The Imposter

Chapter Eighteen

The night passed as if time had stopped. I had the same nightmare all night. I dreamt that Mr. Jackson was revealing to everyone that I was alive. My sister was there and so were my friends. They all laughed at me. Suddenly I woke up screaming. I was sweating, my heart was pounding, and I felt lost in the place that had become my home. I didn’t notice, but Mrs. Salazar was in the room. She rushed to my bed. “It’s okay” she said as she hugged me “I’m here and you’re safe.” I held on tight to her. I knew that she wasn’t my mother, but the warmth of her hug made me think that she could be. 

Mr. Salazar came into the room. He saw us hugging. “Is everything okay? I heard someone screaming.” Mrs. Salazar let go of me and looked at her husband. “Yes honey,” she said. “Esteban was just having a nightmare. But everything is fine now.” She smiled at him and turned to kiss me on the head. 

He sighed with relief. “You’re not ready? We should get going or do you think that it is better if he stays home?” he asked his wife. “I think that getting fresh air will help him. I was actually just picking out an outfit for him.” She grabbed the suit from the closet. “Get dressed, we’ll be downstairs.” Get dressed? Where was I going? 

“So where are we going?” I asked as I sat down. “Don’t you remember that I told you that I wanted to take you into the office?” I honestly didn't remember. “Let’s go,” he said. He walked to his wife and gave her a kiss, then left. I cautiously walked up to her and hugged her. “Take care and if something happens let Jaime know.” 

The office was huge! I had never seen these buildings before. “This is all yours?” I asked as I walked in. A group of ladies said good morning to us and we walked into an office. Some man came in and started giving Mr. Salazar details about his day. Mr. Salazar interrupted him. “Kevin, this is my son Esteban. Do you remember what I told you about him?” The guy nodded and  continued rambling.  When he left, Mr. Salazar asked me to sit down. “To answer your question, this is mine and one day, it will be yours.” 

I couldn't  believe what he had just said. At this time, I was jealous of the real Esteban. He had so much, yet he would never really be a part of it. What would happen if one day he found out that I wasn’t his son? 

We continued working all day. Mrs. Salazar came to the office. She looked like something had happened. “It came,” she said as she walked into the office. We all looked at her. “Why didn’t you give him an office to work on his own? That’s not the point. The invitation to the party is here. We have to go. If we don’t it’ll make us seem as if this is really affecting us.” My stomach dropped as she told me this. I didn’t want to go, but she was right. We all agreed that we would go to the party.  

The following morning, I didn’t want to get up. I felt as if the whole world was on my shoulder. I hated the fact that I would have to go to this event knowing that I would have to say goodbye to the girl that I had started to get close to. 

I started getting ready for the party. I put on the black suit that Mrs. Salazar had placed for me on my bed. I didn’t know why we had to go. As I was finishing putting on my clothes, my phone buzzed. I grabbed the phone and read the message. I know it must be hard, but I really want you to come to the party. If you don’t come I’ll understand. The message resonated with me. I had to go to say goodbye to her. 

Just as we were about to go, Jaime walked into my room. “Something came for you” he said as he took out a white envelope from his pocket and handed it to me. I took as I began to open it, I asked him who brought it. “It was some boy, he looked nervous. It might be a message from Miss Kalani.” I hoped it was. I took out the letter. And began to read it. 

“Did you really think that you could escape from me?” I looked up at Jaime, he walked closer to me. I continued reading aloud this time so that Jaime could hear what was going on. “Did you really think that you could escape from me? For a second there I actually believed that you had died, but then I saw you with your friend Jonah. After that I began to follow you around.. I saw you not only at the park, but at that country club. You can look all fancy now, but what will happen when they find out the fake that you are? I will be seeing you soon.” I was shocked with this, the letter fell to the floor. I did as well. I could hear Jaime call my name. He then called for help. 

I woke up and saw everyone’s concerns. Mr Salazar spoke first. “What happened Jaime told us he came in to ask if you were ready and you were on the floor?” At least Jaime hadn’t said anything in regards to the note in front of him. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if he found out. I tried to calm them down. Looking at the clock, I saw that it was getting late. I got up from the bed. “We have to go to the party.” Everyone insisted that we stay, but I convinced them it was best if we went. It would be good for me to go outside.  

We arrived at the party later than what we thought. I guess everyone was waiting to see if we would be going. We got to our table and sat down. I looked everywhere for Alana. I finally saw her, our eyes met and she smiled at me. I didn’t, I was still in shock with the note from earlier. As we took our seats, Mr. Kalani started a speech. “Good afternoon, my wife and I are glad to have you here. We, along with the Evans want to thank you for coming. I know that this week, some news hit the stands and I just wanted to let you know that it was all a lie. You know a moment of teenage mistake. But today we are here to celebrate the engagement of my daughter Alana to Felipe. Please enjoy the party!” 

I couldn’t believe what he had just said. It wasn’t just a teenage mistake. I got up from my seat after dinner and went looking for Alana. I saw her coming out of the restroom. “Hello” she said. “I’m glad that you came.” She hugged me and I couldn’t let go of her. I saw Felipe coming behind Alana. “I hope you have enjoyed your last hug” he took Alana by the hand “you need to understand that she is going to be my wife now.” 

“Please, don’t fight, it won’t get us anywhere.” Alana separated us. I knew that it wasn’t going to help her. I started walking away.  I couldn’t bear with this anymore. When I returned to the table, I asked if we could go. With the excuse that I didn’t feel well, we left. 

Valeria, 

He wrote me a note: what's going to happen now? What if next he writes one to Mrs. or Mr Salazar? What if he does something to you? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing that he hurt someone I care about. 

Erick

As I was putting down the pen, tears rushed down my eyes. I heard someone knocking. I hid everything and wiped my tears. That person waited until I let them in. It was Mrs. Salazar. She saw the redness in my eyes. As any mother would do, she hugged me. We stood there for a long time until she finally spoke. “You know, you had us worried. Is all this about Alana or is there something else bothering you?” As I was about to speak, I heard Jaime at the door. He asked if he could come in. Mrs. Salazar let him in. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I think now is a good time to speak with you about this.” He said as he handed the letter that I had read earlier to her. She took it and read it. I could see the anguish in her eyes. She got up from the chair she was sitting on and walked to Jaime. 

“Make this disappear and find him. I want to speak with him.” Jaime nodded and said that first thing in the morning, he would go out to find Mr Jackson. He left us alone again. I couldn’t believe it. What was she going to do? “You can’t do that. I won’t let you.” She didn’t care. “Don’t worry” she said as she took me to the bed. She forced me to sit and get under the covers. “I will handle this. He will never threaten you or anyone else you hear me?” I could see some sort of anger in her eyes. Was she really defending me? “What about Valeria? What if he hurts her?” She gave me a kiss on the forehead. “He won’t hurt her or anyone.” She walked to the door and turned off the lights. “I promise” she said as she closed the door. 

What was she going to do? I couldn’t let her risk everything for me.