For Shits and Giggles [2024]

Chapter 33

Paola stared down at the phone in her hand.

It was ringing again.

1 Missed Call.

2 Missed Calls.

3 Missed Calls.

4 Missed Calls.

She placed her phone on the floor and pushed it away from her with her foot. It slid across the shiny bathroom floor, stopping at the base of the toilet. Paola watched it vibrate and vibrate and vibrate, until finally, it stopped. She'd been sitting on the bathroom floor for hours now.

Paola woke up in her bed after Felix killed her, Henry resting by her side blissfully unaware of what had happened at the Café. He knew there'd been a masscre, of course. Felix was involved. But that's all he knew.

He didn't know that the massacre had been Paola's fault, that she completely blew it. She lost her cool and now everyone hated her.

She pulled her knees to her chest and cried into them. There was a gentle voice from outside the bathroom door.

"Love, why won't you tell me what's wrong? Please unlock the door."

"I ruined everything," she cried.

"What honey, what did you ruin? I'm sure we can make it right."

"We can't... it's all her fault."

"Whose fault?"

"Gracie!"

Henry sighed and leaned his back against the outside of the bathroom door. He slid down, taking a seat on their floor.

"I can't help you if you won't talk to me."

Paola hesitated for a moment. She lifted her forehead from her knees and rested the back of her head against the door.

"I told everyone about Gracie and Felix."

Henry paused. "...You did? Fior knows?"

"No... maybe, I don't know. She wasn't there."

"I see," Henry said, the conversation leaving him with more questions than before.

"I was telling them what Fior said... that Gracie was scared of Camilo, that they were going to the lake. But they didn't believe me," she felt hot tears welling into her eyes again. "No one believed me."

"Huh? Why didn't they believe you?"

The question made her stomach drop. She felt a knot in her throat.

"You should've been there," she said sharply. "I was on my own. I needed you!"

Henry turned his body toward the door, "You know I was working. I would have been there if I could've."

"As always. Work, work, work. That's what's important to you, isn't it?"

Henry frowned and took a deep breath as to not raise his voice.

"That anger, Paola, it isn't for me. What is this about?"

She bit her lip, blinked. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's just..."

"It's just what?"

She paused again. Sitting there in the bathroom alone, not having to see the look of disappointment on Henry's face, made it easier to confess.

"All that extra money that's been coming in... I've been taking it from the Café."

There was a long pause from outside the door.

"Will you say something," Paola mumbled after a very long minute.

"Embezzlement, Paola? Are you out of your mind?"

"That's not... embezzlement sounds so serious. It's just Fior and Gracie, I own that place too."

"It's thousands of dollars Paola!"

She heard him stand up.

"I didn't take it all at once! I just fudged the numbers a little bit... nothing huge."

"I can't believe you're trying to justify this. We could get sued."

"Fior and Gracie wouldn't do that."

"Evidently we don't know what Gracie would do. And she would be right to do it!"

Paola sucked in a breath, "What does it matter! There are no lawyers in this town, no court system. The sheriff won't do anything. Honey, we're fine!"

"No we're not fine," Henry raised his voice for the first time. "You're putting my reputation on the line too. My company. I built it from the ground up with honest, good work. What will people think now?"

"We built it," Paola raised her voice too. "I was doing it for us! For our baby. I want to see you succeed, so you can take care of us."

There was another long pause.

"Do you really have that little faith in me?" He asked.

She thought she heard his voice crack. Immediately Paola stood up, swung the bathroom door open. Henry was standing there, his cheeks red, face flushed; his eyes glossed over, but no tears.

"That's not it," she said quickly, throwing herself into his chest. "That's not it, I'm so sorry." She wrapped her arms around him, but he didn't move.

"I can take care of my family," he said dryly. "I can take care of you."

"I know that! I didn't mean it like that, love, you know I didn't."

Paola's phone began to vibrate again, an annoyingly loud ringtone echoing through the porcelain bathroom.

"You should see who that is," Henry shrugged his shoulders, turning his chest to shake Paola off of him. "They've been calling you for a while."

Then, he was turning his back to Paola, leaving her alone once again. Fresh tears filled her eyes as she watched him walk away. She stormed back into the bathroom, snatching the phone up off of the floor.

"WHAT?"

"Is it true," came a quiet, muffled sob from Paola's phone.

"Is what they're saying about my husband and Gracie true?"