Chapter 9: Habanero

-SIENNA-

It was a double deal at Habanero, my favorite Mexican bar. That means you get two drinks for the price of one. I was spending time with my best friends and drinking something delicious with passion fruit and lime. Life is good.

The bar was a place with dark cream-coloured walls decorated with some Mexican-inspired artwork, such as Frida Kahlo. Along the wall, a long, dark green leather seat is placed facing some tables. With the dim light and the Latin music playing in the background, my mood is good again.

"So, Sienna, are you going to share with us what you talked about with Roger or what?" Michelle gets straight to the point, after taking a sip of her michelada. It's a Mexican beer drink mixed with tomato juice. I find it disgusting, but she seems to love it. "Please don't spare me any details. Do you think I didn't notice that he closed the door? He'd only do that because of a sordid secret. He finally came on to you? I knew it! That man has had a crush on you for ages."

I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. "He has not! I don’t understand why you keep repeating that".

"Mhnnn, keep lying to yourself. I see the way he looks at you when he thinks no one's watching. But seriously, if it wasn't for sex, why the privacy?" she asked.

"He wanted to offer me a promotion," I replied, ignoring the comment about Roger's supposed crush. The man has always been very professional with me. She keeps suggesting this nonsense, and this makes me really uncomfortable.

They yelled, and Harper asked, "What? Are you still going to work with the same team? How much is the pay raise?"

"Wait, wait. There’s a but. The job is in California, and I said no," I replied, sinking further into my seat.

"Oh no! Now I’m sad", Harper sighed.

Even though my friends didn't know the whole story, they knew enough to understand that I would never consider moving to the place where my father probably still lives. I told them about how my grandparents practically threw their pregnant teenage daughter out into the street after she refused to get rid of the baby. It doesn't help that they didn't try to make amends until they died. Coming to live in the same place where my mother was treated so badly is a difficult task.

"Yes, it was a bit disappointing. However, it did my ego good to be considered for the job at all," I ended the topic quickly and went back to my fantastic drink. It got even better with each sip.

"When you called me saying you were desperate to hang out today, I thought you wanted to talk about Matt," Harper changed the subject, raising an eyebrow. "How is that hot husband of yours?"

When I made a pained face and bit my lip, they realized there was something more to be said on the subject.

"Oh no, girl, you didn’t. Spit it out, Sienna," Michelle presses me to speak. "What happened?"

"Well, I was pretty sure we shared a moment the other day. I had some sort of nightmare, and he came to help me wake me up." I remember Matt sitting next to me, wearing only his boxers, and I couldn´t avoid blushing. My cheeks were as red as Michele's tomato drink.

"What kind of moment?" Michelle made clear that she wouldn’t leave the subject until I told her the whole story.

"We were seated on the sofa, talking in the middle of the night, and I thought that he was about to kiss me. Before things went further, I ran off to my room.", I told them.

"Nooo, you chicken out!" Harper blurted out, really disappointed.

"Stop encouraging her, Harper. This would complicate things a lot", Michelle says. "And afterward, did he say anything?"

"There's the thing… The morning after, he behaved like nothing had happened. It made me question if that moment was just a product of my imagination," I explained.

"Do you mean like a dream?" asked Harper.

"Not exactly. I was really awake, but I am not sure now if he was making a move on me or not. Probably he wasn’t even attracted to me as I was to him. Forget it. I’m probably just horny." I answered her.

"Are you crazy? You’re beautiful! Of course, he would be. Maybe he’s gay?" Harper wondered and grabbed a nacho to dip in guacamole.

"No, he’s straight. According to Hank, he had a girlfriend for a long time in Canada. He was planning to propose to her when she broke up with him. But I don’t have any more information," Michelle replied.

I finished my second drink and called the waitress across the room to get another one. I was feeling a little tipsy already, but these things were too delicious to have just two.

"Perhaps you need to date somebody else. You know what? I have a guy for you. He moved to my building recently. I think he is a dentist", Harper changed the topic quickly. I love her, but I hate all these dates that she keeps offering me. How can she know so many losers?

"Nope, not this girl. I have a marriage certificate, remember?" The music changes to Waka Waka by Shakira. I don’t care that they’re playing a Colombian singer in a Mexican bar. I love this song. "Come on! Let’s dance". Nobody is dancing, but I couldn’t care less.

The girls stood up and danced with me just until the song ended, but sat down quickly afterward. They are probably not as drunk as I was.

"I miss going out dancing. We don’t go to clubs anymore." I said, pouting. I think I was a little more drunk than I should. "That's it! We'll go out to that club close to Harper's condo next Friday!"

"We can’t, Sienna. Friday is the first game of the season. We have to go." Michelle reminded me. "You shouldn’t miss the first game of your husband!"

"Are you serious? Is this a rule?" My mind was foggy.

"Yes, honey. Now, no more drinks for you today, okay?" Michelle pushed her glass of water in my direction. "Drink this instead. So, are you coming to the game or what?"

"Okay". I nodded, the bar spinning. "I’ll go."