The trip of a lifetime

Old Memories Resurfaced

Chapter 4

**2:17 a.m.**

Once Guy was gone I got up from the bed, my head really hurt, as I walked over to the mirror to look at myself my legs wobbled. I looked into the mirror and saw my face, I had a small purple bruise on my right cheek and a cut on the top of my left eyebrow, it wasn't that bad I've had worse throughout my life, I could easily fix this problem with makeup, I looked down at my arms where I could see red hand marks on my arms where the man grabbed me but I would be fine after a few days. Guy is who I'm really worried about, he probably got the worst of it, he had to take on all those guys, though as I thought about it more, that guy brought a lot of backup, which meant he was looking for a fight. But why with Guy, does he know him, I don't know, but I'll have to ask him tomorrow because it's 2 am and I'm tired, so I take off my outfit and put on a big t-shirt and go to bed. But I couldn't sleep, so much happened, I had so many questions as to why everything happened. The events just kept playing over and over in my head. I touched my forehead, where Guy kissed me, why did he kiss me, did all French people do that to people they just met? I kept thinking and thinking until finally I drifted off.

**The Next Morning**

I wake up the next morning feeling a bit sore but rested. I got up and went to the bathroom to wash my face, my hair was a mess so I grabbed my brush and sat on the bed brushing my hair until I got all the knots out. Once I was done with my hair I looked through my clothes and picked out a t-shirt and some jeans, as I was about to walk out I remembered that I still have a purple bruise on my cheek, so I took out my makeup and covered my bruise and the cut on my eyebrow. I was still a bit hungover but I didn't care. I then walked out into the hallway, I didn't know where I'd go but I wanted to go somewhere, so I started walking around the hotel. I felt like everyone was looking at me, my head still hurt and I felt the lights were super bright which made my head feel worse. I really didn't know why I came to walk around in the first place, I honestly had no idea where I was going nor what time it was. After a while I felt pretty hungry but I didn't know where to go, I had gotten lost in the hotel and no one spoke English so I tried to find my way back but I got even more lost, after a while I saw a familiar avocado green shirt. It was Thomas, I walked over to him when out of nowhere this girl with brown hair ran up to him and gave him a hug I assumed she was his girlfriend so I started walking away from them but Thomas saw me and called out to me, "Hey, Teresa come there's someone I'd like you to meet," as I walked over I got a good look at her, she was really pretty. She smiled at me and said, "Hello, my name is Elodie," she held out her hand and I shook it, I saw a ring on her finger, then Thomas said, "This is my fiance" and she turned to Thomas and gave him a big kiss, they were cute together, you could tell they were really in love, just by the way they looked at each other, I hoped to one day love someone like that. Elodie turned to me and said, "Teresa, Thomas and I are going out for lunch, would you like to come with us?" "Yeah, lemme just get Anna" I found an elevator and went up to Anna's room. I knocked on her door and waited for her to open, she then came out and said, "Good afternoon Teresa, come in" I walked in, "Anna can you come with me to lunch with Thomas and his fiance, I've never eaten in France so I might need some help"

"yeah I'll go let me just grab my purse" she turned around and grabbed her purse and we walked out.

Elodie's POV

Thomas and I stood in the lobby waiting for Teresa and Anna. I turned to Thomas, "Thomas is that the girl Guy likes?" "Yeah, that's her" then Teresa and Anna walked out to us and said, "okay we're ready" Teresa was a beautiful woman, clearly Latina. She seemed like a really kind girl, Thomas gestured toward the cab, "ladies first" I giggled, "Oh Thomas you're such a gentleman" we all piled into the cab, we drove out to a small cafe nearby nothing fancy really. After we ate our food we sat there and got to know each other, Teresa said she was interested in photography and she liked to draw and write, she had an amazing sense of humor and she was also very intellectual despite her saying that she never finished school. I asked her about where she came from and she said she was originally from Sinaloa, Mexico and eventually moved to America with her family. Teresa was practically an open book, until I asked her about her past in Mexico and her family, her face darkened and she changed the subject. It really made me curious to know what she had to hide but perhaps she kept her past secret for a reason. I looked down at my watch and it was already two, "I've got to get going, I have to show up on set for the movie at three" I gave Thomas a kiss and turned to Teresa and gave her a hug, " It was great meeting you Teresa, I hope we get a chance to hang out again"

"It was great meeting you too Elodie" I said goodbye to Anna and got a cab to go to the set.

TERESA'S POV

We left the cafe a bit after Elodie left. On our way back to the hotel I felt guilty for lying to Elodie about my past. The truth is my father is a very important man in Sinaloa, he was never really a good person and not everything he did was legal, especially his drug business. His name is Epifanio Vargas. He was an abusive husband, as a child he would never lay a finger on me, but I saw him beat my mother all the time. She once tried to run away and took me with her, but my father was a powerful man and he sent his people after us and they brought us back. I still remember the night they brought me and my mother back, they brought us to his office where he sat at his desk with his back turned to us. As he turned around in his chair he had the most evil look in his eyes, for a moment he just sat there staring at us, he then stood and walked toward us. My mother tried to be brave for my sake but I could feel her tremble, knowing what would happen next. "Ay Flor, mi flor linda, I didn't want it to come to this, but you shouldn't have run." He pulled out a gun and held it to her forehead and pulled the trigger. That was the night my mother died, her body collapsed on the floor and I stood there staring at her limp lifeless body. I fell next to her body and cried, he stood there and stared, then he came towards me and my sadness turned to anger, I stood and ran to him and punched him while yelling "MONSTRUO, ERES UN MONSTRUO!" then he slapped me, "Stop crying you stupid girl, she's dead, she deserved it, now get over it crying won't bring her back" I stood there in shock because he had never ever hit me before, his men came in and took me to my room, and dumped her body in a nearby river, I was eight years old then. I finally ran away when I was fifteen I went to America where I got a job at Elena's mom's store. Elena's mom, Monica took me in and I changed my name from Teresa Vargas to Teresa Mendoza.

We finally arrived back at the hotel and we got out of the cab. I really wanted to talk to Elena, I missed her. I sat in a chair in the lobby and stared off into space, getting lost in my thoughts. I opened my purse to see what I had and saw I brought my Polaroid camera with me. I took it out and started taking pictures. Then I sat back down and looked through the pictures I took, when suddenly I heard a voice behind me, "Those are nice" I looked up and saw it was Guy. He came and sat next to me, "Can I see"

"sure"

he looked through the pictures, I saw he was wearing sunglasses indoors, "Guy why are you wearing sunglasses?" he turned away "no reason" I turned his face to me and took the sunglasses off, his left eye was purple and a little swollen he quickly took the sunglasses back and put them on he cleared his throat, "Do you want to go out?" did Guy just ask me out, I looked at him, "go out?" "Yeah, out to the city" oh, he meant out for a walk stupid, "sure let's go" He stood and took my hand and we walked out.