by Stefania Gil
She decided to hire him to destroy the coffin the inquisitors put him in and then, she and Edward helped, seal the false wall that led to where the remains of the coffin lay.
Juan Carlos begged them not to hire anyone else to do it, to teach him how it was done in modern times and he would take care of it himself.
Whenever the immortal imagined his origin could be exposed to society, he fell prey to extreme panic.
It was for nothing more than all the gory things he had lived through.
Listening to his stories was sometimes a torment for Isabel.
More than once she woke up drenched in sweat, from nightmares generated from what she heard Juan Carlos describe. How did this man endure all those horrible things?
His immortality was a curse to him.
She limped slightly as she the edge of her shoe brushed against her heel.
She complained due to the pain.
“Are you okay?” He asked with a sideways glance.
“No.” Yes, was what she really wants to say and to burn the damn heels on her feet. “They're killing my feet.”
Juan Carlos smiled at her.
She looked at him curiously. She was never interested in looking at him closely, but today, in the middle of the Plaza, with the evening light flushing the sky, Isabel could not help but admire his masculinity. He had a dark beard that made him look rugged but the sweet look softened immediately.
There was no doubt, he was handsome and masculine. She couldn’t pretend not to notice how a couple of women admired him openly as they passed.
She followed their eyes.
They observed everything.
“Do I have something on my face?” He asked jokingly as he touched his face. His brow furrowed from the sun.
“You need a pair of sunglasses.”
His expression relaxed. She realized the strange way in which she ogled him surely wasn’t appropriate for his time.
Isabel smiled with amusement.
It was too correct.
Now he watched her doubtfully. Isabel learned to identify that look and knew he had no idea what sunglasses were.
She took hers from her purse and placed them on him.
“These are sunglasses; we have to buy some for men.”
He was fascinated.
“Come on.” She took his hand and stood up, only to complain and sit down again.
He smiled.
“I think we should buy some new shoes for you first.”
“It's all right,” she said, though she knew Juan was right. She didn’t want to go against what Luke liked and didn’t want to stop liking him. Even if, he was on the other side of the Atlantic.
She moved her foot a little more and frowned.
She would have to make an exception because a water bubble appeared on her heel. Not only had it broken, but was also bleeding. There was no choice but to buy sneakers, socks and bandages to walk in.
Walking very slowly, they bought everything Isabel needed including the sneakers she liked so much.
She put them on and smiled.
Juan Carlos watched her in surprise.
“You look better with these, than with those,” he said, pointing to the bag in which she had stuck her Jimmy Choo.
“What’s that nonsense? If Jimmy Choo heard you, he would say you’re a complete fool and you have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He shrugged.
“I don’t care what ‘Chichu’ thinks.” She laughed.
“Jimmy Choo,” she corrected, still laughing amusedly.
“Well, I don’t care. You look beautiful like that.”
That was the first tense moment between Isabel and Juan Carlos.
She stopped laughing instantly but couldn’t stop peering directly in his eyes.
He held her gaze, letting her see that his comment had been spontaneous.
“Shall we go for a walk?” He asked, pulling her out of her hypnosis.
Isabel could only nod and follow him.
She began to question herself. Why?
Did she like Juan Carlos?
No, no. She shook her head. It was impossible. She was in love with Luke and knew that sooner or later they would be together again.
***
The first days of March passed with no change. The Fallas, festivals, were approaching and the party atmosphere began to spread throughout the community.
Especially in the city.
Edward was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for him and his daughter. He was happy to know that Carlota found a thread to begin her new story. She had stayed up until 5 a.m. and had a difficult time falling asleep.
He knew his wife’s overexcitement very well. He also knew it was due to the flow of ideas unleashed in her head.
He would have breakfast, take the girl to the nursery and then go to the city with Juan Carlos to buy some things needed for the field. They would start planting the orange trees and Edward was anxious.
According to Alfonso and Juan Carlos, the best time of year to plant was spring, or early March when the temperature stabilized to maintain the ideal condition of soil moisture.
The planting would be in stages. Alfonso would give them product from his plantation. They agreed not to overdo it by planting the entire field; Edward wanted to take things slow.
He didn’t need the harvest money, so he could afford to learn the whole process without hardship and become a perfect landowner.
He smiled as the little girl mimicked him in a gesture. He would never have imagined that after loving New York with all his soul, he could also love this land in the middle of nowhere on the other side of the Atlantic.
He shook his head.
“Good day,” Juan Carlos said as he went straight to the coffee pot.
“Good morning, Juan.”
Juan Carlos approached Alicia and gave her an affectionate kiss on the crown. His little one adored him. Ed could tell how much he adored the little girl too.
He was a good man, Ed thought. He had lived through some many terrible things. He heard him beg his wife not to write about any of that part of his past. He didn’t want anyone to know why his body was a map of scars.
