Patricia Pascual
Enneatypical Stories
Laura
A glass of white wine rests on the wooden table in the living room, I feel that he is looking at me, that he is pressuring me to do so. I take a sip to try to distract her, to calm down and to appear normal in front of an empty house that watches me in the dark. The accusing gaze of my smartphone, perched on the table next to the glass, imposes on me, I feel that they are pressuring me to make the damn call. I try to think of the evidence I have to file a complaint… Shit, none.
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​ But, maybe my call is just a thread to pull for the police, that's what they're really for, right? Maybe not… Maybe that's why I'm here… I get up from the sofa and start walking around the living room with the glass of wine in my hand. From the kitchen to the window, from the gas fireplace to the sofa and back again. Every time I go to the window I take a sip from my glass and take advantage of that pause to pull back the curtain and look out over the city. Christmas lighting inspires me, pushes me, encourages me to seek justice, but without evidence it won't do any good... I need certainty, I need something that, despite uncovering the case, catches them without resources to escape or hide.
I should have gone to the interview… What did it cost me? Just play the role a bit, meet Carlos and maybe at some point of courage ask why. But of course, I knew inside me that going to that interview was showing myself to them, my nervousness and hesitation would have given me away, and that's not to mention the desire to cry that would have pressed my eyes at every moment. They are obvious that I have to live with, my wine glass rocks slightly from side to side because of nerves. Some nerves that I am suffering here alone, some nerves that I also cannot understand because right now there are no problems, only decisions to make.
I throw myself on the sofa listlessly, without the strength to continue tossing and turning. In one hand I still have my faithful companion, the glass of wine. In the other, my other faithful companion asks me to dial 112, to end this torture. In an act of bravery I unlock the phone and go to the address book, but I dial Julia's phone with great hope.
Julia, honey, can we talk?
- Hi honey, you catch me shopping with Claudia. Are you joining? We haven't told you anything because we thought you were working.
- Don't worry, I am actually working, the thing is… - Julia interrupts me as usual.
- We just saw Gustavo at Starbucks, you should saw how handsome he was! Claudia has smiled at him and I think he has smiled too, but you know, with these face masks... - I return a telephone smile to end the topic.
- Julia, I need your help. I have a complicated investigation in the newspaper and I need your help.
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I give Julia a summary of the investigation, I hear her telling Claudia about it, in the end she decides to put me on speaker and, despite of the sound of cars and people who must be in the center of the city, Claudia's opinion seems very important to me, surely it is worth it.
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- If you want, I'll call and go to the interview for you, Laura! - Julia tells me with excessive enthusiasm. – I don't think it's a risk, I just have to avoid nerves, easy. I can ask this guy Carlos anything you want. We'll catch you friend!
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- Don't call the police yet Laura, let Julia go to the interview and get more information. - Claudia tells me confidently, and immediately comforts me. It is a wise decision.
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- Ok girls, decided! Thank you very much! I love you.
I finish my glass of wine and feel the security of Claudia's voice coursing through my veins. My hands no longer shake, there is no fear. I'm sure Julia will be able to get information out of that man, she's nosy like no other and she also she has good interpersonal skills , she could sell a hair comb to a bald man.
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I decide to call my boss to tell her about the investigation. It's ten o'clock at night and possibly he has already left, I decide to hang up and I send him an audio. I explain him how everything is going, I tell him that I am going to attend a fake interview with the director of Endeka, but I don't tell him that there was already a first one and that I decided not to go, that my nerves got the best of me. I'm not going to tell him about Julia either, I should be the one who goes to that interview, I'm the journalist. I send the audio at half throttle, afraid of being discovered. Without telling the whole truth, or rather without telling all the lies.
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Many thoughts pile up in my head for an instant, refilling another glass of wine. This time I can't fail, I have the boss's confidence in me for granting me this investigation. I still remember the day I got brave and showed up at the door of his office:
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- I'm pretty tired of covering local and cultural information. I need something that motivates me Maria, something that I can manage and feel proud of afterwards. Something that marks a turning point in my career, something shady...
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At the end of insisting so much on that, María left this case in my hands. I had received a call in the newspaper a few weeks before, someone said that a company called Endeka was going to be created, that it was going to be a dark project and that it would possibly experiment on human beings. I called this person again, wanted to know more, but he never picked up the phone. All the information that I obtained later, was as a result of investigating the telephone number. I knew it could all be a lie, a false accusation. I could be wasting time in a ridiculous way, pulling a thread that has no guarantee, I could be getting Julia into something dangerous and even Julia could mess it up too, it wasn't easy. But in the risk was the triumph, or so my father said.