“Ring ring!” Startled, Yanet quickly scrambled to pick up her phone. Her sweet voice came through with a “Hello?”

On the other end of the line, one of her employees replied, “Miss Yanet? Mr. González is here. He says that he has an appointment with you?”

“Ah yes, he’s right. Pass him the phone, please?”

The employee handed the phone to Mr. González who said, “Hello?”

“Hello, Mr. González, I’m sorry I’m not there at the moment. I beg if you could wait for me for an hour, I’ll be there.”

“No problem, I’m having dinner, so I’ll be here.”

“Very well, Sir. It will be courtesy of the house.”

“Thank you, very kind of you.”

They hung up the phone. Yanet then told Miguel, “Listen, I have an appointment with Mr. González. It’s a bill that I have to pay, so I have to go to my business. Shall I take you home?”

“Of course.”

They got ready, went out, took the car and headed towards Miguel’s house. On the way he told her, “I didn’t know you had a business.”

“Yes, I have a restaurant, and I specialize in Spanish food, mostly seafood paella.”

“Paella?” asked Miguel.

“Yes. It is a very tasty food. It consists of shrimps, mussels, lobsters, cuttlefish and rice. It is baked and served in the paella pot. Have you tried it?”

“No. I haven’t tried that dish.”

“Good. One of these days I will invite you to the restaurant to eat a seafood paella.”

“Thank you. I’m going to appreciate it very much.”

They arrived, she parked, they kissed goodbye and as Miguel got out, she already had some money in an envelope and put it in his shirt pocket. He told her,
“Thanks.”

Yanet retired and went to her business to attend to the matter that she had pending. The next day, they met on the beach. Being there, after greeting each other, Miguel told her, “I think I would like to go to another place. I’m already annoyed watching the sunset.”

“Where would you want to go?”

“I would like to go to the Water Ski Club.”

“And where is that?”

“It is on the next beach from here called Turquesa. It so happens that at the club they give a show, but at night, and during the afternoon, the participants practice skiing in the water. It is very beautiful but dangerous, because a few people ski on a platform that is quite high, give some twirls in the air and fall back into the water. But it’s beautiful.”

“Well, come on, let’s see what it’s like. And are there restaurants there, too?”

“Yes, but the restaurant opens at night. However, next door is open until 8:00 p.m. The ski club starts its show at 10:00 p.m. prior to serving dinner, which is accompanied with two glasses of national drink. They charge an entrance fee to see the show. I was told about it, so I know that they practice in the afternoon, but I have never attended the night show.”

“Is it far from here?”

“No, it’s like two blocks away.”

“Well, then, let’s go.”

They got into the car, and went where Miguel had mentioned. Once there, they exited the vehicle, walked a bit on the beach and entered a restaurant, as always, to have something to eat. While they were having lunch, a handsome, strapping young man came from behind Yanet and gave her a tight embrace and said,

“My love, how are you?” He then gave her a light gentle kiss on her lips. Miguel was amazed. All the color drained from his skin as if he saw a ghost. His eyes were fixed on his plate, but he felt his stomach turning. He was furious. Yanet said, “What are you doing here?”

Miguel’s blood boiled as he heard her answer him with so much familiarity in her voice.

“I brought some tourists who wanted to see the sunset. I saw your car and decided to come say hi.”

“Ah, well.”

After they exchanged some more words, he departed. Miguel and Yanet stayed a while longer. Miguel had lost his appetite because of his red hot anger, filled with jealousy, and he told Yanet, “Excuse me. I’m going to the bathroom.”

“Okay. I’ll wait for you.”

Miguel got up and went to the bathroom, but he didn’t go in; he escaped through the adjacent restaurant and went to his house. Once at home, he locked himself in his room. He didn’t cry or anything like that. He was raging with jealousy and tried calming down. About an hour after, calmer, he began to think. “How is it possible that Yanet lied to me that she was alone, that she had no one, that she was single, but this person treated her as if she were his lover?” What Miguel did not know was that the fellow was her cousin; he was her relative, and that was the custom they had to greet each other. It was nothing serious; it was just a greeting, a custom that the family had, but Miguel, due to his early age, any little thing made him angry. He did not know the behavior and culture of other people.

The next day, he met Yanet again, since she went to the restaurant to wait for him. He arrived calmer. He was not spiteful or hateful; he was simply very easy to get angry over anything that made him jealous. Once seated, they had already ordered something for lunch and were enjoying the practices that the artists were doing on the water. Yanet broke the silence and asked,

“Miguel, why did you leave without coming back? What happened?”

He answered, “You told me you didn’t have anyone. However, that man who came yesterday seems to be something intimate with you.”

With a sweet smile, Yanet told him, “No way, Miguel. He’s my cousin; we grew up together and that’s how we greet each other.”

“Oh, yes? I didn’t know that cousins greeted each other like that.”

“Not everyone, but in my family, yes. That’s how we greet each other: hug each other and kiss each other and say ‘I love you’. Our family is very affectionate. Don’t take that the wrong way. Forgive me if I made you angry. I will try to introduce you to my family, although I can’t do it right now, because they will want to know what I am doing with a 13-year-old boy, and they will also have many questions, and I will not know what to say.”

“You’re right about the questions. I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”

“Don’t apologize, I understand you. I know there are many things you don’t know, but I’m going to teach you little by little.”

“You will?”

“Yes. You’ll see. We’re going to have a good time.”

Those words made Miguel feel at ease, and he looked at her with loving eyes. After they had lunch and enjoyed the artists’ practice for a while, they left, and she took him to her house. There, they sorted out their misunderstandings with love-making. A couple hours later, Yanet took Miguel to his house and, as always, put money in his shirt pocket. They then kissed and arranged to see each other the next day. Miguel had already fallen in love with her.

He fell in love very quickly. She, on the other hand, showed the same emotions. She was very affectionate with him, she showed him a lot of love, so, that’s how the relationship lasted for at least another 6 months; but once again, Miguel changed, becoming more jealous, more angry, and she didn’t like that. She didn’t want a toxic relationship of that type, and it was already causing emotional problems for her. She already had enough weight on her shoulders. She faced problems in her business with her employees, the vendors, clients, and at the same time she had to keep an open mind to understand Miguel’s sudden changes. It was too much of a burden for her. Finally, she decided to find a way to separate from him. But for that, she called Susan and told her what was happening. Susan gave her advice on how she could break off the relationship with Miguel by telling her the methods she used.

(To be Continued)
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January 22, 2023
Finca Solana
Corozal Town