They waited outside for a few minutes before the taxi got there. Being next to her unable to help her was an awful feeling, and yet Daniel did not ask for her motives to leave the party. Whatever it was, it was bad enough that she marked the wrong number twice, and kept playing with her leather bag strap, adjusting it time after time for no reason.
“Finally,” she gritted between her teeth when the car stopped right in front of the house, but she did not get in until he grabbed her hand and opened the door for her. He could feel how cold her hand was because their fingers were still interlocked when they got into the taxi.
“Where are we going?” The driver had asked them, and Daniel gave him Luz’s address, only to feel her grip on his hand tighten and see her shaking her head vigorously.
The dark bags under her eyes when she greeted her reflection in the mirror that morning spoke for themselves. Valeria did get some sleep, but only after Luz came back (and her friend came back not long after Daniel had left, worried about what was going on too), and the two of them sat in the kitchen for what felt like hours. The chamomille tea helped, too.“I can’t believe it.” Luz was startled when Valeria told her the man who’d been asking for her earlier was Manu’s biological father. “So you’re going back because you think he wants to meet Manu? If you say he’s never shown interest in meeting his child before, why would it change now?”“I don’t know, but I’m not going to risk it.”“Is he that bad?”
This felt completely wrong, Daniel decided, as he kept his eyes on his champagne glass and walked away from Monnie’s snobbish group of acquaintances. The food was still heavenly, and his main reason to be there. Years ago it also used to be fun, he thought, when he had friends around.Now, Long Wei was on the other side of the world raising a toddler on his own, only God knew how, because Daniel spent just a few days with Rosa’s kids or Manu, and being the cool uncle was hard enough. Meili wasn’t around either, because she had a child of her own, and-“Hey, Daniel!” The young man waving his hand and walking in his direction was Jamie, the youngest child of the Lee family.He used to tutor Jamie’s older sister when she was in high school, and this man wasn’t but a skinn
The locksmith finished his work, and he heard Emilia under her breath.“All good now… I just have to start looking for an apartment I can afford to pay.”He wasn’t sure why he was still around, he’d only come back because he forgot his wallet on the couch of her living room after the three of them crashed into Emilia’s apartment barely able to walk straight. But she invited him to have breakfast and it did not seem right to leave her alone when she was evidently not okay, despite everything she could have said the night before.“I have a friend who works as an agent and can help with that. I’ll send you his contact.”She walked to the kitchen, and he followed behind, sitting at the counter and feeling a bit unsure of
“Goodnight, mom.”“Goodnight, Manu. Sweet dreams.”After a goodnight kiss, when the boy finally went to bed, Valeria was free to panic about that afternoon’s events in the loneliness of her bedroom.The edges of the card felt sharp as she held her in between her fingers. Mateo had left that for her, but what exactly did he mean?Did he want her to call him?She’d never do it.However, going to Manu’s academy he was telling her wherever they were, he could reach them. Even if he wanted to come and knock at her door one of those days, nothing stopped him from doing so. He was taunting her with this card.
“You look tired. Are you eating and sleeping well these days?”Until the moment she saw his face again, even if it was through a screen, Valeria hadn’t realized just how much she missed him. Daniel only needed to smile at her and show some concern for her well-being, and she already felt the much-needed comfort she wasn’t finding anywhere else in the past month, which made her question why she’d been avoiding him at all.Ah, yes. She still could not bring herself to tell him the reasons why she was losing sleep recently.[Can we meet up?]Just as she hadn’t replied to that text either.“It’s just that I have tons of assignments to check. But that’s nothing to worry about. How are you doing?”“Hmm, same as always.” He paused, looking down and muttering something she could not hear. “Actually, I was a bit worried I said something that upset you the last time we
The coffee shop was busy at that time of the day, this was the first thing she noticed as she walked in, stopping for a moment to mask her uneasiness before she headed to the table where he’d be waiting. Five, Six, Seven…‘It’s okay, there are many people around, that’s why I chose this place.’Just in case. One could never be too careful.“Valeria, you’re quite early.” Mateo stood up to greet her, dressed in a formal suit but looking every bit the same person he was seven years ago. Who used a suit in this type of weather?She did not think this was a situation where anyone could smile (she certainly couldn’t) but he did. “Nice to see you again.”“Hello.” She took a seat, ignoring how he’d leaned on her as if he wanted to greet her with a kiss on the cheek.“So… you’ve been doing well. I’m glad you decided to me
They were utterly silent during most of the drive until his father decided to mention the reason everyone had long faces for the last hour or so.“Was there really a need for you to say that?”In retrospect, it was a big bomb to drop before dinner. Daniel had spent far too much time without visiting his grandparents to remember that some things, like him saying in a passing comment that he was thinking about moving to Cartagena, would not be taken in the best way.“I know. I know.”“Besides, what’s this about moving abroad-”“He didn’t say anything wrong.” Her mother intervened in the chastising that would continue on and on. “So what if he wants to move to Cartagena? He’ll be close to family, isn&rsq
“But dad says mom and dads have to be together. Mom, why don’t you like dad?” Manu asked as they crossed the gates of his school.She should have known that Mateo would try to twist things in the moments they were far enough for her to see them but not hear what they talked about.“Not all moms and dads are together.”“So he can’t live with us?”“All this time we were living well with grandma, right? Why are you suddenly saying this?”“If we live together, I’ll see dad more often.”“You can just ask him to visit you more.”However, Valeria d