A STRANGE MAN

Everything was great and lovely and oh so wonderfully teenagerly-like. I felt sixteen going on seventeen and swirling and dancing and floating above the whole people who went to work with their dull and bitter expressions. I was full technicolor in a black and white world. I was Dorothy landing in Oz. And of course I crashed.
As soon as I got into the office he ignored me. I went to my place and waited for him to come and say hello. He never did. Same happened at night. No more chance encounter in the lift. I walked sadly and lonely to take my bus. Again I joined the sad and bitter faces. No, again my face contrasted with all the other working-people faces. They were tired but happy going home. I was sad and lonely... again. With a hint of puzzled.
About Friday he went by my place and asked to talk to me.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"That's exactly what I'd like to know." I answered.
"¿Excuse me?" He asked puzzled. "I thought you were mad at me and that we had ended all this affair.
"Well, I am not mad at you. You just ignore me and I thought you were mad at me."
"Oh, no, I'm not mad at you. ¿You see? I'm a strange man. I don't want to be with the same people all the time. Sometimes I want to be left alone. I've been having problems at home."
And then I entered "the other's" field. That part where you receive all the complaints of the wife and the family.
There had been a party with people from the office. I hadn't gone. His daughter had come. They both had ended up dead drunk. His wife went to fetch them, or rather her daughter. She left him there on the street. He managed to get to the nearest subway station, took a train and head home. He was so drunk and sleepy he had travelled three times the whole subway line. When he finally got home, he was sent really far away. He went to his parents for shelter and his father sent him away. He wandered for a while and then went back home. His wife told him to take his things and leave. He pleaded for shelter, for a time until he could find another place. So, he explained he had to be careful or his wife was capable of coming to make a fuss of the whole situation. He said he had to be a nice boy and behave properly.
I didn't know what to do or think. When my former husband had decided to play with another woman, he couldn't care less for my opinion. Why was this man giving his wife so much credit? Why was he so afraid of her? Why was he so interested in keeping her calm? Where was I standing?
No, he was very strange. He really ignored what he wanted. He just tried to avoid a problem. He wasn't interested in me.

THE CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG

My boss went on holidays. He took advantage of it and was constantly on top of me. He would spend a lot of time on the chat and then really at my place, on her vacant seat chatting in person with me. He said things that brought out the red in me. Things I hadn't heard in many, many years. It helped he was older than me, he saw me as someone younger. I was so used to be looked at as someone older. I was really flattered. He made me feel rejuvenated, better than any cream with hyaluronic acid or antioxidants, or Omega-3 oils. He made me feel more energetic than the endorphins generated when running or exercise. I started to stop sleeping because I would think of him. I started actually skipping out of bed, like Cinderella, almost singing to the idea of getting to work and pass by his place to see him smiling at me. More than him I was in love with life again.
Then one day, it happened. He got pretty intense on the chat. He sent me lyrics of songs he liked. His musical tastes were far different from mine. I didn't know any of those songs. They said nothing to me. I mean, they did, but as I didn't relate to them I just read them as something read for the first time, void of any real meaning. He sent about four different songs. They were quite confusing. They were very sexy, asking me to have "something" with him. Literally. It was not clear for me what "something" meant. Now I know he meant just nothing really serious. Then, he went to my place and kissed me, right there, in the mouth, quite passionately and then he suddenly stopped, leaving me breathless and wanting more. I was very confused, embarrassed, wanting more, wanting to talk and clear what was going on. He left and then it was time to leave and I also left. It was weird how we ended up together in the lift, both of us only, alone, no one else. He said, "See? Destiny wanted us to end up together!" and he kissed me again. I didn't refuse. He walked with me for three blocks. He lifted me in the air and he kissed me and he was really romantic and he said beautiful things that I'm sure came from somewhere inside him, although I'm not exactly sure where from. He left and I stood there, stupidly staring and dreaming. I was so happy and so illusioned. So hungry for love.