Chapter 9 Battalion

• Returning to Simon's apartment, determined to do her best until her wedding day, Paulina was in a state of grace. With the certainty of a wonderful future, she rested her head on the pillow, falling into a deep sleep. She was awakened by the sound of something heavy falling and glass shattering.
• Startled, she got up, adjusted her long cotton nightgown, and left the room. She heard curses being shouted from the living room, immediately identifying Simon's voice.
• With a mixture of shock and resignation - and no trace of surprise - in the brightness of the room, she saw a stranger struggling to lift Simon off the ground.
• "Let go of me!" Simon yelled, trying to get up without help but failing miserably.
• "What happened?" Paulina asked, worried, as she approached Salvatore, who pushed her away, ordering with a slurred voice: "Get out of here! You're the cause of all this..."
• The strong smell of alcohol invaded Perez's nostrils, announcing the reason for his state.
• "He drank too much," the stranger said, forcing Simon to stand up. "He needs a good night's sleep."
• Paulina guided the man to Salvatore's bedroom. Simon was placed on the bed, Paulina took off his shoes and covered him, adjusting him so that he wouldn't get cold.
• The man, who was watching everything attentively, smiled when he turned to follow him out.
• "I'm Hernando Gomez, SaaTore's security guard," he introduced himself, observing her with undisguised curiosity. "Are you Salvatore's girlfriend?"
• "No! I'm the housekeeper, Paulina Perez, and I have a fiancé," she nervously corrected, showing her engagement ring.
• Hernando looked at the ring and nodded complacently, making Paulina realize that she had overreacted in her response.
• "Thank you for bringing Mr. Simon."
• "If I didn't bring him, he would be sleeping on the floor of the bar," he confided, smiling, then becoming serious as he asked, "Tell him to stay away from Tamara."
• "Yes..."
• "Oh! Good luck with Simon! From what I can tell, you're going to need it."
• ~*~
• Simon woke up with a strong headache. He got up, took a headache pill, and took a cold shower. Soon he was ready for another day of work.
• "Good morning, Mr. Simon!" Perez stopped and looked at him in her bland gray suit and long skirt of the same color.
• "What's good about it?" he grumbled, massaging the top of his head.
• "Are you having a headache?" Perez asked, approaching him with concern. "You arrived last night, bumping into things and-"
• "Would you please shut up?" Simon rudely interrupted, making Perez look at him with fear.
• "I made a very strong coffee... It's in the dining room."
• Simon was surprised that she apparently knew where the dining room was, but he didn't show it. He preferred to ignore her and continue on his way to the door.
• "I don't need anything from you."
• Paulina stepped in front of him and prevented him from going on.
• "I know we started off on the wrong foot... But I intend to fulfill the contract... Take care of you as Mirela wants..."
• "I don't need another mother, the one I have already gives me enough headaches," Salvatore retorted. "You'd better go take care of your idiot boyfriend... Or should I say fiancé?"
• "Fiancé," she replied with a brief smile.
• "Whatever," he grumbled, shrugging as he turned away from her to leave.
• "Mr. Simon, please..." Realizing that he had no intention of listening to her, Paulina gathered her courage and stood in front of the door. "I won't let you leave," she announced firmly.
• Simon was surprised by the determination of the governess. He watched as her pale skin turned a rosy hue and admired her bellicose eyes fixed on his, without fear, direct and without the slightest intention of looking away for the first time in years.
• "How could a tiny thing like you prevent me from leaving?" he asked, holding back the urge to laugh at the outraged expression on the brunette's face. "Get out of the way, Perez."
• Slowly, Paulina stepped aside and Simon put his hand on the doorknob, feeling victorious until he heard the sweet voice, with her back to him, say:
• "If you leave, I will resign and it will be your fault," she threatened, hoping the fine would make him back down.
• Simon tightened his grip on the doorknob. It took him a while to say something, and when he did, his tone was biting.
• "And who said I care?" He opened the door.
• Paulina sighed and slowly walked towards the dining room. She heard the sound of the door slamming shut. Her bluff had not worked. She should have realized that Simon, being filthy rich, wouldn't mind losing a few sums of money. The worst would be facing him when he returned from work and she was still there, because she wouldn't leave. She had told her father she would manage it.
• She approached the set table and was about to remove the pitcher of juice when a cold voice asked her, "Don't you think you've exaggerated with the amount, Perez?"
• Paulina turned around, surprised and happy that Simon had stayed in the apartment. Instinctively, she smiled.
• "It's to give you energy for work," she said.
• "Energy for an army," Simon retorted, looking away from her smiling lips to the table. "I'll just have a coffee and go."
• "No!" she exclaimed, her voice rising, blushing as Simon looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Y-you have to eat at least some c-cookies." She took a deep breath, pulled out a chair, and said softly, "Sit down and eat, it'll do you good."
• Simon sat down and reluctantly took a cookie and ate it. Paulina placed a cup of coffee in front of him and after sipping the liquid, Simon looked at her in surprise.
• "Strong and with little sugar," he said.
• "Is it not to your liking? I can make another one..."
• "It's not necessary. I just found it strange that you know something I like."
• "I always helped my mother in the kitchen, and then Núbia... I know what everyone in the mansion likes."
• Simon leaned to the side with an enigmatic gleam in his eyes.
• "Do you really know? What else do I like?"
• "Uh... You like this," Paulina pulled out a cake.
• "I don't like sweets," Simon denied and looked disdainfully at the chocolate-covered cake. "There's only one cake I like, one my mother learned to make recently."
• "Actually, Mirela asked me once to make a cake for you and said it had been her," Perez confided, cutting a slice of cake and placing it on a plate. "But don't reveal that I told you."
• Simon looked at her in surprise and then at the cake. He took a bite and ate to confirm his suspicion. Yes, the different taste from the sweets his mother had tried to push on him for years was that one.
• "It's made with dark chocolate and coffee," Perez informed him, answering one of the questions Mirela always refused to answer. "It's not very sweet because you 'don't like sweets.'"
• Simon looked annoyed by the patch, but from Perez's expression, he realized it was only something she had noticed about him when for so many years, he had thought she didn't even see him.
• He took a deep breath and ate another piece of cake. Finally, he stood up and smiled sideways at Perez, who had stood beside him the whole time.
• "Okay. Satisfied? I ate as you wanted, can I go to work now, Mom?"
• "Y-yes," Paulina replied, blushing.