He considered him a friend and couldn’t bear knowing his friend suffered so much.
Juan Carlos was a cooperative, educated man and a working mule. You could tell he was not from this time. Even Alfonso sometimes commented on it and that was a lot to say considering that the landowner worked on his land since he had reason.
Working the land was not easy work. He knew!
He admired his new friend.
A lot.
It was admirable for him to want to adapt to a time so different from the one the immortal had left and, moreover, he did it as naturally as if he had always lived in this century.
He adapted easily to everything and learned quickly. He liked to study, liked to ask why.
Edward thought, from a very young age, that asking why was a sign of people’s intelligence. There was no need to settle for an answer if it did not satisfy our curiosity or our need to know more, to deepen your understanding.
“How was your night?” Edward asked. He knew that Juan sometimes had nightmares that relived his past, although he never heard him scream thanks to how well and deep he slept at night. He had only to notice his face in the morning to realize the quality of sleep his immortal friend had. His wife and sister-in-law claimed the poor man had nightmares most nights.
“Let's just say... normal.” He shrugged.
“Good morning,” Isabel said.
Edward was slow to recognize what was different about her. His sister-in-law was playing with her niece when he realized what was different.
She wore no makeup and wore sneakers.
“Good morning,” Juan Carlos greeted her with a smile. Edward saw his lost and extinguished gaze, light up suddenly.
He observed his sister-in-law again.
Was it what he imagined?
; “Did a mouse get your tongue this morning, brother-in-law?”
“No.” Edward smiled. “It's just that I find it strange that you left your room without make-up and six inches shorter.”
Isabel sighed deeply.
“Men,” she rolled her eyes. “I have on makeup and I am in tennis shoes because I want to take a long walk in the market downtown and I do not feel like walking in heels.”
“You're perfect like that,” Juan Carlos said, grinning from ear to ear. Edward could not help exploding into laughter and start humming Love is in the air.
Her sister-in-law rolled her eyes again.
“Thank you,” she said to Juan Carlos, then turned to Edward. “Juan Carlos and I are just friends.”
“I do not understand,” said Juan Carlos, watching him with real doubt.
When Edward was going to explain, his sister-in-law interrupted him.
“It does not matter, Juan. You do not have to understand everything.” She turned her gaze back to Edward. “And, Carlota?”
Edward interrupted his humming and began to pull Alice out of her high chair.
“She's asleep and who knows how long she will sleep. I think she finally started writing last night.”
“Oh! I'm so glad!” She replied while smearing cream cheese and jam on her toast.
“Blow kisses,” Ed said to the girl, who immediately began to kiss her little hand and throw them into the air. “I have to take my little girl, I'm late. Come on, Juan.”
“See you later, Isabel.” Edward saw the immortal smile at his sister-in-law. “Maybe we could go to town today after the afternoon coffee.”
“Okay,” she said, smiling back at him. “We can see how the preparations for the Fallas are progressing.”
Edward couldn’t help but hum the song again.
It was more than evident that Juan Carlos was attracted to Isabel and she, without realizing it, corresponded to him. That's what Edward liked.
He was a good man and his sister-in-law deserved such a man.
***
“Do you like Isabel?”
Juan Carlos was surprised by Edward’s question. They were talking in the warehouse while preparing the necessary fertilizers for the plantation when suddenly, Edward released that question
He glanced sideways at his friend. He felt ashamed. Somehow he had to keep his feelings for Isabel from growing.
How was he to achieve that? She was adorable and he didn’t have control over what his heart decides or it feels.
Deep sigh.
“Ah, brother!” Edward continued. “I can understand your feelings, these women are unique and an intelligent man would not let them escape. That's why I didn’t think twice when I realized how beautiful Carlota was and how good I felt when I was by her side.”
How right Edward was. That was exactly what Juan Carlos felt. He felt free and himself when he was with her, regardless of whether he made another century's mistake or not. Her smile and the way her eyes glittered made up for everything.
“Who hurt her so much?”
“An imbecile who should be denied life on this planet. Isabel is not the shadow of the woman she was when I met her.”
“And how was she?”
Juan Carlos could not imagine a version of Isabel that he wasn’t attracted to, for him there couldn’t be a better Isabel because he thought she was perfect.
“Isabel laughed all day, Juan. Not that she didn’t have the personality of a thousand demons or that she was not as stubborn as she is now, no that remains the same. She was a smiling, cheerful and faithful believer that Prince Charming exists and she had found him in Luke.”
Juan Carlos stared with uncertainty.
“A blue prince?” He asked him.
Ed smirked.
“Yes. Do you remember what my wife told you about the fairy tales and the place in America that is made for children where there is a huge castle of princesses?” Juan nodded, “those fairy tales always speak of a princess and her prince. Blue, for true blood.”
“Ohhhh.” Now he understood. “So, has Isabel met someone from royalty?”
Edward laughed.
