[ twenty four ]
From the moment we returned home, my mother was in the kitchen, preparing foods for the Novena. Well, we were at James house because his mom and mine always participated together. While they made the main dishes, they had me make the buñuelos, which were little bread balls made from cheese, eggs, and maize, among other things. I was already on the fifth batch when I decided to take a break. It was hot in the kitchen, and I wiped the sweat off my forehead with my arm, my hands were covered in baking powder and other ingredients.
I stumbled out of the kitchen and into the livingroom tiredly after washing my hands. James was sat on the couch, playing FIFA. Normally, I may have complained that James was getting exempt from helping in the kitchen because he was a man. But I knew the real reason was that James Rodriguez, with his amazing football skills and all, did not know how to cook.
When we were kids, he once put a piece of meat in the microwave for a hundred minutes. The house smelled of charred meat before anyone else noticed and his mom ran to the kitchen. There was even smoke coming out of the microwave by then. In another instance, he had tried to make pasta and threw in the sauce before draining the water out of the pot.
Toni and James were both disasters in the kitchen, it seemed.
He didn't even flinch as I stopped at the couch and let myself fall onto the cushions face first. Only he was on the far end and my forehead fell on his lap. "What are you doing?" He finally asked me when I wouldn't get up. For the time being, he was no longer giving me the cold shoulder. Maybe he felt pity at the way his mother was acting towards me. Saying she was being mean was an understatement. In her eyes, I didn't even deserve to be in the same room as her son, breathing the same air, let alone being in the same country.
But I was too tired to do so. "I just want to rest for a minute. Cooking is difficult."
"Your face is a little too close to my..." He trailed off nervously.
"Oh my gosh, James." I half-shouted. "You're such a pervert."
"You're the one with your face all up in my d-"
"Don't even say it!" I warned him.
Soon as the words left my mouth, I tried to push myself off the couch, but I was stuck. The gold chain around my neck, which had a cross at the end of it was stuck to the cushions of the couch, keeping me anchored right where I was. My hands tried pushing my body off the cushions once more, but it was no use.
"Uh, James..." I began.
"Yeah?" He asked, pausing his video game.
Taking a deep breath and swallowing my embarrassment, I told him, "Help me, I'm stuck."
"What?" He stifled a laugh.
"When I threw myself onto the couch, my chain got stuck to the cushions and now I can't get up." I explained, more slowly. "Help me."
Now the laugh he was trying so hard to contain made an appearance. "How did you manage that?" He asked through his breaths, in between his amused laughter. I vowed in that moment that this would be James' last moment on this planet after laughing at something so serious. Especially when he knew well situations like this were among my top fears.
It had always been that way. For one reason or another, I have always feared that once something happens, it will never stop.
When a smoke alarm starts beeping, I fear it will never stop and I will have to hear it for the rest of my life.
In this case it was a fear that I would be pinned to James' living room couch forever.
Beginning to lose my patience, I told him, "James, stop laughing and help me. Please."
"Well, since you said please..." He reasoned.
But before he decided to help me, I felt him get something out of his pocket. It was his cellphone and I only knew that because he had opened the camara app and snapped a picture of me, he was laughing all the while. The sound of a picture being taken was what gave it away.
It was only after that when he decided to help me. He reached behind my neck and unclipped the chain expertly, releasing me from its clutches. I sat up on the couch and glared at him. His cellphone was in his hand and he was typing away on it, no doubt he was about to post it on the social media. But I would do everything in my power to prevent that.
In the next second, I jumped on him, my legs on either side of him, while my hand reached for his cellphone that he now held over his head to keep it out of my reach. I leaned forward, trying to reach farther for it.
"Now you have your boobs all up in my face." He told me. But rather than sounding like a complaint, he sounded like he was enjoying it.
But I ignored him. "Give me that phone, James." I said to him, adding, "Give it to me now!" Just as both my mother and his walked into the livingroom to check on us. Surely they were about to ask me to return to the kitchen and finish up the buñuelos, but instead were met by a strange scene taking place in the livingroom. They had walked in on what looked like James and I getting it on. My ponytail was a mess as a result of the chain incident, I was straddling James, my boobs were in his face, and one of his hands was on my waist when he was trying to push me away.
James and I froze, out eyes wide in shock.
I knew they wouldn't believe the truth after what they saw.
I quickly moved off James and sat next to him on the couch. Clearing my throat, I told them, "I know this looks wrong, but it really isn't what it looks like."
While I tried to explain, James smile was one of someone who was guilty of doing what they thought we were doing. "Arista," My mother began, on her own face was a delighted smile. She was totally on board with the possibility of James and I getting back together. "You need to come back to the kitchen and finish up those buñuelos for tonight."
That was all they had to say before they returned to the kitchen.
I sighed in relief, "I thought they were going to kill us." Elbowing James in the stomach, I added, "And you weren't helping, sitting there smiling like an idiot."
"What could I have said to change their minds?" He shrugged. "Besides, we can do whatever we want. We're adults."
"But we weren't doing anything." I pointed out.
James grinned, "That's not what they think."
And he clicked something on his phone. I had forgotten all about the picture.
I got my phone out of the pocket in my apron and opened up the twitter app. It was easy to find his account. And there, I found hiw tweet with the picture attached.
jamesdrodriguez: no se resiste a mis encantos ;) twitpic.com/sj57n345ybhcdb25n *
I shot him a glare and then I returned to the kitchen.
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*no se resiste a mis encantos ;) - she can't resist my charm ;)
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another update for this story. i want to thank ellie because i know nothing about christmas time in colombia (only in mexico or usa), and she helped me so that i could not seem like an ignorant person on here. haha. guys, i was mindblown when i saw colombian bunuelos bc these are like little balls and in mexico they are flat and made from flour tortillas. very delicious.
but yeah, i hope you like the chapter.
i love you.
-clary xx
