Hidden Heart

by Camelia Miron Skiba

  The doctor’s office called to confirm the date she scheduled the abortion, a week from today. She had just one week left before the big day that would change her life forever. She’d have to live knowing she’d killed her own baby. The thought alone magnified her headache. But she didn’t allow herself to think too much for fear she’d change her mind and then would be too late for a pregnancy interruption.

  This baby didn’t have a place in her life. The decision made, nothing could stop her, and all she had to do was come clean with Alessandro. She wanted nothing more than to be with him, yet her situation didn’t allow her to fully enjoy it. She felt as she was robbing him from a real relationship.

  “Sorry, what were you saying?”

  It finally registered with her that Eva had been talking for a few minutes now, and a few words caught her attention.

  “I said, and if you are too tired you should go home.”

  “No, not that, before.”

  “Oh, I said that Mr. Popescu, the farmer called and said you should call this number. It’s very important.”

  “When did he call? Did he say anything else?”

  “Yesterday and actually the guy freaked me out, because he whispered more than he talked, and it took me a while to understand what he was saying. I had him repeat the number three times until I got it right. Here, I can’t make the connection, he said he will only talk to you and no one else.”

  Chapter 9

  Tessa left the office ten minutes after talking with the farmer. She’d meet him at a restaurant far away on the other side of Bucharest, the opposite direction from Otopeni. He sounded nervous on the phone and it took her a while to convince him that no one else was listening to their conversation.

  He spoke of some bad news he had for her, but went no further. Then he agreed to meet her only after she promised she’d come alone and no one would know where they’d meet.

  “Mr. Popescu, if you want me to help you, you need to tell me more.”

  Tessa sat across from the older farmer who kept looking at the door and shifting nervously in his chair. His faded shirt and trousers had seen better times. His big calloused palms, with dirty fingernails held the glass with white knuckles as if expecting someone would take it. He had ordered a glass of vodka and its strong smell made Tessa’s stomach roll up and down. The restaurant resembled an old bodega with poor lighting, cheap furniture and tired-of-life looking waitresses. She played with her water glass, hoping to get in and out of the dump as soon as possible.

  “No one knows where she disappeared, but people say they got rid of her,” the farmer stuttered.

  “Who disappeared? And who are they?” No matter how much she tried to understand him, nothing made sense.

  He looked again around him, leaned forward and said, “The notary.”

  Tessa looked dumbfounded at him, unable to process his words. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing happened.

  He realized he’d shocked her and nodded to confirm what he had just said. He signaled the waitress for another vodka.

  “What do you mean, she disappeared?” Tessa said when she finally regained her voice.

  “Just like this,” he snapped his fingers. “Her office has brown papers on the windows and her employees are all mum, walk in and out carrying boxes. My theory, if anyone wants to listen to me is…we’ll never see her again.”

  His grimace made Tessa shiver. The way the glassy-eyed, large man leaned forward and spoke with a vodka-tainted grimace creeped her out. Under different circumstances, she’d dismiss his words in a blink of an eye. What if he was right? Her mind raced.

  “So, how long has she been gone?”

  “Three days, going on four.”

  “And when did her people start cleaning the office?”

  “Yesterday and they didn’t stop until late at night. They were still doing it as I passed by on my way here.”

  Tessa gathered her purse and keys and signaled the waitress for the bill. She paid cash for his drinks and left a small tip on the table.

  “I’ll drive you home if you wish, Mr. Popescu.” She stood and waited for him.

  Mr. Popescu drank his last glass of vodka, then followed her outside. “I’d rather take the bus. I don’t want to be seen with you, if you don’t mind. I don’t trust the people in my neighborhood and ever since I got the money for my land it has been difficult to trust anyone. It’s like, relatives I haven’t ever seen show up with all kind of favors to ask for, mainly trying to get money from me. I don’t sleep at night for fear someone might break into my house and steal my money. It happened to one or two farmers already.”

  “Have you tried to use a bank and open an account instead of keeping it under your mattress?”

  “Pah, I don’t trust no bank.”

  They shook hands and Tessa walked back to her car. She got inside, turned on the key in the ignition, then turned the key back to the off position, cutting the engine. She had a feeling the notary played a key role in the fraud allegation. She felt this before, but could never follow through since her feeling came from instinct and not from real evidence.

  She drove to the notary’s office and pulled in as someone walked outside carrying a big box.

  “Hey, can I ask you something?” Tessa said, approaching the woman.

  She looked briefly at Tessa then bowed her head and hurried to a nearby car. “I have nothing to say. We aren’t allowed to talk to the press. No comments.”

  “I am not from the press. You don’t remember me? I came here quite a few times to close on the deals with the farmers; you know, the big land sale.”

  The woman stopped in her tracks, and by the look on her face, Tessa knew she had recognized her.

  “I didn’t do it. I have no part in this and I told Corina not to do it either, but she was scared she’d be fired if she didn’t do it,” the woman blurted out.

  Tessa grabbed the woman’s arm. “What did Corina do?” She remembered Corina, the notary’s assistant, the one that helped her sign the contracts and stamped them afterwards.

