The Dancing Torera

44

Anais

"Esteban! Esteban!!" I ran into Esteban's apartment, excited to tell him of the article I saw but before I could, I saw Hector sitting comfortably on the couch. Great! He had already beaten me to it.

"Anais! Finally!" Esteban frowned, standing from his chair.

"Esteban!" I push Hector away, making sure to ignore his presence. We were not friends.
"Have you seen this?" I hold the crumpled newspaper to his face so he could see.

"Yes. Hector just showed me" he lifted his copy. He looked down to observe the large picture and frowned.
His quietness should have been a clue but I guess I was too raptured with joy to see his displeasure.

"Esteban I can't believe it!"

"Me neither!" He smirked, still analyzing the print, "The dancing torerra" he says beneath a lazy breath.

"I know isn't it amazing!—-"
"Horrible" he scoffs, ending my sentence.

"Wait What?" I retorted. I was confused as to why he thought the newsletter was so horrible.

"How dare they! Making up fairytales and lies! Don't worry Anais, when Hector is through with those reporters, they'll be sorry."

"Through with the reporters? Esteban what are you talking about" I fumed.

"Cheapening you to a bullfighter who dances! That's what they're calling you! You know what could happen if my sponsors found out?"

"Wait...that's what you're upset?" I whispered, surprised by his vapidity.

"Anais... are you okay with this? El Jefe's girlfriend kissing bulls"

"Last time I checked, I was Anais."

"It's a major conflict of interest Anais. We can't have you...dating the most famous bullfighter in Spain and parading on page 6. Look at this! 3 sponsors already pulled out." Hector flips to a few pages after my spread and showing me the article.

"3 companies take stance on the immorality of Bullfighting"

"So you're saying they pulled out because of me?" I rolled my eyes, slapping the paper against his chest. Hector was a master manipulator. He could spin a lot of negative press and into a positive light, but his little tricks didn't work so well on me.

"No... and yes. You know the President and Esteban have bad blood. He has been in the ears of these companies for the last couple of weeks. I guess they just needed an excuse to pull out without being too obviously connected to the Presidente and his influence"

"Is that so?" I seethed, skeptical of his blame.

"I've been getting calls and messages begging for interviews. Everybody wants to speak to the Dancing Torerra" Hector chuckled. He went to open the fridge, in search of something to eat.

"Really?" I smiled, my heart jumped at the recent development. They cared about me? Not just as El Jefe's girlfriend, but the dancing torerra.

"Yep! There were about 10. But I declined them all!" Hector smiles proudly as if he had just discovered a treasure chest of gold.

"Why in the world would you do that!! I fumed.

"Come on Anais! You know they only care about this because of Esteban.
What we need now is a way to win back those sponsors and get more in the process."

"And how do we do that?" Esteban sighed, pushing his back against the couch in frustration.

"From now on, we curate the perfect image. Esteban? No more cursing out the paparazzi or late-night shenanigans.
And Anais?
We have you take the supportive role and title of el Jefe's girlfriend.
No more dancing.
No more kissing bulls.
Instead, you'll be sitting in his box at the arena. You'll be smiling behind him in interviews.
You'll sit in a chair and look pretty and fade into the background. People will forget about this little fiasco and more importantly, sponsors will forget." Hector smiled proudly as if he had just written a king's manifesto.