Even Eason being here would be less of a surprise for me. Mr. Ramirez needs to talk to me? But about what? What could possibly bring him from the east coast to the west? I swallow hard and step aside, whispering under my breath, “Please come in.” Mr. Ramirez makes his way through the door and then nods at Liam, who still seems very confused at the moment. “Umm Nat? Who is this again?” Liam asks me with a frown. Right at this moment, dad and Hallie follow us out of the dining room. Dad freezes the moment he lays eyes on Mr. Ramirez—of course he recognizes his ex-wife’s current husband. “Sorry for intruding,” Mr. Ramirez says calmly, his eyes glancing around the room. “I just need a moment with Natalia.” “What? Why?” Dad takes an instinctive step forward and snaps. “Did—did something happen to Alicia?” “Oh no, it’s nothing like that. Nothing urgent. I really just need 5 minutes alone with Natalia,” Mr. Ramirez says. I’m slightly relieved hearing that mom is ok, but it makes me e
“NO—!!!” I let out a sharp scream and make a lunge forward, stepping in between him and Liam. Eason stops abruptly in his track, his grip on the bottle tightening, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “What the fuck are you doing!” I yell to him, making sure Liam is safe behind my back. “Drop your bottle now! Or I’m calling the police.” His eyes become redder, as if the next second his eyes will cry blood. “That’s the first thing you say after so long?” he asks with a trembling voice, which is filled with sadness and rage. “Do you have any idea what kind of life I’ve lived ever since you left?!” I was sad at first. But now hearing him say these, anger starts to build up in my heart again. I grit my teeth taking a firm step forward and snatch the bottle from him. He quivers for a bit but doesn’t resist. I smash the bottle to the ground making a huge noise. “What kind of life you’ve lived? Do you have ANY IDEA what kind of life I have lived?!” I growl, unable to control my temper
THREE YEARS LATER. I rush down the street, knocking a few shoulders along the way and stepping into one icy mud pond. The cold winter air is like a blade cutting through my lungs. After making a sharp turn at the corner, I finally see the bus station. A bus has just arrived. “Wait…Please wait a second!!” I yell to the driver. But he only gives me a cold and indifferent look before closing the door and driving away from the station. “…Fuck!” I bend down taking a time to catch my breath and then check the time. It’s already 16:37. Now I have exactly 23 minutes to make it across the town and arrive at the restaurant I work in, which is impossible, which means I’m so screwed. Today is not the day to be late, because I’ve made a plan to talk to my manager about making an early withdraw of my salary. My rent is due in a few days and the incredibly high living expense in New York is sucking me dry. I have a student loan to cover my tuition, but I still have to work my ass off to pay
I’ve imagined a million times what it would be like when we meet again. Maybe at our family gathering, maybe at a friend’s party, or maybe even at my wedding in the future.But I’ve never thought about this, with him sitting there with his beautiful new girlfriend, and me standing there all embarrassed like a clown.This can’t be any worse.But unlike me, he doesn’t seem surprised at all. He simply looks at me calmly, as if we just saw each other this morning.“Babe,” his girlfriend pouts. “This is the stupid waitress I was talking about. She ruined the outfit you got me and—”He cuts her off, “Natalia.”He isn’t pretending that he doesn’t know me, as I thought he would be.But he used to call me “Nat” and not “Natalia.”Then he stands up from his seat and leans forward, giving me a gentle hug. I can smell his scent, the familiar scent of mint and woods, but this hug feels very strange. His hug used to be full of passion and energy, but now it’s polite and aloof.“It’s been a long tim
I crouch down there frozen, staring at him. “I said midnight. And you just waited me till midnight?” my voice is filled with shock. “Yes,” he nods. “But why?” I ask, perplexed. I can’t think of one reason that would make him wait in the weather like this for 2-3 hours. Is he just trying to be nice? Or does he still have feelings for—no, impossible. I immediately laugh at that fleeting thought. And then I hear his answer, “I said I want to have dinner with you. You clearly haven’t eaten anything. Come, let’s go.” He rises and gestures me to follow. Before I realize, I’m already walking with him side by side under his umbrella. The chilly wind hits me, and I shiver. The next second, a scarf that still carries his warmth lands on my neck. “It’s cold during the night, isn’t it?” he says casually and looks straight ahead, paying no attention to the astonished look on my face. “Don’t forget to check the weather next time.” I touch the scarf, which smells so much like him. It’s irres
I almost stutter, “M—Mr. Johnson, what are you doing here?”He picks up his baseball bats and points it at me, “What does it seem like? I’m here to move you out of my house! Hurry up! Don’t make me force you.”I take a step back, staring at his baseball bat warily. Mr. Johnson is a little hot-tempered, yes, but I didn’t think of him as someone who would beat the shit out of his tenants just because they missed one payment.“What are you doing with that bat?” I ask carefully keeping my safe distance with him. “There’s no need for that. I—I can call the police!”He rolls his eyes at me, “Cut the crap little girl. I don’t hit woman, but if you keep mooching off me, I might lose my temper. So get moving, now!”“Please, Mr. Johnson. Just one more chance. I promise you I’ll get the rent ready by the end of this month. Something happened at work, and I didn’t—”“NO!!” he roars, covering his eyes with his hands. “No excuses! You said the same thing last month and you still came back empty-han
I let him take me home eventually. I know this is a terrible idea and the wise thing to do is go find a place on my own and stay as far from him as possible. But so many ups and downs in one night, my head has already stopped functioning. So I go for the easy option. Not surprisingly, he lives in the fanciest place in the Upper East side. His apartment is huge and well-decorated, just like the one he had in Boston. I carefully step into the foyer, feeling both awkward and nervous. I glance around the spacious living room and notice no sign of trances of a woman. So he and his girlfriend don’t live together. “Why are you still standing there?” he turns around and smiles at me. “Come on in.” I slowly make my way into the open kitchen, staring at him as he opens the fridge and gets me a bottle of water, and asks, “Are you sure your girlfriend won’t mind?” He shrugs, “Why should she mind?” “Because if my boyfriend brought a someone home without asking me first, I would be pretty an
“I was worried about you,” he frowns and says. “You gave me a new address without telling me why you moved, and you rarely answered my calls for the past few days, so I came down here to check on you. Are you OK? Whose house is this?” I wasn’t intentionally ignoring his calls. I was so busy for the past whole week that I didn’t even have the time to check my phone. As I try to stammer an excuse, a flicker of doubt appears in his eyes. I know what he is thinking: this is a fancy apartment located in upper east side, somewhere I apparently can’t afford. “Are you…” he slowly begins, “…dating someone?” “No!” I quickly begin. I can’t have him know that I’m living with Eason right now. He won’t understand. Plus, this is only a temporary arrangement anyway, so there’s no need for him to know and I can spare his worries. “My lease expired so I’m staying with a friend before I get a new apartment,” I say, and it is partly the truth. “Oh,” he nods, slightly relieved. “Aren’t you going to