Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
LOURDES
“Ow, Clove, me duele,” I hissed in pain as she pulled my hair for the tenth time in the last three minutes.
“Blame Martin, not me. I’m not the group’s hairstylist.”
I snorted.
“Hey, we all like this guy. He deserves to be with someone nice, and he’s really cute. I wasn’t going to make him cancel on him to come work on my hair.”
“He could have seen him the next time he came into town,” Clove mumbled.
The four of us were still close, even though it was harder to see Evangeline now that she had been inducted into the motherhood club. I know the three of us were glad she and her husband had worked out. I'm not saying I didn’t think arranged marriages weren’t archaic and because hers worked out it meant it was okay, I was just happy she was happy.
Martin had come out to his parents after he found viral success and his brand took off. He was no longer financially chained to his parents, so he was happy to be his authentic self. We were all happy for him, even if his success meant we didn’t see him as much as we wanted.
“Had I known this would have happened, we could have gone to the salon,” I joked.
“Omigod, we could have gone to the one on the north side, the one that gives you those tiny little charcuterie boards with champagne while you wait,” she exclaimed.
“Let’s see if they can take us on Sunday. I’m going to need a blowout for Monday.”
“I’m in,” she said as she finished sleeking back my high pony. She added more hairspray and a bit of volume to the hair she had straightened.
“I miss your hair. I don’t think I’ve seen your natural waves in a while.”
Her comment was said offhandedly, but it took me off guard.
“What the fuck happened to your hair?”
It was the first thing he noticed about me. It had been the first thing he had grabbed before he decided to let go.
“Hmm, I’ve not noticed that.”
“Sooo, does the fact that you’re going with Cristobal to the ball mean things are getting serious between you two?”
“God, no, Clove. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, we are just friends.”
She pretended to cough into her hands. “With benefits.”
I ignored her.
“Besides, I’m his plus-one. It was an honor that he got invited, and he’s pretty nervous about it.”
“Didn’t you get invited?”
That was a sore spot for me, and it was the only reason I agreed to go with Cristobal.
“Three years ago, but since I snubbed them, they never invited me again.”
The truth was, the ball that year was a month after Neo left, and I had wallowed in self-pity for a bit too long. I didn’t feel sexy or confident to go to any event. It's funny how life had come full circle.
I got up and did a slow circle. “How do I look?”
My dark green dress had a low V-neck and fell to the floor. It was not quite tight enough to be mermaid-style, but it was still tight in all the right places, making me feel confident about myself.
A good faja was gold.
“Gorgeous as always.”
“Are the parties always like this?” Cristobal asked an hour after we had arrived.
“What do you mean?”
“Todos son un bola de vivoras?”
Are they all snakes?
“Pretty much. Welcome to high society,” I joked as I lifted my champagne in a toast toward him.
“Honestly, it feels like Christmas dinner at mi abuela’s .”
He wasn’t wrong. Even though I didn’t have a big family, I felt the same way when I visited my grandfather.
“Do you want something stronger? I’m not feeling the champagne?”
He laughed.
“I was wondering when you would ask for a paloma.” He wrapped a hand around my waist and led me to the other end of the room where the bar was located.
I turned around to get a better look as Cristobal ordered our drinks. It was always good to get a sense of who was who for potential partnerships down the line. As head of the marketing department, it was my job to have these connections. Now, I felt like I was falling behind on that front.
Mierda.
I was going to get angry just thinking about it again.
Avoiding Neo had been easier than I thought. I just had to tell myself to keep moving forward and not let him get the satisfaction of hurting me by working with Tatum’s family.
Fuck him.
“Whenever a party is boring, I know I can find my girl Lou at the bar.”
“You’re making me sound like an alcoholic, Wes,” I teased back as I turned to look at him.
I’d not seen much of him in the last three years, and that was intentional. He had taken me home at Neo’s request. He knew something had happened but didn’t have the details. After Neo left, I felt too embarrassed and angry that I avoided all the palaces I thought Tatum would be, and by association, Wesley.
“Don’t worry, Lou, alcoholics go to meetings. You’re good.”
“Aren’t you funny?”
I rolled my eyes playfully at him, and his smile got bigger. He opened his arm, signaling that I should give him a hug.
“Want me to get you a drink?”
“No, I’m—” Just then, Cristobal came back with our drinks. “Good,” I told him, reaching for mine. “Wes, Cristobal. Cristobal, Wes.” I gestured between them.
Everything had happened so fast that it took my brain a moment to catch up. If Wes was here, there was a good chance that Tatum and Neo would be here, too, now that he was back.
Mierda.
As if being summoned, one of them stepped next to me. I froze, waiting to see if it would be Tatum’s tone. I’d not heard it in the last three years, and I wasn’t sure if I could bear to listen to it now.
“What a surprise… My sister’s at the bar.”
I stepped away from Wes and stood at Cristobal’s side. The only downside of this was it put me across from Neo. He looked even better than I remembered in a suit. Neo wasn’t being as discreet as I was. I felt his eyes on me, from my high ponytail down to where my dress pooled on the floor.
He had never been this brazen before.
“What are you doing here?”
I spoke before I could think better of it.
“I was invited.” He smirked at me.
Did he know I was here as a plus-one?
He stopped looking at me and instead focused his attention on Cristobal. “Don’t mind Lourdes, she forgets her manners. I’m Neo. You must be Antonio… I’ve heard so much about you.”
Cris shook his hand a bit awkwardly as he corrected him.
“Cristobal, not Antonio.”
Neo turned to me with a confused look on his face. “Then who’s Antonio?”
Fucking asshole.
“Have fun, Cris and I are going to keep mingling.”
I dragged Cristobal away from Neo and Wes. I was glad this wasn’t a real date, or else I would have been humiliated.
