I had already worked in many houses like this. She knew how to move without being noticed. Julián went downstairs around 8 o’clock. He was wearing a dark suit without a tie. He was always bothered by ties. His white shirt was impeccable, his hair well combed. He had a straight face. He greeted everyone politely, but without warmth.
Some tried to joke with him, but Julián did not lend himself. They looked for him, surrounded him, congratulated him for his company, for his house, for his success. But no one asked him about Benjamin. Everyone knew, but no one wanted to bother him. Or maybe they didn’t care. He was already used to that.
In the middle of a conversation with three partners from the north of the country, one of them, a bald guy with a forced smile, told him something about his son. Your kid is very serious, Julián. Don’t like parties? Julián looked at him, didn’t say anything at first, then let out a half-smile, the one he used when he didn’t want to talk about something.
He hasn’t spoken since his mother died, he replied like this, bluntly. The silence was uncomfortable. The other man tried to change the subject, but Julián interrupted him as if he suddenly didn’t care about everything. “If any of you can get me to talk again, I’ll marry her,” he said, taking his drink. The three men laughed. as if it were a joke. One even patted him on the shoulder.
Julián didn’t laugh, he continued drinking his wine. He had been serious, although he himself did not know why he said it. Maybe because I was tired, maybe because I didn’t have faith in anything anymore. Or perhaps because deep down he still had a shred of hope. But no one took him seriously, not his friends, not the guests, not even himself.
Lorena arrived later, tall, thin, in a bright red dress and perfume that filled the place. She was one of those women who enter a room and everyone turns around. I had worked with Julián on some projects, but since Clara died his interest beyond the professional was noticeable.
He always sought to be close, to touch his arm when he talked, to ask him about personal things, to bring him coffee without being asked. Julián did not encourage her, but he did not push her away either. Sometimes because I didn’t want to be rude, sometimes because I needed support, even if it wasn’t emotional. That night Lorena arrived determined. You could see it, he looked for Julián as soon as he entered. She greeted him with a kiss on the cheek, longer than necessary, and stayed by his side. He laughed loudly.
He talked about things that were not relevant. I asked him about the wine, about the catering, about how adorable Benjamin looked sitting there quietly. Julián smiled at her out of courtesy, but in his head there was no party, only that emptiness that became bigger when everything seemed perfect on the outside. Elena walked past them with a tray of empty glasses. Lorena barely looked at her.
To her she was just another employee, like a chair, like an invisible lamp. But at that crossroads, Julián did notice it. He looked at her for a second, not because she was pretty or because she stood out. He looked at her because she seemed like the only person in the whole house who didn’t pretend anything. He was there doing his job without a mask. At that moment, Benjamin got up from his chair.
He didn’t run, he didn’t scream, he just stood up and started walking towards where Elena was. No one noticed at first. The nanny was talking to another employee. Benjamin walked slowly, as if he knew exactly who he was looking for. Elena stopped when she felt something on her back. She turned around and there was the boy standing in front of her, looking at her with an intensity that gave her shivers.
She didn’t know what to do. She was not supposed to interact with the guests, much less with the family, but something in that child’s eyes made her stay still. And that’s when, without knowing why, seeing her little face so serious, so fragile, she caressed her head. Just that, a caress. As if he were his own nephew, as if he knew him from before.
Then, without warning, without music, without script, Benjamin’s voice filled the room. Do you want to be my mom? At first it was heard only in the corner where they were, but then, as if in slow motion, it expanded. Some listened to him, turned around, then others. In seconds the whole room had fallen silent, the glasses stopped crashing, the music stopped, the eyes were fixed on the child.
Julián also heard him, turned around, put down his glass, walked towards his son without understanding. Benjamin, what did you say? But the boy didn’t look at him. He kept looking at Elena with an expression that no one had ever seen before, as if he had found something he had been looking for all along. Do you want to be my mom? Elena couldn’t move.
I felt a lump in my throat. I didn’t understand anything. She felt like everyone was staring at her, but her mind was blank. The boy’s voice had stuck inside her like a knife. It wasn’t fear, it was something else. Julián came to them, knelt in front of his son, touched his arms, looked at him with eyes full of tears that refused to come out.
Benjamin looked at him for a second, but then he saw Elena again and in that second everything changed. For a moment, no one knew how to react. It was as if the air had stopped, as if the sounds of the party had died out of their own. No one moved a finger. Everyone looked at the same thing. The child who for two years had not said a single word speaking.
