Penthesilea's Wish [Vol.1]

Chapter Thirty

When she arrived home at 9:45 that evening, Daniela was still trembling. She could see on the answering machine there were numerous voice messages but bypassed them all en route for a long, hot bath. She refused also to even look at her Smartphone which she had left switched off since leaving work. Dark bruises had formed on both knees where she landed hard on the ground, and a superficial cut was visible on the dirty palm of her left hand. A glance at herself in the mirror as she prepared the warm water yielded a young woman who had gone through a significant event- There was seriousness to her demeanor, but also a maturity about the look she had not seen before. As she lay back in the water of her bath and tried to calm herself, she pictured again the large, beige cat, graceful and deadly:

It crouched motionless across from her on the cool ground. Its eyes were golden and intense. It was truly a creature from another world and another time. An age when survival depended on maximum cunning and stealth. Its resolve to attack again was seemingly strong, yet uncertain. There was something in its electrifying look and graceful presence, however, that told Daniela the animal was also female, fearless and powerfully independent-not unlike her view of herself moments ago in the mirror. Perhaps it was this immediate recognition and absurd sense of kinship-even at the moment it happened, which gave her the precious courage to freeze steadfast and stare back at the cat, challengingly.

This refusal to retreat, she remembered, stopped the cat in her tracks before it eventually turned away and disappeared into the brush. In the end, Daniela felt there was some ineffable sense of respect perceived through the incredible encounter by the both of them which, in her mind, would remain beautiful. Being an animal lover since a small child, she wanted no harm to come to the puma, which was a magnificent creature in its own right. But she also felt equally in her instincts the will and potency to kill such a creature if it engaged in a contest for her own survival. The power of this sensation was new to her, and the thought of it was both frightening and inspiring.

Stepping out of the bath, every muscle in her back, legs and arms now ached as she slowly and gingerly dried her body with a towel. She covered herself warmly and tightly with a pristine white bathrobe as she left the bathroom. Having left her Smartphone off for so many hours, she now decided to check her messages and missed calls while sitting on the bed. Most of the calls were from Nicasio. But then there was his voice message:

"Hey Sexy. . . Why aren't you answering? How's the horse-set treating you over there at Waverley?Is that where you are? Remember. There'll be no ticket for Baylor on the plane to Seville (laughter).You little rich girls have such a difficult life. I should be in the City again tonight . . . about the same time, OK Angelina? That is if this crazy professor doesn't work me to death. By the way, last night was really incredible! Just don't get your hopes up for a repeat of that performance tonight, OK? I'm way too tired for that kind of action. See you in a few hours, Dani."

There were also three missed calls from Mr. Cuomo, and his own voice message followed Nicasio's:

"Daniela? Where are you? Just a reminder. Your meeting tomorrow! Schrader and his video director, remember? 11:00 AM! I'm counting on you to impress the hell out of them! We need their collaboration to get a handle on this marketing application. I can tell it's going to be Big, Daniela. And by the way, we didn't even get a chance to talk about your adjusted salary, assuming this thing goes well for us. Get your sleep! I'll definitely see you tomorrow. Don't be late!"

Daniela didn't bother returning Mr. Cuomo's message. Knowing she would see him soon enough was an annoying thought. In response to Nicasio, she left the following voice message, hoping he would hear it before coming all the way across the City to find her asleep:

"Hey Professor Carvajal. Had a really rough day. I'm tired, too. Need to just sleep. Guess we'll just have to live on what happened last night for a while. Like the old days in the dorms-remember? Got this really stupid meeting in a few hours. It might complicate our plans for travel. Cuomo is such a jerk! I'll do what I can. And Yes . . . I do love you."

She then curled up on her bed, leaving the light on. While lying in a fetal position and wrapped in the white robe with a blue towel around her head, Daniela took on strangely regal look. She drifted off to sleep quickly. Surprisingly relaxed for the difficult ordeal she had endured earlier that day.

After several hours she awoke with her body twitching and the gnawing sensation that she was again in great danger. She tried to fight this feeling, logically knowing she was safe in her home, but a sense of anxiety bordering on panic would not leave her. She sat up in the bright light, feeling all her muscles excruciatingly sore. Her thirst compelled her to rise and leave the bed for the bathroom. There she drank two full glasses of water, yet still not feeling her thirst quenched.

Returning to the bed, Daniela recalled her dream over the past few hours. It had been a virtual collage of images-Nicasio, Baylor, the terrifying cougar, and a breathtaking world to which she knew she had never been. There was also a nightmarish atmosphere in her room when she awoke which gave her the sensation of impending danger.

It was the unmistakable feeling of the large cat's unpredictable presence there somewhere in the room. The fierce animal seemed to still lurk in her psyche. She sensed from those feelings and images that the cat was capable of seeking her out again on the mountainside and engaging her once more in a dreaded challenge of attack or retreat. The dream reminded her that the violent encounter was truly the closest she had ever been to mortal danger and she now understood its consequences. Yet, the thrill of experiencing it alone still resonated within her in an inexplicable and powerful way, emboldening her once again. In spite of waking to the reverie in physical discomfort and with all its emotional turbulence, Daniela lay back and eventually slept again deeply throughout the remainder of the morning, motionless and as peaceful as the dead.

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