9. Lyss And Rian Have A Secret
LYSS AND RIAN HAVE A SECRET
Alejandro
Dawn encroaches on the horizon like a slumbering giant.
Dahlia sleeps soundly with her hair woven into a braid that runs down her naked spine. She stirs when the mattress lifts and is alleviated of my weight but sinks right back into the pillows with a sigh. She’s so exhausted I doubt she’ll open her eyes before noon.
For once, I wish I wasn’t awake. I contemplate getting back into bed with her and sleeping until the sun comes up but there are things I want to take care of now before it gets too late in Barcelona. A six-hour time difference makes working from New York tricky.
I spend nearly a half hour standing under a hot shower and trying to quiet the chaos of my mind.
When I’m done I slip into yesterday’s clothes and head downstairs.
One of the lamps in the kitchen is on and I assume it was left that way last night.
I’m surprised to see Lyss tucked into the corner breakfast nook eating ice cream straight from the cartoon.
“Hi,” she murmurs around a mouthful of rocky road.
“Lyss…” I stumble in search of a response but don’t know what to say. I also don’t know why I feel so guilty. “I was…I just—”
“You guys are really loud.” She stabs a utensil into her ice carton and only now do I realize she’s using a fork. “It’s fine. I couldn’t sleep anyway.”
I struggle in vain to string together a sentence.
Lyss and I don’t interact often but I like her both as a person and as Dahlia’s friend.
She’s never been afraid to tell me about myself or let her disapproval of me be known.
I can honestly say she’s one of very few people whose respect I’m intent on earning one day.
The only way through this awkward interaction is to keep myself busy so I make a pot of coffee. While the machine works its magic, Lyss approaches the kitchen island and sits down on one of the stools. She’s never actively sought out my company before so if she’s here, it’s for a reason.
She must not want to be alone.
“How’s your dad?” I ask, recalling his battle with early onset dementia.
“Dad’s fine. I was with him yesterday.”
“Is that why you’re up at this time? Did you come home late?”
She frowns. “What? No, I was at Ri—”
She cuts herself off. Drops her head and returns to stabbing the ice cream with her fork.
Ah…I see now.
“You know, based on—” I stop short. How do I say this is a politely and painlessly as possible? I’ve never felt so bashful discussing sex before. “What you heard. Between Dahlia and me.”
She bristles. “Don’t make this gross.”
“What I’m trying to say is you don’t have to worry about her. She won’t be angry. In fact, I think she’d be happy for the two of you.”
Lyss’s eyes widen to the size of saucers and she turns sharply in her seat so as to avoid looking at me head on. She stares into the distance with parted lips and a rapidly rising and falling chest.
“I…I’m not sure I understand…” she sighs. Squeezes her eyes shut. Then grips the kitchen island and turns to face me again. “How long have you known?”
“A while.”
“Oh my God,” she covers her face with both hands. Voice drowning in humiliation she mutters, “Does Dahlia know?”
“That you and Rian are sleeping together, no, I don’t, and I really don’t think she’d—”
“Wait.” Lyss looks up at me with eyes in ever-changing shades of light brown. “Rian and I aren’t sleeping together.”
Now I’m confused.
“You’re not?”
“No! Jesus, I would never. He’s Dahlia’s boyfriend. Well, ex. Sorry!” she rushes to correct herself. “Listen, you guys swing back and forth like a pendulum. I can’t keep up.”
“You mean he still doesn’t know?” I ask. “What the Hell have you been doing hanging out at his house for the past month then?”
I can’t believe this.
It’s obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes that Lyss is in love with Rian.
I assumed that after his accident, and with all the time she’s spent checking in on him, that something had blossomed between them.
Maybe Rian finally opened his eyes to what was in front of him or maybe he’d grown attached to her on his own and decided it was time to act on it.
To Dahlia’s credit, I really don’t think she’d care if Rian and Lyss got together.
