His Identity

“A little birdie tells me that the Senator stopped by at the office today”, May said as soon as her daughter walked in.

Rita groaned, wondering why her mother was bent on frustrating her life. She never gave her a moment’s rest, it was all about Edmundo and his family. She was sick and tired of her mother’s desperation for her to get married to Edmundo. It was driving her crazy and she wished there was something she could desperately do to end this.

“Yes, you heard well. Now, would you let me go”, Rita groaned.

“What did he come for?”, she probed, sipping something that Rita suspected was coffee.

Coffee was like a drug to her mother. She hardly went any day without it, sometimes she wondered how people could stand the smell talk more of the taste. Rita hated anything coffee related and she was grateful that there was tea else she would be going without breakfast most of the time.

“Mum, if you want to get the gist I suggest you go gossip with Yasmin. I’m very tired and I really don’t have time for this”, she said, making her way into her room.

She shut the door behind her, locking it with the key. She didn’t want any disturbances tonight, she just wanted to sleep. She took a quick shower, changing into her nightgown.

When she was done with her toilet business, she settled on her bed, going over the files she worked on during the day. Just then, her phone beeped, indicating that she had a call. The caller ID showed unknown.

Rita was a bit weary of answering numbers that weren’t saved on her phone. Nevertheless, she picked up the phone, placing it on her ear.

“Love”, that voice had her sitting up as fast as she could.

Rodrigo was calling. She had no idea how he got her number but she was glad that he called by this time when she was slowly loosing her mind.

“Oh gosh! Rodrigo! This is such a pleasant surprise”, Rita laughed.

“I wanted to surprise you”, he laughed.

“It’s such a pleasant surprise. Don’t tell me you’re missing me already”, Rita smiled.

“You bet I am. And it’s only what.. two, three hours since I saw you. That’s what you do to me Rita, you’re a drug that I need”, he said.

“Aww that’s so sweet. How are you, how is your mum?”, She said, settling more comfortably on her bed.

She was genuinely glad for his call. This was one person who sort of understood what she was going through.

“She’s fine. Which brings me to another reason why I called”, he said, his tone taking on a serious note.

“What’s wrong”, she said quietly.

She feared that he would call off whatever was going on between them. Rita couldn’t imagine what she’d do if that was the case.

“My mum’s hospital bills has been paid. I mean, I’ve been paying but I just got a call from a strange number that said as long as my mum lives, everything concerning her health would be taken care of”, he said.

Rita smiled, her heart coming to rest. She was relieved that it wasn’t what she was thinking, she knew that sooner or later, Rodrigo would find out about the health insurance for his mum and it looked like he found out earlier.

“Well maybe someone decided to help you out”, she said vaguely.

“Rita, you don’t have anything to do with this right?”, he said.

If there was one thing she detested, it was lies. She couldn’t lie to him knowing fully well that sooner or later, he would discover she was behind it.

“Promise me you wouldn’t get angry if I tell you the truth”, she said, twisting her fingers.

She had never been so nervous in her life. She didn’t want to fight with him, it would only break her heart and that she couldn’t take.

“I promise”, he said, finally.

“I… I’m behind it. When you told me about her, I was moved to help. I mean, Rodrigo you shouldn’t be spending all your income on your mother’s health. It’s really not fair, I know she’s your mother and it’s your responsibility but for once, let someone else take care of you and your mother”, she said.

She stood up from her bed, pacing about. She was beyond nervous now, not knowing what he was thinking ate her up. Rodrigo remained silent for a very long time thinking about her words, he didn’t know what to feel at that moment but simply chose to remain quiet.

“Rodrigo please say something. Your silence is scaring me, please”, Rita begged.

“You know what I want to do now?”, he asked quietly.

“No”.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“I want to kiss you so bad you’ll forget your name. I want to make you mine Rita, damning all the consequences”, he said, smiling into the phone.

“Oh Rodrigo! You really scared me”, she laughed.

She was glad he wasn’t angry. She couldn’t stand it if he was and she promised within herself to do everything possible to avoid him getting angry.

“Then do it, what are you waiting for”, she laughed.

“Come to the window?”, he said.

Rita was surprised as she quickly rushed towards the window. Opening the curtains, she searched around for a bit until she saw Rodrigo, standing beside a tree with a wide grin on his face.

“My God, what are you doing here? You’ll get caught”, she laughed.

“Anything for you sugar girl. Thank you, I really appreciate what you did for my mother”, he said.

“It’s nothing. Now please leave the cold before you get sick, I need you this weekend”.

“I will, I just came to show you how happy I am. Thank you Rita, I won’t forget this”, he said, blowing her a kiss.

He left soon just before he cut the call. Rita smiled, closing her window as she prepared for bed. She was beyond happy knowing that he really appreciated everything she did. As she drifted off to a peaceful sleep, his face was the last thing on her mind before sleep finally took her.

*********************

The next morning, as Rita walked into her office with Rodrigo in tow, she was met with some reporters who stood outside her office building. She had no idea what they were doing but from the looks of it, it couldn’t be good.

Reporters were known to hang around places they knew they could get juicy gists. Rodrigo stood in front of her, becoming a human shield from the prying eyes of the reporters.

“Ma’am, what can you say about your relationship with Edmundo”, a reporter said, thrusting a microphone in her face.

Rita was beyond confused at what the reporter was really driving at until she saw a magazine on the ground with Edmundo’s picture on it. His lips were locked in a passionate kiss with one of his many girlfriends.