I had been awake for more than an hour, staring at the window, the mountains in the distance with an orange sky that shone effortlessly, that made me think only of the night that had ended and I would be alone again, because the person I loved most had to run away and pretend to despise me.

-I wish everything were different. -I hear him whispering in his sleep.

Andrew was sleeping beside me, and I smiled at his dishevelled hair and caressed him as he woke up.

Andrés and I met a year ago when my parents sent me to live in the city. He was my cousin Simon's best friend, but my uncles did not accept him because he was "inferior" to us in some way or more specifically, inferior to them and socioeconomically.

To get out of the classist monotony of this family, Simon and I were a little rebellious, though not in plain sight.

I was that which I would describe as "a normal person" yet I felt a noose around my neck when I carried that name.

Do you think it could be fantasy? Being rich overnight is easy, now, being rich for someone else's money, that's a problem and a monumental pain in the ass.

And, well...

After spending time and sneaking out of the house to party, Andres and I ended up falling in love and sneaking around a lot. After so much time leading the relationship that way we got used to being just that, a secret.

-What do you mean? -Our eyes met between the sheets.

-I mean being able to be together without sneaking in that damn window every night. -He snarled turning in bed.

-I'm sorry.

-I don't belong to your social class. -He said with irony.

-You shouldn't even be with me.

My parents sent me to my aunt and uncle despite the economic level that approached us last fall, my father was fired from the construction company where he worked and my mother became ill when a new virus began to spread in the city because of the unsanitary oil refineries nearby; food and money were drastically reduced to the point where I was forced to leave school and go out of the house for a "better future" for both me and them.

-How can you say that? -I frowned and turned to look at him.

-Your family hates me and Simon keeps doing everything he can to break us up. What else can I tell you?

I understood his argument perfectly. For years Simon, my cousin, and Andrew had problems with the girls, but the problem was never that big until I started to feel things for Andrew and it turned out that Simon felt things for me, even though we were family.

The only advantage was that Simon had left the house because of a behavioral problem, on more than one occasion he got into my bed trying to get something, after a while the drugs and his strange midnight walks became constant and they wanted to admit him to a psychologist to treat his anxiety, but being of age he simply decided to take part of his inheritance and go live alone.

On several occasions he was arrested, since as a result of the life he has developed since he left home, he has become involved with a world of hitmen.

And Simon is, in every respect, the one who handles eighty percent of the profits of this family's fortune, and not in the most honest way.

My uncle, on the other hand, had left the Asher name high and dry with his business and big international contracts, which in part I still don't know if they exist or it's just another lie, so much so that the family became one of the most recognized and richest in the country.

However, none of that mattered to me even though they were good people, at no time did they pay attention and I know they will not pay attention to what my family is suffering.

-What do you want to do now? -he asked, pulling me out of my thoughtful orbit.

His look was brutally intimidating, and his eyes almost always seemed to change color according to his level of seriousness, not his general mood.

-You must go. -I kissed him. -It's almost dawn.

You're complaining because he has to go, but you're the one who's throwing him out? My conscience screams and cries out to me as I watch Andrew move through the sheets.

He and that strange habit of sleeping without clothes but with socks even though it's summer and it's about thirty degrees outside.

-I don't want to go, I like it here with you. -He sank his head on the pillow and covered himself with the sheets.

I think one of the things I loved most about his personality was this, his attitude could change drastically but in a good way, at one moment he could be daring and at the next a Romeo and not get tired.

It's difficult, having a relationship on the sly and seeing each other from time to time is a little hard to say and also to assimilate, but that time and those desires were enough for a love to flow, although I know perfectly well that we knew how to deal with all the setbacks and despairs in the way that no one would ever have endured.

-We're going to be discovered if you don't go. -I whispered as I heard him sigh slightly, he had fallen asleep again.

Oh no, shit.

I got down on my knees on the bed and my polka-dot pajama top was exposed.

-I wouldn't trade you for anything. -He paused and took a deep breath.

He opened his eyes and stared at my legs without moving, opened his mouth to say something else but stopped, and after a moment finally spoke.

-I love you.

It was probably the driest love I could hear, like a lie, an obligation, or like when you only say something to satisfy another person.

I couldn't help but wonder about that. Our relationship hasn't been the best for a few months now, yet we keep trying to make everything as close as possible to what it always was.

I suppose that in every relationship that moment comes, when repeatedly everything gets complicated and it's just more of the same, but for small moments, love comes back and gives you a slap that leaves you back on your head in that emotional trance.

-What happens? -I frowned as I sensed her seriousness. Clearly something was going on, however, asking him was stupid of me, he's the kind of person who prefers to keep quiet rather than tell the truth.

-I just wanted to remind you. -He said, as if he were reading my thoughts and easing my confusion.

-I love you more.

-I know. -He sighed again. -I know you more.

Something inside me was lost when I heard those last four words, but knocking on the door distracted my attention. Andrew got up quickly and hid in the closet, while I clumsily dressed myself by running around the room.

-Sofia! -The girl on duty was knocking at the door and a relief came over my body.

