Chapter 24
GLASSES OF ALCOHOL AND REVOLUTION
ELENA
I knew this night was going to be difficult the moment Victoria and I saw each other when she arrived at the restaurant.
I was so nervous that I made sure to arrive before the rest of the group, and when I saw her standing among the tables, where several people were already dining, a wave of suffocating heat caused my nerves to turn into a current that ran down my spine and made the hairs on my arms stand on end.
Ana advised me to take care of myself and protect myself, to lock my heart away in a little box that Victoria couldn’t get into, but…
how can you do that in front of the person you love?
A few hours have passed since dinner ended, and we all left Gardenias to enjoy Ibiza’s most vibrant nightlife.
At this hour, music and neon lights envelop everything, and the streets are bustling with people eager to have a good time.
Inside the club we’re in, the electric beat of the song the DJ is playing crashes off the walls of the venue and against my chest, though the only thing I’m paying attention to is the movements of my body.
I’ve always loved dancing because it makes me feel free, and a part of me is grateful for it, since it doesn’t fight against the part that wants to break free from its own chains.
I’ve lost count of the drinks I’ve had, and the alcohol is already starting to take its toll.
Never, in my thirty-four years, have I gotten drunk enough to lose my bearings, and today won’t be the first time; my brother is having a blast, as are Carol, Ana, Pablo, and Inaki.
It’s been ages since we’ve gotten together, and it’s incredible that nothing has changed despite what happened.
Victoria is with them too, in the middle of the dance floor, radiating that energy I find impossible to ignore and that reminds me of those dark nights on the hotel rooftop.
It was our little corner, the place where we kissed, devoured each other, discovered each other, loved each other; we dreamed under the stars and woke up together with the feeling of happiness coursing through our veins.
Suddenly, our backs brush against each other, and the music invites us to move like two snakes slithering together.
I feel one of her hands brush against my thigh and how her fruity perfume awakens my senses.
I’m lucky Ana hasn’t noticed that we’ve shared a few caresses under the table.
I’m such a fool for getting excited over something so simple.
I should be upset that she has a partner and dares to do this, but I’ve spent five years waiting for any moment together, and all I want is to enjoy it.
“This club is amazing,” she shouts in my ear once we turn and look at each other face to face.
Inaki has taken Ana to get something to drink, and the others are so caught up in their own things that they aren’t paying attention to what’s happening between us.
Victoria and I dance together and let our bodies follow the beat.
It’s the first time in a long time that we’ve breathed so close to each other, and the heat is making me dizzy. “I love it.”
“In Ibiza, they’re all like this,” I reply once I pluck up the courage, shed my shyness, and wrap my arms around her waist. The tension between us is palpable; an electric current sends shivers down my spine as the space between us narrows a little more and Victoria looks at me with those blue eyes brimming with desire, curiosity, and repressed passion.
“Do you want us to leave here?” she suggests, and I shake my head in an attempt to stay cool and distant. It’s hard because it’s as if I’m swimming against the current, fighting a gale that threatens to drag me to ruin. I don’t understand how I could have fallen so quickly. “Are you sure?”
I resist again. Every glance, every touch of her hands, and the alcohol all fan the flames of a desire I thought I’d buried beneath layers upon layers of self-destruction.
And in the end, I give in. The music reaches its peak as she takes my hand and pulls me toward another part of the club—a more secluded, hidden spot, a corner where we can hide and no one can see us.
A frenzy of rhythms seems to sync with the beating of my heart, and then, in a moment of pure impulsiveness, our eyes meet and I know I can’t hold back any longer.
I move toward her, caught up in the dizzying rush of alcohol and the moment, and her lips press against mine in a desperate kiss so fiery it threatens to consume us both.
The world disappears around us when one of her hands slides down my backside, gripping it tightly, melting me into a haze of passion from which I am unable to escape.
It is just her and me, two lost souls desperately searching for a way out.
My hands move, searching for her, touching her.
We kiss with a ferocity that both frightens and excites me in equal measure, awakening sensations I thought were dormant, past memories, moments lived.
My body reacts as if it hadn’t been separated from hers in years, and when I feel myself falling, surrendered at her feet, I pull away abruptly, aware of what we’re doing.
“This isn’t right…” I say, my lips wet and swollen, and I place my hands on her chest. She looks me in the eyes, caresses my cheek with one hand, and I take a step back, fleeing from my own desires. “You have a partner, Victoria. We can’t do this.”
“About that…”
The music keeps playing, people are dancing, and I take advantage of it to run out and escape without hearing her finish.
I know I could stay in that corner all night and go much further…
My heart wants her; I can’t hold it back.
But this is much more serious, complex, and dangerous than it seems, and I don’t know if I’m strong enough to face it.
I have no idea if she’s following me or has lost sight of me, but once I’m outside the venue and the cool night air brushes my cheeks, I smile and breathe again.
Because in the end, after what just happened, I’ve realized that our story isn’t completely over.