The Butterfly Box(24)

wooden floor and put her head in her hands. She was going mad. What would he think?

When Ramon once more slipped between the sheets he felt cool and less disturbed. He closed his eyes and listened as his heartbeat slowed down and his breathing became heavy with sleep.

Estella retreated to her room as agitated as before, where she lay on her bed, tormented with frenzied thoughts of him.





Chapter 6


The following morning Ramon awoke to the sounds of the children playing outside. He lay staring at the shutters, at the lucid shafts of light that streamed in through the gaps in the wood, searching him out. He thought of Estella and the thought of her made him climb out of bed with enthusiasm. He opened the shutters. He could hear Federica’s excited voice on the terrace and the calm, indulgent tones of his mother. He pulled on a pair of shorts and a shirt and walked barefooted into the sunny corridor. Noticing that the rest of the family were outside he stole into the kitchen hoping to find Estella. He was disappointed. The kitchen was still and gloomy. She had been there for the bread was out on the table and the vegetables in neat piles on the sideboard. He could smell the fragrance of roses mixed with something that belonged only to her. Like an animal he sniffed the air. He waited but she did not appear. Frustrated, he walked into the sitting room, following her scent that got increasingly stronger until he knew she was somewhere close. His heartbeat quickened with the excitement of the chase.

‘Buenos dias, Don Ramon,’ came a voice from behind him. He turned to find

her crouched down changing the record. He noticed her exposed thigh and the neat curve of her ankle. He wanted to reach out and touch her.

‘Buenos dias, Estella,’ he replied and he saw that her cheeks stung crimson at the mention of her name. He smiled down at her until the pressure of his gaze caused her to turn away. With a shaking hand she placed the needle on the rotating disc of the gramophone. Cat Stevens resounded through the room. ‘Do you dance, Estella?’ he asked. She stood up and looked embarrassed.

‘No, Señor,' she replied, blinking at him nervously from under her long lashes.

‘I love to dance,’ he said, swaying to the music and the lightness in his heart that compelled him to move. Estella smiled. When she smiled her whole face came alive, he thought. Her teeth were gleaming and white against the milk chocolate colour of her skin. Her silky black hair was pulled off her face into a thick plait that fell down her back. With an unsteady hand she curled a piece that had come astray behind her small ear. He watched her every move and she felt his eyes upon her and blushed. ‘Do you like it here?’ he asked, attempting to engage her in conversation.

‘Sí, Don Ramon.’ ‘My mother tells me you do a very good job.’

‘Thank you,’ she said and smiled again.

He was suddenly disarmed by the charm of her radiant face. ‘You look beautiful when you smile,’ he said impulsively. She recognized the longing in his voice and shuddered because she knew she was unable to hide the longing in hers.

‘Gracias, Don Ramon,’ she said hoarsely, lowering her fevered eyes that burnt when she blinked.

‘Did you put the lavender in my room, and the flowers?’

‘Sí, Señor,’ she replied breathlessly, suffocated by his proximity. He was so close she could smell him.

‘They’re lovely. Thank you.’ He watched her hover, not knowing whether to leave or stay, knowing she should scuttle back to the kitchen but unable to tear herself away. She licked her dry lips with her tongue. He stepped closer. She caught her breath and with startled eyes watched him watching her.

‘You find me attractive, don’t you?’ he said softly, smelling the sweat that seeped through the pale cotton of her uniform.

‘I do find you attractive, Don Ramon,’ she whispered and swallowed hard.



‘I want to kiss you, Estella. I want to kiss you very much.' he said, inching closer towards her. The chatter from the terrace faded with the roar of the sea. It was only him and Estella and the doleful melody of Cat Stevens that sang out ‘Oh baby baby it’s a wild world’ on the gravelly record behind them.



‘Papa, shall we go down to the beach soon?’ said Federica, skipping into the sitting room, pleased to find her father up and dressed. Ramon stiffened. Estella’s shoulders tensed and she turned with the grace of a panther and slipped back to the cool sanctuary of the kitchen where she leant against the table and fanned herself with her cookbook. Her heart jumped about like a frightened bird and her legs shook as if she were walking on them for the first time. She felt the sweat trickle down her back and between her breasts. She was excited that he desired her too, yet afraid because she knew she shouldn’t sleep with a married man whose wife and children were in the same house. She knew she could lose her job. She also knew that he just lusted after her, wanted nothing more than to make love to her then cast her aside and return to his marital bed. But she didn’t care. One night, she prayed, God give me one night and I’ll never misbehave again. She couldn’t help herself. She was powerless to resist.