Chapter 1
«Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is by far the best ending for one»
—Oscar Wilde
Iwas looking at myself in the mirror, unable to decide whether to go with this dress or change into another one. It was Friday night and I was going to meet my friend Serafina. I was exhausted because the work week had been stressful and busy, but I had promised to go out for drinks and didn’t want to let her down. It had been three years since I graduated as an economist, and I was working at a financial company in a management position. At 25, I had built a successful career, but one that required a lot of my time, leaving me little to dedicate to my friendships and activities for enjoyment and relaxation.
I turned again in front of the mirror to see my back. I didn’t have time to change and I looked good, so I would go with this dress. It was a black dress with an asymmetrical hem, sleeveless with a V-neck. I paired it with high sandals also in black.
I was considered a beautiful woman, with delicate features where my dark blue eyes stood out. I wore long light brown hair illuminated with some subtle highlights.
I lived alone in a modern, well-located apartment on the waterfront promenade of Montevideo. Although I had a father and a brother, I could say that my only family was my brother, but he lived in Miami, USA, which meant we saw each otherrarely. Tom, my brother, was a doctor who had been offered a great job opportunity in that country and hadn’t hesitated to move. He had insisted strongly on taking me with him but couldn’t convince me. Tom was a few years older, 34, and was very handsome. I still didn’t understand how he didn’t have a partner, because Tom had a calm and family-oriented temperament.
My mom had passed away several years ago. I was 12 at the time and Tom was 21, and we had to manage on our own. My brother had contacted my father to inform him of her death, but when we needed him most, he made it clear that his business prevented him from traveling to be with us. I hadn’t even received a call from him asking how I was doing. I was a child who had lost her mother, I was alone and felt helpless, but my father hadn’t been concerned in the slightest. It had always been like that. My father was a separate issue. After separating from my mother, he had gone to live in Dubai. He was a businessman in the oil industry with more money than Croesus and more power than some rulers. Although he filled our bank accounts with money to erase any kind of remorse and guilt, if he had any, I had never touched a penny of it nor did I plan to. I didn’t care about his money or anything to do with him. The man was so cynical that he had tried to derail our studies because, according to him, a millionaire’s children didn’t need to study; it was enough that we worked for him. Neither Tom nor I had accepted his proposal. For me, he didn’t exist, and although Tom spoke with him occasionally, they didn’t have a fraternal relationship either. Everything I had, I had achieved through my work and what my mother had left me. My father could keep all his money because respect and love couldn’t be bought.
I was looking for my phone to put it away and leave when it rang.
—“Hello, Seri,” I greeted my friend.
—“Delfi, can you pick me up? My sister was here and was going to drop me off, but she had to go to work.”
—“Of course, what time should I come by?”
—“Are you ready now?”
—“Yes, I can leave now if you want,” I offered.
—“Perfect! Because I’m also ready to go and I’ve already switched from work mode to fun mode, and I hope you have too. It’s Friday, and I don’t want to hear anything about work until Monday. Today I don’t want any complaints about being tired or having to get up early tomorrow. We’re going to stay out late and have a great time. Understood?”
—“Crystal clear. I’ll leave in five minutes.”
—“See you, Delfi.”
Serafina and I had been friends since we were little, having met at three years old when we started school in kindergarten. Since then, we hadn’t separated and were best friends. Seri, as almost everyone called her, was a pretty girl with big brown eyes and long eyelashes, and she wore her dark brown hair at shoulder length. We were both 25 years old and, at the moment, we also shared being single. My friend had been in a relationship for two years, but her boyfriend had cheated on her with another woman, and they had separated on very bad terms. I, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with love. I dated guys and had fun, but I had seen so many examples of broken hearts that, for the time being, I wanted nothing to do with that elusive feeling. Serafina was the only one who knew that my father was a well-known and millionaire oil businessman; I hadn’t confided that information to anyone else.
We arrived at the club where we were meeting our group of friends and spotted them right away. Our closest group consisted of six girls and three guys. Most of us had been friends since school, and some had joined the group years later. We got along wonderfully and tried to go out together at least two or three times a month.
—“Well, well, the missing ones have arrived!” exclaimed Brandon, enthusiastically raising the cocktail glass he was drinking from.
“The team is complete!” added Lala, while patting a spot on the couches next to her for us to sit down.
“Have you been here long?” I asked.
“Not that long, but this place is packed tonight,” Lala replied.
“What are you all drinking?” Serafina asked.
“We all ordered something different. The cocktails are amazing and they have quite a variety. Go to the bar, they have a list of everything you can order,” suggested Camila, another one of our friends.
“I’ll head over there. Are you coming with me?” I asked Serafina.
“Just bring me the same as whatever you get for yourself. I don’t feel like going over there, too many people,” she replied.
I made my way to the bar, pushing through the crowd, and when I got there, I leaned in as much as I could to read the cocktail menu. My friend loved Cosmopolitans, so when a bartender approached where I was standing, I shouted my order for two. They brought them fairly quickly, and when I took the decorated glasses with lime slices, I realized it was going to be complicated to get back to where my friends were with both hands occupied and surrounded by people pushing me from all sides. I began to make my way through, trying not to spill a drop,a complicated task with all the people in the place. Suddenly I felt someone push me hard enough to make me spill part of the drink on the white shirt of the person who was right in front of me.
“Damn it!” I exclaimed, as I watched the owner of the shirt—which was white before but now had a large red stain on his broad back—slowly turn to face me.
“Why don’t you watch where you’re going?! You’re a...”
