Chapter 6

• When we reached the door, he looked me up and down and smiled, his eyes sparkling.
• "You look so beautiful," he said, and I felt butterflies in my stomach.
• "All for you, friend."
• His eyes traveled to my lips and then back up to mine. My cheeks blushed and I looked away from the intensity of his gaze. It seemed like he was about to say something but the door opened.
• A woman with long gray hair, wearing a beautiful necklace that stood out more than she did, appeared. A smile spread across her face as soon as she saw the man in front of her.
• "Hello Maximiliano!" she greeted him, hugging him while he remained tense in his place, his lips pressed together and looking at me as he shrugged. "I'm glad to see you, son."
• The woman turned her attention to me and her face went from joy to confusion.
• "She's Ada Gray, a friend of mine, mother."
• The woman greeted me with two brief kisses on each cheek, without saying a word.
• "She is..." he said to her in a low voice, as if I couldn't hear.
• "She is what you wanted me to bring tonight. I see your face doesn't show enthusiasm, mom."
• "Pleasure to meet you," I said to Max's mother, trying to salvage the awkward and confusing situation that had settled between the three of us.
• The woman looked me up and down as if I were pure trash. Damn. I wanted to slap her for being so arrogant. My mood and expectations started to plummet.
• "The idea for tonight was to meet the future financial burden of our son. At least you managed to find a young woman with a doll face and a university student's body," she snapped, with some resentment.
• Max became defensive instantly.
• "Mom, for heaven's sake!" he exclaimed, dismayed. "You and dad wanted to meet her. I introduce her to you and you look at her in such a disgusting way that offends me."
• I wanted the ground to swallow me up. If I wasn't getting paid for this, I would have left with my dignity intact.
• "Whatever. Come in," she coughed, allowing us to pass.
• "Please, don't run away. It's just for tonight," Max whispered so quietly that I could barely hear him.
• "You'll have to raise my salary," I joked.
• He took my hand and suppressed a smile, hiding it behind his other fist.
• That would be the longest night of my life.
• Max's parents' house was so elegant that I reminded myself that I was presentable for the occasion and not in the worn-out clothes I had just a few hours ago in the apartment. Beautiful chandeliers, immaculate and waxed floors, people dressed so elegantly that they shone on their own, with glasses in their hands and surely fake laughs, filled the place."
• Max greeted each one as he passed by, with a nod and a raised hand, keeping his distance.
• "Executives, judges, owners of some important companies. Any of them here has enough money to offer to be your sugar baby. Some of these people disgust me," Max commented, as we went somewhere.
• "Do you have so much fear of losing me?" I said, with a hint of playfulness in my voice.
• "My fear is that you'll receive such a tempting offer that puts you in danger," he replied, bluntly.
• "I'm not stupid, Max," I replied in the same tone of voice. "Of all the people here, I obey you."
• "Come, I'll introduce you to my father."
• We approached a man in a dark suit, somewhat chubby and short, who had his back to us, talking animatedly with other people.
• "Dad?"
• The man turned around and a shiver ran down my spine. My legs began to tremble, feeling like jelly, breathing became a great difficulty, and the world had collapsed at my feet.
• Max's father was Walter, my former boss.
• "You! How dare you show up in those rags and next to my son?!"
• His shit-colored eyes stripped me with a look, and the surprise on his face was pleasant to capture and project on a big screen. Fury took over him, and his disgusting face, which I remembered so well and gave me nightmares at night, made me feel small. I looked at Max and then at him, lifted my red dress and left, with a frozen, terrified heart.
• "Ada! "I heard Max shout behind me.
• I grabbed a glass of something from a passing tray that I prayed had alcohol and began to drink it shamelessly as I made my way through the rich people.
• I climbed the stairs that split into two corridors, taking corridor number one, in search of a bathroom to take refuge in. I found what seemed to be one and opened the door of dark wood, encountering a scene so intense that it made my hair stand on end.
• Max's mother had her hands on the sink, apart while her forehead was pressed against the mirror, stifling moans while a young man in his mid-twenties, dark and of great physical build, lifted her silver dress to penetrate her savagely while her bare breasts bounced with great intensity.
• They both looked up at me, with wide eyes.
• "Oh my God, I'm so sorry! "I exclaimed, cheeks burning and quickly closing the door.
• "You...!"was all I heard Max's mother say before closing the door.
• Shit, shit, shit. Desperate, I searched for another room to take refuge in and calm down. Think of butterflies and not the old lady they are fucking, think of butterflies and not the old lady they are fucking.
