Doctor Engel [A Spanish bestseller now in English!]

CHAPTER 5

(Cesar)

Erika is talking to me, but I don't know anything at all. My head is somewhere else. Under my feet, or even on the floor below.

But what is happening to me with this girl? Why do I feel so protective of her? I have seen hundreds of such cases. Why does this one affect me so much? The truth is that Natalia is very attractive. Her brown eyes are huge, and her eyelashes are so long and thick that they look like Spanish fans. And if we talked about her perfect curves, her fleshy lips, her shiny, smooth hair... I could spend days just looking at her...

'Cesar!' I startle and spill a few drops of my wine on the couch and my pants. 'Is everything alright? You're distracted.'

'Yes, yes, forgive me Erika,' I clean the wine quickly with a tissue which I always keep in my pocket. 'I have too many things in my head lately,' it's not a lie at all.

'We see each other very little, honey. The time we are together I would like you to give it to me, and you should forget all those things until I'm not here anymore. Don't you think?'

'You're right, but sometimes it's inevitable. I'm sorry.'

'It's okay, don't worry.' She sits beside me, runs one of her hands down my back and kisses my neck slowly. 'I just want to be with you these days and feel you inside me.' She whispers in my ear. Her lips move, making a line of kisses to my jaw. 'I want to have good memories of you when I return to Germany.' She puts her lips to mine and closes her eyes. The only thing that appears in my mind is the image of Natalia kissing me. I pull Erika away quickly, as if an electric current had hit me, and my breathing quickens.

'Can you explain what the fuck this is?' she is visibly pissed.

'Sorry, I don't know what happened to me. I'm as surprised as you...' I lie.

'Well, when you find out, call me. I'm going to bed because it seems like everything has been said here today. You are impossible!' She leaves me alone, I see her walk away and enter the guest room. She slams the door.

I rest my head on the back of the chair, exhale all the air from my lungs and drop my arms on both sides of the body. I look up and stare at the ceiling. I stay that way for several minutes, trying to figure out what is happening to me and convincing myself why this can't affect me. I can't be obsessed with Natalia's case. It's nothing I have not seen before. I get up and with that idea I go to bed. Tomorrow will be another day.