MOTH TO A FLAME ☆ CARLOS SAINZ JR

xii. question...?

NEW YORK CITY
JANUARY 2023

     Sofía had tried her absolute hardest to pretend like nothing had happened, that the distance now wedged between her and Luca was due to their argument on Christmas. That her sour mood was because of said wedge, and not because of who was wedged between her thighs the previous week. It had been a challenger for her to keep her mind off her escapades, off the way his warmth spread across her, or how his mouth felt against her skin, or his hands, or his tongue.

Luca seemed to have been buying it so far, and it slightly caused a surge of guilt to course through her as she witnessed how hard he was trying to get them back to where they were before her betrayal. Not that he knew that.

And Sofía knew. She knew she was in the wrong, she knew that she needed to tell Luca what happened. But how was she supposed to do that? How was she supposed to break someone like that? The only thing keeping her from a complete spiral was the fact that she hadn't seen him yet, even though they had both been back for the past week. It was a fact that she was slightly grateful for.

Just because Luca was unaware of the reason behind her mood, doesn't mean that other people didn't suspect something was wrong with her. Sofía had felt the odd glances she had been getting from both her friends that morning during breakfast, Claudia and Isla were probably just waiting for the right moment to spring it on her and she wasn't sure what on Earth she was supposed to say when they did.

The plans had been a last minute effort to keep avoiding Luca, even though it had been filming for his new movie keeping him apart from her, she had claimed these plans were made a few days in advance. Little did he know, she had called both women up last night just after she got his text asking if she was free.

It had been nice so far, the conversation light and flowing easily between the three of them. Between talks of Isla and Daniel, Claudias most recent tinder date disaster and Sofías most recent development at work; including the planning of a tour over the next few months.

"He flew back to the Philippines just for New Years?" Claudia exclaimed, her palms going flat against the wooden table and shaking their tableware.

The blush on Islas cheeks was unmistakable as she waved her hands to dismiss the blondes gushing. "Lola got a little sick right after Christmas so I had to cancel my flight to Perth, Daniel kind of insisted on coming to me instead."

Claudia couldn't help but sigh dreamily, lifting her arm and rest her chin the palm of her hand. "I just want to know what that kind of love feels like. Where can I get one of him?"

"Is your Lola okay, Isles?" Sofía opts to ask, slightly rolling her eyes at her blonde friends antics.

Isla quickly waves off the concern though. "She's fine, she just likes being dramatic."

As if following some cue from the universe, Sofías phone pings several times. A quick glance at her screen shows yet another string of texts from Luca, making her sigh and turn her phone over. That was an issue for later on in the day. Maybe she could go see him and try to explain what had happened.

Isla was watching her movements carefully, her thoughts immediately rushing back to the night of Sofías album release. She was acting and moving in the same jittery way that she was that night when she ditched her by the bar. When Carlos had called her.