22: The Chair

Marta walked over to the intercom, Mario's hand still in hers.
"Who is it?"
"Furniture delivery, ma'am — could you buzz us in?"
Marta confirmed and pressed the button, hung up and turned around.
"I feel like such a blockhead — cork for brains and all." Marta began.
"Blimey!" Mario replied, amused.
Marta's phone buzzed with a message — Felisa warning that they had seen the vans from the window and were all coming up to help with the furniture.
"We'll have to uncork the champagne another time." Marta said with a touch of wistfulness.
Mario moved close to her temple and squeezed her hand, whispering in a very low voice:
"Right now I'd say the cork has already been popped — but I'll restrain myself."
Marta, startled and flushed, swallowed. Mario let go of her hand and stepped two metres away, crouching down to give himself a moment to recover.
Those thirty seconds felt eternal when Melisa came in with her key.
"See? There was no need for you two to stay." Melisa headed straight for Mario.
The others came in one by one, but Marta only watched Mario and Melisa. The fact that Melisa went straight to him stung slightly — but the fact that he moved away dissolved any doubt.
Between the nine of them and the furniture team, in under an hour and a half all the desks were assembled, and even the separate offices for Marta, Julián and Melisa were completely set up.
Hugo tried to organise a group outing between himself, his cousins, the ADAN secretaries and Mario — but Mario declined, which meant Melisa didn't want to go either.
Mario was starting to feel mildly harassed by Melisa, and had to excuse himself from the proposed triple outing by citing plans with the girlfriend that everyone — except Marta and Felisa — believed he had.
"Lots of talk about this girlfriend," Melisa kept grumbling, "but we don't even know her name."
Mario, from where he stood, turned towards Marta. She was beside Manuel, and both of them were looking at him.
"I understand you're curious — but your behaviour tells me I shouldn't give you her name." He replied to Melisa pleasantly.
"You have been making rather a pest of yourself with the poor lad, Melisa!" Felisa hooked her arm through her niece's and looked at Mario with quiet complicity. "Accept that he's not interested — there's nothing wrong with that."
Mario gave Felisa a grateful smile and a small nod.
Melisa pouted at her aunt's words and retreated to her office.
"Mario—" Manuel called him over "—you hold three roles at ADAN, one of which Melisa also holds at GOZZE. Would you mind if she takes over as head of PR?"
Mario thought of the small businesses he had signed as clients in La Cabrera, and felt a flash of alarm.
"What if we separate investor relations from client management?" Mario was trying to protect the secret Marta had entrusted him with.
"There's only one Business Management post, Mario — don't overcomplicate it." Manuel replied.
And in a kamikaze move, Mario revealed the least of his reasons.
"I've bought a flat in a small village in the mountains and I wouldn't want Melisa getting in the way if she has to deal with the clients I signed on Monday."
Marta tensed.
"I think I need to start the change-of-address paperwork—" she was already walking backwards towards her office "—right away!" She disappeared behind the closed door.
She tried to steady herself. She was hyperventilating.
Her mind went to the weekend she had spent with Mario — and the very next day, he goes and buys a flat.
Out in the room, Mario looked concerned, though inside he was terrified by the impression he might have given Marta.
Manuel, noticing there were still things to attend to at ADAN, tried to move things along.
"We still haven't notified clients that the company isn't quite so small anymore." He put an arm out towards his son. "Shall we go down?"
"Er — yes, right, coming." Mario walked towards his father, a sharp pain in his chest.
They went straight to the door and disappeared into the lift.
Felisa went quickly to find Marta. She found her sitting at her desk, eyes fixed on the dark screen of her computer, drumming her nails on the surface.
"What just happened?"
"I think I've fallen into a well I can't get out of." Marta unfroze.
"Interesting way to put it, friend." Felisa unwrapped the chair across from Marta and sat down. "Can't get out — or don't want to?"
"I don't know!" Marta groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Do you remember what I told you last year — what I had in mind for retirement?"
"A quiet little house far from civilisation? Perfectly."
"Well, I bought a little place in La Cabrera, just past Guadalix."
"In the same place as Manuel's son?" Felisa asked, all innocence.
Marta looked at her friend with a sharp frown. Her expression answered for her.
"He bought his place afterwards — got it!" Felisa leaned forward and dropped her voice even lower. "Do you think he's one of those obsessive types who finds out everything about the person they've fixated on?"
"Where do you think we slept during the weekend, Felisa?" Marta was shaking her head at the very idea she had just raised. "We were in bed Friday, Saturday and Sunday."
"Well, if he were a stalker, he wouldn't have said what he said yesterday at the restaurant — he would have shown his hand, and I would have exposed him in front of his father."
"All right, that reassures me." Marta smiled with something approaching calm. "But it doesn't change the fact that he overstepped by buying a house in the same village we went to that weekend."
"If you have his number, send him a message asking for an explanation — that way you at least hear his side."
Marta breathed in deeply and let herself settle.
"You're right."