Abel
I roll my eyes as the credits continue rolling and turn to look at Rose.
“I hope this movie didn’t give you any ideas.”
“What do you mean?” she asks as we stare at one another while everyone files out.
“I don’t think anyone is ever as romantic as they portray in these movies,” I tell her, just so we don’t start this off with unrealistic expectations.
“You’ve already proven to be quite the poet, Mr. Cartagena,” she says as her hand slides into mine.
I notice we’re the only ones in the theater, everyone else apparently having gone while we talked about the ending.
She begins to stand and I stop her with my free hand on her abdomen. She halts, like I’m that in control.
Fuck , I love touching her. I love how this relationship is so dominated by her but with everything physical, it’s like I’m the master of her body.
She’s staring with wide eyes as I slide my hand down toward her jeans, pulling at the waist and popping the top button open. I pull her zipper down, just enough to slip my free hand inside, tugging her to stand directly in front of me while I’m face to face with her pussy.
There’s this little inhale, so fucking quiet that if I hadn’t been staring up at her, I would’ve missed it.
She’s standing in the middle of the aisle with my fingers stroking her, her pussy getting wetter by the fucking moment.
“Tell me what you want,” I whisper as I catch the way she tosses her head back.
“I want sex,” she grinds out, and the answer takes me by surprise. Because so the fuck do I.
I rub her clit with the heel of my palm and she braces herself with a hand on my shoulder, her nails digging into me through the fabric of my shirt.
“Don’t worry. You’ll have my dick soon enough.”
Before she has a moment to respond, there’s a loud thud outside the door and we’re jumping apart. I pull my hand from her jeans, licking the juices off my finger before helping her zip up.
She tastes tangy and sweet, delicious on my tongue.
“Come on,” I tell her as I stand, taking her hand in mine.
The closer we get to the exit, the more I hear people shuffling, and then a loud cry.
I pull Rose close. Whatever’s beyond this door, I need to protect her. I stick my head out first and see a group of workers surrounding the girls’ bathroom. And then the girl from before, the one that’d been with the brunette…
She’s sobbing, blood on her hands.
“Rose,” I whisper. I can’t look at her. I can’t face her as I let the door shut, closing us back in the empty theater.
The monster and me.
What did you do?
“ ?Qué hiciste? What the fuck did you do?” When I do face her, it’s like I don’t even recognize the person in front of me. “Who are you?”
And what the fuck are you capable of?
“The same person whose pants you just had your hand down.” It’s all she offers as she looks up at me, unapologetically.
It’s all so fucked.
The horniness has given way to terror.
It’s so fucking twisted.
What the hell is my life now?
I want to ask her why but I’m fucking terrified of her answer. I’m terrified that it’ll be something impossible to get over.
But who the fuck am I kidding? This entire thing is impossible to get over.
She reaches for my face when I try to break eye contact. So much pressure, so many emotions, all of them connected to this one person who is both the highest goddamn high and the lowest of the lows.
“It’s like I don’t even know you,” I say when her focus just bounces between both my eyes, like she’s trying to read everything I don’t even know how the hell to express. “You’re my Rose. And then you’re something else entirely.”
A motherfucking nightmare.
“I’ll never hurt you, , but I’ll kill to keep you. Even if that means killing every other woman you might attempt to find happiness with. You may think this is crazy, but you believe the same thing in so many words. That we’re meant to be. That I’m your suerte. You make destiny sound so lovely. All I’m doing is cementing ours.”
Her grip on my face tightens for a second before she lets go and steps back.
“Perhaps I am split in two. Half of me wants to be everything you dream of and half of me can never let go of who I am. But I know that all of me loves you, . That is something that’s forever. That’s your suerte .”
Los almas gemelas siempre se encuentran, mami whispers from one of the seats, her lit cigarette making me itch to take a drag.
Old habits I thought I’d gotten rid of itch at the back of my throat.
The stupid as shit idea that we are all half souls, walking around the earth alone, waiting for our other half.
But, instead of waiting for her second half, instead of waiting for me, Rose filled it with violence.
And it would always be her first love.
I can’t think as I grab her arm and we head out the door. People are either running around or standing still, wondering what’s going on. I make eye contact with the girl who’s still sobbing. She looks past me, at the person just beside me, and I instinctively hide my monster behind me.
We walk out of the theater, but not before I look up at one of the many cameras hidden under a bubble-like covering in the ceiling.
The eyes in the sky.
They’ll see us, and they’ll post our images for everyone to see.
They’ll call her a murderer and they’ll say I helped.
And maybe I’m innocent of this act, but every one of her actions is my fault.
We make it outside and I take a deep breath, my eyes wide and watching.
Dead leaves are on the ground. We’re surrounded by dead things. This is our fucking life now.