Chapter 26
Luna
I think I've forgotten what color looks like. The thought almost makes me laugh. It’s ludicrous but true.
For the past three weeks, I’ve only been going from my apartment to the office and back.
Lots of gray and beige, along with New York City white subway tile, and brick backgrounds that blend into each other.
When I’m home, I oscillate between zombie and obsessed, moving around my place like a horse with blinders on.
The vibrant shades of orange, yellow, and red from the trees that line the highway are so bright it makes my eyes feel like they're in a fish tank.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask Maeven as she speeds her way up the Cross County Parkway. “There are parks and trails closer to both of us.”
“There are, but I wanted a more private venue. I know you hate the attention you’re still getting, and I want you to be comfortable and honest.”
“That’s not anxiety-inducing at all.” My voice is dry, more than I intend.
She chuckles, taking the exit at full speed.
Her nifty Lexus 350 handles the curve with smooth ease.
“Not my intent. I want to know how you are. We’re heading to a safe and well-guarded area to walk and talk outside.
You may see one or two celebs, but it won’t get out.
It’s a safe space where people are not photographed or harassed. ”
We go through a gate where we sign in and park. There are a few luxury cars in the lot.
I look at the entrance to the trail and exhale, my gaze fixed on the colorful forest with vibrant leaves on the trees and ground before me. “It’s beautiful.”
“It is. So…talk to me. How are you?”
I think of the last three weeks when I have been stuck in my office or my room, online looking for an apartment ahead of Mami’s wedding.
When I’m not doing any of that, it's even worse. I watch the concert feeds that Sel sends me, obsessing over every detail, every expression on Rio’s face, trying to decipher how he really is handling stuff.
I try to sleep to avoid thinking, only to wake up early and pack or work on Morena it’s wild. But I’m glad it helps you not think about it…unless he’s just a mask and you’re still thinking?”
“I think about…” I measure my words and shake my head. I can’t tell her.
“I’m not just Rio’s. I’m yours too.” She rips the Band-Aid off by saying his name.
I keep walking like the pain is not about to double me.
“What I’m trying to say,” she starts again, “is that I would never betray your trust. You’ve been cooped up for three weeks, and since Sel is away, I can sub. I’m a good girl’s girl.” She smiles.
“I do know that about you, but you’re no one’s sub.”
“You said it.” She shrugs, and we laugh.
“I’m trying, Maeven. I’m waiting for the day when I don’t have to fill every second of my life with something to do so I don’t miss him.” Or no longer fill my nights with his performances.
She waves me on, and I continue.
“I don’t get it. We weren’t together all the time, but I miss him like a limb. It’s like the time I had my finger in a cast and couldn’t use it. It was there, and it hurt, but I couldn’t move it.” I blow out a breath. “When I have a minute to breathe, I wonder what he’s doing or if he’s okay.”
“Well…” she says, “you know what he’s doing. You got your enforcer infiltrating the camp.”
She means Sel, and it makes me smile.
“She’s there for Tito. She’s so in love.” And even my heart smiles for her because I love to see her happy. Though Sel tries to sound matter-of-fact about it, the truth is she’s giddy when she talks about Tito.
“Main objective, yes. But we both know she plans to keep an eye on Rio. I think part of him knows it too, but Tito is happy, and he loves him like you love Sel.” She smiles too. “And that keeps an open line to you. And vice versa, right?”
“Yes,” I admit, because Sel reports everything she sees. “I worry about how he’s handling it inside. I wonder if he feels alone too, because…” I stop because my throat clogs, and I shake my head until it clears. “I don’t want to be someone else who abandons him.”
“You’re not. It didn’t work out then. It doesn’t mean it won’t later on when you are both ready. Normally, I’m so used to seeing breakups that I don’t blink, but you two hurt my heart. My comfort is that I know you’ll find your way back to each other as long as you both keep an open mind and heal.”
And there’s that feeling in the pit of my stomach—the same one I got when she called and invited me out last night.
“Why do I feel like you’re setting me up for something, Maeven?”
Her lips flatten. “Well, I—”
We hit a windy curve, and two men walk toward us.
One is very tall with an athletic body, wearing a matching tracksuit.
His skin is a rich, beautiful brown, and his eyes are like piercing honey.
He must be at least 6'4". The other man is shorter, but at least 6 feet tall, and has a slender build and a buzz cut.
