38: The House

After a night of barely contained nerves and a preceding cold shower, the appointment with the estate agent was at nine in the morning — and as with the previous viewing, the meeting point was at the door.
Marta had followed her instinct in offering her friend the chance to come along. She didn't think she'd need to act on what Mario had suggested, but curiosity got the better of her.
They hadn't wanted to bother Hugo — yet Julián and Melisa turned up with enthusiasm.
For their part, Manuel came with Mario, as before.
This time it was the estate agent who arrived last — and he brought the owner of the house with him: an eccentric long-haired man dressed as though he were playing hard rock aboard a zeppelin.
Joaquín opened the door for everyone to go in. Melisa was still watching a black vehicle parked in front of the gate of the house next door.
Julián and Mario both noticed and followed her gaze.
A broad, muscular, attractive man of nearly two metres got out of the driver's seat and went to key in the entry code. Melisa was completely absorbed in his presence. The man exhaled and got back into the car. The gate opened, he drove through, and it closed behind him.
"I've seen that man before." Mario said to Julián, studying his face. "I think I've only seen him a couple of times though."
Melisa's curiosity drew her to the ivy-covered dividing fence. Her brother and stepbrother fell in with it.
"What are you looking for, little sis?"
"I don't know — to find out?"
Melisa clung to the fence as though she were watching the climax of a film — while the other two could barely be bothered to crane their necks.
"Where have I seen that man before?" Mario asked himself again.
The man opened the back door of the car and a young, fair-haired, slim figure stepped out, unaware he was being watched.
Melisa smiled — but her stepbrother was taken aback, recognising who had just got out.
"Lope?"
The young man turned towards the ivy-covered fence.
"Mario?"
He smiled without hesitation and turned to call his father.
"Dad — cousin Lope lives next door!"
The big man smiled for the first time — genuinely — at hearing the voice from over the fence. He looked at the twins standing beside Mario.
"Lovely to see you again, Don Mario. Are these two nosy neighbours with you?" He pointed at Melisa and Julián with a mischievous grin.
"They're my stepsiblings, Mauro."
And Mauro turned towards them.
"Are you interested, or just curious?"
Julián stepped down, apologising. Melisa was still clinging to the fence.
"You're a wall of a man — your name suits you perfectly."
Between Mario and Julián they managed to detach Melisa, though not before she had provoked a severe blush on the big man's face.
"What on earth was that about?" Her brother wanted an explanation.
"I don't know — he caught my eye." She looked directly at Mario. "Is Mauro a real name or a nickname?"
"Wait — am I reading this right? You're interested in my cousin's bodyguard?" He was genuinely puzzled.
She narrowed her eyes, wry.
"It's curiosity."
"Right."
Melisa headed towards her mother, her aunt and her stepfather, ignoring those she left behind.
"I'm telling you, Mario — when something catches her attention..."
"Well, at least I'll get to talk to my cousin again!" He shrugged. "Shall we look at the house?"
Both of them rejoined the group to view the property.
The entrance hall was spacious and welcoming. The owner had been telling an anecdote and they arrived just in time to catch the last of the laughter dying out.
After what he had seen the day before, Mario found it quite telling that his father had positioned himself between the two women — on one side, the woman he believed he ought to be with, and on the other, the woman he actually wanted to be with.
Large floor-to-ceiling windows looked out onto the courtyard and the annexe.
Marta stopped, surprised, and stood taking it in. Manuel didn't bat an eyelid. Mario, however, stayed beside her, shoulder to shoulder, taking in the view — all of it.
"That pool is smaller than the other one."
"What?" She turned. "Oh — Mario!" She looked both ways. "I hadn't even noticed!"
A smile spread across the young man's face.
"And you're not the only one—" he moved slightly closer to her shoulder and gestured towards the rest of the group "—he positions himself between you to stay near you, and the moment you step away, he ignores you." A satisfied smile settled on his face. "That's not on, Dad."
Marta studied the group and understood what he was implying — she was beginning to smile when she noticed Julián was also missing.
"Where's my son?"
"Right behind you."
The shock on both of them was considerable.
"How long have you been—" Mario started to ask, redder than a tomato.
"I stopped at the same moment. I understood everything."
"Under... understood?" His mother stuttered.
"Yes, Mum. Your complicity — and theirs." He said it, pointing shamelessly at Manuel and Felisa.
"We're not—!" They both protested at the same time.
Julián rolled his eyes and exhaled.
"You're even in sync when you're denying it." He crossed his arms. "And I suppose the good mood last Friday was your doing." He looked at Mario.
"I'm sorry?" The one referred to went pale.
Marta glanced back and forth between her son and her lover, flushing.
"Mum, I'm not going to judge you — Dad passed away over fifteen years ago, remember?"
"Eighteen years, two months and twelve days." Her brow was furrowed, as though reproaching someone for something.
Mario straightened up — he felt slightly unsettled by what Marta had just said.
"Was the tribal for Sebastián?" It came out barely above a whisper.
"Of course — it's a tattoo from my teenage years. Who else would it be for?"
Mario stepped back and slowly walked towards the group, leaving mother and son alone.
Julián hugged his mother, who didn't understand his reaction, and tried to make sense of it with a question.
"How do you manage the jealousy of a dead man — one you can't compete with?"