No Ordinary Love

Chapter 26

*****NOT EDITED******

Roman kept trying to persuade her to open the door. She stopped talking and knew she had shut down. He saw her slowly begin unraveling as night slowly came. It wasn't until Don Xavier spoke about school where he saw her eyes flash with anger.

He saw his mother approaching, her eyes concerned.

"Roman, you should go downstairs and finish your dinner, I'll see if Zayra wants to talk to me." she gently pushed him down the stairs.

She felt her son's nerves and his body tight. She knew he didn't want to go downstairs but she had ways of making her men do what she wanted. She watched him slowly retreat, his body a bit hunched over. No longer was he standing tall and carefree.

She knocked on the door. "Zayra, it's Marina. Please open the door." she said quietly.

Silence.

"Zayra, come back down with me. No one thinks of you as charity. Listen, Xavier is waiting for you downstairs. He wants to apologize. He shouldn't have pushed you. Please."

Silence.

She sighed. "Fine Zayra, have it your way. I'll be back later to check on you." she waited for a response and nothing came.

Marina walked down the stairs. She saw her son's eyes look at her expectantly, she shook her head. He blew out his breath in frustration.

"Trouble in paradise?" he heard Carlos mocking voice.

He got up quick, he wanted to wipe his smug face. His father put his hand on his shoulder.

"Roman. Drop it." Enrique turned to look at Carlos. He had stopped smiling and looked down. He was afraid of his uncle.

Roman sat back down. His leg moving nervously.

"I'll go talk to her and apologize. Everyone continue please, I'll bring her back down." Don Xavier got up to leave.

He knew he should have talked to her sooner about her financial state. This was a good enough time to do it. It was his fault after all. He's the one that pushed her fragile state. They had this conversation before and she had requested for him to back off. She was stubborn as a mule sometimes.

He walked to her room and rapped softly. "Zayra. It's Xavier, please open the door. We need to talk."

Silence.

He sighed, he expected this from her. He couldn't count the number of times he helped coax her out of her room when she was younger.

"Zayra, it's about your finances. I should have spoken to you earlier about this. Please open the door, I need to explain something to you."

Silence.

"Zayra, I'll leave you alone for now, but I want you downstairs. You are family, I want you with us, please. Let me explain myself."

Silence.

"Okay Zayra, I'll be downstairs waiting for you."

He waited for the response that never came. He sighed, she could be such an antagonistic child sometimes. He had to smile. Roman definitely had his work cut out.

*********

Zayra thanked Mario for the ride. He helped her with her luggage and made sure she had a room to stay in. She told him Marry Xmas and watched him leave.

Before the hostess ran her card, she asked if there was another hotel closer to the airport that was available. The lady looked at her confused.

"You can charge this room of course, but you see, I'm trying to book a room for my family. They should be here tonight."