And When The Walls Come Down

Echoes Of Goodbye

The entire concept of a woman's virginity being tied to her purity or worth is absolutely ridiculous and misogynistic. Now, having said that, I had spent my formative years in the care of my maternal grandmother, a devout catholic, who took me to mass thrice a week religiously. It was a little difficult to not have certain things ingrained in me after spending so much time in that place.

She had aspirations for me to be wearing white the day I married, she'd always told me about the importance of waiting for the right man, a phrase I never truly understood until the moment I came across Andrés and Martin.

I had kissed a few boys of course. I'd lived through the awkward, sticky touches they'd graced me with, in the back of cars or in the secluded corners of some wild parties. The alcohol I drank warmed me up more than their hands if I'm being honest. See, I've always had a vague idea of what I wanted in a man, and let me tell you, those boys did not meet any of the standards I'd set in the slightest.

"Raul seems to be quite taken with you." Tatiana muttered slyly, staring at me over the top of her new designer sunglasses. A gift from Andrés, no doubt. Her "career" as a pianist consisted of her playing some nights at a local dive, where the ambience was only slightly better than the alcohol they served.

"Raul is just being Raul." I replied distractedly, I was just getting to the good part of my book, no way was I going to set it down now.

"What are you girls talking about?" Martìn asked, slightly out of breath as he joined us on the grass. He took a seat next to my chair, where I was currently sunbathing, picking up my glass of water and taking a long drink out of it.

"Oh, you know, just about Raul, he told me he'd like to take you out whenever you're free." By this point Andrés had joined us, his own shirt stained with sweat, apparently the run they'd taken had given them quite the workout.

"She doesn't date." He interrupted sharply, and I made a face at Martin, who grinned, shrugging his shoulders and pointedly looking in the other direction.

Tatiana looked startled at the venom in his voice, but I'd heard this particular objection more than once before. It was ridiculous how Andrés treated me. I wasn't some porcelain doll for him to have me locked up in some cabinet or put on display. I didn't understand why he was so protective of me either, he knew that I had a life before I met them. A life which had included dating.

///

Raul was the young man we'd come across one night at the club. Tatiana had invited me as a show of goodwill, right before she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. I had wondered who'd been the one to put her up to that, Martin? Or Andrés? Either way, I had graciously accepted, murmuring my happiness through gritted teeth, knowing full well she was doing all of this as a way to rub it in my face. The boys had claimed to be too tired to join us, but they had been kind enough to offer to drive us to the club, and later on pick us up, so that we could enjoy some drinks while there.

I'd stumbled into a tall, young man with solemn gray eyes on my way to the powder room, and for a moment he'd looked annoyed, before his expression cleared enough as he steadied me with his large hand. I had thanked him, not meeting his eye as I began to walk away, but he'd pulled me back to him, asking me if I wanted a drink. Something about the look in his eyes made me say yes, and I can't say I regret that I did.

///

Rio's yells echoed through the halls, "She's coming! Tokyo is coming back! Open the doors!" He ran out the door, but I pulled him back, "They'll be shooting at her! Grab hostages and use them as shields! Now!" He nodded quickly, shouting at Helsinki who was frozen in place, but who immediately grabbed the hostage nearest to him, "Grab some hostages, they'll be shooting! We have to use them as shields!" Everyone was screaming loudly, whimpering into the floor as three hostages were picked up, and shoved towards the doors which Rio was quick to open. My heart was racing as I watched from above, hoping that this would work. Why was Tokyo coming back?! Was there really nowhere else for her to go? What had happened?