Santiago runs his finger over my bottom lip and my red lipstick slightly smudges.
"Santi," I hiss. He leans down and nicks my bottom lip in return.
"It's Mr. Alvaro to you, secretary," he rumbles. He ran his hand that was resting on my hips down to...
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I jumped up from the couch and I instantly regretted it. My head pounded like a huge alarm clock pounded in my head. "Mierda," I muttered.
I vividly remember the night before. The first time I ever broke down in my mother's arms since I was a child. And it was over Leilani. Jesus, I was in deep.
I rub my eyes and glance at the clock—8:37 am. I rise from the couch and walk to the powder room near the kitchen. I looked like a mess. I wasn't myself. Ever since she left, I haven't been myself.
I scrub my face and let myself out. I didn't want to face the aftermath of Salma and Teresa. Driving home, I couldn't stop my mind from thinking of her. Thinking of her beautiful, brown eyes. Thinking of her beautiful, full lips.
The way she never had a bad hair day. She always looked perfect. I missed her. I missed her badly.
Before I knew it, I was packing a bag and grabbing my passport. I drove to Aolani and Leilani's apartment. I knock on the door. No answer.
I didn't have time for this. I kept knocking and knocking until Aolani yanked open the door. Her face went from annoyance to anger. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I need Leilani's home address in Hawaii."
Aolani scoffs and then moves to shut the door in my face. I shoved my foot in the door and added a hand on the door for extra measure. "Wait. Please. I-I need to see her."
Aolani glares at me. "Do you know what it's like to have your favorite person in the world just break down in your arms out of pure agony?"
She sobbed into my arms and gripped onto my forearms. "I-I never thought that I would be so emotional seeing him. I mean, my God he doesn't even know what I look like. But i-it hurts so much because he has no idea what I look like. His son is turning 18 in a couple of hits, his daughter 24 in a month and he has no idea what we look like."
"I'm sorry about that, Aolani. I'm trying to make this right. Please," I pleaded. "Give me her address."
Aolani glares at me. "If she doesn't come back completely loved up and happy, I'm showing up to your house and stabbing you."
The door slamming in my face is definitely something I should've expected.
I could see the fracture of her temporary resolve when she saw me. It broke my heart.
I rushed to the back of her house, trying my best to work around the pattern of her backyard. I see her figure painted out in the outline of trees and I call out to her. "Leilani! Wait!"
That only makes her run faster. I speed up my movements and it's like she tracks my every movement. She ducks underneath a hole in her gate and breaks into a run. I stop at the gate. Unfortunately, I cannot fit in the hole.
