CHAPTER SEVEN

“Are all these even necessary?”

Lola gave Santiago a questioning look. “You’re the one who suggested this, remember?” she asked back. “I only agreed. And now you must agree to give shelter to my babies.”

“Your ‘babies’ are cosplay costumes and life-size anime art,” Santiago retorted. “Matter of fact, they look bigger than you.”

Lola smacked his arm, and his response was a straight face and a blank stare.

“Was that supposed to be a tickle?”

“Very funny,” she scoffed. “The point is, my costumes and art give inspiration when I need one, so it’s an absolute necessity to bring them along.”

“Believe it or not, I can understand that. But aren’t you better off with one or two? Why take all of them?”

Lola suddenly looked towards the clear sky, tilting her head like she was trying to catch a faraway sound. “Can you hear that?”

Santiago turned in the direction she strained her ears to. “No. Hear what?”

“The end of this conversation.” With that, Lola spun on her heels and skipped to the car parked behind the moving truck.

Half an hour later, Santiago sped through the highway that led downtown, with the truck containing all of Lola’s precious belongings tagging closely behind. It was another sunny day with blistering temperatures, but that didn’t stop him from lowering the roof of his convertible and having their hair dance in the warm breeze.

“You said you freelance, right?” Santiago asked as he balanced his shades on the bridge of his nose.

“Nope,” came the quick reply. “I never said that. You found out for yourself when you stalked me.”

“For good reason, muñequita,” he reminded her. “Now, you do freelance. But what is it you specialize in?”

“Animation. And voice-overs, apparently.”

“Oh? That’s quite interesting,” Santiago remarked, clearly impressed. “I get the whole animation thing, which is probably why you’re a die-hard anime fan girl, but the voice-overs bit…? I don’t know.”

Lola cleared her throat and cupped her mouth with both hands. “Gee, Mickey! It sure is hot out here today. I wish we could get iced margaritas and a nicely air-conditioned room. Maybe some strippers, too.”

Santiago is stunned to silence as he continuously shifts his gaze from the road to Lola’s nonchalant face. “What in the world was that?”

“I’m pretty sure you know Goofy from the Mickey Mouse franchise.”

“Yeah. Why the hell did you just sound like him?”

Lola laughed. “Because I can, Santiago. I’m good with impressions and accents and like three foreign languages. It all helps with the voice-over thing. I’m like the low-budget version of Trevor Noah.”

“No way,” Santiago laughed as he sped past an intersection. “This is so cool. Do another one.”

“Uhm…” Lola slurped on her boba smoothie as she thought deeply. “Ouu, I got one. Women should, like, empower themselves and without having to, like, wait on a man to, like… You know. Just get off your ass and work.”

Santiago laughed so hard at this point. “Pretty sure that's not exactly what she said, but that’s a solid Kim Kardashian impression.”

Lola bowed her head with appreciation. “I think I got one more. Check this out: You could not live with your own failure. And where did that bring you? Back to me.”

Santiago smacked the wheel repeatedly as he grinned widely. “That is probably the best Thanos impression I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. Alright, muñequita. You’ve made your claim and backed it up. You are damn good.”

Lola nearly choked on her smoothie. “What was that?”

“What do you mean, what was that? That was my impression of Morgan Freeman. I think. You do know who he is, right?”

Lola stared at him for a full minute before pushing her sunglasses back. “Let’s just stick to what we do best. You, tech. Me, voices.”

Santiago shrugged. “Fine by me.”

They drove by several palm estates, merging with the Madrid traffic a couple of times. Then they veered off into an isolated road separating from the main highway, and a private property signboard indicated the beginning of the lonely lane down to the villa.

Another twenty minutes down the line, they finally arrived at the luxurious building. The villa was a seamless combination of modern and classic Spanish architecture, with its vanilla walls and red brick roofs sealing the design. According to Santiago, the villa contained thirteen rooms in total, including two kitchens and a massive laundry room. It had an outdoor and indoor pool, sauna, an enormous balcony, and an open area for occasions on the roof.

It was the perfect getaway spot for a vacation. Or a fake engagement.

As they got out of the vehicle, the large truck made its way carefully into the driveway. A figure jogged down the steps to greet the pair, none other than the very person that Lola actually blamed for everything.

“Well, you guys took your time,” Gabriele said with a suspicious glint in her eyes. “I don’t suppose you guys have been humping again.”

“No one says that anymore, Gabriele,” Santiago replied with a grimace.

“I have to agree with him on this one, Gabi,” Lola seconded. “That’s millennials’ vocabulary. And even the millennial here doesn’t say that.”

“Really? You just had to.”

Gabriele smiled widely. “Yup. You guys are definitely still humping. Very gross, by the way. So what’s in the truck, Lolita? Your entire lifetime supply of cosplay costumes and anime art?”

“Heh,” Santiago grunted. “Someone who knows you to a default. Suck to be you, sis.”

“Very funny, both of you,” Lola said sarcastically. “Ganging up on me must be so mature and fair.”

Gabriele laughed as she threw an arm over her friend’s shoulders. “Let’s get you settled down. Then, afterward, we’ll all sit down over some iced lemonade and sandwiches and go through some pretty important terms and conditions for this arrangement to happen.”