Chapter 7: Starting Over

"It's just a dislocated shoulder, Mrs. Cooper," the doctor explained. "Fortunately, the fall wasn't serious. All that's left is to set the bone and prescribe some painkillers."

"Thank you, Doctor. I'll leave him in your hands."

Adeline left the office and waited patiently. A scream came from inside, and she knew it was her son, Alberto.

That morning, as she was getting her three children ready for school, a minor argument broke out between the oldest and the middle child.

Camilo and Alberto argued over which of them was the most beloved by their father. Certainly, Humberto's visits were infrequent. That gave the appearance that he had neglected the children, but even so, they hoped to receive some of his few crumbs of affection.

Then, after Alberto said he was the favorite because he was younger, Camilo pushed him, causing him to hit his shoulder on a piece of furniture.

Adeline appeared later, accompanied by Lucio, the youngest, and was horrified by the scene.

"What happened?" she asked.

"It was his fault, Mother. He lied about saying Dad prefers him!" And so, Camilo, her eight-year-old son, began to cry inconsolably.

Life as a single mother and corporate executive was proving more difficult than expected.

"Humberto," Adeline called to her ex-husband.

"What do you want?" The sharp voice on the other end was immediate.

"You need to visit the children more often," she requested. "I'll be at the hospital with Alberto soon. He and Camilo had an argument over which of them you preferred. The truth is, the children are feeling the effects of your abandonment."

"Oh, so now you're accusing me of abandoning them?" He mocked. "Should I remind you whose idea it was to divorce?"

"Humberto, our relationship has nothing to do with this."

"Yes, it does! It's your fault the children are suffering."

"Oh, so what did you want me to do? That I'll accept your infidelity as if it were nothing?"

"It would have been the best thing."

The audacity in his words made Adeline squeeze the phone. The force exerted so much that she wanted to break it.

"How dare he suggest something like that?" she wondered.

"You're crazy if you thought that was going to happen. No woman would put up with infidelity."

"But you're not just any woman, Adeline." For some reason, his words sounded contemptuous.

"What do you mean?"

"That you'll be a spinster for the rest of your life," he blurted out unscrupulously. "I don't think your love life will work out now. You'll have to resign yourself to reaching old age without ever feeling another touch, not even one out of pity."

"You're a damn crazy man!" she hung up on him.

She hated to admit he was right. Adeline felt like her love life had ended the moment she divorced. She fid not feel like an appealing woman. Every time she looked in the mirror, she felt horrible.

"My feelings don't matter. What's important here are my children," she thought and planned to schedule a psychologist appointment for the three children.

If Humberto was going to ignore his role as a father, then he would make sure his little ones received the help they needed to cope with this painful situation.

[…]

Like every morning, Adeline sat down in front of her computer and let out a sigh.

That day, her emotional burden was even greater as she remembered she was supposed to meet with her new partner: Anthony Spencer.

The woman continued working and tried to forget the scheduled meeting. But she knew it was a necessary evil.

And as expected, Georgia came in at the agreed time to inform her that Mr. Spencer was waiting for her in the conference room.

"Thank you, Georgia."

Adelina stood up as if she would have just received the news of the death of a family member. She did not even want to take a quick look in her compact mirror. There was no point in doing so.

She then smoothed her skirt before grabbing a couple of folders and headed toward the meeting place.

"Good morning, Mr. Spencer," she greeted by opening the door, but she did not really look at him.

"Good morning, Mrs. Cooper." The tension was palpable in the air, but Adeline focused on adjusting her glasses and reviewing the documents before saying, "We've had good results from the first import. Many potential clients have contacted us in recent weeks. I should say this is better than we expected." She finally looked up.

Anthony was watching her closely. That caused her breath to catch briefly.

"Th-this is a very good thing for both of us," she stammered before losing track of what she wanted to say.

Adeline hated Anthony's power to unnerve her. His steady gaze and those light blue eyes only made the words tangled in her mouth.

"I-I think we can move on to the next phase." She returned her gaze to the papers.

"Calm down. Calm down," she ordered herself in her mind.

"What's wrong, Adeline?" "Are you nervous?" The cruelty in her companion's tone caused Adeline to look at him comically”.

"No," she blurted out indignantly.

"Just look at you," he pointed at her. "You're trembling."

Adeline hated her own body for betraying her.

"This has nothing to do with you, it's just..."

"Who would have thought that years later the roles would be reversed?" He mocked.

"Anthony, about that, I want to apologize..."

"Save your words, Adeline," he interrupted. "What happened is no longer important to me. We're here now as partners and as adults, although I must admit I would have preferred to deal with anyone else than you."

Adeline felt moisture forming in her eyes, but she forced herself to be strong.

"I'm sorry it has to be this way. If you'd like, I can assign someone else to meet with you.". “I don't want to be a bother to you” her voice lowered so much it was almost a whisper.

At her submissive and pitiful attitude, Anthony felt a pang in his heart and concluded he was being too harsh on the woman, because of something that happened in his adolescence.

"It's okay, Adeline. I'm sorry." He stood up and closed the distance between them. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad, but it really isn't easy for me to forget. Still, I'll make an effort to start over. Is that okay?"