And what did you see in him?

Carla left the supermarket and was going down the stairs when a red car stopped in front of her. A young woman got out. A gust of wind lifted her dress and a strand of hair covered her face. With a habitual gesture, she brushed her hair aside, adjusted her skirt, and walked past Carla without noticing her.

—Elena! Little Elena! —Carla called to her.

Elena turned around, looked around to see who might have called her, and her gaze fell on Carla. They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds.

“Don’t you recognize me?” Carla walked back up to the entrance. “I’m Carla, Carla López.”

—Carla… It’s true, I didn’t recognize you. What a life we ​​lead… —Elena said coldly.

“Look, if you’re free…” Carla took her arm and pulled her away from the door. “Let’s move aside, we’re blocking the way here. You’ve changed so much!”

Elena smiled condescendingly.

“Do you live around here?” he asked.

—No, I work nearby. I left during the break. And you? —Carla replied.

—Hey, why are we still here? Do you have time? Let’s go to a café, we can talk. When will we see each other again?

—Okay —Carla agreed.

They went into a small, half-empty bar in the building next door, one of those quick places. They sat by the window. Elena called the waitress. The young woman, chewing gum, approached listlessly and placed the cards on the table with an annoyed expression.

“No need,” Elena said, pushing aside the plastic wrap. “Two salads, two biscuits, and tea. And quickly, please.”

After saying this, she turned her attention to Carla and smiled. The waitress walked away, swaying her narrow hips.

—Well, how are you? —Elena settled into the uncomfortable plastic chair.

—Good. I was married, although not for very long. No children. From what I can see, you’re doing great —Carla replied.

—I’m not complaining—Elena laughed and raised her right hand, showing the engagement ring on her finger.

—And children? —Carla asked.

The waitress returned with a tray and placed the plates with the small cakes, the cups, and the porcelain teapot.

“Hey, are your parents still alive?” Elena asked suddenly, as the girl left.

“My father died years ago. My mother… Well, she’s still alive, but she hasn’t been the same since he passed away,” Carla said sadly, turning her cup on its saucer.

Elena served the hot tea. A minty aroma filled the air.

“What a shame. I loved your parents. Not like my mother. Always bitter, not a kind word on her lips. It’s no wonder my father left her. How I loved being at your house. So peaceful…” Elena’s eyes drifted off into memory.

Carla sighed.

***

They lived in the same building, she on the fourth floor and David on the third. They first went to the same nursery school, then to the same school. David’s father drank and caused scenes constantly. He always went up to Carla’s apartment.

In the third year of secondary school, a new girl arrived. Her parents divorced, and after the house was divided, she and her mother moved into the building next door. Elena, radiant and beautiful, instantly caught David’s eye. Carla was burning with jealousy. Before, they used to walk to and from school together. Now…

“What’s wrong? Did you forget something?” Carla asked when David stopped in the middle of the doorway.

-Hang on a minute.

“Why?” Carla was starting to get irritated.

At that moment, the door of the neighboring building opened and Elena came out. She ran toward them, smiling, her eyes fixed on David. Beside her, David became cheerful and talkative, unrecognizable to Carla. He told jokes and stories. Elena laughed heartily, while Carla walked silently beside her.

After class, David would rush to the locker room, change, and wait for Elena with his jacket in hand. They would walk home together, forgetting all about Carla. At recess, Elena would talk to her as if nothing had happened.

They went to the movies together once. When the film ended and the lights came up, Carla saw David and Elena holding hands. They walked home like that. Carla stayed behind, and they didn’t even notice. She never went out with them again.

After finishing high school, each went their own way: Carla studied Economics, David went to a mechanics school and Elena to fashion.

In winter, Carla fell ill. It was raining; the year was drawing to a close. She was looking out the window when she saw Elena cross the courtyard toward her building. Carla opened the door, waiting for her on the threshold. But the footsteps stopped one floor below. She heard David’s voice: “Finally…” The door closed.

The heat reddened Carla’s face. She sat on the bench in the entryway and cried. Elena was going to see David while her parents were at work. The mere thought of what they did there made her heart ache.

One day, his mother came home from the supermarket and said she had spoken with David’s mother. The woman complained that her husband was drinking more than ever and that her son had left home. He rented an apartment with Elena.

In her final year of university, Carla married a classmate. They lived with her mother-in-law, who constantly interfered in their lives, telling them how to take care of her husband. Alejandro was a mama’s boy.

