The Break Up Freak

Chapter 2

"You're insane." Arturo grinned at me.

"El mejor." I added as we clinked our glasses.

"Right, the best." he said as we drunk the chilled Beaujolais Charbonnière served at the restaurant we had gone to. Apart from the morning drama, we had finally settled with Shuqiao Real Estates and it was a signed deal. So our mini celebration at the moment was just a preparation for the party tonight. "I thought you two were going to set the place on fire this morning." Arturo smirked making me roll my eyes.

"Oh please, the heat wasn't enough." I said and we both laughed. The thing is, the way we had negotiated throughout the whole meeting with that Pig headed man whose name I still refuse to think about not to mention say out loud, was enough to set the whole place on fire. We kept throwing daggers at each other, each trying to show dominance until Arturo and that man's lawyer had cut in and settled on something which to their utter relief we agreed on and we signed the documents sealing the deal. That Pig headed man had then without another word stormed off and had left the building leaving all of us shocked at his childish action. His lawyer had tried to smile and apologize awkwardly and had then left the office building following his client.

"So, do you already have the dress for tonight?" Arturo wiggled his eyebrows as he sliced into his steak.

"Why should it be a dress." I scowled eyeing the delicious steak he had ordered while I had settled for my favorite spaghetti bolognese.

"Well, because it's going to be formal and also there's going to be some dancing." he vaguely explained leaving me even more confused. Don't get me wrong, I wear dresses but not often and I rarely ever attend any formal gatherings, you can call me unsocial.

"Right, I have just the dress, it's just the mood lightener I want." I said my mind going to some dress I had purchased with my sister but never got to wear. "As long as that Pig headed man doesn't darken my mood."

"He has a name you know." Arturo reminded me.

"Oh he does? I didn't notice." I replied sarcastically.

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you baby girl."

"Yeah, whatever." I said finishing my glass of wine and standing up. "Let's go back to the office, we have preparations to do."

"Right," Arturo threw some bills on the table and followed me. People stared as we walked hand in hand. Arturo was such a dashing guy, tall, broad and strikingly handsome. He was a mix of both Italian and Spanish and we had met in Italy where I had gone for a tour and he had caught me ogling him. It was such an embarrassing encounter for me because I was sitting next to a girl I had just met and we had been in deep conversation but when she had sensed my distraction, she had followed my gaze and her eyes had lightened up making her giggle. To my shock she had jumped off the chair and had thrown herself at him.

"Leticia, meet my boyfriend, Arturo." She had pulled him over and introduced him. Right at that moment, I had thanked God for my dark skin because my face was so hot with embarrassment.

"Hi Leticia, nice to meet you." Arturo had sent a million dollar smile my way and extended his hand in greeting.

"Nice to meet you too." I had muttered, my eyes totally avoiding his amused ones.

"While I waited for you, I met Leticia who apparently lives in Spain too." Estella, his girlfriend explained as she pulled him in the seat next to me and she sat at the other empty seat.

Later I had found out what a cute couple they were although at the back of my mind I was grateful it wasn't me involved in such a deep relationship. That moment I had pictured their break up session and I shook my head to clear it. Something was definitely wrong with me. I also found out Arturo was in the process of opening up a real estate office in Barcelona. When I told him I had the same idea in mind, Estella had clapped in glee and had suggested that we join hands and become partners. We had both promised to think about it and shared contacts then later that week I had left for France. Five months later, Arturo had reached out to me and had asked to meet. I had then wondered whether he had broken up with Estella and had inquired about her which he replied to that she was fine. I was kind of disappointed but also relieved. So we had met and had talked about being partners.

Four years down the road, here we were doing the biggest merger of our lives. And also Estella was still in the picture so Arturo had become a really good friend as was Estella who always enticed me to go out and set me up on different dates which had not been successful because I either refused to see the men again or carried on a relationship for like five months and when things started to get serious I would disappear from the guy telling them I didn't want to see them again. I mean, it wasn't easy to get rid of some of them and I had learnt to do one thing. Never show the man where you stay or work. I had refused to share that part of my life with the men I dated. At the moment I was single and wasn't ready to get into another relationship since I was still trying to get rid of Antonio who had insisted he wanted a real break up in person not in a message. What a joke! Anyway, I guess I am a coward like that, I never broke up in person, it was either drop off the face of the earth by avoiding all the places they know which you can also call ghosting or send a text breaking up with them. There was no other way, I hated emotional moments, they weakened my will and made me cry. So to avoid all the drama, I did it out of sight, best solution ever believe me.

"Finally you're back," Minerva's voice welcomed us as we stepped off the lift. "You have a meeting in twenty minutes, both of you." She said and handed each of us a file. "I've already distributed the other files in the conference room so be there." She snapped and turned on her heel and walked back.

"Yes Ma'am." I answered sarcastically, "What crawled up her ass?" I asked Arturo.

"Boyfriend problems." he shrugged.

"They broke up? I knew it, that guy was no good. I mean bringing..."

"Letty," Arturo stopped me in my rant, "They didn't break up, I said boyfriend problems."

"Well, isn't that the same, they are going to break up." I said matter of fact.

"You know not every relationship has  to end up in a break up. Couples have problems and they solve them. How many times do I have to explain this to you?" Arturo said with a scowl.

"Well, apparently you're not explaining well enough." I shrugged and strode off making Arturo groan, I smiled. No one will ever convince me that relationships lasts forever.