CHAPTER 28
Victoria stretches languidly across the vast bed, a cat unfurling after a deep sleep. She”s well-rested, but her eyes snap open as she remembers where she is. She spent the night at Micaela”s, and her heart quickens, recalling the tender way the Italian-named writer comforted her the evening before. She turns slowly, noting she”s alone in the bed, and a thousand different memories from last night flood her mind. She wrestles with the idea of sneaking out or acting like the adult woman she is, but doubt ambushes her, making her wonder if Micaela left her alone in the house to avoid facing the unspoken tension between them.
She leaps from the bed, a mix of rage and indignation fueling her. She”s rattled by her feelings for Micaela. She heads to the bathroom—three times the size of hers at home—and quickly freshens up, determined to leave as soon as possible. Her steps echo down the stairs, each footfall heavy with imagined grievances. But then, the bitterness dissolves in an instant. Micaela is in the kitchen, dressed only in a tank top and panties that accentuate a backside Victoria finds irresistibly attractive.
Micaela turns, a smile playing on her lips that sends a shiver through Victoria”s heart and lower. ”Good morning,” the younger woman greets.
Victoria feels such a jolt she trembles, forced to look away as her gaze heats up like embers in a hearth. Micaela”s nipples press against the fabric, threatening to break free.
”Hello,” Victoria stammers, finishing her descent.
”Here,” Micaela extends an arm, offering a coffee with milk exactly how Victoria loves it.
Their eyes meet, and the intense complicity between them is undeniable, a bond formed just days after they began sharing a roof in Vinuesa.
”When did you get up? Usually, I”m the early riser,” Victoria asks, her eyes darting around the kitchen.
”I”m hosting here. I know you wake up early, and always with a voracious hunger,” Micaela replies, her voice light, trying not to show that her heart might just drop through the floor at any moment.
”Yep,” Victoria mutters, her voice a threadbare whisper trapped within the four walls that seem to close in around them. Silence swallows the room whole. Words desert her as a startling realization dawns—she”s fallen, irrevocably, for the very woman she once couldn”t stand. Now, she”s reeling, youthful and giddy with new love.
”We need to talk, Victoria,” Micaela breaks the heavy silence, her voice slicing through the tension as she notices Victoria”s sudden muteness.
Victoria”s heart hammers against her chest, fear mingling with the resurgence of familiar insecurities. She knows they need to discuss this, but she”s suddenly drained, unable to face a truth she can no longer hide.
”Not now, Micaela,” she cuts off her friend swiftly, downing her coffee with milk in one gulp. ”I need to see Javier.”
Micaela freezes, feeling foolish. Victoria has slipped back into that icy demeanor, though now it seems a mere facade. Anger flares within Micaela; she believes Victoria is fleeing from their burgeoning connection, too scared to confront whatever might be brewing between them.
”Let”s keep talking, and thanks for last night,” Victoria adds quickly, not waiting for a response. She turns toward the living room, grabs her purse from where she left it the night before, and exits the house as if it”s about to collapse on her.
Victoria slides into her car and lets out a long sigh, her head hitting the steering wheel. She taps her forehead, silently berating herself. ”Idiot. Coward,” she whispers, but right now, there”s something else she needs to resolve, something clouding her thoughts. She checks her phone and sees several messages; two from her son make her heart skip. He”s asking if she was at his house, having found his bed made in that peculiar way she does. Later, Daniel confirms his roommate told him about her visit and wonders why she didn”t wait for him to finish his shower.
She types back a hurried reply, saying she had to deal with an urgent matter and she”ll call later. It”s a weak excuse, and she knows it.
”Javier, I need to talk to you,” she says into the phone, her tone as dry as desert sands when the editor picks up on the second ring.
”Sure, honey. Is everything okay?” the concern in his voice is palpable.
”Where can we meet?” she cuts him off.
”At my place if you want, I”m alone.”
”I”ll be there,” she replies tersely, then hangs up with a frustrated gesture.
“Can you explain what the hell you’re playing at, Javier?” Victoria storms into the editor’s house like a hurricane, not bothering with greetings.
“What are you talking about, Vicky?” Javier stumbles toward the couch, a mix of shock and fear painting his face as he sees his friend in this state.
“Don’t play dumb with me,” Victoria snaps, her finger jabbing the air toward him. When it comes to her son, all bets are off, “You’ve charmed Daniel. Since when are you sleeping with him?”
Javier turns pale, a wave of dizziness forcing him to brace himself on the back of the couch. He’s clueless about how Victoria found out. Indeed, he hasn”t spoken to Daniel in nearly two days; the boy had been buried in library books while Javier stayed home, tending to his husband who was bedridden with a stomach bug until today.