The secret would hurt her more than the act itself and from my observations, they seem well-matched.
Rian listens to Lyss and he respects her. She’s always been better at assuaging his temper than Dahlia ever was. They spend so much time together as it is. How has it not gone any further?
“We’re friends. We’ve known each other since before he and Dahlia got involved. They met through me…actually.” Something in her deflates when she says as much aloud.
This has just become infinitely more interesting.
When the coffee machine beeps, I pour us both a cup and sit next to her.
“I think I’ve been in love with him for almost as long as I’ve known him but I never said anything.
I don’t know why. It’s so stupid. I had it in my head that I’d be the last person he’d ever want to be with.
I kept thinking that if he felt the same, he would’ve done something about it…
” She gives a light shrug. “Anyway, none of this matters. He wanted Dahlia and I thought he’d be happier with her so I kept it to myself. ”
“Do you regret it?”
“Dahlia’s my best friend. I would never—”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Lyss takes her coffee cup and slides off the stool. “Thanks for the coffee. Try not to be so loud when you’re screwing my friend. My room’s right next door.”
She heads upstairs and I’m left with a lingering feeling I can’t explain.
Outside the kitchen window, the sky shifts from black to sapphire blue and then a lighter, cooler shade of blue as yellow creeps in. I rummage around the fridge in search of inspiration for breakfast and decide on home fries. I need something that’ll keep my mind and hands busy for a little while.
Me living in New York…what would that look like?
Am I finding my own place, moving in here?
And what does that mean for the business?
I suppose I could leave Diego in charge for a while or Lettie if she was so inclined but she’s going through a phase right now where she’s still trying to figure out her place in the world.
We lived and managed the business from abroad before but that was before Abuelo retired.
His retirement prompted our move to Barcelona in the first place.
How long will I stay in New York? This is home for Dahlia, what if she never wants to move again? Which one of my cousins would be willing to move to Spain permanently and which one of those idiots is actually responsible enough to do it?
My phone rings and Beni’s name lights up the screen. I got up early to give him a call and completely forgot to do so.
“Hey,” I balance the phone between my cheek and shoulder as I drain the pot I was boiling potatoes in. “I was just about to call you.”
We go through the usual. Things that need my attention, my approval, my thoughts.
We discuss shipping routes and what the first quarter financials are looking like.
He gives me updates on the Twelve Families and potential business opportunities I might be interested.
And as always, he asks me the same question.
“So, you coming home yet?” Humor leaks into the crevices of his voice. “Or does the big boss still have you by the balls?”
“You’re very funny.” I lower the flame on the stove so the eggs don’t get overcooked. “Hilarious, actually.”
“Oscar and I have a bet going. Five grand says you come back with her before Easter. I bet ten grand she bats her lashes and gets you to stay there.”
“I hate giving you the satisfaction but—”
“Oye!” he calls out. “I’m on the phone with Alex—I won!”
A chorus of voices floods the background of the call, some lamenting over their loss, others laughing, a few congratulating Beni on his win. They all mix together and I can’t tell who is who.
“Wait we were placing bets?”
“Ask him who caved first!”
“Him, obviously.”
“Beni, do my favor, and put my brother on the phone.” I snap. “Where is he?”
Beni shushes someone and I think he steps out of the room because the noise quiets. “What do you mean? He’s not with you?”
I let go of the frying and grab hold of my phone to hear him better. “Beni, why would he be with me?”
“Alejandro, your brother took the jet to New York weeks ago. He left the same day you called and said Dahlia was in the hospital.”
“That’s impossible. I just spoke to him yesterday and he—fuck.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Where the Hell is he then?”
Beni is quiet for a second. “Do you think he went to go see your mom?”
“I doubt it.”
“You know, he still speaks to her. Every once in a while…he just doesn’t say anything because he’s afraid it’ll upset you and Lettie.”
“It wouldn’t upset me. She’s his mother too, he doesn’t have to hide the fact that he has a relationship with her.
