(49)

ARES HIDALGO

Waking up and not feeling Raquel stretching my arm across the bed is not what I expected. With my head spinning, I get up, staggering to the bathroom, take a look around and nothing. I notice her clothes are nowhere to be found, so I realize she's gone.

Did the witch use me and leave?

I can't believe it, this goes for the long list of first times with Raquel. No girl has ever disappeared the next morning after a night of sex, that has always been my role.

She keeps stealing my .

But why did she leave? I didn't do anything wrong last night, did I? I run my hand over my face, remembering everything we did last night. God, that qualifies as the best sex I've ever had in my life. This woman drives me crazy. I grin like a fool, assessing the only clothes I have to wear: the Greek god costume. Ah, I don't think so, there's no way I'm going out like this. I look for clothes in the closet, since this is one of Marco's guest rooms and, since he's used to us staying here from time to time, there are always extra clothes for the guests.

After changing into shorts and a white sweatshirt, I walk downstairs to the living room, where I am confronted with a scene that looks like something out of the movie The Hangover.

Gregory is lying on the couch, with an ice pack on his forehead. Apolo is sitting on the floor with his back against the bottom of the couch and a bucket next to him, he is pale. Marco sits on the couch with an ice pack on his...

Marco is the first to notice me.

"Don't even say it."

I can't help but laugh.

"What the fuck?"

"I'm dying." Gregory grunts.

My eyes are still on Marco.

"What happened to you?"

Marco rolls his eyes.

"What part of "don't even say it" didn't you understand? Just forget it."

"It's hard to forget that when you're holding an ice pack over your penis."

Apolo snorts.

"Why are you so raw, Ares?"

I sit at the end of the couch, at Gregory's feet.

"Did you break it?"

Marco gives me a murderous look.

"No, just... I think they are friction burns."

I let out a laugh.

"Shit, bro, and I thought I had a wild night."

Gregory laughs with me.

"Me too, but no, it seems that Marco was fucked as an old TV set."

Gregory and I say at the same time.

"With no control."

Marco presses his lips.

"Ha-ha, so funny."

Apolo smiles.

"That was a good one."

Apolo and I go home and, upon arrival, we walk straight to the kitchen, still weak and dizzy. We need fluids, food and a good shower. Apolo collapses on the kitchen table, his cheek rest there. I just grab two energy drinks bottles from the fridge and set them on the table, sitting on the other side. I know Apolo did his thing last night and I'm very curious.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I said nothing."

"You're thinking about it."

I take a sip of my drink.

"You are imagining things."

Claudia comes into the kitchen and offers to make us some soup. But Apolo says he is tired and goes to his room.

It's my turn to rest my face on the table, while I wait for Claudia to prepare the soup. Before I know it I fall asleep. A kick to my knee wakes me up, I blink and lick my lips, while a stabbing pain crosses my neck. When I lift my face off the table, I can feel the marks of the wooden edges on my cheek. I straighten in my chair, my eyes meet a cold stare.

Artemis is sitting across the table, with a steaming cup of coffee in front of him, dressed in his black workout sweatshirt and his hair slightly damp with sweat. I still don't understand how he can get up on a Sunday to work out. But, well, there are a lot of things I don't understand about my big brother.

His arms are crossed over his chest.

"A rough night?"

"You have no idea."

Claudia moves around the stove.

"Oh, you woke up, the soup is ready."

"Thank you," I say in a relieved tone. "You're saving a life."

Claudia smiles at me.

"Don't get used to it," she pours the soup and the simple smell emanating from it makes me feel better.

Artemis takes a sip of his coffee, and I'm about to take a spoonful of soup when he speaks.

"Don't let Apolo drink; he's not old enough yet."

"I know, it was a one-day thing."

Again I raise my spoon, but Artemis speaks again.

"I was told by your high school principal that you haven't yet applied to or business school."

I put the spoon on the side of the plate.

"We're not even halfway through the school year."

"Better sooner than later. Do you have one in mind?" I clench my jaw "It would be very easy for you to get accepted to Princeton, Dad and I both graduated there, and you'd be considered as a legacy to get in."

Oh, the Ivy League, the most prestigious, exclusive and well-known universities in the United States. The selection process is even more rigorous than usual for other universities. Not only do you have to have excellent grades, but also a lot of money, and there is also the well-known "legacy": if your parents or close family graduated from one of these universities, you have some advantage. 

Don't get me wrong, I am interested in one of those universities, but not for the career my brother has in mind. Claudia gives me a sympathetic look and then continues cooking. Is my discomfort with this subject so obvious?

Artemis doesn't seem to want to shut up.

"Have you thought about which branch you will choose? Business or Law? It would help me a lot if you go for Business, we are thinking of opening another branch office in the south. Construction has just started and it would be ideal if you could manage it when you graduate."

I do not want to study law or business.

I want to study medicine.

I want to save lives.

I want to have the knowledge to give the best care to my grandpa, to the people I care about.

I think all those things, but I don't say them, because I know that the moment they come out of my lips I will lose all respect and validation in front of my older brother, because abandoning the legacy feels like betrayal in this kind of family.

What good would a doctor do in a successful transnational corporation?

I have had a life where I have lacked nothing, where I have not had to work for anything. Legacy has a very sweet side, but people are wrong if they think there is no price on this kind of life.

People don't see the pressure, the mold of what you're supposed to be, the lonely meals, how hard it is to make a real friend or get genuine affection. I thought my life would be based on that circle until it happened: Raquel saw me.

And I'm not talking about her looking at me, she looked right through me, and came to me with such pure feelings, with such a beautiful face and so easy to read, that it left me speechless. Raquel has always been so true, transparent, her reactions so honest. I didn't think people like that existed.

She, who doesn't even know how pretty she is, told me so confidently that I was going to fall in love with her. She, who worked to buy the things she wanted, who has always been lonely because of her dad's absence and her mom's job; she, who has been through so much shit with me....

She's still smiling with all her heart.

And it is a smile that disarms me, and makes me believe that everything is possible. And that I will be a great doctor someday, because maybe no one in my family supports me or believes in me, but she does.

And that is more than enough.