Julián escuchó con especial atención a Mona. Cuando esta terminó su exposición, los aplausos se dejaron escuchar en todo el salón.

Mona recogió su bolso y su portafolio, pero Julián la tomó del brazo y le dijo:

-Necesito que me regales media hora, por favor.

-Es que ya es tarde y no me gusta estar lejos de casa a altas horas de la noche -respondió Mona.

-Tranquila, Mona -no te voy a comer. Por favor, echa a un lado a la arquitecta enfurecida y arrogante que te inventaste para evitar que los hombres se acercaran a ti.

Mona guardó silencio por un rato. Las palabras de Julián la habían incomodado mucho.

Julián la invitó a caminar por el Muelle. Y, aunque al principio él no encontraba como "romper el hielo", le dijo a Mona: "Estoy más asustado que un niño cuando va por primera vez al odontólogo". Mona se rió y ese fue el comienzo de una larga conversación que terminó al despuntar el alba del otro día:

_Pixabay

Invito a mis amigos @vivigibelis, @ciru2014 y @genomil. Aquí la información

_{Imagen del concurso}

Mona took a deep breath and swallowed. She looked at herself in the mirror at the side of the boat. With a charming face and a voluptuous and sexy body, she was an ambitious, lively and charming girl. Her friends and co-workers considered her an angry and arrogant architect.

As usual, she traveled alone to the island of Saint George, where the last work meeting of the year 2023 would be held. The boat driver was an elderly man, quiet and observant, he had made silence pacts with life. He felt towards Mona a desire to protect her; and that she valued. In fact, he was the only man who could get closer than 40 centimeters.

When they got to the Board, they all turned to look at Mona; some with envy and others with desires. She seemed not to look at anyone. He had one goal: to show his latest multimillion-dollar contract to the company's Board of Directors and get out of there. But, the matter was not so easy, since he had to wait for Julián, the heir to the Zaragoza firm, to arrive.

The wait seemed eternal. So he located himself near a wall clock to measure the waiting time and calculate the time he would leave that uncomfortable place:

_Pixabay

Julián arrived at the Board of Architects almost two hours late. His mesmerizing smile enveloped everyone present, except Mona, who looked at him with contempt, and said to herself: "This guy is unbearable".

_Wikipedia

The meeting began, and Mona asked to be the first to present her annual report, claiming that she had to retire early, since she did not like celebrations or late nights.

Julian listened with particular attention to Mona. When she finished her presentation, applause was heard throughout the room.

Mona picked up her bag and briefcase, but Julián took her arm and said:

-I need you to give me half an hour, please.

"It's just late at night and I don't like being away from home late at night," Mona replied.

-Calm down, Mona -I'm not going to eat you. Please, cast aside the enraged and arrogant architect that you invented to prevent men from getting close to you.

Mona was silent for a while. Julián's words had made her very uncomfortable.

Julián invited her to walk along the pier. And, although at first he couldn't figure out how to "break the ice," he told Mona, "I'm more scared than a kid going to the dentist for the first time." Mona laughed and that was the beginning of a long conversation that ended at dawn the other day:

_Pixabay

Since that day, Mona and Julián always see each other after work. On weekends they take a boat that takes them to the island of Saint George, and now they are both kinder to everyone, as they managed to let go of their fear of failure.