The Last Option
Chapter Thirty-Seven: A New Chance to Love

That afternoon Bernard did not expect to replace Camila waiting for him at the airport. When he saw her smiling at him in the waiting area, he felt strangely pleased, because he felt again that beautiful experience of having someone waiting for your return. When he was next to her he wanted to hug her but he held back, not wanting to give Anthony the impression he was about to forget Margaret so soon, and he only greeted her with a brief "hello".

On her part, she did not expect much from him, because when he told her on that occasion that he needed time to put his ideas and feelings in order, she proposed to herself to wait, no matter how long she had to do it. She subconsciously wanted to be with him and that's why she did things like that, going to meet him at the airport even though she had only stopped seeing him for three days.

"How was the flight?" she asked, once they were walking towards the parking lot.

"Calm," Bernard answered.

"Did you do what you were going to do? I thought it would take a few more days."

"Yes, everything went very well, and it was fast."

"Glad to hear it. When I got off work I was going to go home, but I thought I'd better come and meet you and save you from taking a taxi."

"We thank you very much," Bernard said.

"The day was very heavy in the office. The jerk of Randall is hell-bent on reviewing everything my previous boss did, and he had me all day running papers back and forth."

"I imagine it was."

Noticing how sparing Bernard was when he spoke to her, she correctly assumed it was due to his father-in-law's presence, so she decided to simply lead them to his apartment and then go home.

They got to where she had her car parked and boarded it, leaving afterwards. During the journey she kept prudent silence until they reached their destination; she just made occasional comments about what they saw in the busy streets, but without turning it into a conversation. She felt somewhat disappointed by his attitude, and then she decided not to give it any more importance for the moment. She departed for her house once she left them, planning to have a bottle of red wine she had recently bought once she arrived.

For his part, Bernard was still very quiet, thinking about Camila and the feeling he had of her when he saw her again. He did not expect to feel that way again in her presence, and it made him uncomfortable. The presence of his father-in-law constantly brought to mind the memory of Margaret and, although he liked to remember her, he too felt sad that she was no longer by his side.

Realizing everything, Anthony decided to somehow free his son-in-law from the heavy burden he felt at that moment.

"I know how you feel, Bernard," Anthony told him as they took the elevator up to the apartment, "I went through what you're going through now, too. I lost the love of my life early and that destroys your world into a thousand pieces, to the point of thinking you won't be able to pick up those pieces and rebuild it again. I decided to dedicate myself to my children, and that's why I didn't look for anyone else as a life partner, which I regret today because I thought that loneliness could be my best friend and I was wrong. I'm realizing that now."

"And what do you think I should do?" Bernard asked somewhat saddened after a few seconds.

"If I knew my daughter well, she wouldn't have wanted you to be like this because she is no longer here, she would want you to continue with your life, because she loved hers very much, learning to live it despite the losses." Bernard smiled faintly at the memory of Margaret's vivacity.

"Yes, she knew how to replace the positive side of the bad things that happened to us, she never gave up on anything and nothing disturbed her. I learned that from her, you know, but now I can't, I can't replace the silver lining of losing her, because there isn't. Learning from good or bad situations is one thing, but learning from death is another. Life situations change if you set your mind to it, but death doesn't, it's always there, reminding you that it wins and will always win the game over life. It's ruthless and powerful."

"That's why we have to learn to live life while we have it, Bernard! As long as we're alive! To tell death that it doesn't matter if one day it comes looking for us, because we have lived fully and happily and that cannot be taken away from us, because we will have left a mark on others that will never be erased, just as Margaret left it on us. Stay alive even after death."

Bernard's eyes filled with tears again as the elevator stopped at the floor of his apartment. When the doors opened and he was about to get out, Anthony grabbed his arm, stopping him. Bernard looked at him questioningly.

"That girl is your new chance to live life," he said, looking into his eyes. "I'm sure, and so are you, that Margaret would agree to you getting on with your life. I know it's too soon, but when a new opportunity to be happy presents itself, you have to know how to recognize it and take advantage of it."

Anthony grabbed his suitcase and pressed the downstairs button, then walked out.

"Go for her," he told him, as the doors closed in front of him.

Camila had downed her third glass of wine in bed, flipping channels without really paying attention to them and a little dizzy from the effect the drink was already having on her. She had taken a shower and was in her pajamas trying to relax a bit and distract herself with the television from the busy day she had at the office, but she could not pay attention to it, since Bernard was stubbornly present in her thoughts. No one ever had that effect on her.

She was about to pour herself her fourth drink when the doorbell to her apartment rang. She was intrigued, because she didn't usually have visitors at that time, she thought of staying there and not seeing who she was; she didn't feel like talking to anyone.

Another ring. Then knocks on the door. The person who was calling was insistent, as if he knew she was indeed there. She decided to go see who it was, but first she would take a look through the peephole, hoping it wasn't her ex-boyfriend looking for her to convince her to get back together. If it was him, she wouldn't open up and let him break his knuckles if he wanted to touch so much.

She slowly made her way to the door as they continued to ring the bell and knock. She peeked through the peephole and it was him! Bernard was on the other side knocking on her door! A halo of joy crossed her face and she opened hastily, meeting his anxious eyes. She was going to ask him what he was doing there but he didn't let her say a word; he suddenly took her by the waist and pulled her towards him, she didn't resist while she looked at him anxiously, expectantly. In an instant he placed his lips on hers, first gently and then with a little more force as she continued without resistance. She gave herself over to the contact of his mouth with hers, wrapping her arms around him and clinging to him. They both felt the softness and warmth of their lips, and they continued like that for a moment longer.

He moved away and sought her gaze, she opened her eyes and met his again, which looked at her pleadingly, as if they were lacking comfort and affection; she kissed him softly and briefly again and then took his hand, inviting him inside.