“Calm down, Vicky, it’s not what you think,” Javier pleads, sweat beading on his forehead.
“Don’t call me that. ‘Vicky’ is for friends, and you’re far from that. My friends don’t go around seducing my son.”
“Seriously, it’s not what you think. Sit down, and I’ll explain everything,” Javier tries to pacify both Victoria and his own mounting panic. If he doesn’t manage his breathing soon, he’ll succumb to an anxiety attack.
Victoria’s gaze on him is unreadable. Javier, having known her for years, has never seen such a look in her eyes. He sighs as she finally sits beside him on the couch, then rises to fetch two bottles of water from the fridge, handing one to Victoria before sitting down again.
Javier unscrews the cap and downs half the bottle in one long gulp, his throat as dry as if he’s just finished a CrossFit session.
“I’m waiting, Javier,” Victoria presses, seeing his hesitation.
“I’m in love with Dani,” Javier confesses, then starts nervously biting the skin around his thumbnail.
Silence. Victoria’s eyes nearly pop out of her sockets.
“I didn’t see it coming, Victoria,” Javier continues, “It started as harmless flirting. You know my marriage has been over for a long time. My husband chases after every resident at the hospital and thinks I don’t know.”
With Victoria momentarily lost for words, Javier seizes the opportunity to unload his burden. He recounts how he and Daniel ended up one evening at a bustling bar in Chueca, just by chance. Until then, their interactions had been limited to occasional work assignments. That night, they moved to a quieter café where they spent hours talking. Daniel confessed that he wasn’t interested in guys his own age, finding them shallow and immature.
“From that day, we started meeting occasionally, for lunch or coffee, just as friends. At first, I felt like I was mentoring him, you know, an old queen showing the ropes to a young guy just stepping into the scene,” Javier shares.
Despite her anger, Victoria struggles to suppress a chuckle at Javier’s description.
“Sure, you set it up nicely to take advantage of him,” Victoria spits back, the sting of a wounded mother in her words.
“You’re wrong,” Javier corrects her, now a bit calmer, “I genuinely started to feel good about our times together. It’s been years since I felt so alive, his company rejuvenates me.”
”So when exactly did you leap from friendship to bed, Javier?” Victoria”s words pierce the air like arrows dipped in venom. ”Because I certainly don”t sleep with my friends, and least of all their children, out of loneliness.”
Javier flinches, his voice softening. ”Don”t be so harsh, Victoria. What Dani and I have isn”t just about sex. We”ve fallen in love, and if anyone”s losing out here, it”s me. I”m getting a divorce; it”s settled. I can”t stay with a man who sleeps with half of Madrid, brings his lovers to our summer house, and sees me as nothing more than a decorative vase in the living room.”
”And why do you say you”re the one losing out? If you divorce, you”re free to do as you please.”
”Dani set the rules from the start. She didn”t mind my marriage because she was going to keep exploring, meeting other women. I don”t doubt her love for me—yes, she does love me—but she”s young and wants to live her life. I”m hopelessly in love, and if I want to keep her, I have to respect her lifestyle.”
For a moment, Victoria feels a twinge of compassion for Javier. Dani is smart and stunningly beautiful—Victoria shudders to think how many might be after her. But she quickly composes herself; betrayal stings, regardless of the circumstances.
”That doesn”t excuse you bypassing our friendship, Javier. What you”ve done... it”s not right,” she admonishes.
”I know, believe me. I”ve been trying to end it for months, but I can”t. I love him, Victoria, and without him, my world would crumble. Dani is terrified that you would find out about us. This,” Javier gestures helplessly with both hands, ”is what she wanted to avoid. She didn”t want you going mad and coming after me.”
”You”d deserve it.”
”I would,” Javier echoes her words solemnly, acknowledging the truth in them.
”I haven”t told Santi because you know what would happen.”
Javier pales again. Santi may not be father of the year, but he adores his daughter and would likely confront Javier violently.
”Give me time, Victoria. Don”t speak to your son or Santi. Let me talk to Dani, and I promise we”ll find a solution. We don”t choose who we fall in love with, but fate is whimsical, and sometimes we fall for the least expected person, unable to stop it.”
A pang strikes Victoria”s heart as she thinks of Micaela, her smile, how that audacious woman slowly crept into her heart. She tries not to dwell on it and focuses on Javier. Her daughter comes first, always.
Victoria stands, her expression stern. She grabs her purse from the table, turns to leave, but drops one last line that nails Javier to the spot.
”If you hurt my son, I swear I”ll castrate you, Javier.”