Ruwon
Hiding under a rock wouldn’t help me.
“If you need us, just call,” Levi said, kissing her forehead. “Or you can wait for us and just veg here for the day and I’ll take you out tomorrow?”
“Oh my god,” she said, pushing him away. “I can tour a city on my own. You're spoiling me too much.”
“Yeah, but it’s better with us,” Matteo said, pulling her in for a kiss.
This whole morning fell oddly platonic.
Last night, my plan to get her to sign the NDA went out the door.
I tried to keep my distance, but her allure and excitement were too hard to resist. She was carefree, laughing, enjoying the tour and our dinner afterwards turned into heated stares.
We barely made it home before our clothes came flying off and I fucked her till she screamed our names.
One time didn’t satisfy me. I had her again slow and hard after Matteo and Levi fell asleep.
“Call us when you’re done so we can figure out what to do for dinner or a late lunch,” Levi said, grabbing Matteo’s hand. “Have a good meeting, Ru!”
“Good luck!” I yelled back from the kitchen, as Vi walked them to the door.
Violeta bid them goodbye as I served us the breakfast she had cooked.
It was American style with bacon and eggs, my mouth watered the entire time she was cooking and I missed having those hearty breakfasts in America.
She came into the kitchen as I set everything up on the table, gnawing on her lip as she glanced at me.
“Coffee?” I asked, serving myself.
“Please,” she said, sitting down. “A splash—”
“One cream and two spoonful’s of sugar.” I finished her sentence.
“Oh, thanks,” she said, studying me.
She stayed quiet as I finished our coffees, biding her time before she started asking questions. My heart raced, wondering how bad the interrogation would be. We had been off since the boat and I could only imagine what she was thinking.
I set our coffees down, bracing myself for her to say something. She said thank you, digging into her food immediately. I picked at my food, waiting patiently, wishing she would put me out of my misery.
“This is delicious,” I said, when I couldn’t take the silence anymore. “I don’t realize I've missed an American breakfast until I have it again.”
“If we had potatoes and some jalapenos, I could have cooked you something better,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee. “I could have made flour tortillas too.”
“Do you cook a lot when you’re home?” I asked, feeling better that we were talking.
“Mmm, sometimes when I get the craving for something,” she said, scraping her plate. “It’s kind of hard to cook when you are just cooking for you. Plus, I end up making way too much food.”
“What’s your favorite dish to make?” I asked.
“Oh, that’s too hard,” she smiled. “I make a mean milanesa torta. I could also eat posole verde all day too, but only when my tía makes it because mine never turns out the same.”
“What are those dishes?” I asked, feeling a little more tension leave me now that we were finally talking.
“Oh, milanesa is kind of like tonkatsu, but it's thinly sliced beef. Then you put that in a sandwich with avocado, tomatoes, jalapenos and some lettuce. I mean, you could put whatever you want in it,” she sighed. “And posole is hominy with some braised pork in like a salsa verde sauce. It’s so damn good.”
“That all sounds delicious,” I said, wondering if she would ever get a chance to cook for us.
“If you ever come to the states, visit me and I’ll cook for you,” she said softly. “It’s the least I could do for you guys spoiling me out here.”
“Then maybe we will need to make a trip out there to enjoy your food,” I said, leaning towards her.
“That would be great, when I am home, if I go home,” she said, grabbing my empty plate and stacking it on hers.
“I’m sorry things have been weird,” I said quickly. “I have been worrying about things too much and it’s been messing with my head.”
“You’re giving me whiplash,” she said, getting up. “I didn’t understand why you wanted me here if you wouldn’t talk to me or even look at me. Sometimes you take me to bed, ravish me and it's back to square one.”
“These big choices I have to make are screwing with me,” I said, getting up to help her clean.
“I know I haven’t been handling it well, but…
I hate to use this as an excuse. Ever since I left the military, things have been difficult for me.
I feel like I have changed, but not for the better.
It’s like I’m unsure about so many things.
My mind is full of scenarios and decisions that make me second-guess everything. ”
“That's understandable, but you can talk to me. Don’t shut me out, and if you want me to sign an NDA, then just ask,” she said, rinsing our dishes. “I can’t imagine what you go through and if me signing one helps you feel better, then I’ll do it.”
“You heard your conversation,” I stated.
“I heard the tail end of what Matteo told you,” she said, leaning against the sink looking at me.
