Evangelina's guards brought us a few boxes, along with wine, food, desserts, and some other bottles for mixing drinks. "Now it's a real slumber party!" she said as she walked in with two cocktails in her hands.
I told her about "the certainty"—that strange kind of vision of the future I'd had about the two of them. She supported my theory that Clara was behind it. Late into the night, we lay down side by side. My bed is small, so we were under the sheets, close together, looking into each other's eyes. The wine glasses and tumblers were left on the table. Seeing her made me so happy. Evangelina suggested one last game—a confession. She wanted me to tell her, in vivid detail, exactly what Bruce and I had done in Paris. At first, I thought it was a trap, but she reassured me.
So I started telling her how he would sit me on his lap under the pretext of teaching me how to pretend we were a real couple, how he would lift the long shirt I was wearing to see me naked. She kept moving her face closer and closer to mine. I realized that what I was telling her—my way of narrating it—was turning her on, but I didn't stop. In fact, my friend, I don't want you to get mad, but she is so beautiful that it felt almost wrong to stop her hand from undoing the zipper of my pajamas.
I kept telling her about Bruce, how he played with me. I even started making up things that never happened just so she wouldn't stop subtly pulling back the sheet to catch a glimpse of my breasts. Evangelina leaned in a little closer and began to whisper what Bruce used to do to her years ago, back when he was just the cousin living with them. The exact same routine: he would sit her on his lap for hours. She would seek him out every time night fell, every time her parents left.
She told me:
"He would sit in front of the computer and call me over. So I'd get ready, take off my underwear, and put on a skirt so I could feel him more. When I got to him, he'd use his hands to place me exactly where he wanted me to sit, right in the middle. He had me completely at his disposal. He loved driving me crazy like that, moving me slowly back and forth, hours and hours of feeling how aroused he was. Once, my parents left without me noticing. I was taking a bath when I saw him walk in. He asked if I needed help. I played dumb and asked him to soap my back. He ran his hands over me again and again, first where I had told him to, then across my stomach, and then up and down over my breasts, and I opened my legs to let him do whatever he wanted with me. He always did that to me, kept me there for hours, driving me crazy… When he finally took me, it was magical. The two of us were completely alone, and I went straight to sit on him. I remember he was wearing a tight white T-shirt. After endless minutes of pleasure, moving on top of him, playing like we always did, he asked me to strip him and take him in my hands… and right then… it was the moment…"
By then, both of us had grown so aroused by our own stories that Evangelina's hands were touching one of my breasts, and I, without realizing it, had my lips pressed against hers… breathing in the exquisite scent of her mouth.
I asked her very tenderly, almost like a plea:
"Hey, you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Please, let's go to sleep, I'm begging you. You're driving me crazy and it's not fair. Look at yourself—you know you're irresistible. Please, let's not play anymore."
She smiled with her lips still resting against mine, hugged me, and said:
"Okay, Carmilla, Carmilla, but you stay right here, close to me. You make me happy."
When I woke up in the morning, Evangelina was completely naked, uncovered, sleeping the way angels would. My body can't compare to hers. Everything about Evangelina is extraordinary. Her body doesn't have a single imperfection, her natural breasts look like those of a sculpture, and her mouth is like a magnificent strawberry. I kissed her tenderly on the cheek. She makes me happy too. Carol was always right: beauty drives away sad thoughts.
I took a shower, put on a comfortable cotton dress, and was making breakfast when I heard her scream:
"What the hell?!"
I ran over to her, and she was standing there, still naked, at the door leading to the garage. Pointing inside, she added:
"So it was true? Babe, you have a superhero's car here… just look at it."
My jaw dropped. In all these days of anguish, it hadn't even crossed my mind to check whether the car Killian had given me was actually there. I can't understand how he parted with such a marvel: silver, with the most elegant curved lines. It is, without a doubt, the most beautiful vehicle I have ever seen.
All I said was:
"I don't know how to drive…"
Evangelina took a picture of it with her phone and grabbed my hand to show me, shouting:
"And don't you dare learn with this one!"
There was a photo of my car on a black platform, and the text read: "It was auctioned this Saturday at RM Sotheby's, and an anonymous buyer paid 56 million dollars for it. Not bad for the Mercedes that won two Formula 1 world championships 70 years ago."
"It only has one seat… it scares me just to think about starting it without anyone beside me…" I told her.
Evangelina picked up her phone and sent a message. Then, with a smile, she lay down just like that, naked on top of the car, striking one of the sensual poses she had learned as a model, and said:
"Come give me a kiss right now and thank me. You're not going to stay locked up here anymore. Tomorrow, Irina will come pick you up. She's going to teach you how to drive—she's the one. If you're going to pilot this beauty someday, you'd better learn from number one. Unless you want to auction it off, but knowing you… I don't think you'd sell something he gave you."
I answered without hesitation:
"I'd give it back to him before selling it. You know me well."
She stretched her hands out toward me and said:
"You owe me that kiss, come on… and if you give the car back to him, I'll strangle you myself."
We laughed. I gave her a kiss on the mouth and a playful slap on the ass to get her off my magical racing machine.
Evangelina's guards brought a garment rack and a suitcase with several outfit options for her. She told me that we were fashion icons now, so she had no intention of walking out the door in the same outfit. She changed while continuing to thank me for the slumber party. I made her swear she would come back soon… Before leaving, she whispered:
"See you in 7 days… don't say no! I know you're going to join us. Killian and Lucius will be there. Can you imagine Killian in a tight superhero suit…? I think it's worth it."
That same afternoon… I had the perfect excuse… I wrote to both of them…
To Lucius, I said: "I hope you're doing well. I miss you. I want to know if you hate me, and to ask you about that meeting I'm invited to… is it real? Are you really going to do it?"
To Killian, I wrote: "I miss you so much. I want to tell you that Evangelina came to see me, and it's the first day I haven't cried. I only just saw the car today. I know rejecting a gift is bad manners, but if you ever miss the Mercedes more than me, just ask and I'll give it back immediately—even if Evangelina strangles me."
The first to respond was Killian:
"Hey, little one, everything here has been a whirlwind of commitments and meetings. I thank God for that, or I would have died of sadness. It hurts to wake up in the morning knowing I won't see you… we did the right thing by letting a few days pass… if you give the car back to me, I'll crash it into a tree, and I know you wouldn't want the tree to suffer… so you'd better keep it and accept that it was made for you… just one thing: when you take it out for a drive, be careful—it hits 300 kilometers per hour before you can blink twice. See you in 7 days?"
Lucius replied seconds later:
"If you missed me that much, you should have stayed. It's that simple. Come back to my arms now and everything will be over. I don't know, girl, I respect your decision, but your place is here. In 7 days we'll see each other—I've never been more serious. My father wants me to be president, fine, but I'll do it my way: I'll be the first superhero president in history. I'd like to say I'm joking, but you know me. Bruce believes there are several psychopaths operating beyond the reach of justice; one of them could be the one kidnapping kids on bicycles—he's been doing it for years. And it doesn't make the news because they only talk about us, so I think we owe it to them. I'll see you in 7 days. I'll confirm the location—it's a surprise. Oh, and I wanted to tell you I dreamed about you again: I was holding you from behind, you were pregnant… I don't know, it felt like a certainty."