Whenever he got to Bioko, the first thing he did was talk to his brother about the latest events. Then he would leave for California and his comfortable life. From far away, he sometimes had the feeling that Iniko judged him for not staying to help build their country.
Daniela stopped her Renault Mégane in a small square almost completely surrounded by pretty little houses with doors and timbers stained in dark colors. She looked at her watch and saw that there was still a good bit of time before night fell.
“In the upper part, there is a beautiful hermitage.” She pointed to a narrow paved alleyway that went up toward the forest and signaled him to follow her. “It’s abandoned, but it’s worth a visit.”
While Laha prowled around the ruins, she contemplated the snowy landscape. After a while, he called to her, like a child who had just discovered treasure.
“I don’t believe it!” He took her arm and hurried to the interior of the hermitage. “Look!” He pointed to a stone carved with a date.
Daniela did not understand. “Yes,” she confirmed. “Fourteen hundred and seventy-one.”
“It’s the oldest thing that I’ve touched in my life!” Daniela did not seem very impressed, so he added, “This is the year that the Portuguese Fern?o do Po discovered the island of Bioko. Do you see? As a mason carved his stone, a sailor discovered an island! And now you and I are here, more than five hundred years later, joined by destiny! If that man had not discovered the island, we wouldn’t be here at this moment!”
“What a way of summarizing history!” Daniela exclaimed, flattered to know that Laha felt euphoric in her company. “You’ve only left out saying that destiny has brought us together.”
Laha came closer. He held out his hand toward her and moved away a copper-colored lock that partially hid her face. Daniela jumped due to his unexpected touch.
“And why not?” he said hoarsely.
At dusk on a calm, clear, and cold winter’s day, inside an ancient hermitage, awash in an intense ray of sunlight that filtered through a chink in the wall, Laha leaned toward Daniela and kissed her.
All of her senses, which up to a few seconds before had been frozen by the snow, woke, startled, as his lips settled on hers, gently at first and then harder. She concentrated all her attention on those warm lips, full of sweetness. She parted her mouth so he could taste her, and their tongues brushed against each other with the promise of a deeper encounter, so their breaths could fuse in a single ardent mist.
She raised her arms to circle Laha’s neck. The kiss lasted until the ray of sunlight faded and then disappeared. Laha moved away a few centimeters and gazed into her eyes.
“I’m happy,” he said with faltering breath, “that I was unable to stop myself.”
She moistened her lips and blinked, still shaken by his intensity, and gently pushed him back so he could rest against the altar stone.
“I’m also happy,” she said, pressing her body against his and gripping the lapels of his coat. “I’m sorry about only one thing.”
Laha arched his eyebrows.
“I’m sorry,” she continued, giving him a sensual look, “we are not closer to a hotel room . . .”
Laha smiled, relieved. “Let’s find one,” he suggested, holding her more tightly in his arms. Daniela fit into them perfectly. He felt like an impatient twenty-year-old. Why haven’t I met her before?
“I can’t do that!” she exclaimed. “Tomorrow the whole valley would know . . .”
“We haven’t done anything yet, and you’re already ashamed of me?” he asked, loosening his hug and feigning annoyance.
“Don’t be silly!” Daniela threw her arms around his neck. “For the moment, we’ll have to settle for this.”
Laha tightened his arms around her again and began to nibble her neck.
“With this?” he murmured.
“Yes.”
Laha got his hands under Daniela’s layers of clothes and delicately caressed her back.
“And this?”
“Yes, and that as well.”
Daniela slid her fingers through Laha’s hair and put her head back to allow more space for his lips along her neck, her throat, her cheeks, and her temples before returning to her lips. After a few delightful minutes, she sighed in resignation.
“How about calling home and telling them not to wait on us for dinner?” she suggested. She wanted to make the most of their time alone, though she felt a little guilty when she thought about Clarence. “Where we parked, there is a very good restaurant.”
They went back to the square, which opened like a balcony onto the slope of a hill, and stopped to watch the moon rise and glisten on the snow. Daniela moved closer to Laha to feel his heat. It would be a wonderful night. Every second spent with him made her more convinced that she had finally found her place in the world. Laha held her in his arms and breathed deeply. The village was silent, and the lampposts were weak. Beside this woman, solitude and darkness did not exist. He leaned down and kissed her again.
Daniela groggily separated herself. Just then, she heard the sound of a car engine and, instinctively, moved away from Laha. A Volvo parked just beside their car, and someone called her name.
“What a coincidence!” Julia walked over, followed by a friend.
“Julia!” Daniela slowly gave her two kisses. “What are you doing here at this time of year? Don’t you normally stay in Madrid?”
Julia shot a quick glance at Laha. “One of my sons decided to spend New Year’s Eve here and encouraged us to come.”
The woman came over. Her blond hair was so light it looked white.
“Ascensión, this is Kilian’s daughter.” Ascensión opened her eyes wide, and Julia explained, “Ascensión and I have been friends since Guinea. She married Mateo, one of your father’s old friends. He died a few months ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Daniela said, and gave her two kisses as well.
“Thank you,” said Ascensión, her blue eyes blurred with tears. “Every year Mateo and I talked about coming up to the valley of Pasolobino, but for one reason or another, we never did.”
“I convinced her to spend a few days with me, to see if it would cheer her up a bit.”
Daniela noticed that Julia kept sneaking looks at Laha. She silently cursed her luck. She did not want anything to break the night’s spell.
Laha came over and greeted the women.
“So both of you lived in my country?” he asked with a friendly smile.
Ascensión nodded, pressing her lips together to stop herself from crying. Julia half closed her eyes.
“Laha . . . ,” she murmured.
“Yes,” said Daniela. The last thing she wanted was another drawn-out conversation about Guinea. “He’s spending a few days with us. Clarence met him on her trip.”
“Yes, she told me.” Julia felt a tightness in her chest. She fidgeted with her gloves. “She met your family, Laha, Iniko and Bisila . . .” She immediately regretted being so explicit.
“Isn’t Bisila . . . ,” Ascensión began, raising her eyebrow.
“. . . an unusual name?” Julia completed the question. “And where is Clarence?”
“She wasn’t feeling well.”