• I went to the last door in the hallway and thank God, I knocked before entering, sure that no one was inside. I found the cleaning room, which was much larger than my kitchen. I turned on the light and closed the door, leaning my back against it. A situation not worth appreciating, shit.
• "God, I'd rather be dead," I said aloud, closing my eyes and feeling my hair stick to my forehead from the sweat of adrenaline and nerves.
• "Ada? Are you there?"
• Max's voice behind the door echoed in my ears.
• "No!"
• I heard a sigh, I supposed he was relieved to find me.
• "Come on, open the door."
• "I need to be alone for a moment, Max "I said, bringing my hands to my face, overwhelmed by the situation.
• He didn't care about my words, as he turned the doorknob and opened it, causing me to step away abruptly.
• "What the hell was that downstairs? Why did you run off as if you had seen a ghost?"
• He seemed out of his mind, even his bow tie was crooked.
• "Your father was my boss at the fast-food place located on one of the most prestigious streets in New York, from which I resigned. He was the one who psychologically abused me, and thankfully it never turned physical.
• His face contorted, leaning his body on the nearest shelf and looking at me, perplexed.
• "Were you the girl who was in the newspaper for humiliating him and almost getting sued? "the cold and distant voice was what broke my heart.
• "Humiliate him? He was the damn one who pushed me to the edge to make the decision to end my life, Max! "I shouted, with a trembling voice and on the verge of tears. "He gets into your head with his cruel words, so much so that you start to believe them and it tears you apart! He's a son of a bitch who destroys even the most beautiful things! "I confessed, feeling the anger overwhelm me.
• He fell silent, with his mouth slightly open and not knowing what to say. My body trembled as if it were cold, the sweat on me hand lowered the temperature.
• I looked at him, shattered.
• " I will understand if you no longer want to talk to me or see me. Children always take their father's side, no matter how horrible the situation they may have caused " I said, feeling discouraged.
• Congratulations Ada, your only chance of having a better life has been eliminated by your cowardice and the distrust you have in yourself.
• " My father used to hit me with his closed fist in the face " he began, with a great resentment lingering in his mouth and looking away to some point in the room, "and once the blow was so strong that I fell down the stairs you just climbed. My mother was not there, when she returned she asked for an explanation and he blamed the nanny, who was immediately fired. I was thirteen years old. The traumas were generated by him."
• I was left speechless. He had said that with so much sorrow and as if it had cost him to do so. I couldn't imagine how Walter could hurt someone like Max, who had shown me that he had no pure malice towards me.
• I hugged him again, in silence. It was strange to be there, in that dimly lit room that smelled of various floor fresheners.
• "Now I understand why he reacted that way when he saw you, Ada. I don't think you know, but I want to warn you that they closed his shop on that street, as all the employees resigned and now he is looked down upon. He has a total of five fast food businesses, then he has other companies in his name with which he makes good money. I am the manager of one of them.
• Imagining Walter as a failure was the best feeling of satisfaction anyone had ever given me. I smiled and laughed inwardly. It was fantastic.
• " What exactly do you do, Max? " I asked, moving away and changing the subject.
• I didn't want him to know that I was so affectionate and attached when I used to have friends.
• " What if we don't talk about work and focus on getting drunk? " he suggested.
• " Now we're getting along, Max."
• He kissed me on the cheek and his barely shaved beard pricked me, causing a slight tickle on my skin. He took my hand and we left the room. At the same time, Max's mother came out of the bathroom but without the young man who disgustingly accompanied her. It was most uncomfortable to lock eyes with her. She looked at me with disdain and then turned her attention to her son.
• " Having sex in the cleaning room is the oldest thing in the book. Next time find a better place " she snapped at him.
• Max exhaled, clearly annoyed by her out-of-place comment that even surprised me.
• " What? We...!"
• " Believe me, having sex there never goes out of style, ma'am " I interrupted, intertwining my hand with his, intending to keep walking.
• She stood in front of us, blocking our way, annoyed.
• " I don't want her as your sugar baby, Maximiliano " she told her son, in protest. "Not after what your father told me. Because of this good-for-nothing, we lost one of the busiest branches in New York."
• Damn, I didn't know she was so blunt in front of my face. Those things were supposed to be discussed behind closed doors, yet she managed to make all my anger flare up and make me want to spit in her face.
• " She had her reasons for making such a scene, mom!"
• " I don't want her here! " the old lady shouted, furious.
• " I will leave and you will never see me again. I don't feel like being here either. " I spat, letting go of Max's hand to grab my dress and leave faster.
• Damn crazy house.