  The woman flinched at Tessa’s touch. She shook her head in denial, “Please don’t call the police, I have no part in this, you have to believe me,” she pleaded.

  “I promise not to call the police if you talk to me.”

  The woman put the heavy box in the trunk, opened the door to the driver side and said before taking off, “The contracts, the real ones, hadn’t been damaged by any flooding.”

  ***

  Tessa lay in bed, her back to Alessandro. When she got home, she felt as if something had punched her in her stomach. She told him she didn’t feel well and went to bed without dinner. He checked on her several times, but she feigned sleep. Then, he came to bed, hugged her and soon she heard his paced breath playing out the rhythm of peaceful sleep.

  The twist of events came when least expected. Victor had told her the fraud accusation was unfounded because the farmers refused to file any complaint, and he didn’t want to pursue any further for lack of evidence, but she had argued with him that something must’ve triggered the sending of that letter. They both knew the money didn’t end up in her account.

  According to Mr. Popescu, the farmers received less money than they originally negotiated. That meant that from the office where Tessa handed the money to the exit of the notary’s office something must’ve happened and she wanted desperately to find out what. And the swap of contracts; if they hadn’t been deteriorated by water, why did the notary need her to sign a second time? It didn’t make any sense. She didn’t tell Victor or anyone that she had to sign them again but she wondered now if the originals and the copies of the contracts were identical. They had to be, right?

  ***

  “I need to go back home to Italy for two days max,” Alessandro said driving Tessa to work the next morning.

  “Why? When?” Panic rose in her voice. She needed to talk to him before the abortion day and her countdown had started. That left her even l
ess time than she thought she had to prepare herself.

  “You think you’ll miss me?” Alessandro glanced at her, a sheepish grin on his face, the same grin she couldn’t resist.

  “Since when do we answer a question with another question?”

  “Oh, come on, cara mia, just un poco?” His thumb and index finger showed her the size of a centimeter. She pressed the fingers together and squeezed his palm.

  “Of course I’ll miss you, silly, but why are you going?”

  “Business, but I promise I don’t have to do this too often; and next time I’ll go, you’ll definitely come with me.”

  She sighed and looked out the window. Will he still be with her next time? Will he stay when she tells him about the baby?

  “When are you leaving?”

  “Sunday night so I can be there first thing in the morning and if all works out as planned I should be home by Monday night.”

  He stopped in front of her office, came around and opened her door. She stepped out and hugged him. God, it felt so good in his arms!

  “We need to talk tonight,” she heard herself saying, a bit too serious but too late to change it.

  “Something’s bothering you,” he said, squinting his eyes and tilting his head.

  “We’ll talk about it tonight,” she responded, averting her eyes. She placed a quick kiss on his lips and walked inside the building. She waited until he drove away, then walked back out in the street and called a cab.

  In less than thirty minutes, Tessa arrived at the notary’s office. She paid the cab, then went and knocked on the front door. It wasn’t locked and she knocked once again before entering the reception area. She came face to face with Corina, the notary’s assistant carrying a big plant. They both came to a sudden stop and stared at each other.

  Corina let out a small gasp, her posture stiffened. “Ms. Cosma, what are you doing here?”

  “Where is she?”

  Corina gripped the plant tighter to her chest. A dazed look on her face, she spoke with a jittery voice, “I… nobody knows… we came to work as usual and waited and waited for her, but she didn’t come and she didn’t answer any calls. Then her boyfriend stopped by and stormed in here and turned her office upside down. When I asked him what he wanted, he yelled that he’s looking for the damn money.”

  Corina dropped on a nearby chair, shoulders slumped, still gripping the pot at her chest. Her soft cry was barely audible.

  Tessa pulled a chair and sat next to her. “I’m not here to hurt you, Corina. I just know that something went wrong with the contracts I signed and I hoped you could help me. You and I know that the water hadn’t damaged the original contracts. Someone stole the money and it wasn’t me. You have to tell me the truth.” Tessa knew she bluffed, but she tried to sound convincing.

  Corina shook her head and turned sideways. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. The contracts have been damaged by water, that’s why you had to sign a second batch of them.”

  “How much?” Tessa tried a different approach.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “How much did she promise you?”

  A stubborn look on her face, Corina said, “I don’t know who told you such stupid things, but I didn’t take any money.”

  “Okay.” Tessa stood and walked towards the door. “You leave me no choice and up until now I tried to offer you a chance to tell the truth. I have to get the police involved; this situation is way out of my hands.” She touched the knob to open the door, but Corina jumped and pushed her away, then pressed her back to the door.

  “You can’t get the police involved; if her boyfriend finds out, he’ll come after us; you’ll put both of us at risk. I have three kids at home and I’m already jobless; you can’t do this to me!”

  Tessa stepped in front of the young woman, then put her hands on her shivering shoulders. “I can’t help you if you don’t help me, Corina.” She kept her voice low and looked her straight in the eyes.

