WEST COAST 18+

22.

the havana is just a random name

W E S T C O A S T

Daniela brushed the setting powder off her cheeks, putting in some effort for the plans she had set with Enrique. It was getting closer to the time he'd be picking her up, and though she was yapping off about how she wasn't eager, she was.

Hearing knocking at her door, Daniela blurts out, "What?" The door slowly creaks open for her to find Ashton on the other side. She instantly grew irritated. "I didn't tell you to come in."

"Sorry, I—" clearing his throat when he realized it was another apology coming out that she ain't want to hear. "I wanted to say thank you for doing this for me," he says, earning silence as her response, and he tries to get her to lighten up, "On the bright side, you two can finally have that date now," awkwardly smiling, Daniela sending daggers.

Time froze, and so did she. "You think this is funny?" she asks.

His mouth dries quickly, "No."

"That man would've had you dead if he didn't have a crush on me. If I had said no, do you know what he would've done to you? Shit wouldn't have been funny then." Daniela started to aggressively brush the powder off her face, "This is not how I wanted his and my relationship to go. Sorry doesn't cut it."

She was going to give Enrique a chance before this all happened, and now it felt—

"There's the door," Shanti said to Ashton, aiming her finger at it.

"Shanti," Daniela lets out breathless, shoulders dropped.

"Sorry," she chuckles to herself, Ashton heading out and closing her door with his head down.

He was making bad decisions left and right, becoming unrecognizable to his family. There was still something good inside because he felt remorseful for his actions, but that didn't matter to anyone. He really thought he was going to die when Enrique found out about the bag—take him out himself, so he really had to thank his sister for his life being spared.

"She's still not talking to you?" Vivian asked as Ashton returned to her bedroom.

"She hates me," he frowns, kicking off his shoes to climb back into her bed.

Vivian wasn't letting him off the hook, but she couldn't ignore her son like her daughter did. He was open with his feelings about how letting down Daniela hit way different. He waited for her to crack a joke on him about his chewed-up toenails, the obsessive amount of back hair that she exaggerated about, or even just his squeaky voice. But she did none of that, walking past him like he didn't exist.

She was furious with his actions, seeing how it took not even a month for Marcus to rotten him. Daniela felt guilty for wanting Ashton to get his ass kicked, but she knew she'd be there to protect him even if she got her ass kicked, too. She kept thinking of him as her baby brother, and those conflicting thoughts made her even more mad, but tonight, she wasn't going to focus on that. She was going to attend this dinner with Enrique and 'hoped' it went by fast, but let's face it, her feelings for him didn't change. 

When Enrique told Daniela he was picking her up, she told him she could've taken an Uber—Enrique not feeding into her because clearly it was to annoy him. So, he pulled up to her house exactly at eight, and they made it to The Havana a half hour later.

She tried being silent along their drive, but he got a couple of words out of her and a smile that she had to wipe off her face. Daniela wanted to seem uninterested in being here, the two grabbing a seat at the bar rather than a booth per her request. It was prettier over there, Enrique not minding.