“Maeven Tatis, imagine finding you here,” says the shorter man.
“Hi, Dane. It’s good to see you.” She intends to keep walking, like she doesn’t notice the way he’s staring at her.
He isn’t deterred. “Let me introduce you to my client, Giovanni Ortiz.”
“Gio,” the taller man says as he shakes her hand, but his gaze is on me.
Maeven extends her hand. “This is—”
“Luna Santos,” Gio says and offers me his hand. It’s big and warm, like his smile, but his handshake is firm.
“Nice to meet you.” I look at Maeven, ready to get going.
“We will leave you to your walk,” Dane says.
“See you around.” Gio’s eyes are sparkling with unmistakable interest.
We keep walking, and Maeven looks back and chuckles. I follow her gaze, and both men are staring at us. I turn back and look at her, shrugging.
“I’m getting a call by the end of the day.”
I frown. “A call?”
“Yup. About you. Giovanni is going to ask for your number. Dane will be calling to try to secure it for him.”
“That’s weird AF,” I say, thinking about Rio asking for my number the first night we met.
“Welcome to the celeb world. Weird ain’t the word.”
“Dane is going to call about you. He was bobito staring at you,” I tease.
“Bobito is how he’s going to stay. I don’t shit where I eat, plus I already had one of his friends, and one thing about this girl is that I clean messes, I don’t make them. But back to you. What am I telling him?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. I’m not ready for stuff like that.”
“Think about it.”
“I will, but I think you need to tell me what you wanted to talk about.”
She stops walking and faces me. “I’m only sharing this with you because I trust you and you are my friend. I don’t want it to blindside you. I’m putting Rio in another contractual situation.”
My stomach dips, and I squelch the urge to press my hand to it. I shake my head but clear my throat. “He’s dating someone.”
“No, Luna. He’s on tour right now and is doing a collaboration with another artist from Fichal Mundial.
They want to push her more, and Rio is hot right now.
He’s also on tour, and they want to keep the buzz on him.
So, it’s a good opportunity for them to capitalize.
It won’t be at the level the two of you had.
It will just be pushing the song and doing promo. ”
I see us at the Knicks game when we were both so unsure but almost kissed. “Are you going to coach them too?”
I can’t help the pain in my voice. Her face goes a little red. “Luna, no. It’s not like that.”
Are they going to kiss like we did in the stadium and the world faded around us?
“Listen to me,” she says, hooking a hand on my arm the way Sel does. “It’s not real. It’s never going to be like it is with you. It’s just a promotion tactic.”
We finish our walk with what feels like a storm cloud looming over me. I’m sad, hurt, and though it’s irrational…betrayed. It hasn’t been a full three weeks.
In the moment, I develop a new plan. I need to move on—and fast—because if I see him with someone else, it’s going to eat me up inside. When we pull up outside my house, I turn to her before I exit the car. “If Giovanni calls, give him my number.”
* * *
Rio
I shouldn’t send the text, but I’m so pissed I don’t care, and feeling reckless enough to scorch our quiet peace, earth, and everything with it.
Luna went on a date with some fucking football player, and I’m in Colombia unable to show up to her house to talk to her.
She’s smiling up at him with all her teeth, on the fucking red carpet of some ridiculous award show.
Meanwhile, I’m here, trying not to punch a wall.
So I hit the one thing I can: the send button.
Rio
So much for ‘I’ll love you forever.’ My kisses are still wet on your skin. But you look beautiful, Mami. I wish the smile reached your eyes.
To deepen the wound, these gossipers on TV keep talking about it. I shouldn’t be watching, but the venom is too tempting for me to avoid.
The female anchor is giddy. “Luna is a lucky girl. She attracts heavy hitters. They were introduced by their publicists, and the tea is that Giovanni lost his mind for her and asked her to come to the Stars of Tomorrow banquet. You see the way he looks at her. Lord.” She fans herself while her tongue hangs half out.
The designer, a small-framed and light-skinned man with black hair and round glasses, resembling Christian Siriano, is also salivating.
“Can you blame him? ‘Cause ba-by, she came to shine. That body is bo-dy-ing in a double-asymmetric cut midnight-blue dress that clings to her body like butter. This is how you bounce back after your ex is already out there soft-launching a new relationship. We’re looking at you, Rio.”