  Corina waited for a few seconds, then walked to her desk and removed a piece of folded paper from her purse.

  “Here, I kept one original. All the other ones have been shredded. Take it and leave. I have lived in Otopeni my whole life and the notary had been one influential person everyone feared. We all knew she did some dirty business arrangements, but having a job was more important than trying to reveal what she was doing. And her father, the mayor, means business, no one wants to be on his black list.”

  Tessa took the contract and read it. Nothing seemed different than what she remembered. She worked too long to draft it and knew it almost word for word. Then what was wrong with it?

  “Don’t let anyone disturb me,” Tessa said when Eva tried to follow her in her office. She locked the door and sat at her desk. She read and re-read the contract until she couldn’t look at it anymore. The name on the contract didn’t sound familiar, but there were hundreds of farmers she met with and it happened long ago; her memory didn’t put a face to the name. She searched for the address of the farmer in her database and called the number listed.

  Mr. Vasile, the farmer, refused to talk to her. She called Mr. Popescu and asked if he knew the other farmer.

  “Of course I know him, everyone knows everyone here. He is my brother-in-law. What do you need from him?”

  “I just want him to show me his contract, and if he doesn’t want to show me the original, then it’s fine; a copy would suffice, too.” Tessa kept her fingers crossed, while Mr. Popescu seemed to ponder her words. “I’m not taking his contract and I don’t intend to take his money, either. It’s just… Mr. Popescu, I desperately need your help, my job is on the line; I could lose everything, please?”

  She heard his sigh, then for a while, he said nothing. She feared he’d hung up on her and she almost put the receiver down when she heard him saying, “I’ll see what I can do.”

  ***

  July felt hot and humid in Bucharest. No breeze, no rain, just a high humidity that made clothes stick to the body. Not all stores or households owned an AC system; too expensive for the average family. Flies and tiny bugs filled the air during the day; swarms of mosquitoes made nights outside a real adventure. The city’s mayor promised his team would take immediate measures to solve the problem. But that’s all he did—promise.

  Tessa saw Daniel first. The night lanterns allowed her to spot him in the darkness while she and Alessandro walked the alley to her apartment. Daniel leaned against the front door, smoking. Since when did he smoke? He hadn’t shown up for the past week and she hoped he just gave up on bothering her.

  Apparently not.

  “Well, well, look who’s coming home.” His slurred words made her shiver. His shirt hung on him wrong buttoned, dirty and smelly. He looked homeless with his unshaved face, glaring eyes and messy dirty hair.

  She took a step back while Alessandro, clenched fists at his side, blocked Daniel from coming near her.

  Daniel didn’t move, instead clapped and chuckled. “Bravo, Tessa, it looks like Romanian dicks don’t satisfy you anymore, you need a foreigner, huh?”

  Alessandro didn’t understand what he said, but he didn’t need to. He inched on Daniel forcing him to take a step back and said, “Leave.”

  Daniel lifted his palms as in surrender, an arrogant look on his face. He looked sideways at Tessa and said, “One of these days, I’ll be back and no one will be around to save you.” He inhaled one more time from his cigarette, blew the smoke into Alessandro’s face and walked away.

  “I think you need to move in with me,” Alessandro said once they entered her apartment and locked the door. The cool air of her place made her feel better immediately. Once again she congratulated herself for investing in an AC unit, no matter how expensive it seemed at first.

  “What? Why do you want me to move in with you?”

  Tessa felt exhausted after that encounter with Daniel. Nothing had happened for several days after her call with Mr. Popescu and waiting for him to get
back with her added to her anxiety. She was almost sure the key to solving the fraud accusation lay with that contract. Terrible guilty feelings about signing the documents for a second time without reading them troubled her, especially because Victor wasn’t aware of that and because it was illegal.

  “Because I don’t think you are safe in your own apartment. I don’t think this is the last you’ll see of your ex. He’ll be back and I’m worried that I won’t be around to protect you.”

  She came to face him, hugged him softly and placed her head on his shoulder. “I really appreciate your concern, but I’m okay here. I don’t want to leave my own nest, besides he is not dangerous. He’s just making a fuss. He’s coming less and less and soon he’ll be bored to come.”

  Daniel’s nasty words still resonated in her ears; he had never been—no matter how big their fight—so mean to her or used crude language towards her. His transformation gave her the chills, but still, she couldn’t picture him as a violent person.

  Alessandro took her hand and sat on the sofa, then pulled her into his arms.

  “I’ll be sick with worry knowing he roams around and I can’t always be here to protect you. I leave in a few days, what if he comes again?” He stroked her shoulder, played with her hair, then wrapped his arms around her rocking her gently.

  “I’ll be fine, I promise I’ll be cautious.”

  “What if you talked to the police? Doesn’t Romania have a law that protects people from such things?”

  “Yeah, right. Our legislation here is the same we had during Communism. The new Government changed a word or a title here and there, but in reality nothing really changed. We have a saying about the wolf that changes its hair but not its habit... We don’t have rights here; we have obligations. And women haven’t ever been taken seriously, we are considered second class individuals.”