007, by Leonor Henríquez

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Year 1999 was just starting.

The chaos of my life was beginning to sort itself out.

I had already overcome a health problem, a divorce, which is never pleasant, even if it was friendly, several moves, job changes, etc.

This introduction is meant to explain my assignment for this week, which is to relate an event that changed my life.

The engineering firm for which I was working, had won a megaproject, in partnership with a Canadian company.

I said to myself: “Well Leonor, focus on your work and nothing else”.

In the Project, there were people of many nationalities, Venezuelans, Norwegians, Indians, French, British.

This one in particular, was a tall man, resembling Sean Connery, with an inscrutable accent and expression.

I confess that his presence intimidated me quite a bit.

But I was focused on my work and nothing else.

One day, one of those days in which the universe conspires  in our favour, the English man came to my office and asked me if I wanted to have dinner with him, that he was alone in Caracas, etc.

I said yes of course, and we arranged for the next day at the Ópera restaurant, on the Principal de la Castellana, 8pm.

That night I told my son and daughter, ages 12 and 10 respectively, that I had a dinner date with James Bond, Agent 007.

I think they were impressed.

We met, he ordered a gin and tonic (not the classic Bond’s Martini), me, Buchanan with soda water; we dined, we talked about the human and the divine. I told him that I write office stories, I shared with him some of the plots and he said:

– This is good stuff!

The rest is history.

The English man became my husband and love of my life.

He changed our lives, gloriously.

He left me the deepest and longest love; not long in terms of the implacable Chronos, long in the sense of cosmos, of eternity.

I miss him every minute of my life.

“One never regrets an extravagance.”
Meen Fontijn
(In Memoriam)

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