Читать книгу Hi, This Is Conchita - Santiago Roncagliolo - Страница 9
Оглавление(415) 952–3148
2:47 PM
— Yes?
— Don?
— M…Mary?
— Are you disappointed to hear my voice?
— No, of course not. It’s just—I’m surprised, that’s all.
— Really? Well, I was surprised not to hear yours…
— Mary…
— …Not to hear it last night, or Monday, or Sunday, when you said you’d call.
— Listen, it’s not a good time to talk…
— “It’s not a good time to talk, it’s not a good time to talk.” And when is it a good time, if you don’t mind my asking?
— Is it all right if I call you this evening after we close the deal?
— Deal? What the devil are you…
— Yes, it’s just that right now…I’m speaking with another client…
— You don’t have…
— Then I’ll call you, all right?
— You’re not there with a girlfriend, are you, Don? I mean…
— No, no complication…
— I mean you deceive your wife with me. And you’re deceiving me with another woman, aren’t you?
— You know our motto is keeping faith with our clients.
— Don, stop talking like a bank commercial! Why haven’t you called me in three days? Do you think you can play with me? Do you? You think I’m your weekend toy, don’t you? Your tramp!
— Well look, I’ll find that…that information right now, since it’s urgent…
— Are you going to hang up on me?
— No, no, no, not at all. Right now I’m excusing myself for a few seconds, hold on, I’m walking down the hall to the bathroom…
— You don’t have to describe the whole building to me, Don.
— And now that I’m in the bathroom and, yes it’s empty, and…have you lost your mind?! Are you hysterical?!
— Ah, yes, now the real Don is back. And he’s insulting me. He disappears the entire weekend and now he comes and…
— Mary, please…
— …insults me. Is that what you think? That I’m hysterical?
— Mary, don’t…
— Because if you believe that you can take your roses and your invitations to fancy dinners and shove them up your ass. Do you hear?
— …Darling…
— Up your ass!
— You don’t have to be like that…
— And how do I have to be, please? Tell me! How do I have to be?
— I had a hard weekend. Understand? My wife wanted to go out with the children, I couldn’t get out of it…
— You had a hard weekend? And what about me, Don? Answer me! Didn’t I have a difficult weekend, stuck in the apartment alone, waiting for you, you bastard?
— Mary, I have a client outside…
— So what?! Now you prefer your work to me? You treat me as if I were your wife. Ah, no, right. I not only matter to you less than your work, I matter less than your wife, you just…
— …Don’t cry…
— …you just said…
— Mary, somebody’s coming into the bathroom…
— …You want to hang up on me, fine. Hang up, if you want. But if you do, don’t ever call me again, ever!
— Listen, have you spoken to the manager?
— What did you say?
— …I’m not talking to you…hold on…a kid just came into the bathroom…have you spoken to the manager? He’s looking for you and seems to be in a very bad mood. That’s right, go find him fast, kid…
— Of course it’s a lie, you always lie. It’s a lie, kid, don’t believe him!
— Mary, can you be quiet? Do you want me to talk to you or not?
— Oh, Don…
— Oh, Mary…
— You’ve lost respect for me, you shut me up, you insult me, you don’t call me…
— It isn’t that, you know I love you, it’s just a…complicated time. Understand?
— I guess I have no choice but to understand…
— Don’t say that, Mary. Listen. I can invent a work conference this weekend. We could go to the country for a few days. Would you like that? You’d like it, wouldn’t you?
— I don’t know.
— Of course you would, I know how much you like the country…
— And if your wife wants you to stay?
— She won’t, we just spent a weekend together and she must be sick of me.
— And we’ll go riding?
— Of course. And I’ll give you a bouquet of yellow roses, the kind you like.
— You don’t have to bother.
— I will.
— Really?
— Oh, Mary, you know I can’t lie to you.
— Am I still your little cream cake?
— You’ll be that forever, darling.
— Say it.
— You’re my little cream cake.
— Oh, Don.
— Oh, Mary.
— Oh, Don.
— All right, pumpkin, listen, I left my client alone and…
— Do you want me to hang up?
— No, of course I don’t. I’ll call you this evening, OK? I promise.
— You want me to hang up.
— Mary, I already explained to you…
— Well, I didn’t understand.
— What is it? Why are you acting like this?
— I just don’t know, Don. You always have so many things to do, and your family and your life and your life and your success. I don’t have anything, understand? Nothing but you.
— The only thing that matters to me is you…
— That’s not true. If it were true, you’d get a divorce.
— Mary, we’ve already talked about this…
— You never want to talk about it, Don, and you always say we’ve talked about it.
— I’m going to get a divorce, Mary. My marriage doesn’t work anymore. But I can’t leave her now because of the kids, you know? They need a family.
— Your youngest son is twenty-three, Don.
— But even so it isn’t easy. Even so, you can be sure I’ll get a divorce, I’ll get it… I’ll get it before the end of the year…
— It’s four years you’ve been saying that. I don’t know how much longer I can put up with it.
— Mary, listen to me. You just have to have a little more patience, OK?
— No.
— What do you mean, no?
— Just no.
— What does that mean, Mary? You’re not…
— I won’t put up with it anymore.
— Mary…
— Either you tell your wife what’s going on, or I will, Don.
— Wha… ?
— You heard me.
— And if we talk this weekend in the country…
— There won’t be any country or any weekend until you’ve told her…
— Right.
— If you don’t, I will…
— I understand.
— I’m serious, Don! Don’t you think I can do it?
— Of course you can, of course you can. You’re absolutely right.
— Ah, I am?
— Give me this weekend, OK? Just this weekend. I’ll tell her on Friday.
— On Friday, Don.
— Friday, right.
— And you’ll move in with me on Saturday?
— Yeah, sure I will.
— Oh, Don…
— …
— We’ll be very happy, won’t we?
— We will, Mary. You can be sure of that.
— I love you.
— I love you.
— Here’s an enormous kiss.
— Bye.
— …Don.
— Yeah?
— Friday.
— Friday. Sure. Bye.