“No, no, Juan. She thinks she found that wonderful man or what would be her Prince Charming in Luke, her ex-boyfriend.”
Juan Carlos remained silent for a while. She always suspected that Isabel's heart belonged to another man, but he didn’t want to accept that it was true.
“Were they engaged?”
Edward shook his head.
“They lived together.”
Juan Carlos sighed.
“I'd like to court her, but I shouldn’t if her heart belongs to another man.”
“I would not stop trying.”
Sometimes Juan Carlos did not understand the strange behaviors of the new society.
It was not that in his day men did not compete for a woman’s love, but usually, it was virgin girls. In his time, a woman with an old love would still be that man’s woman no matter what, and that would be respected by everyone.
“What do you think, Juan?”
The immortal sighed.
“How can I court a woman like Isabel who, besides loving another man, I have a clear disadvantage of centuries of knowledge about what a woman of this age may or may not like. It is very difficult for my manhood to assume that she knows more than I do about everything. I do not want you to misunderstand me.” He tried to clear up his point before his friend thought something improper. “She seems to be a brave, determined, sensitive woman. I admire her ability to solve things on her own. She seems fragile because she is beautiful, but deep down, she is a fighter. She reminds me of a rose. Roses are beautiful, leafy, soft, and intoxicating but they are not defenseless. They have their thorns to defend themselves. Sometimes I think of what she might see in me that is different from any other man. What can I offer her that’s so different from the man she still loves? Do you understand what I'm trying to say?” He tried to explain himself but he didn’t know if Ed was getting it because his thoughts were accumulating as his words, struggled to get out of control.
Edward smiled at him.
“Brother,” he patted him on the shoulder, “you have something that Isabel has never known-genuine feelings for her. Court it. Take the challenge. I'm sure it will be worth it.”
Juan Carlos felt an emptiness in his stomach.
He won’t lose anything by trying. He began to get nervous.
What if he did not succeed in courting her?
Edward looked into his eyes.
“The first lesson you need to learn is that you can’t go out to war thinking of an imminent defeat.”
It was true. He knew that from his day. He smiled nervously.
“The second lesson: no matter what time we are from, ladies love to be ladies and let themselves be courted by a real man. So start dusting off your techniques and we will be perfecting them with modern times.”
XIV
At what point would a human being succumb and after enduring how much pain?
Juan Carlos would never know. He could not let himself be carried away by the pain until he simply died.
No.
He didn’t die, or at least he didn’t die from the pain.
He didn’t go insane either. Although he was tempted several times. He tried to isolate his mind and take refuge in the good memories he had of his family, his life before falling into the hands of the inquisitors. Perhaps that drove him to the brink of insanity, but it was never achieved.
They remained as memories.
He also decided to fast for much longer than he had before. He was already to the point where it did not matter if they thought he had agreed to eternal life with Satan.
It was true. He didn’t know if it was thanks to Satan, his mother gave him eternal life with the potion, but he didn’t want to hide it anymore.
He was tired of the abuse and wanted them to try something more drastic. He wanted to challenge them to use knives on his body.
Maybe he could be bled dry and reach what he longed for: death.
“I want to confess,” he shouted to the inquisitor as he was being tortured on a rack. His wrists and ankles were tied with ropes twisting progressively through a lever causing intense pain and dislocating Juan Carlos's shoulders again.
“Stop!” The Inquisitor ordered the executioner. “What do you want to confess?” He asked Juan Carlos.
The tortured man was relieved when the executioner stopped. Although the pain in his arms almost drove him crazy, the relief made him feel the situation would be over soon.
He just had to confess and they would kill him.
I beg you, sir, please kill me, he thought.
“I have agreed with the devil,” he answered his voice trembling as the inquisitor showed a great deal of interest in each of the defendant's words. “He agreed to give me eternal life in return for his becoming his servant. I acceded and I have served as a weapon to do much harm to men and women —he had to invent many things to go straight to the bonfire. I deserve to die immediately. I want God's forgiveness for being a traitor. I regret everything I've done. Save me.”
The inquisitor smiled sadistically.
“There is no eternal life by the fire of God,” the Inquisitor viewed him with disgust and hatred. “The hand of the Almighty will be merciless to you for selling yourself to Satan. The defendant repents, so we will give him death by garrote vile before his body is consumed in the flames. Prepare everything,” he said to the guards, clerk, and executioner. “This afternoon there will be a bonfire.”
Peace enveloped Juan Carlos at that moment, and he hoped between the garrote vile and the fire, he would be wiped out once and for all.
***
That afternoon was the second time, in his life, that Juan Carlos prayed non-stop. He only thought of all the suffering he had endured in these last months was finally over.
Terrified? Of course he was. Considering that was his natural state since he was imprisoned, he did not realize that his hands shook uncontrollably, he had goose bumps due to the cold chill running through his entire body or the way his teeth chattered.
