someone like you (joel pimentel)

epilogue

• vanessa •
four years later

"Brandon, your dad's going to be here any minute!" I shouted for the eight year old. "We're not going to be late for this concert."

"But I don't want to go to the concert!" Brandon whined as he walked out of his room. He had his bowtie in his hand and trudged down the hallway. "You look pretty, mom."

"Thanks, B. But we're still going," I told him. He sighed.

"Is Joel coming? Please tell me he's coming!"

"He promised you, didn't he?" I questioned and Brandon nodded. "But don't be mad if he doesn't, we don't have control if planes arrive on time. Okay?"

"Okay," Brandon nodded as he let me fix his bowtie.

"You look so handsome, B." I smiled at my son. "Let's go, your dad's probably outside." I grabbed my keys, bag and coat. I made sure Brandon grabbed his coat and his santa hat.

Brandon and I made our way to the elevator and outside the apartment building. Antonio was waiting in his car. I made sure Brandon was buckled in, and sat in the passenger seat as Antonio made his way to Brandon's school.

"B, why didn't you tell me you get to be Santa in Up on the Housetop?" Antonio asked as he turned towards the school.

"I didn't want to be Santa," Brandon responded. "But I saw a video of Joel on stage and he looked so cool!"

"Is he coming?" Antonio asked me. I shrugged, looking at my phone. No new messages. There might've been a delay that I didn't know about. I wasn't stressing, it always happened, and it wasn't in our control.

When we made our way into the school, I saw my father talking to the principal— his girlfriend. Isabella was standing beside him spinning around in her red sparkling dress. When she saw me she ran up to me. I hadn't heard or seen Theresa since that day, but the last time she saw my father was when he won sole custody of Isabella. And he put a restraining order against her for all three of us.

"Hi, Vessa! You look really pretty, sissy." Isabella smiled.

"Not as pretty as you, Izzy. Oh my gosh, isn't this the prettiest dress you have ever seen, B?" I asked Brandon, who agreed with adding "with the most sparkles," at the end.

—

The lights went off, and different classes sang different Christmas songs. The second graders— Isabella's class— sang Jingle Bells. And Brandon's class was up next.

"Hey, am I late?" I looked beside me, Joel was breathless as he sat down. "Sorry, my phone died, and the plane landed a little late. I didn't have time to get my suitcase either, I really hope Erick got it for—" I cut him off with a quick kiss.

"You're just in time," I answered with a smile. "Brandon's up next."

—

When the concert ended, the first person Brandon went up to was Joel. It was months since we had seen him in person, but they had gotten closer over the past couple of years. "So my dad made reservations for all of us at the Italian place," I explained to the group. "So we can go and meet over there."