—Ale, why did you marry me? —Carla asked one day—. No wife can replace your mother.

Alejandro shrugged.

—Mom wants what’s best for me. You’ll get used to it.

“I don’t want to. Go live with her,” Carla said, and started packing her suitcase.

Alejandro shrugged again and sat down at his computer. The divorce was quick. No children, nothing to divide. That’s how Carla’s brief marriage ended.

She only saw David once more, at her father’s funeral. They couldn’t speak. Shortly after, her mother remarried.

***

It seemed to Carla that an eternity had passed since then. And now Elena was standing across from her in the café, as radiant and confident as ever. The waitress brought the salads. Elena ate with gusto. Carla took a bite of the cake and tasted the now-cold tea.

“And David?” he asked.

“David?” Elena stared at her, her fork halfway out. “Are you still in love with him?” She put down her utensil and leaned back.

“You know, I was always envious of you. You had a wonderful family, loving parents. All I had was my beauty. I charmed David, and he fell for me so easily…” She trailed off. Carla did too.

—But we were very different. We soon got bored. He wanted a family, children. What for? I wanted to live, not just survive from paycheck to paycheck. Now I have a wealthy husband and everything one could wish for.

—And David?

“Why do you insist? David lives in a small apartment. He can’t afford anything better. I think he’s still alone.” So Carla left the café with her heart racing, determined to find David and give him a second chance, because after all these years, she still believed in the love she never dared to confess.

Carla left the café as if she couldn’t breathe. The afternoon sun warmed the sidewalk, but she was overcome by an old, familiar chill. Her steps were uncertain, as if she didn’t know where to go, but her heart pulled her in one direction: toward that old building from her childhood, where it all began… and where perhaps something could begin again.

She walked past the doorway. The same one where she had waited for David so many times, where Elena had first appeared, transforming everything. Time had done its work: the peeling paint, the rusty mailboxes, the cracked marble stairs. But for Carla, everything remained the same.

Her hand was trembling as she rang the doorbell.

“Yes?” A deep, recognizable voice answered through the intercom.

—David… I’m Carla.

There was a pause. A long one.

—Get in.

---

The apartment was clean, modest, with simple furniture. A light gray sofa, plants in the windows. It smelled of freshly brewed coffee and home.

David was there, in person. Not the boy from the memory, but a man. Gray hair at his temples, a more serene gaze, but with that kind expression that Carla could never forget.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you,” she said, trying to smile.

—I wasn’t expecting to come either. It was by chance. I ran into Elena… and… I don’t know. Something stirred.

David offered her a cup. They sat down.

“You look good,” he said.

—And you… you still have that look you had when you used to explain math to me on the park bench.

They laughed.

There were silences, but not awkward ones. As if they had been waiting their whole lives to be able to sit in silence next to each other.

“And you?” he asked. “Were you happy?”

Carla thought for a moment.

—I tried. But I always felt like something was missing… or someone.

David looked at her. He lowered his gaze. Then he stood up and went to a bookshelf. He took out a wooden box, opened it, and took out a yellowed sheet of paper. She recognized it instantly. Her handwriting. A letter she never delivered. A poem she had written to David and thought was lost.

—I found it the day you left for university. I was going to give it back to you, but… I didn’t have the courage.

Carla felt tears filling her eyes.

—I never knew if you had read it.

—I read it every year, on your birthday.

A silence. And then, as if by unspoken agreement, they drew closer. There was no rush. Just a brush of hands, a light caress on the face. And an embrace that bridged twenty years of distance.

---

Months later, Carla decided to leave her apartment and return to the neighborhood. She worked from home as a financial consultant. David continued with his mechanic shop, proud of his loyal customers.

Their love wasn’t a teenage explosion, but a quiet, constant flame. They shared everyday moments: dinners, Sunday movie nights, trips to the market. They didn’t need promises or dramatic reunions. Just the present. Finally together.

One afternoon, while strolling through the park of her childhood, Carla stopped in front of the bench where they had talked so many times as children.

“You know,” he said to David, “I never understood what you saw in Elena.”

David looked at her tenderly.

—I don’t know… I suppose it was just an illusion. But what I didn’t see was what was right in front of me. Late, but now I see everything clearly.

Carla smiled.

—So, what do you see in me now?

—I see the woman I always wanted… and that I finally have.

And without saying anything more, they held hands, as if time, at last, had surrendered in their favor.