"Have fun," I tease, kissing Carlos on the cheek as he laughs at me, "You too amore," he murmurs, kissing my temple before walking out the front door. I shut it and lock it before turning around to see Mama standing with two glasses of wine and a smirk on her face.
"That looked very...couply," she says, handing me a glass as I roll my eyes, "We're just friends," I mutter, walking into the lounge room and sitting on the couch closest to the fire.
She raises an eyebrow at me and I drop my gaze, "With benefits," I add, making Mama wince, "I don't need to know that," she says, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
I shrug, "It works for us," I lie, knowing damn well both of us would be happy to be in a proper relationship if we were in different circumstances.
"So you're strictly just friends?" she asks, sounding so unconvinced I have to take a sip of wine before answering, "Yes," I say, trying to sound convinced myself.
"Does he know that?" she asks, looking at me over the rim of her glass, "Yeah we've spoken about it," I say, my stomach lurching as I remember each time one of us has said that we're just friends, leaving the other one heartbroken.
Mama nods, "Do you know that?" she suddenly asks, making me narrow my eyes, "Of course, strictly friends with benefits," I say, frowning when she gives me an unimpressed look.
"You better get that lovey-dovey look out of your eyes whenever you see him then," she says, studying me closely as I try to not give anything away.
"What look?" I ask, taking another sip as I watch her smile, "Like he's the only person in the world," she says, making me sad as I realise that when I'm with him it does feel like we're the only people on this earth.
"Don't worry cherí, I've seen how he looks at you too," she laughs, making my head whip up. "Like what?" I ask, feeling a child who needs validation.
"Like he doesn't ever want to look away," Mama says softly, making the coroners of my mouth tilt up.
In an ideal world we could be together, but it's just so complicated.
"Why don't you two get together? The only difference which it would make it the label of your relationship," Mama says, tilting her head slightly as she looks at me.
"Too many things going on, it would be too difficult," I sigh, looking up at Mama as she smiles sadly at me. "Relationships aren't always easy cherí, but if it's meant to be, there's no point in fighting it," she says gently, "What's the real reason you guys aren't together yet?" she asks, cutting through my bullshit.
"We're both too scared," I confess, looking up at Mama as she looks at me with empathetic eyes.
"What's so scary my love?" she asks.
"Dad's working with his parents, they're all trying to sabotage us and we don't want to put each other in anymore danger," I say, wincing as I see Mama's body stiffen as I mention my Father.
Although she never confessed it, I used to always hear my Father beating Mama, telling her that if she tried to leave he'd hurt me too. Of course, he was abusing me the entire time too, she just never knew.
"Don't let them win Ophelia," Mama says in a low voice, "Don't give them that satisfaction,"
I nod, "I don't know if he feels the sa-" Mama cuts me off with a gasp of laughter, "Ma cherí! That's such a stupid thing to say, that man loves you," she laughs, her laughter ringing through my ears as her words register.
He loves me? Carlos fucking loves me? No, I refuse to believe that.
Love destroys people, Mama loved Father and look how that turned out. I know that Carlos would never hurt me in any way, but there's a part of me which hesitates to let him in like that. Let myself properly fall for him, for I feel as though that would do more harm than good.
"Lia? You still there?" Mama's concerned voice snaps me from my thoughts, "I'm here Mama," I smile, standing up.
"If you don't feel the same way to Carlos, make sure he knows you see him purely as a friend," Mama warns, standing up and looping her arm through mine. I nod as we walk to the kitchen, "I'm craving cookies," Mama says and I gasp, "Me too!" I laugh, feeling pure joy now.
I watch as my beautiful Mama looks for the recipe book, her dark auburn hair in a loose bun as her eyes crinkle with joy. It's always just been Mama and I, she's my person, my best friend, and I don't know what I'd do without her. That's why I'm so grateful that she's here, I value her opinion, always telling me the truth, however hard it is to hear it.
"Shit I spilled wine in the bowl," I hear her mutter, causing me to laugh as I see she's spilled half her glass into the bowl.
"That's ok, we can have wine cookies," I giggle, starting to pour the dry ingredients into the bowl as Mama laughs.
She takes another gulp of wine and I snatch the glass away from her, "That's enough for you," I gently scold her, finishing the rest of her glass before mixing the dry ingredients together.
I suddenly hear the front door open and I smile when I realise Carlos is home. "Keep going," Mama laughs, and I try to focus on making our cookies as his footsteps get closer.
I see him out of the corner of my eye and I look up to see him standing in the entryway of the kitchen. I gasp as I see him, running over to him as I throw my arms around his neck, "Our saviour," I laugh, "You're better and cooking shit, come do this for us," I tell him, leading him over to our mess as he tosses his blazer over a stool. I don't miss the look she gives me and I subconsciously clear my throat.
"How did you get cookies so wrong?" he asks, laughing as I feel a blush creep up on my neck. My eyes dart over to Mama as she rolls her eyes at us.
"I'm too old for this shit," she mutters, causing me to gasp dramatically, "But Mama, you are still so young!" I never liked it when Mama would joke about getting old, for as a child the thought of losing both parents was just too much.
Mama laughs as she sits down on a stool, "I like your enthusiasm cherí," she smiles.
Carlos get a cloth from under the sink and wets it, cleaning up the mess on the counter before putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. "I thought you'd just make them for us," I say, slightly disappointed at how he tossed away our cookie batter so soon, narrowing my eyes so he knows I don't approve.
"Why don't we start again?" he suggests, getting out clean bowls and setting them on the counter.
"You two set up, I'm going to the bathroom," Mama says, excusing herself as she walks out of the kitchen.
"I hope I didn't come back too soon, I tried to give you enough time to catch up and everything," Carlos suddenly says, looking at me with a worried expression as I smile up at him.
"Nonsense, you gave us the perfect amount of time to catch up on everything," I say, leaning down to press a kiss onto his lips. "Everything?" he asks, kissing me back, causing me to chuckle. "Everything," I say, making him frown.
I laugh as I realise what he's referring to, it's not like I told Mama the details of how he fucked me. I smile and pull him closer to me, cupping his face as I look down at him from my seat on the bench.
"I'm glad we managed to put our shit behind us and stay friends," I murmur, my words making me want to throw up.
"So am I," he says quietly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, making me wonder if I should've just friendzoned him.
Mama saying he loves me scared me too much, and this was the best possible thing I could think of doing, it was a dumb idea though.
I hear Mama's footsteps and Carlos pushes himself away from me and returns to making the cookies.
I sigh as I watch him, guilt creeping up as I see him plaster on that stupid fake smile I hate. What the fuck have I just done?
//
*not edited*
that was just ophelia's thoughts on everything, next chapter will be out soon,
i planned out majority of the rest of the chapters of the book, there'll probably be about 55-60, as i said, it's shorter than The Moon And The Stars,
but until the next chapter, have a good day/night and don't forget to vote!!
Abi <3
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His Fia
Romance*NOT FULLY EDITED* Brought together by mutual friends, Ophelia and Carlos were the butt of everyone's jokes, everyone saying how perfect they would be. However picture perfect the two seemed to be, with both battling demons their relationship abrupt...
