ADSactly Fiction: An Unexpected Encounter

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An Unexpected Encounter

He had time at the bar. He had been slowly drinking a beer. He couldn't afford to drink as many beers as he had before. His teacher's salary was barely enough for lunch. The other thing was that his wife managed his salary, so she could do very little with it. One beer or another, monthly and with the guarantee that when he got home, his wife would claim his unconsciousness, his waste, his lack of commitment to the family. He would feel guilty for a moment, then say to himself in a low voice: why do I work if I can't have a beer?


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It was in these thoughts that he saw a really beautiful woman come through the door of the restaurant. Everyone in the restaurant looked at her. She looked like a goddess: curves, hair, face, size. She was talking on her cell phone and headed straight for the bar. She sat down and smiled at the man who looked at her perplexed, hungry. She asked for a Daiquiri and locked the cell phone. She was furious, you could see it in her face, the way she took the first sip of the sweet liquor. The man saw her out of the corner of his eye and thought he saw familiar features. Without realizing it, from her lips came the eternal question.

_I kind of know you. Aren't you Lucy Ayala?

The girl turned her face away in surprise and immediately opened her eyes with true joy.

_Antonio! -she said as if that name were magic. Boy, I haven't heard from you in a long time. How changed you are! -he said, kissing her on the cheek.


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The man was laughing. That beautiful woman had been one of his high school sweethearts. No one would believe that Antonio Camacho had had a girlfriend of such beauty. Unwittingly, he remembered his wife, so gray, so small. He also saw himself: fat, sweaty from the day at the high school, emaciated from the number of exams he had to correct the night before. He felt a little embarrassed, but was not intimidated. He immediately ordered another beer and toasted that meeting. He felt that part of him was being reborn, growing up. Maybe it was his ego, he thought.

As Lucy had told him, she had arranged to meet some friends there, but at the last minute, they changed their plans. She and Antonio toasted again to luck, to the fate that brought them together again. When she put the glass of beer in her mouth, she saw with concern that Lucy was already finishing her Daiquiri. Antonio remembered his teacher's salary and felt that he was sweating. Lucy looked at him flirtatiously and asked him about his life, his work, everything he had done over the years. At first, Antonio was tempted to tell her everything, but shame returned and he preferred to do what people do when they don't want to tell their lives:

_I haven't done anything important. Better tell me yours.

Lucy looked at him with her brown eyes with false eyelashes and her shiny little mouth made a spoiled child's pout. Antonio felt his ego swell and felt the envious eyes of the other men on him. He tasted the pleasure of feeling a man admired by others and forgot his failed life.


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After finishing one part of the story, Lucy finished her whole drink and put the empty glass on the bar, gesturing to the bartender who wanted another one. With coquetry she smiled again at Antonio and said: wait for me, I'll keep telling you. I'm going to the bathroom and I'll be back.

Antonio sweated cold. When the waiter arrived, he asked him how much that drink cost. The bartender gave him a number. A single drink cost more than his salary. Antonio felt his misfortune sticking in his face, his wage-earner's penalty clipping his wings. He wanted to make a hole and hide, run away, die. When Lucy returned, Antonio apologized to her, telling her he had received a family emergency call. She offered to accompany him and he politely refused, refused her offer, paid for his two beers and left.


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As he headed for the exit door, he felt the other men looking down on him with contempt and derision. He lowered his face with some shame. When he went out into the street, the heat and humidity of the night threw themselves in his face in an infamous way. The man went to the bus stop and there he thought that women like Lucy were not made for him, that with that salary he could not aspire to certain things. He remembered his wife in the house. Surely she would ask him why he had had two beers today and not one. He would tell her at first that it was his money and that it was the only luxury he could afford, but she would realize, no, that a second beer was also a luxury for him. He was very angry about running into Lucy.


I hope you enjoyed the reading. I remind you that you can vote for @adsactly as a witness and join our server in discord. Until the next smile.

Written by: @nancybriti



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5 comments
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A story so realistic and well narrated that it made me feel the same sorrow as Antonio. In truth, especially in Venezuela, we are increasingly poor. We can no longer afford even the smallest of tastes. The middle class to which we belonged disappeared by the work and grace of a mistaken, negligent and corrupt regime. Thank you for sharing, @nancybriti.

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Yes, I think that all honest professionals living in Venezuela could identify with this character. Thanks for commenting, @josemalavem!

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