—Mrs. Mariana… it’s me, Diego. The one… from the accident.
On the other side there was a brief silence, filled with relief.
—Diego… I’m glad you called. How are your injuries?
“Your,” he thought. How strange it sounded that someone like her would speak like that.
—Well… they’re closing up now.
—I want to see you. For coffee. Today, if you can. There’s a place downtown… Café La Jacaranda.
Diego accepted without understanding why. Or perhaps he did understand, but he was afraid to name it.
Mariana arrived in an inconspicuous car, wearing simple clothes, though her elegance was evident, like a perfume you can’t see. They talked for hours. Diego told her about his dream of opening his own workshop. Mariana listened as if she truly cared. And when he asked her what she did, she simply said:
—I work in administration.
He didn’t mention anything else.
For the first time in a long time, Mariana laughed without worrying about her posture, without looking at her watch, without thinking about “what’s appropriate.” Diego didn’t feel inferior. He felt… seen.
Three days later, Don Chucho Morales —his boss, his teacher and almost his father— called him to the office with a newspaper in his hand.
—Look, boy…
There she was in the society section. Mariana, in a formal dress, next to a sign: “Mariana Ríos, director of the Ríos Group.”
Diego felt his hands go cold.
“Ríos Group?” he murmured. “She…?”
“They’re one of the most powerful families in the state,” said Don Chucho. “And you… you got involved with them.”
That night, when Diego called her, she no longer had the same voice.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked bluntly. “Were you ashamed to tell me who you were, or did you find it funny to play the humble one?”
Mariana remained silent for a second that felt like an eternity.
—Diego… I didn’t laugh at all. I was scared.
—Are you scared?
“Yes,” she said, the word coming out broken. “Afraid you’d look at me like everyone else. Like walking money. In that café, finally… I was just Mariana.”
Diego wanted to believe her, but it hurt.
—We come from different worlds.
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