La Arquitecta

Chapter 30

Sleeping in a car hadn't been the best experience of David Hernandez's life. But then it hadn't been the worst, either. Any in any case, an uncomfortable few hours of sleep was a very small price to pay for what today promised to bring.

It had taken him most of the previous day, Tuesday, to drive from New York to Orlando. It was a good thing he had left before dawn because it had taken him almost eighteen hours, thanks to some traffic problems. It was an experience he had no intention of repeating. Thankfully, he wouldn't have to.

After his few hours of rest, David had awoken feeling surprisingly refreshed. The reason for that was no secret to him. Today was the day he would finally come face to face with his chiquita again. He had waited for it, longed for it, for so long. She was all he could think about. Man, he wanted her so badly. If everything went to plan, they would talk out their past issues, she would agree to end her sham of a relationship with that Rollins asshole, then they would kiss. He would feel those fulsome lips against his own. His hands would explore her body, savouring every inch of it. Then they would have sex. The very thought made him rock hard. A woman as beautiful as Zelina was an almost impossible thing, yet she was going to be his.

Waiting was a bastard, but it was what he had to do. Having parked the car in the lot of a supermarket while he slept, David had gone inside once he had woken up to take a piss and buy a strong cup of coffee. He had also purchased a bottle of water and some snacks in case he had a long wait ahead of him.

With the caffeine doing its work, he had driven to Zelina's address. He had recognised it from Google street view. Well, he had spent a lot of time looking at it over the past week.

Reversing the car back past a couple of houses, he had parked up on the opposite side of the street. Only a complete asshole would sit right outside of the house they were watching. Caution was important, because there was always the chance that chiquita might freak out again if... No, not if, when she saw him. Who knew what Rollins had said to her to talk her into getting the restraining orders? He could have been putting all kinds of poison into her head, and David couldn't allow that to ruin everything he had planned. No, come what may, everything he wanted, everything he had dreamed about, was going to happen.

He took off the baseball cap he was wearing to scratch his head. He didn't like the feel of wearing it, but doing so was necessary, since it would make it highly unlikely that even if Zelina drove past his car and happened to glance his way, that she would recognise him. He had also brought a pair of leather gloves with him because he hadn't decided yet whether it would be better to approach her house and knock the door, or to check out the back door and then choose one of the locks to pick. If there was a chance she wouldn't open the door for him, it would be better to choose the latter option. It left less to chance, since he didn't have any doubt in his lock picking ability. If he was going to break into the place, it was prudent not to leave fingerprints. After all, the nasty possibility of everything going wrong did exist.

Waiting was making him angry. Surely Zelina should have been home by now? It was past fucking lunch time! How long did it fucking take to fly from whatever shithole town she had been filming the dumb wrestling show in last night? What if she didn't come home? What if she had gone to New York with that bastard weasel Rollins? That would be a disaster, but there would be another time to come back. But he didn't want to think about that possibility. She was going to come home, alone. She was.

David sat there for another twenty minutes, finding it harder and harder to control his temper. "Where is the fucking bitch?" he eventually exploded. "If she's gone to New York with that fucking prick, I'll kill someone!"

Clenching both of his fists together so tightly it hurt, he forced himself to take deep breaths. He needed to calm down. She would come.

A few minutes later, David heard a car approaching – something of a rarity on this road at this time of day, apparently. He tried his best to look natural, knowing that it was the best way to cover up most things that you didn't want people to see as suspicious. If you looked like you fitted in and were going about your business, people assumed you were doing exactly that.