Intermediate Level - Reading No. 5


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La Cena

The Dinner

Rita y David acaban de regresar de una cena agradable con el hermano de Rita, Roger, y su esposa Kathy. David se da cuenta que Rita no ha dicho mucho desde que salieron del restaurante. Él no quería ir, pero Rita insistió. Desde que su hermano había empezado un nuevo trabajo, había sido difícil reunirse. Roger tenía que viajar casi que cada semana y había estado pasando sus fines de semana poniéndose al día con los papeles, después de regresar.

Rita and David are just back from a nice dinner with Rita’s brother, Roger, and his wife Kathy. David has noticed that Rita hasn’t said much since they left the restaurant. He really didn’t want to go, but Rita insisted. Since her brother had started his new job, it had been hard to get together. Roger had to travel almost every week and had been spending his weekends catching up on paperwork when he got back.

“¿Todo salió bien, no te parece?” pregunta David tratando de romper el silencio.

“Sí”, responde Rita discretamente sin mirarlo.

“Y Kathy parece ser amable. Debe ser difícil para ella perder su trabajo y que Roger esté fuera todo el tiempo de negocios”. Él pausa, “¿estás bien? No has dicho mayor cosa desde que dejamos el restaurante.”

“That went well didn’t it?”, asks David trying to break the silence.

“Yes”, replies Rita quietly without looking at him.

“And Kathy seems nice. Must be tough for her losing her job and having Roger away all the time on business. ” He pauses, “are you ok? You haven’t said much since we left the restaurant.”

Rita de repente lo mira. “¿Cómo supiste que Kathy había perdido su trabajo?”

“Bueno, ellos lo mencionaron durante la cena, ¿verdad?”, responde David luciendo confundido.

“Pues… Kathy mencionó que se sentía sola cuando Roger está fuera, pero no mencionó que había perdido su trabajo.”

Rita suddenly looks at him. “How did you know Kathy had lost her job?”

“Well, they mentioned it at dinner, right?”, replies David looking confused.

“Well… Kathy mentioned that it was lonely when Roger was away, but she didn’t mention that she had lost her job.”

 “Supongo que Roger lo debe haber mencionado antes”, respondió rápidamente David.

“Pensé que no te habías visto con él desde mi cumpleaños. Eso fue en abril del año pasado. Sólo me pareció raro que tú supieras y yo no.”

“¿Estás insinuando que algo está pasando entre Kathy y yo?”, pregunta David frunciendo el ceño.

“I guess Roger must have mentioned it before”, replied David quickly.

“I thought you hadn’t met him since my birthday. That was in April of last year. I just thought it was strange that you knew and I didn’t.”

“Are you implying that there’s something going on between Kathy and me?”, asks David frowning.

 “Bueno, me pregunté cómo tú sabías que Kathy había perdido su trabajo cuando ella sólo había mencionado que se sentía sola, pero no pensé nada de ello. Luego noté que ustedes dos estuvieron evadiendo contacto visual directo durante toda la cena.”

“¡Eso es absurdo! ¿Cuándo tendría yo tiempo de ver a Kathy? Trabajo muchas horas y ellos viven al otro lado de la ciudad.”

“Sí, has estado trabajando mucho hasta tarde recientemente”, responde Rita asintiendo.

“Well, I did wonder how you knew that Kathy had lost her job when she had only mentioned that she was lonely, but I didn’t think anything of it. Then I noticed the two of you were avoiding direct eye contact during the entire dinner.”

“That’s absurd! When would I have the time to meet Kathy? I work long hours and they live on the other side of town.”

“Yes, you have been working late a lot recently”, replies Rita nodding.

David se acerca y toma la mano de ella entre las suyas. Se sientan en el sofá juntos. “Mira”, dice él calmadamente, “tú tienes que confiar en mí. Yo nunca te engañaría.”

“Tienes razón. Tal vez estoy siendo paranoica. Confío en ti cariño. Es sólo que parecía que ustedes dos estaban tratando de ocultar algo. Por favor perdóname.”

David walks over and takes her hand in his. They both sit down on the couch together. “Look,” he says calmly, “you have to trust me. I would never cheat on you.”

“You’re right. Maybe I’m just being paranoid. I trust you honey. I’m sorry. It just looked like the two of you were trying to hide something. Please forgive me.”

Ellos se abrazan; David le da un beso en la mejilla y sonríe. “Por supuesto que te perdono. Está bien, entonces vamos a la cama. Estoy cansado y tengo una llamada con un cliente temprano en la mañana.” Él va a la habitación y empieza a desvestirse. De repente recuerda que ha dejado su teléfono celular en el bolsillo de su chaqueta en la sala y vuelve allí para recogerlo.

They hug; David gives her a kiss on the cheek and smiles. “Of course I forgive you. Ok then, let’s go to bed. I’m tired and I have an early morning call with a client.” He goes into the bedroom and starts getting undressed. He suddenly remembers he has left his cell phone in his jacket pocket in the living room and goes back there to get it.

Rita está parada en el centro de la sala con el celular en su mano. “¡Mentiroso patético! ¡Te quiero fuera de esta casa AHORA MISMO!” Ella le tira el celular y él logra agarrarlo. Un mensaje de texto nuevo está abierto en la pantalla:

“Creo que estuvimos bien en la cena. Roger definitivamente no sospecha nada. ¿Y Rita? – Besos, Kathy”.

Rita is standing in the center of the room with his cell phone in her hand. “You pathetic liar! I want you out of this house RIGHT NOW!” She throws his cell phone at him and he just manages to catch it. A new text message is open on the screen:

“I think we did ok at dinner. Roger definitely doesn’t suspect anything. How about Rita?  - kisses, Kathy”


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