Devoted Love, Mr. Hayes’ Darling Wife

On both days, Paulita came to The Villas at Repulse Bay as soon as school was out and the family went to the amusement parks, zoos and so on.

On the third day, during the day, Roberto Rouco called to say that the visas for Florence had been issued and would be ready to fly tomorrow.

Estrella Berrocal was prepared for it, but was caught off guard.

I didn’t expect the visa to come out so quickly.

“But … if I leave, what if Adam looks for me?”.

“You don’t have to worry about that, I’ll break it up tomorrow when I get off work. By the time I get home and find out you’re missing, you should already be in Florence.”

…

After hanging up the phone, Estrella Berrocal stood in front of a map of the world, looking at the densely populated countries and cities.

It took a long, long time to find Florence, a city not so big and not so small in the middle of Italy.

The time difference between Italy and his home country was about seven hours, which meant that the city he was heading to was still sleeping in the early hours of the morning when Adam got up early for work.

Estrella Berrocal is not good at mathematics, but she has been writing in a book with a ruler and pencil and paper for a long time.

The Holy City is about 10, 000 kilometers from Florence, and it takes about thirteen hours by plane, a long trip in the northern hemisphere.

But that’s not the worst of it, at least, she and Adam will have the same season.

I have heard that winters in Florence are cold, with a lot of precipitation and a wet and cold weather, sometimes less than ten degrees, while in the Holy City it does not go below five degrees below zero, even if it is colder.

…

Estrella Berrocal lay down on her blanket and took a long nap, awakened by the sound of a car engine in the yard.

He took the pen and paper and books and tucked them inside a discreet row of books.

When Adán Rouco entered the house, she was already downstairs.

Estrella Berrocal picked up the coat she had taken off, but instead of immediately putting it on the floor-to-ceiling rack, she said, “I haven’t made dinner today, why don’t we go out to eat? Besides, I want you to take me somewhere.”

Adam Rouco, who was also in a good mood, looked at her suspiciously and said, “In such a good mood that you’re willing to run out to eat on a cold day?”

“I always wanted to go to Underwater World when I was a student, but my father was always busy and every time he promised, he never delivered, and then he died and I couldn’t go. I’ve lived more than twenty years and I’ve never been to Underwater World. I want to go with you once.”

Adam Rouco frowned a little amused by her tone, “Why do you seem to be accusing me of treating you harshly, for having lived twenty years without going to the underwater world, when I have lived thirty years without going to the underwater world?”

Estrella Berrocal was a bit surprised: “Haven’t you taken Paulita there before?”.

“No, the old man took her once, but then she didn’t want to go, she was afraid of sharks and giant creatures like whales. So then it was a matter of taking her to the aquarium.”

Estrella Berrocal’s lips curved, “Then let’s go tonight!”.

“It’s not easy for Mrs. Rouco to go to the underwater world, come on.”

Adán Rouco took his coat and put it back on, without even changing his shoes, and pulled her toward the door.

“Hey … wait, I haven’t changed yet.”Content © provided by NôvelDrama.Org.

Adán Rouco raised his wrist to check the time and said, “Well, go upstairs and change and I’ll wait for you here”.

“Okay.”

…

Mundo Submarino is not very busy on a weekday, even if it is after hours.

Underwater World was mostly parents with their children, but there were also quite a few young couples and lovers, and it was not surprising that Adán Rouco and Estrella Berrocal were among them.

With the water sparkling on all sides and the arches of clear glass all around and above their heads, everything but their feet was filled with sea creatures swimming in the water.

Estrella Berrocal put her hand on the glass and watched the giant whale swimming towards her in the blue water.

Adán Rouco looked at her with a satisfied face and said: “It seems that Mrs. Rouco likes the underwater world, so from now on we will come once a month”.

Estrella Berrocal, however, shook her head and said, “It’s my first time coming to Underwater World, so it’s new, but if I come once a month it won’t be new and I won’t feel bad about it.”

“Then once every six months.”

Estrella Berrocal wanted to say “yes”, but the word “yes” was on her lips, and then she pushed it away.

They would not have the opportunity to come to the Underwater World together for the next six months.

Estrella Berrocal turned her head and said, “Adam, let’s take a picture with this whale.”

Estrella Berrocal took out her phone and took several selfies.

He looked at Adán Rouco in the photo and said with disgust, “You really have no camera sense.”

But … even so, Adán Rouco still looks handsome in the photo.

Estrella Berrocal guards it carefully.

Estrella Berrocal looked at the slowly swimming giant whale and said, “You know about the whale fall?”.

“Well, I’ve already read it in a biology book.”

“A whale fall is when a whale dies in the ocean, its carcass slowly sinks to the bottom and a unique ecosystem is formed during the death process, a single whale carcass can fuel a recycling system based on decomposition for up to a hundred years.”

Estrella Berrocal finished, paused slightly and kept silent.

Adán Rouco didn’t speak either, he just looked at her out of the corner of his eye in the half-light, through the glow of the water reflected in the sea.

Suddenly, Estrella Berrocal turned her head and asked, “Isn’t the Whale Drop a little sad?”.

Adán Rouco had never been a literary man, nor an art student like Estrella Berrocal, who would have seen him as a mercenary businessman with few artistic or literary gifts.

So he raised his hand to the back of her neck and pitifully reassured her, “It’s just the natural order of life and death.”

But in the half-light, Estrella Berrocal’s eyes turned a little red as she looked out to sea.

Not because she suddenly thought of the whale, but because she was moved by the thought of a place where she would stay for a long, long time, so long that she didn’t know exactly how long.

He said, “Even if the whale dies, it will feed a set of circulatory systems of the sea for over a hundred years, and this is probably the last tenderness and return that the whale leaves to the sea.”

Adán Rouco felt increasingly out of place and rubbed his head hard: “Mrs. Rouco, why are you always so sentimental today?”.

He had just leaned down to look her in the face when his neck suddenly became entangled in hers.

Estrella Berrocal kissed him on tiptoe.

He told him: “Adán Rouco, I love you”.

— I love you like a whale to the sea, like a bird to the forest, like an ant to the nest, like a bee to honey.