The Dancing Torera

29

"Esteban! Estebannnnnn!!!" I hear the loud patters of knocking against my door.

"ESTABANNN!!" Hector's voice vibrates against my ears, pulling me away from my dream. I pull myself out of the bed, staggering to open the door. I only had 1 hour left before my training began at 7am. He knew better than to disturb me at my house. I wanted to cherish every moment of slumber.

"ESTEBANNN!!!" he yells, pounding louder against its surface.

"Hector! I swear this better be good!" I scream before opening the door to face him.

"I am going to KILL HER!" he fumes, pushing me aside with a stack full of magazines.

"Who?" I groaned, my voice still scratchy from my slumber. Hector had a list of people he wanted to kill, each day it was someone different.

New day, new list.

"Your beloved girlfriend Anais!"

"What did she do now?" I grumbled. Surely it couldn't be that bad.

"Your girlfriend is all over the covers of every major tabloid! Apparently she had a wild night out with friends"

"What?" I whispered, pulling a few stacks from him to observe. I frowned as I saw her picture plastered onto the center. She was with her friend Mariela and a few guys, dancing above bar tables.

"Mrs Jefe's trouble in paradise" one read.

"The famous bull whisper can't tame his most important feat; his girl???" Another one claimed.
I was angered yet turned on by her pics. She was flipping off each pap out, cursing them out like me.

"There are 5 more like it" Hector fumes, plopping to the couch in fatigue. "Oh and turn to page 4! They have a whole spread on her! Her interests, family history!" Hector recites, "Oh an the Espana Herald says apparently you'll jack off to this" he scoffed.

"No way" I fumed, it didn't sound like Anais, but I couldn't help but laugh as I read her quotes in the spread. I knew this was her way of getting back at me.

"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY ESTEBAN???? SHE IS BRINGING YOU DOWN. Your brand your sponsors! Every thing!" Hector shouts, picking up each paper to show me.

"SHUT up hector!" I sighed, urging him to relax. He always went for the extreme in situations like this. This wasn't the first time a girl had gotten me in trouble and it wouldn't be the last.

"Esteban you were going places before you met her! That girl—"

"That girl is my girlfriend Hector" I corrected him, throwing the magazine into the wall.

"Esteban please? What do you want? How much does she want? I will do anything if you listen to me. Please... please....break up with her" he begged.

"Hector you have gone muy loco!" I laughed, opening my fridge to see what was for breakfast.

"LOOK AT THE PRESSES! Look at the magazines! SHE IS DESTROING YOUR REPUTATION!"

"SCREW MY REPUTATION HECTOR!" I yelled, marking the silence in the room.
He pulled his hair back and sank into the couch, playing with a candle that rested against the corner of my coffee table. Anais had gotten it for me at the market.

"I don't get it. El Jefe... This is everything you have been training for, everyday you've been working on getting the recognition and fame? All your life? And now, you're throwing it away for some foreign kitty!" he shouted. Immediately he realized the weight of his words and backed away. "Esteban I didnt... mean—"