WEST COAST 18+

43.

I suggest reading the chapter fully. there are time jumps.

And surprise!! There's a bonus chapter too.

W E S T C O A S T

4 months can go by fast when you're in love. It's as if you're floating and reaching the highest of high clouds while intertwined with the person of your dreams. Daniela was so afraid of fucking up, though-still carrying around the insecurities her exes left her with. But luckily, Enrique was the kind of man he was-helping her get over those issues by reassuring her he was here to stay.

They were in a really good place.

'Can I call you?' Daniela texted Enrique while in the middle of her work shift at the gas station.

Enrique read her message and assumed something was wrong, giving her a call. "What's up? Everything alright?" he asks once the line connects.

Daniela leaned against the coffee station with her arms crossed. "Nothing. I just wanted to hear your voice."

He briefly grows silent. "Hear my voice?"

"I like talking to you."

He smiles at her confession, "Okay. So talk to me."

She brightens, smiling foolishly, "I don't even know what to say now."

"Don't get shy on me now, baby. Tell me about your day. How was work?" Enrique asks. Daniela can hear the distinctive chatter around him, Pablo's backyard packed with friends.

"Work was shit. Slushie machine exploded on me, and now I gotta wear this shirt that says, 'huge wieners. Want one?"

Enrique cocked his head to the side. "That's odd; you would've loved something like that. What's going on with you?"

"I really don't know," she sighs, gently brushing the short strands at the back of her head near her neck. Hearing this loud scream mixed in with laughter, she asks, "Where you at?"

"Pablo's got us all over at his place to watch the fight, but I'ma come see you. Give me a half hour, alright?"

"I'm fine, Enrique." She didn't want him to end his fun just to see her.

"That doesn't make me feel better. I need to see you-make sure you good."

His caring side was something to appreciate, but she didn't want him to ditch his people. "I don't wanna steal you for too long-"

"Steal me for long? Baby, I'm picking you up and taking you home."

Her face relaxes. "Enrique, I can't just leave work. I've already faked three sick days."

"Tell 'em ya stomach hurts again," Enrique shrugs with the idea.

She mentions with her own acknowledgment, "You're gonna get me fired."

"That's kinda the point," Enrique states while getting up out of a chair.

Since the robbery, the salon struggled to even get their regulars in because no one wanted to risk the incident happening again with them in the chair. So, it was slow-hairstylist pockets hurting in the meantime. Daniela didn't want to give up on the place, but since her boss let her go, there wasn't anything she could do.

It sucked that even when she thugged it out with them, they fired her, but it allowed her to have more free time on her hands.

It wasn't too long after Daniela got off the phone with Enrique that he showed up while she was in the middle of inventory. She complained to Shanti's father that the stomach bug had come back, the man knowing she was lying. She got over on the old man because he viewed her like a daughter, his very own, sleeping on the job a handful of times and still employed.