the door wrapped in a towel, still wet, convinced it was a package. It was him, with flowers in one hand and a smile that promised nothing innocent.

I’d watched her for years in ways I shouldn’t have. That night, after catching her with another man, she got into my car not knowing I had secrets of my own.