-I thought it was someone else. -I sighed, opening the door and giving way to her.

-The young man must go now, the bodyguards are coming and they cannot see him leave. -Mary snarled dryly.

A thin, dark girl with long black hair tied in a braid, wearing a blue uniform and a white apron.

Andrés came out of the closet and gave her a cold look, she gave it back to him and I felt that I was in the middle of a great tension that was about to explode.

-What happened? -I frowned.

-Nothing, the maid is a little jealous, it must be that the pumpkin didn't transform last night. -Said Andrew rudely as he approached me already dressed. -I must go. -He kissed my temple and then came down through the window.

Mary stood still in the same place with the coldness on her face, but you could see the anger at Andrew's comment had made her expression tense.

The strange thing about this situation is that for months she was the only one who helped me hide our relationship - well if you can call this relationship - she was in charge of warning us if we were in danger by running away or covering up if something went wrong.

During all this time I saw her admire Andrew with such affection that I never thought she could act that way; I was terrified, really terrified, at the idea that something had happened between them and that I wasn't even aware of it.

I turned to her still with a scowl and looked at her waiting for an explanation.

-What's wrong? -What was that? -I asked angry. Her face fell and for a second she seemed not to know how she had acted.

I watched her play with the end of her braid with her head down, I could see how embarrassed she was, but she did not finish telling me what was happening and what seemed like an eternity stopped the moment she spoke.

-Miss, forgive me. -Her voice broke and I approached her quickly with concern, but she avoided me. -Breakfast is ready, I'll wait for you downstairs. -She gave me a half smile and left the room.

Oh no, it doesn't stay like that.

A while later I went down the stairs to the kitchen determined to confront Maria and have her tell me what was happening. Intrigue is often powerful in extreme cases.

I arrived at the kitchen and there was no sign of her, I went straight to the back door lobby and heard voices at the entrance, I went over to the porridge to listen to the conversation and Maria's voice sounded familiar.

-I demand once and for all that you stay away from me and Sofia if you don't want to end up like an idiot handcuffed to a police car this very night. -She shouted.

I was drastically alerted when I heard that prayer and my name on it. Behind the glass mosaic on the door I could visualize the silhouettes.

-And you think she's going to believe any nonsense a scum like you tells her? -Andrew's voice cleared up with rage.

-You shouldn't be affected by what I do or think I tell her, I want you out of here. -Mary shouted louder.

-You do know what the consequences are for me, don't you, servant? I'm almost sure that was made very clear between us, or do you want me to remind you? -He grunted loudly.

Consequences? What?

Something in me felt the urge to go to them and demand an explanation, but instead I simply left the lobby and went back into the kitchen to wait for Mary to appear. After a few minutes she entered the kitchen with her head down and her face red.

Was she crying? For Andrew? What?

-Is there something you need to tell me? -I asked confused and angry as soon as I saw her in front of me, her expression changed immediately as she saw me lying on the marble, her sadness turned into panic in the blink of an eye.

I noticed the sadness in her eyes and her desire to expel the crying that her jaw was trying to hold, shaking she swallowed dry and looked for her words.

-Miss...

I was tired of waiting for a damn explanation that I deserved.

-What is it, Maria? -For God's sake! What is it you don't want to tell me? -I shouted euphorically.

She opened her mouth to say something but stopped, she wasn't sure if what she was about to say was the right thing, yet she did it.

-Young Andrew tried to make a pass at me a few nights ago while you were getting ready to go out as usual. -She exclaimed with shame. -I had no intention of telling you, and you have every right to believe that I am lying.

I frowned in horror at that confession, so much so that those words echoed in my mind until at last I could react, and not in a good way.

I laughed loudly, and not with joy. -This has got to be a fucking joke, Maria! -I screamed trying to keep the rage from getting to me.

The panic on her face couldn't have been more evident, if she was talking to me about Miss and you, it meant that she was more ashamed of our friendship than of her work.

-Miss, forgive me, really. -She begged. -I'll understand completely if you tell the gentlemen about this so that they can fire me.

I breathed slowly again and again, clearly it was a complicated situation and everything was very difficult to process, but quickly, without facts or evidence, I decided to defend.

-It is hard for me to believe that Andrew is capable of something like this, he is a child and I don't see why he would look for something useful in you, no offense. -Andrew was a competent adult, but compared to Mary he had no benefit or ambition of any kind to make a pass at her, it was very absurd and hard to believe.

-You're a girl... -whispered.

-I'm sorry? -I asked, raising an eyebrow.

-With all due respect, and I will be out of a job anyway, I will take the liberty of telling you that you are deluded into thinking that this idiot is not capable of hurting you or anyone else. He doesn't deserve it. -She clarified.

I was shocked by what I had just heard.

-I ordered in frustration and after another apology he left the kitchen.

I put my hands on my head, I was clearly doubting whether it was true or not, but why would Andrew want to make a pass at that one? And why would Mary lie to me about it? Neither one made sense to me.

-He doesn't deserve you. -She clarified even more, as she walked out of the kitchen.

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