The Laws of Love

Chapter 5

Yuri stopped on the hall carpet, surprised by that light bulb that had just come on. Was that possible?

He had never stopped to wonder the reason for his lack of emotional attachment. In part it was because her job didn't allow her to stop for a second, and even less to ask metaphysical questions like the origin of the universe, what was after death, or why the hell she even got bored with herself.

But it could be true. Any romantic heart would wither if it received daily showers of reproaches, showers of tears, or even showers of punches. His acting range included from couples who couldn't stand looking at each other's faces, to those who went out together for a few beers. It was a rather depressing scenario and perhaps their constant succession had gradually dampened her illusion of fulfilling the typical fantasy of the average girl: finding the love of her life.

Well... Let's say that before that, Yuri had dreamed of being a milk lawyer, completing a wardrobe of shoes and eating without gaining weight. But now that she had checked off the checkable off her list and taken on the impossible, it was time to move on to the latter.

It was one of the few matters that caused him concern, and not because he was afraid of dying without a companion by his side. Nor because she remained a virgin for "the one," which would make her the laughing stock of her group of friends if she did. She didn't give a damn if she was buried with the fluffy hymen nestled somewhere in her womb or wherever that was. Sex didn't attract her much attention, especially when she had so many things to hide. The problem resided in the other part: in the men who suffered her scorn, her changes of opinion, her refusals without coming to the point, her lack of interest... All those symptoms that ended up turning her, in the eyes of her dates, into the prototypical shrew who used catchphrases”"It's not you, it's me"“to justify emotional swings. Those of which, in the end, the one who should not do it was blamed.

She was terrified that this was the general vision of her, when if she could choose her feelings, she would have fallen in love with each and every one of the guys who had passed through her life. Including Roberto, the last one with whom he gave himself an opportunity without having obtained good results. She didn't know what annoyed her more, if it was impossible to move their hearts or break those of their partners in the fruitless process of "hunting the prince." The solution was simple. Abort mission.

But damn! That Yuri wanted to fall in love, damn it. Did he ask for that much?

“You are well? Yvonne asked, bringing her back to reality.

"Yes, yes... I was thinking about what you said. You know? I think I should stop looking for reasons for my way of being and find a solution. Maybe I'll cut my communication with men a bit from now on. I have to avoid going out with them and getting their hopes up. They don't deserve that I don't know where to lead my love life and seem to have some kind of bipolar disorder.

"Why do you blame yourself?" If you don't like them enough, you don't have to look for another reason. Who says that they are not partly to blame, that they are not the ones who disappoint you by making themselves known in appointments?

"It's just that they don't have it," he lamented. He headed for the elevator and lowered his voice as he continued: "Last night, for example... Roberto was magnificent." He is not unpleasant or one of those who only talk about themselves. He didn't seem stingy either, nor did he look at me badly when I asked for a three chocolate cake. You know, there are very stupid guys who make you the comment "Are you going to eat all that?" Come on, that was lovely. Courteous, intelligent, handsome... He knows how to listen. He even adores his mother, which is always a sign of nobility. And he wasn't angry because I didn't invite him up to the house.

"Are you going to celebrate that he didn't get mad about it?" Well, yes, it is below the bar.

"On the contrary!" Roberto is a gentleman through and through.

He got into the elevator and punched number twenty”one. Ambani & Moore . It was the first time he had been there, and this was, in turn, one of the reasons why he did not stop talking. She was downright intimidated, and also anxious, to take on her first case against the highest”profile law firm in the entire city…even in all of Florida. Commenting out loud about Roberto's virtues served to distract her from her conflicting feelings towards the divorce that was coming her way. He had taken many, so many that he had almost lost count, but this one was special. It wasn't every day that the most important judge in Miami got to defend himself in front of his difficult wife.

"Have you ever stopped to think that maybe you don't like them because they're too perfect?" Yvonne suddenly asked.

Yuri turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

“You mean that I should fall in love with jealous, possessive, and all that list of adjectives that are put as something romantic and precious in erotic best sellers ? Because that's what I try to avoid. Enough stupidity emanates from my father to join another of his ilk,” he huffed, brushing his hair out of his face.

In another time, she would have cut herself when airing the family skeletons, but it was Ivonne, someone she had been by her side since she started at Lawyer’s firm and who had experienced the greatest existential crises of her maturity with her. Ivonne didn't miss anything, not the love story of her parents, not her emotional problems, not the ambition she projected into the future... Not any of her failures. And that meant she had to hold enough male names in her head to make a legion.

The legion of the almost ex of Yuri Sandoval. "What could have been"; That's what I would call the movie.

“No, no, nothing like that. I'm just saying that sometimes what makes someone fun to be with is bumping into them in some ways. If it's perfect, it's not funny. Or are you going to tell me that you like ideal men? You have a long list of wonderful guys. Why don't you try the ones that aren't so good? Clearly they are missing something.

“Of course, they lack my predisposition to get attached, I don't know where the hell I've left it. But you may be right, and it is my concept of "ideal" that makes Roberto not have been. I am aware that all the books I have read, all the movies I have seen, and all the romances that my companions have experienced, have set my expectations very high in this regard. Now I feel like I can't settle for someone who doesn't tickle me just by crossing my path. In the end it all comes down to that. It must exist, right? he inquired, looking at his secretary as if she had the answer to all the world's problems. Have you ever felt something like this...? That strange and powerful force... That supernatural attraction that current novelists describe.

Yvonne gave a small shy smile.