Not enough (Fermín López)

Chapter 18

Lorena woke up in a room she didn't recognize and looked around to try to remember where she was. The spot next to her in bed was empty, but someone had slept there. Then she noticed the framed photo on the bedside table. Fermín and his brother. She was in Fermín's room. And that made her remember everything that had happened the previous night.

She got out of bed and noticed she didn't have any slippers to wear, so she picked a pair of socks Fermín had left on a chair. They were clean and a bit too big for her but it was better than walking barefoot.

"I'm just saying your relationship is a bit odd, Fermín", she heard Fermín's mum's voice and that made Lorena stop walking. "It's almost as if you two are hiding something".

"What could we hide?"

"I wouldn't know...".

She moved back upstairs to make more noise while walking down the stairs to let them know she was coming. And, unsurprisingly, they went silent.

"Good morning".

"Morning, Lorena. Do you want coffee?"

"Yes, please".

"Milk?", she nodded. "I'll leave it on the counter so you add as much as you want".

"Thanks".

Lorena moved towards the chairs and was going to sit down on the one next to Fermín but she noticed his mum looking at them, analysing the way they acted. So she didn't sit and hugged him instead.

"You ok?", he said, not expecting the hug.

"I just needed a hug".

Fermín smiled. "Sorry I didn't wait for you to wake up. I thought you might want to sleep in and I'm too used to waking up early".

"It's fine. I didn't know you were such a morning person".

"Shouldn't she know all about when you wake up, honey? You've been dating for months but...now I think about it, you never really spend the nights with her. Odd".

Lorena didn't even think about how she could have interpreted her comment. She needed to do something to convince her this was real. Even if it wasn't.

"I don't want to talk about that with you, mum", he cringed.

"I know it looks weird", said Lorena. "But you should actually be happy about your son being so understanding instead of thinking we hide something".

"Understanding?"

"Yes. My family is pretty conservative. He's just respecting that I was raised with some old-fashioned values and it's hard for me to change that completely", that wasn't fully a lie...so she hoped it meant she sounded convincing.

"So I raised a gentleman. Look at that". Fermín's mum's tone was playful but she seemed to be happy hearing that explanation. "It's just strange to find younger people who act like that, you know? But I'm happy to know he respects that and you can do whatever you want, of course. Less of a possibility of making me a grandma while I'm still so young".

"Muuum!", he groaned.

"Oh shush. I'm just joking. It's good to know you're treating a nice girl like Lorena right".

"Thanks. That means a lot that you don't hate me".

"Why would I hate you, Lorena?", Fermín's mum was so shocked by that comment. She didn't know what was going on between them but hating her? That was a bit much.

"Because her parents hate me", said Fermín. "I mean, they don't really know me but I'm a footballer and not the perfect boy her ex was so...".

"Well, I think you're perfect, honey".

"You're my mother".

"I think you're alright too", laughed Lorena.

"And you're my girlfriend".

"Both very objective people, wouldn't you say Lorena?"

"Absolutely", she told his mum, smiling and looking at Fermín while he shook his head.

"Look at how Lorena looks at you, Fermín", said his mum, getting his attention. "Like she can't believe someone so perfect is standing next to her. And I made you this perfect so not biased at all".

Fermín looked at Lorena, who was now looking away and blushing. Was that really how she looked at him? Because it was definitely how he looked at her.

And he noticed that it came so naturally to call her his girlfriend. It never felt like a lie. And that worried him because he still didn't know how to talk to Lorena about those feelings.

But once that was all explained, they had breakfast and chatted about their plans for the day. Lorena was going to her dorm, not back home. And Fermín had training later in the day but had time to drive her home before going to work.

"Was that true?", he asked her when they were back in his room.

"What?"

"The thing about your parents and their rules...".

"Yeah, but I never followed them. Adrián and I started to have sex before we even dated officially. But he was good at pretending nothing was happening. Offering we sleep in separate rooms and all that".

"And I'm a footballer".

"Yes, you're all depraved. Didn't you know that?"

"Well, some are, to be fair", he shrugged.

"You aren't? Your mum was really surprised about us not spending the nights together. It kind of tells me you used to spend a lot of time doing that with other girls".

"It also tells you I haven't done it since we started to fake".

"I guess it does".

And how should that make Lorena feel? She had been so hurt by the cheating scandal that wasn't true. But Fermín was being loyal to her...even though she wasn't really his girlfriend. Why?

Fermín heard his mum opening and closing doors, moving closer to his room. And knew what was going to happen.

"You trust me?", Lorena nodded and Fermín kissed her.

Lorena didn't expect that and, even though she was kissing him back, she feared doing that was only going to make it harder to stop feeling the way she did about Fermín. But soon, the door opened and she knew why Fermín did what he did.

"Mum! I told you to knock!"

"I'm sorry. But I'm carrying a big bucket with your laundry, I don't have enough hands to do all that".

"You opened the door with one hand that could have been used to knock".

"I guess you're right. Maybe next time".

"And then you complain when I lock the door...".

After the little interruption, they got dressed so Fermín could drive Lorena to her dorm. She at least had her shorts she could wear but needed a hoodie to not freeze her whole body. Just freezing the legs was enough. And when they got to the dorm, they saw there was a little surprise waiting for her.

"You were with him, of course".

"What are you doing here, Adrián?"

"Your parents were worried about you and called me".

"They didn't call me".

"Have you been here all night waiting?", laughed Fermín.

"No, I didn't wait here while you kept turning her into...this".

"This?", she said looking down at herself. "A woman wearing men's clothes? There are plenty, you know?"

"You know what I mean".

"Yeah, I know and I don't care. Fermín isn't trying to turn me into anything I'm not. Unlike my parents. Unlike you".

"I didn't do a great job, did I?"

"No, you didn't. Taming me proved a bit too hard for you".

Lorena opened the door and let Fermín inside before she could close it in Adrián's face.