Chapter 38 #2
“Me too. I guess in the end, we weren’t very lucky. The chastest and the most promiscuous had to get screwed. One for being too naive and the other for having too many sins.”
“And where does that leave me?” Pietra asked with feigned confusion.
“In purgatory, I think,” Josie suggested.
“Ha, ha. Very funny.”
I looked at the watch on my wrist and stood.
“It’s time for me to go.”
“Now? Don’t you want to stay a little longer? We could talk more.”
“I’d love to, Josie. But I can’t,” I said simply as I put the strap of my purse over my shoulder. “We’ll make plans another day.”
Pietra said goodbye to her and went ahead to the door.
“Antonella?”
“Yes?”
“Where do we stand?”
I let out a rough breath and smiled, going to Josie.
“Where we’ve always stood. Friends, sisters of the heart. I think we’ve both already lost too much to allow ourselves to lose anything else.”
“I’m so sorry for what you’re going through. If I could…”
“I know, just as I know you’re not to blame. The only guilty one here is that damned bitch. Forgive me,” I asked sincerely. “I really need to go.”
“Okay… Oh, I like the new cut.”
“Thank you. See you.”
I said goodbye to her, allowing us one sincere hug. Then I left.
On the sidewalk, I faced Pietra.
“Go to the mansion. I’ll take a cab. I have some things to do.”
“Where are you going?” Pietra retraced her steps and stopped in front of me. “Listen, don’t worry about me. Today I can be your driver, or if you’d rather drive, I don’t mind.”
When When I didn’t answer, or take the key she offered me, she murmured:
“You’ve been acting very strange since you came back, Ella.”
I hesitated. “Let’s go to the café across the street.”
We crossed the street and entered the café. We chose a table by the glass with a view of the quiet street. I ordered a coffee I didn’t touch, and Pietra ordered juice.
“So?” she prompted.
“I went to a lawyer, Pietra. This morning, before going home, he told me he would file an emergency injunction this week so I can have access to Lucca without Heithor’s coercion.
” I stopped, waiting for the waitress to place Pietra’s order on the table.
Pietra looked at me, surprised, speechless.
“I know what this is going to cost me,” I said when we were alone again, “but I can’t stay away from my baby any longer.
It’s ridiculous and inhuman for Heithor to deprive me of being with Lucca.
I waited for your brother to come to his senses, but I’ve reached my limit.
I’m trying very hard not to go crazy and do something stupid. I can’t do this anymore.”
“I don’t even know what to say. I mean, I think deep down I already expected something like this, but I didn’t believe it would really get to this point.”
“It isn’t easy to have to stay away from Lucca, missing moments that are mine by right, like the one I had today.
I should have been breastfeeding him from the beginning.
I should be the first to know his teeth are coming in early…
” I breathed deeply and blinked, holding back the tears, and continued through my numbed pain.
“It drives me crazy to know that even a stranger, like the nanny, has more rights than I do… that when it comes to everything involving my son, I’m the last to know, not because they forgot to tell me or because I’m negligent, but because, to Heithor, I’m nothing more than an incubator. ”
She took my hand across the table.
“I don’t blame you at all for going after your rights, amada. It’s just that I really was caught by surprise. Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I’ve lost too much already. I’m not losing anything else, Pietra.
It isn’t only me losing. Lucca is too. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep him.
I know my situation and my shitty record, but I can’t wait until your brother decides to be human or until I manage to prove to him that bitch set us up. ”
“I still don’t understand it. No matter how hard I try, I can’t understand.”
“She did it. I didn’t lie.”
“I’m…” She exhaled in a heavy gust. “I’m not stupid.
I know what this will bring, and I don’t like the situation, though I know you have every right to fight for your rights.
I know I’d do the same if I were in your place.
Maybe I would have lost my mind, I don’t know…
It’s just that he’s my brother, my family, and you’re my best friend, part of the family too…
I feel like I’m at a crossroads. I don’t agree with what Heithor is doing, Ella, but I love him and I love you. ”
Seeing Pietra so vulnerable for the first time brought tears to my eyes.
“You don’t have to choose between him and me.” I squeezed her hand in mine. “Even if there were no Lucca, we would still be tied, Pietra. You’re my best friend, the sister I never had. That will never change unless you want it to.”
“Never expect that from me.”
“Then we’ll be fine, because for me, it’s mutual.” She smiled a little and wiped her damp eyes. “I really need to go now. I have an appointment with a real estate agent, and I can’t be late.”
“Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“You don’t have to do that. Thor would never throw you out of the mansion. He only said all that nonsense because he was angry.”
“There’s no other way, P. I wish I could believe everything will be okay, that I’ll wake up from this horrible nightmare and it will have been nothing more than that—a nightmare.
But we know that won’t happen until someone does something.
I want my son with me. I want every right I have, and for that to happen, I need to do this the right way. ”
“Just answer me one thing. Where have you been all these days?”
“With Benjamin… Don’t ask, because it’s not what you’re thinking. He only helped me when I needed it… Bye.”