” I expel a deep breath. “All right just…leave it alone for now. In the meantime, ask Lettie to pack my things and I’ll text her a list of what I need from my office. I’m going to be here for a while.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
I hang up before he can ask me anymore questions.
Right now, I have to figure out where the Hell my brother is.
Did he go to see Mom in Puerto Rico? Or is he on one of his benders again?
He didn’t sound out of it the last time we spoke.
It’s been a long time since my brother pulled one of his disappearing acts and I had hoped that with time and maturity he grew out of his bad habits.
Diego used to pick up and disappear for weeks at a time.
Blowing through cocaine in Ibiza, partying in Thailand, gambling in Las Vegas, drinking himself into a coma in Berlin.
God, I forgot how fucking annoying tracking him down used to be.
Now I’m going to have to call one of our cousins to comb through his financials and that’s if there’s even a paper trail.
He’s too good at covering his tracks when he really wants to.
What I can’t understand is why he would say he’s flying to New York, not show up, and then lie to me about his whereabouts for nearly a month. Is it really that he’s gone on another bender or is he hiding something from me? And if so, what?
A pair of arms come around me from behind. I feel the shy peck of a pair of lips against my cheek and spin around.
Dahlia smiles up at me but doesn’t quite meet my gaze. There’s a hint of bashfulness in her voice when she speaks. “Good morning.”
“Good morning…” I frown. “What are you doing up so early?”
“I could smell the food from upstairs. I’m starving.” She peaks over at the stove. “Can you make my eggs scrambled? I’m not in the mood for sunny side up today.”
I nod in response but my thoughts are a million miles away.
Could Diego be in Puerto Rico with our mother?
No…I doubt it. Mom would’ve called and told me.
Or maybe he’s in Colombia with Tio Horacio, I know my uncle would cover for him if Diego didn’t want to be found whereas Tia Leticia would’ve called me the second his plane landed in Mexico.
Where could he be, why did he disappear, and why is he lying?
Why did he use Dahlia being in the hospital as a cover?
Maybe he intended to come to New York but something changed…
Dahlia pulls away. She shifts her weight between both feet and wrings her hands until the knuckles turn white. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” I stare at the pan in front of me. I can’t bring myself to do anything else.
It could be another bender. God and if it is, what triggered him?
Dahlia sinks back against the counter and the distance between us grows.
She’s wearing an oversized sweater she bought in Barcelona from a tourist shop in the Quarter.
I thought forty-five euro was an obscene amount of money to pay but for some reason she fell in love with it.
They only had one left and it’s two sizes too big so it hangs off one shoulder and the hem grazes her midthighs.
“Have you changed your mind?” she asks. “About last night?”
That snaps me out of it. “What?”
“Well because…if you don’t want to anymore then it’s fine I mean I know we talked about a lot and just because we slept together doesn’t mean everything is magically fixed between us especially since I asked you to move to New York which is crazy and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it for the past hour, like, I was upstairs just thinking about what I asked you to do so if you’re freaked out and think we should stop then—”
“Dahlia, stop, no.” I reach forward and pull her into my arms. “Jesus Christ, take a breath.”
“Sorry, I’m panicking.” Her voice cracks and her eyes gloss over.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in such a vulnerable state before. She looks like one mild wind could topple her over. Our first morning back together and I’m already fucking it up.
“I just got off the phone with Beni. Diego disappeared a few weeks ago—he’s fine, he used to do this all the time, the problem is now we have to find him. That’s all, I promise.”
She presses her lips together and I can feel her trembling in my arms. “Are you sure?”
“I also asked Beni to send my things over. You’ll be happy to know everyone’s been placing bets on us.”
Her eyes are still glossy but a hesitant smile takes form. “What kind of bets?”
“The kind where anyone who bet money on me lost. They all guessed I’d stay here with you and they were right.”
This time she smiles completely and when she kisses me, I know I made the right decision.