“I have enough drama in my life and I would never want to put you in that position, because I can’t imagine what it's like to be scrutinized at the level you are. I also have no desire to put myself in a position where someone knows where I am. I left home and I wish not to be found until I am ready.”
“What does that mean? What are you running from?” Every cell in my body went into protective mode. “If it’s—”
My phone vibrated and rang loudly. I glanced at the screen and saw my agent’s phone number. The clock on the stove said I had forty minutes to make it to my meeting.
“Look, if you—”
“I’m fine and safe,” she said walking to me. “Go have your meeting and we can talk about this later. I have a tour to get to.”
She smiled, leaning up to kiss me. I deepened the kiss, but my brain wasn’t going to let go of what she had said. Still, I had no choice but to leave.
“I’m a phone call away if you need me,” I said, pulling away.
“I know,” she smirked. “I have all your numbers saved, and I’ll send you pictures so you know I’m safe.”
“Good,” I said, feeling like I shouldn’t leave her. “I’ll see you later.”
She blew me a kiss as I left for my room. She settled a part of me only to make me worry about what mess she was running from. Tonight, we would talk about everything because I hated surprises.
My agent was furious with me as I arrived later than expected. He was about to lecture me when a woman greeted me, leading me away.
“I need to speak to Ruwon,” he growled.
“We need to get through this fitting quickly, my boss also has a schedule to adhere to,” she said smoothly.
“You didn’t answer any of my texts or calls,” he said in Korean.
“I was running late, there was no point if I was going to see you anyway,” I responded, as they guided me to a room to undress. “What’s so important that you need to speak to me immediately?”
“I see you haven’t been on the internet lately?” he snapped.
“I never do, just like you’ve told me not to,” I snapped back, getting tired of his attitude.
“Mr. Moon, we will try these on first and then move onto—”
My agent’s phone rang and he walked out to take it, his face tense and a bad feeling overwhelmed me. I grabbed my phone to look up my name, but it was quickly taken away as they took my measurements and dressed me.
After I was back in my clothes, I met with the designer who wanted me to walk for him in Paris Fall Fashion Week. He talked about his vision as we had a light lunch. Mr. Jauncey was funny, witty and laid-back, one of the few designers I had met who wasn’t posh and snooty.
“I have another meeting I must attend, Mr. Jauncey, but I appreciate the clothes and the lunch. I can’t wait until fashion week,” I said, holding out my hand.
“My darling, I should thank you! That bag of mine you were wearing at the airport has been all the rage.”
“Your collection is to die for,” I said, as he hugged me, giving me a kiss on each cheek.
“I’ll send more things your way!” he yelled, as I walked out wondering where the hell my agent was.
I was led to the front of the building when I saw a lot of photographers outside and I paused.
“Oh dear,” the woman who was escorting me said.
“Do you have a back—”
“I got him,” my agent said, pulling me down a hall.
“That isn’t for me right?” I asked in Korean.
He looked grim when he didn’t answer and every alarm bell I had been ignoring since this morning went off.
“There are photos of a person who looks like you with that girl and two other guys,” he clipped. “There is no nudity, but people can guess what’s happening.
“No,” I shook my head as every fear I had had in the last few days had come true. “There is no way someone could have—”
“I told you that girl was bad news,” he said, leading me out a back door and into an SUV.
“She wouldn’t.” I defended her, but a sinking feeling made me question my words.
“Well, someone did and this feels like it's just the beginning,” he said, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “I’m dropping you off at home and you make sure you get her the hell out of the house. Give me your phone.”
“It’s not her,” I said weakly.
“I don’t care if it's her or not, she’s causing problems and you can’t have that now that you're back.” He grabbed my phone scrolling through my contacts. “Did you know she’s engaged?”
“Excuse me?” My neck whipped so fast to look at him I felt like I had pulled something.
“Yeah, her fiancée is some big tech guy in America. Lorenzo Villalobos.”
“No, that's not right.” I said, shaking my head except I remembered what we had talked about this morning.
She was running from who knows what because she didn’t tell me. I felt like an idiot for not finding out more.
“Look.” He shoved my phone at me.
A picture of Violeta with her fiancée was on my screen. She was smiling softly and he held her by her waist, possessively. Maybe she had no choice but to run.
“Don’t call her please; I’ll sort this out,” I said, pulling up a text thread with her. “Drop me off and I’ll talk to her.”