Chapter 2 2

"My name is Esteban."

She nodded without saying anything else.

Then he decided to continue talking knowing that he would not get any answers from the other side.

"I'm 28 years old, I've been living alone for a few years. To tell you the truth, it's been a long time since I received any kind of visit, so I'll be honest and tell you that I'm glad you're here. But you are free, so if you want to leave at any time, I won't stop you."

She nodded and said with gestures. She waved towards him, the object of gratitude.

He took her hand and said:

"I will take you to your room. In this house there are several of them to tell you the truth, I hope it will please you to know that there are several actually there are not so many but there are three. There is mine and a few steps away is one that has a bed for visitors. Although in reality my brother, my parents never entered this house again."

Briana looked at him curiously and made a gesture of:

"Why?"

"I guess you want to know why, to tell you the truth I don't know exactly "he said calmly, paused and continued speaking:" the only thing I know right now: they forgot about me. Maybe I wasn't what they needed. We were... and there was always too little food for everyone. They had made us work since we were little, from begging for coins to cleaning windows in the street, to tell the truth working didn't bother me I liked having my own money, however I didn't have a happy childhood, the most I went to my school."

Brianna grimaced sadly.

"Don't worry, that happened a long... time ago, I don't even remember it anymore".

Chapter 2

A few steps ahead, they were facing each other: a worn wooden door.

Briana observed it with curiosity and couldn't help but look at herself in a mirror in the upper corner.

Wrapped in those white rags, dirty and worn.

She looked at herself with sorrow; remembering everything that had happened a few hours before.

<>.

She was lost in her own thoughts: still remembering, the moment her husband left.

Her family laughed at her.

She had been 6 years with a person, who decided to leave her on her wedding day.

"Hey, are you okay? I got you some women's clothes. If you want you can... try," he paused and his cheeks flushed, hesitating whether to bring her underwear or not". I'll go buy some things you need or you can leave me a list.

<>?

Briana nodded, she felt that he, was a rather nice and understanding man. After a few minutes; he handed her a sheet of paper rather a notebook with a pen.

She began to write down everything she needed, feeling a little sad, because she didn't even have a penny in her pocket and she didn't have pockets either.

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"Body deodorant; Size 38 clothes; Underwear; Toothbrush; Comb."

He took that note and couldn't help but give his best smile.

"You have a nice handwriting Don't you need anything more than that?" wants to know curiously.

She shook her head, suddenly the loneliness of the house crushed her, the moment she felt the door being closed.

She was overcome with a kind of immediate nostalgia.

She knelt at the foot of the bed and began to cry, pitiful cries and tears running down her neck.

Dry, cold and heartbroken in happiness.

She clutched the covers tightly in her fists, trying to make her pain dissipate. She still remembered the sad looks, still remembered that satisfied smile when she saw her alone and abandoned in that beautiful dress.

I also can't help but remember the moment she had approached the bridge, she had wanted to jump; she had wanted to end her life.

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She could see the cars passing underneath her. Her life speeding by in her eyes. She couldn't do it; she couldn't jump.

For some reason she didn't understand, she saw a boy from the past: he always watched over her in her moments of madness.

She heard his voice: "Brianna, don't do it."

Then without realizing it, she found herself walking 30 kilometers without stopping for hours.

She had chosen to go on an abandoned road, she didn't care about anything. She had no friends: no one who cared about her and if there was anyone who supposedly would have cared she would have accompanied him at this point.

She was alone with her pain and her terrible desire to disappear from the world.

Despite all this pain she was now in a completely different place.

Was it a coincidence?

She found a person who seemed nice. She was not alone, but without any hope.

She heard a sound, while she was curious: looking at some picture frames. Embarrassed, she turned around when she heard footsteps.

As soon as she arrived, she had several bags in her left hand. She couldn't help watching him curiously. Obviously she couldn't say anything, so she slowly and cautiously approached him.

"I brought you what you asked for. I think I got the sizes.... "he murmured embarrassed.

Esteban: he couldn't help remembering being in the underwear store.

He had stopped at a well known one in town, went in and immediately his cheeks turned reddish when he saw all the elegant lingerie on each mannequin.

"Hello Esteban."

Esteban was a well"known person in that town, not only because he lived there since he was a little boy; he always tried to help as many people as he could. He was known for being a kind, hard"working and quite predisposed person.

"Mrs. Mirian, I am here to buy size 2 underwear," he commented, visibly embarrassed.

Mrs. Miriam looked at him with curiosity; since that boy had never had a girlfriend. Everyone in town knew perfectly well that his family had left him alone. For that reason she was even more curious about the reason for his purchase. In spite of all those thoughts, he kept them locked away and only said:

"I'll show you the outfits I have, stay here.

Miriam immediately appeared, surrounded by fabrics and lace of all kinds. Vibrant colors and opaque whites appeared on the counter.

"I didn't quite know which one you preferred, so I brought one of each model so you can tell. It's for a bride or something, right?"

"Something like that."

She didn't know which one to choose, so she ended up going for three different colored sets of cotton. She'd be embarrassed to come in and give a lace set, to a complete stranger.

Coming back to reality where she was standing in front of him, Briana couldn't help but notice the detail of her red cheeks. But, always unable to omit a word, the only thing she did was to take those bags with curiosity and go to her room without first nodding her head, saying "Thank you".

As soon as she arrived, she opened those colorful paper bags. The first thing she took out: four almost identical short"sleeved blouses, because in that season it was quite hot.

She looked at them with curiosity, there was also a striped one. She was leaving it on the bed when she began to look at the next package, she could see three short and comfortable pants.

What he left last was the lingerie part, three small boxes gave way in his hands.

Les dio la vuelta sin poder evitar entrometerse en cada uno de ellos. Se sorprendió al encontrar tres cómodos conjuntos de algodón que usaría.

No se había dado cuenta, que en uno de los paquetes había pegado un papel extraño:

"No confíes en él".

Lo giró en ambos sentidos: tratando de averiguar el paradero de ese papel.

De repente escuché que tocaban la puerta, no pude evitar sobresaltarme después de lo que había sucedido recientemente.

"¿Estás bien?"

Esteban, la miró un poco nervioso y pensó:

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Entonces él no supo muy bien qué decirle, solo pudo murmurar:

"Al lado izquierdo, está el baño, te puedes bañar si quieres".

Briana inmediatamente se olvidó de lo que había pasado, no dudó ni un segundo e inmediatamente tomó las bolsas y se dirigió al baño. Se sentía completamente pegajosa por el sudor, la suciedad y la humedad. Cuando entró en la bañera y abrió el agua caliente, sintió un gran alivio.

<<¡Qué relajante!