Pimentel Princess #wattys2018

Chapter 28: liar liar

"It's okay girl," he says whilst I had my head in his chest.

"He loves you, a lot. You're his crush. He married his crush, you don't even fully understand how much he loves you," Richard explains. But he's right. I need to show him how much he means to me.

A little while later, Hafsa comes in with Joel.
We party for a while but Hafsa and January go sleep excitedly in their new bunk bed Joel had set up.

I slip into my pyjamas and rest my head on Joel's chest.

"Joel?" I ask.
"Yes Laila," I look up into his eyes. He definitely got his mother's eyes.
"How long have you had a crush on me?" I ask, catching him off guard.
"10 years..." he says nervously.
"10 FUCKING YEARS?" I scream causing him to jump.
"I didn't even know you 10 years ago," I say calmly. I was raging. Why didn't he ask me out?

"I know. I had a crush on you, I told you before. I fell in love with the stories Sinead told me, you're beauty, the things you went through. I didn't ask you because you were too good for me. The things you'd been through... you deserved better," it was as though he read my thoughts.
"I carried a photo of you, smiling in the sun at the camera in a hammock and a red and peach summery dress, in my wallet. It reminded me to pray for you and it made me smile in the days. I wasn't a stalker. I had a huge embarrassing crush on you. I married my crush," he kisses my forehead.

The next morning I wake up earlier than him. Making coffee, my eyes stung and my neck aching due to the weird way I slept.

"Urgh I wanna draw!" I moaned to myself. The last time I'd drawn was when Chris(velez) had forced me to draw a photo of him. I check the time, 6:45 am. The girls wouldn't get up until 10 on the weekend, and Joel would wake up around 9. Plus it only takes me around an hour to draw. I'll be done before they wake up.

After an hours time I had drawn Joel's eyes, nose and hair. Why was his lips so hard to draw? It frustrated me the amount I had to re-try, it ruined the texture of the paper.
"Urghhhhh!" I scream.
"For fucks sakes why are you so perfect?" I shout at no one in particular.

"What are you drawring," Joel catches me off guard sipping loudly on tea.
He walks over to catch a better glimpse whilst I struggle to hide the A3 massive sketchbook, with my hands.

"Wow! That's me," he points at himself , with his jaw dropping.
"My wife's art will be in museums soon," making me blush a bit. I run upstairs to quickly hid my work. I will try again later I tell myself.

He puts on music when I arrive down stairs and we slow dance. He remembers something, breaking our dance,then rushes upstairs in panic.

He returns in a the checkered shirt he wore on our first Tuesday meeting.
"Babe, take the girls swimming at 1 and run January a bath at 4 and Hafsa's at 5. I'll be back by 3 but just in case the meeting is prolonged. I have a meeting with the CNCO boys and Ricky Martin and Renato said he'd kill me if I was late. Sorry I love you and I'll be back soon," he rushes his words, pecking my forehead then slamming the door.
After that I'm greeted by silence and a gush is air from outside.

Joel still isn't back by three and the girls have both had their baths. I decide to text him to see what the hold up is.

Joelito
Hey what's up Joelly beans I miss you😭😩. Huge X.

He doesn't reply so I shrug it off. It's probably nothing and whilst the girls play cops and robbers, I turn on the tv. I switch to mtv as I'm in the mood for music but I'm automatically drawn to the name of the program.
'Cnco's comeback'

The volume exceeding 32, I attentively listen out to find out if this is a new video or old. I notice it says live in the corner so it automatically tells me it's new.

"Joel, I heard your married with 2 children, how did they react to you going back on tour?" The interview asks. My heart skips a bear waiting for him to answer. He gulps then replies confidently, "pretty well. It's only for 4 months until our break so they're cool with it."

What a fucking liar? How could he leave me with 2 children. For 4 months. Is he stupid?! He probably used me to take care of January whilst he 'went on tour'. He didn't love me! The user. I thrown an apple at the tv, but it hits the corner causing the tv to just bounce back whilst the bruised apple hits the floor.
"Okay Thankyou for your time cnco we're going for a break now. Don't move, we'll be back shortly," the woman on the tv says. Great. Now he'll see my messages.

I call him. The call goes straight to voice mail. I repeat it but he picks up this time.

"Where are you?" I ask offhandedly.

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Authors note:

Did you forget Chris velez had blurted it out earlier?😂😩tell me what y'all thought♥️ lots of love, Sabrina.