“I’m sorry about my stepbrother… We don’t have the best relationship.”
Being somewhat honest would be the best option. He didn’t need to know just how fucked up our relationship actually was.
“Don’t worry about it. We don’t choose our families. He is part of the Caldwells, too, isn’t he? Before his mother married into your family?”
“Yeah,” I replied hesitantly.
“His older brother is here tonight.”
Mierda .
I didn’t feel good about it. I scanned the room, trying to find Nathaniel Jr. Caldwell, but with so many people in it, it was hard to pinpoint him. Unfortunately, with all my sleuthing, I was able to find Neo and Wesley—with their dates. Even though I knew I shouldn’t do it and there was no reason for me to go down that dark road, I couldn’t help but compare myself to the woman on Neo’s arm.
They never looked anything like me, making me conclude that I had been a mistake.
A few hours later, I was tired and more than ready to go back home. The night seemed very productive for Cristobal, and I was glad he got something out of it.
“Thank you, Lou, for always being the perfect date.” Cristobal squeezed my hip affectionately as he said that.
“What can I say? I am pretty perfect,” I joked back.
Suddenly, I got the urge to look up. I found him instantly, and my breath hitched as I noticed his eyes were already on me. Even though he held on to his date, his sole attention was on me. His jaw was clenched, and even across the room, I knew he was looking at how Cristobal was holding me.
What a hypocrite.
My emotions were threatening to get the best of me.
“If you’ll excuse me. I’m going to go use the restroom.”
I didn’t wait for Cristobal’s response. I walked away toward the restrooms that were all the way in the back, the isolated ones, so I could get some privacy to gather myself.
I had to fight the urge to splash water on my face, but it would ruin my makeup. Instead, I focused on my appearance and noted how much I had changed in the last three years.
The sound of heavy footfalls startled me.
Just as I started to push the bathroom door open, I heard raised voices. I waited a second so I wouldn’t make myself known—at least not yet.
“How dare you have the nerve to come talk to me. I thought when you changed your last name, that would be the end of my family's humiliation.”
“Oh, I’m sorry I fucked up your life by being born. It’s not like I fucking asked for it,” Neo spat back.
Mierda .
He was talking to his older brother.
Just as I was about to open the door again, his older brother said something that made me pause.
“It’s not like our father did either. Your cunt of a mother made sure she trapped him.”
Regardless of how I felt about Pricilla, Neo…no kid should have to hear slander like that. I pushed the door open fully this time, and both men turned to look at me with fury in their eyes. I ignored Neo and focused on Nathaniel. He was old already if memory served me correctly, he had just turned seventy not too long ago. For a guy his age, he looked strong. Their facial structure was the same, leaving me to believe that, at one point, he had been handsome. I wasn’t Pricilla. Soggy old men weren’t my thing.
“You’re a piece of shit. Blaming your brother for the actions of a grown-ass fucking man. If your daddy didn’t pull out, that wouldn’t have made it Neo’s fault!”
Nathaniel glared at me, and his lip curled in disgust.
“My father had been very vocal about not having any more children. If he wanted more, why didn’t they have any right after they got married?” he raised a brow, daring me to defy him. “Why would he name me his power of attorney and not his wife?”
Nathaniel walked away with those parting words.
I took a step closer to Neo. His chest was rising and falling rapidly. Rabid dogs lashed out when they felt corned, and I knew Neo would react the same way after what I had just witnessed. Still, I took another step forward. “Are you okay?”
He let out a pained laugh but didn’t answer me. Instead, he went and leaned against the wall.
“Why’d you do it? Stick up for me?”
I followed suit and stood next to him. At this point, this felt like déjà vu. This was our thing, wasn’t it? Comforting one another where no one could witness us?
“Did you follow him here?” I asked instead.
“He’s the whole reason I came.”
I’d never heard Neo sound so defeated. It was the sound of his voice that did it. When I reached for his hand, it didn’t mean I had forgiven him or that wasn’t angry. If this was indeed our thing and stolen moments in empty hallways were all we would get, I guess it was my turn to do the comforting.
I looked straight ahead, but I could feel him watching me. He held my hand back just as tightly as I was holding his. With his thumb, he began to draw circles on my skin.
“Your brother is an asshole, and I guess I owe you one.”
Something in my words resonated with him because it snapped him out of his little pity party. Neo stood straighter, and he let go of my hand. That made my stomach drop. How was it that I was already feeling the absence?
I was reeling from the loss that I had overlooked when he started to cage me against the wall. My breath hitched as he crowed over me. This feeling was familiar, but it was all new to my eyesight.
Neo’s chest was rising and falling rapidly. He put one hand next to my head, and with the other, he caressed my cheek with his knuckles.
“Are you fucking him?”
“That’s none of your business,” I bit out.
He let out a dark chuckle.
Neo stopped his soft ministrations and gripped my chin, then tilted it up so I would be forced to look into his brown eyes.
“It’s my business when I own everything in your apartment,” he spat. “I have half a mind to go burn your fucking sheets and throw your bed out the window.”
“You don’t have a key,” I couldn’t help but taunt.
He leaned even closer, and his nose brushed against mine.
“I don’t think I need one,” he smirked. “Do I, baby? Tell me, is that pretty pussy wet for me already?”
It was, and I hated that his crass words turned me on, but also how quickly I melted into him when he called me baby.
“Fuck you, Neo,” I said as I pushed him back. “I’m going back to my date.”
I tried to step away, but he pulled me back. His hand was on my body, holding on to my waist. His fingers dug into my skin.
“Don’t take him home, Lou.”
This time, his words wore more of a plea.
“Ditch your date.”
“I already did.” His words echoed softly as he walked away first.