Saturday rolled in quite slowly, more than I'd like to admit. I borrowed a table cloth and some chairs from Roberto to make the place less ugly than it was, I could only hope she didn't notice. I had bought two bottles of the cheapest wine I could find, Aurantiaco Sucus and a platter ll Trapizzino and Saltimbocca alla Romana.
I went the extra length of buying a second hand outfit and shoe so I would look somewhat presentable to her. The time was just ten past six and these was nothing I could do except wait patiently.
Minutes felt like hours as I kept arranging and rearranging the table and bed. I got up to get a cigarette to help calm my anxiety, I heard a knock on my door. For a brief second I stood still with my hand clenched and my heart beating wildly then I opened the door.
There stood Clairè Garcia, just as beautiful as I had remembered her, standing on the pavement.
"Hello Adrian, aren't I punctual?" she said
"Yes, you definitely are" I said while trying to control my breathing "Come in"
"It's not much, I'm afraid"
"It looks fine to me"
"Did you have any trouble finding me here?"
"I'll admit I got a bit lost but that's fine"
She removed her hat and dropped it on the table. Then she moved to the mirror while combing her hair with her fingers.
I stood nervously behind her trying to think of what to say.
"Are you perhaps hungry? I bought some food and drinks from a nearby restaurant"
She turned and looked at me,
"Oh yes Adrian, I'm hungry, quite starved actually. I've been hungry for the past 5 years"
We kissed passionately while undressing each other. I laid her gently on the bed, stalking her like a hungry animal about to catch a prey. I gently caressed her boobs while kissing her and prepping her to take me.
We made love like long lost lovers, over and over again until we were both fully satisfied.
I looked at her and smiled both of us breathing heavily.
She then looked at her pocket watch and began to get up.
"Oh no, I'm afraid I must leave now"
"Why? We haven't even eaten yet, can't you stay a bit longer?"
"I can't, must be back home by ten"
"Okay I guess, when will I see you again then?"
I could see her silhouette in the dim light as she began dressing quickly.
"I don't know yet, it's not as easy to leave my husband as you must think"
"What about Monday?"
"No, that's too soon. It'll definitely look suspicious"
"Tuesday?"
"I'll come as soon as I can. Please don't phone me, I'll be the one to phone you"
"At least take some food, you didn't even touch it at all" she laughed heartily and it was like music to my ears.
"I'm not hungry for food Adrian, you already satisfied my only hunger and I'm fully sated" she said while laughing.
She gave me a sweet long kiss before leaving. I could only stare at her as my heart ached, longing for her again.
Then began the days of waiting.
I didn't expect to hear from her for the rest of the weekend. Minutes turned into hours, and hours turned into days; I couldn't even concentrate on any other thing as my mind was entirely focused on her.
I tried working on Tuesday and Wednesday, I was lucky to make a thousand euros even though I couldn't focus on anything.
On Thursday morning, I was sitting on the arm chair, waiting. For the past three days, I had very little sleep and didn't bother to shave. My patience eventually ran thin and I decided to go to the phone booth to call her home.
I stood in the stuffing booth as the phone rang, my heart was beating wildly as I waited and finally after what felt like eternity, the phone clicked and a female voice came through, "This is Dominus Garcia residence. Nurse Julia speaking"
I stood there in utter disappointment, hoping to hear any sign of Claire in the room.
"Who is this please?" the woman said. I slowly hung up the phone.
I walked back to my room with sadness overwhelming me. Then I decided to do what any other guy would do in this type of situation.
I decided to go out, get silly drunk and find any suitable woman to be with for the night.
I opened the door and entered my little apartment and there she was, sitting on the chair with her legs crossed.
I leaned against the door and looked at her. "I'm very sorry Adrian" she said, "I couldn't do anything about it, I wanted so much to call you but the telephone is guarded jealously by my husband's nurse. This afternoon I couldn't bear it any longer, so I decided to come see you and I phoned her to tell her my car was stranded and I'll sleep in a hotel for the night so that I could spend the night with you."
I walked unsteadily to the bed and sat down. "If you came five minutes late, you'd have missed me as I was going to go get drunk and now you're here staying the night with me"
"I'm sorry Adrian, I didn't mean to make you suffer like this." she said
I walked over to my mirror and looked my my face, with my beard unshaven for the last three days and my eyes sunken due to lack of sleep.
"I'm going to shave." I said
"Why? You look perfectly fine to me" she said.
"I can't have you in my arms with my face looking like this" I said. After I had finished shaving and cleaned myself up, I took her in my arms and we laid on the bed both satisfied while breathing heavily and smiling to each other.
"We must do something, a situation like this can't happen again"
"It can't happen again, which is why you have to leave him. He's of no use to you anymore so he can't possibly expect you to stay with him."
"If I left him, would you like me to come here to you?"
I looked at my small cramped apartment and then I looked back at her.
"Here?" I said, "Why, no, you couldn't possibly come here"
"I don't have anywhere else to go to if I leave him. Perhaps, I could get a job if I'm here with you"
"No, you can't do that. You'd eventually get tired and grow to hate me"
"Well, if I can't come to you then maybe you could come to me" "What do you mean?"
"I could get you a job to work in my house, so no one would suspect a thing. Would you be fine with that?"
"Well, at least it'd be better than what happened the last few days."
"My husband needs a man to carry him from his wheel chair to the bed or other places, Nurse Julia obviously can't do it alone. The current hire we have is leaving at the end of this week, so you can take his job. The salary is two thousand euros per week"
"So I'd be taking care of the man during the day whilst having sex with his wife at night. This seems like a recipe for disaster to me"
"It's going to be fine, nothing bad will happen" she said while caressing my face.
All thoughts of resistance left my body and we kissed and made love again and again.
"Wake up Adrian" she said to me
I groggily woke up and looked at her as she dressed up to leave.
"What time is it?" I said
"Just after seven, you looked so peaceful in your sleep so I didn't want to disturb you."
I sat up as she handed me a cup of coffee whilst remembering the conversation we had last night.
"I hope we're not going to regret your plan Claire".
"We don't have any other option so this has to work. When you're ready to come, just phone me and I'll have everything sorted out for you"
"Sorted out? What do you mean?"
"I love you, now please don't be difficult. You also need to get proper clothes, you can't come to the villa in these clothes"
"So what exactly will my duties be?"
"You will attend to my husband in the mornings and evenings, you'll look after the car and drive me to wherever I want to go and you'll also look after the boat. You'll have most afternoons to yourself and your accommodation will be at the boat house".
"I guess I'd do anything just to
be with you" I said.