Promises - Joel Pimentel

Chapter 16

I knew this wasn't fair to Joel; I can't just leave without giving him an explanation. However, if I break up with him now it's going to ruin his mood for tonight's event and I didn't want thousands of fans blaming me for his bad mood if he shows up to the Latin Grammy's like this. My plan was to break up with him after the show but for now, I was focused more on staying as far away from Amber as I could.

"Do you need a ride home?" Ryan asks sliding down the wall next to me.

The heavy rain was making it hard for us to hear each other. I just shook my head 'no'. There is no way I am going home with him. Especially not after the way he was verbally harassing me in my own front lawn.

"Come on, I'll take you home. It's too cold out here. I promise I won't do anything bad if you just trust me" he lets out his hand for me to grab, but I ignored it.

Standing up, I look out into the parking lot.

"Fine. Just take me home" I coldly say not looking at him.

He stands up and begins walking towards his car as I follow. Neither of us had an umbrella to cover ourselves so I used my jacket over my head. As soon as I sat in the front seat of the car, I pulled out my phone to let my dad know I would be heading back. He didn't pick up so I just left him a voice message.

"Have you been crying?" he asks trying to look into my eyes while driving.

"It's none of your business" I mumble.

"Look Maya I know you well enough to know you don't cry unless you're really hurt or scared. You can trust me. I know it's Joel"

I look at him giving him a death glare.

"You know nothing about Joel so don't bring his name in like that"

"I know it's Joel and I know someone like you doesn't deserve to put up with this. You're a beautiful, smart, intelligent girl Maya and just because Joel's a famous star, doesn't mean you have to put up with this. You deserve to be treated like a queen and deserve to be cherished"

"Wow that's ironic. Coming from a boy himself who has a history of physically abusing me" I spit back at him.

"I'm trying to change and be a better man"

I didn't reply to him and I didn't want to, so I continued to look out the window watching the raindrops run down the glass of the car window. It wasn't long until he pulled up in front of my house.

"Do you want me to walk you in?"

"No" I reply.

Getting out of the car, I grab my things and run to my door trying to avoid being soaked by the heavy rain. Without saying goodbye, he drives away as I step into my house.

"Back so soon? Where's your father?" my mum asked sitting in the lounge watching television and having lunch.

"He's still busy with the boys preparing for tonight" I answer heading upstairs into my room and getting into the shower.

Twisting the tap, I feel the warm water run down my body and washing away my dried-up tears. This is exactly what I needed; a warm relaxing therapeutic shower which would help me calm down my tense muscles.

'You're so weak Maya, how could you let someone dictate your life for you'

'This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do'

The thoughts were running through my head as I shut my eyes running my hands through my wet hair. As soon as I was done washing my hair and scrubbing my body, I grabbed my soft pink robe and wrapped my hair in a towel. Thinking about Joel, I decided to get this over and done with. I grabbed my phone and dialled Joel's number. He didn't pick up however, it had sent me straight to voicemail. Toughening up, I took a deep breath and began talking as the voicemail was recording me.

"Hi babe, I know you don't have much time. I just wanted to say I don't think this is going to work out anymore. I care about you so much so please don't think any of this is your fault"

Tears began to water down from my eyes again. Maybe my own thoughts were right maybe I am weak.

"It's not safe for you or for me to continue this relationship. Trust me I'm doing this because I don't want to see you hurt. Your whole life is being mapped out for you by your own management team. You're a successful singer dating a beautiful YouTube star. I've tried staying patient, but I just can't anymore. Please understand that you don't need to blame yourself for this"

I was distracted as I had to sniff away my tears.

"I love you so much Joel Pimentel and I always will. I wish you and Amber the best of luck in the future. Goodbye"

That was that. I ended the voicemail by hanging up and placing my phone on the side. After I had gotten dressed, I headed downstairs and walked straight into the kitchen pulling out some fruit to fill up my empty stomach.

"Maya look, it's started" my mother yells from the lounge.

I'm guessing she's talking about the Latin Grammy's that were streaming live on T.V. I wanted to watch but I also wanted to run away. It's just too painful to see everything that hurt me, right in front of my eyes. Celebrities like Becky G, Maluma, J Balvin and others were entering the red carpet and being interviewed. It was then CNCO's turn; Joel was last to enter with Amber around his arm. My heart felt like it was breaking all over again and a lump of hurt and jealousy formed in my throat. She was wearing a beautiful velvet dress with her hair made upwards along with gorgeous curls hanging. Camera's were flashing as her and Joel shared a kiss.

"Are you ok?" my mum asked turning over to me.

She knew perfectly well I wasn't ok and she also knew I didn't like what I was watching.

"Why does everybody keep asking that? Just leave me alone for god's sake!" I yell and run upstairs back into my room locking it.

As soon as I had entered, I dropped myself onto my pillow and let out all my emotions that I had been holding in. How could Joel be ok with this? My pillow was becoming damp and wet because of the constant tears flowing down my face.

I decided to skip watching the rest and skip dinner itself. Hours had gone by and my dad still wasn't home. There was meant to be an after party at the Grammy's so that's where I'm guessing my dad and the boys still are. The image of Amber just throwing herself at Joel and other unimaginable things that she could be doing at a late night party was making me sick. I stayed off social media and off my phone in general. However, as the night passed with me laying in my bed, Joel's caller ID began showing up constantly as I ignored each and every one of them.

'Maya please pick up'

'Stop ignoring me. This is important'

Text messages were flooding my phone and I did something I had to do without a choice. Turned my phone on airplane mode, so I wouldn't receive text messages or calls and completely switched off my phone as I shut my eyes, drifting off to sleep.

2:30am

The sound of thunder and lightning along with heavy rain had woken me up. Not only that, I did hear something hitting against my window.

"What the hell?" I whispered to myself slowly opening my eyes and getting out of bed.

A yawn escaped my lips as I headed downstairs slowly, not wanting to wake my parents up. My stomach was rumbling with hunger since I had skipped dinner. My eyes were still red and puffy due to what had happened before I slept. Slowly opening the door, I see a figure standing there. The person was crying, all soaking wet, eyes red and swollen along with drops of water dripping from their hair. Their whole body was soaked. My heart was racing a hundred times faster because of what was standing right in front of my eyes. They looked terrible and in desperate need of help.

"Joel?"