34. Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Vi
I didn't hear from Jake again that day. When I went to check his office by the end of the day and didn't find him there, it didn't surprise me. Thinking he might have gone home already, I made my way to his condo.
Even though I had a code to make it into his building and get myself to his floor, I didn't have a key. I knocked on his door a few times, but he didn't respond.
Vi : are you home? I'm outside.
Nothing happened for several minutes. I sighed and changed strategies.
I knocked at Gabe's door. Within half a minute, the door opened.
"Violeta! Hi," Lina said. "Everything okay?"
She opened the door wide and I went inside. I dropped my purse on the entrance table.
"It smells great," I said. "Can I keep you company while you finish dinner?"
"Of course. Come, sit at the island. Can I offer you some wine?"
My brother's condo was a mirror image of Jake's. I had helped Gabe decorate this one, and had visited enough that I felt completely comfortable there.
"Just water tonight, thank you." I sat at the table. "What are you making?"
"Sincronizadas con frijoles refritos. It's easy to make and I can add a tomato on the side so your brother doesn't weep for the lack of a salad. Somehow pico de gallo isn't enough? But it's fine. Gabe likes it and since he cooks ninety percent of the time, I don't mind making an exception. Will you join us? I can cut up another tomato."
I smirked at Lina's mini rant. "I don't know. Probably not. I'm waiting to hear from Jake."
"Mhh. How's that going? Any thoughts about telling everyone in time for the party?"
"All the thoughts." I sighed. "After the song on Friday things kind of took on a mind of their own."
"What do you mean?"
I briefly described the events with Andrew, and the conversation between Jake and I.
"He had a hard time with it, Lina." I clicked my tongue. "I had never seen him like that. I don't know how much you know about his parents, but they were… rough with him."
My friend gave me a slow nod. "Gabe has said a bit. Not much."
"I think it's making it harder for him to tell my parents the truth. He asked me for a couple of days, even though he agreed to talk to everyone before the party."
I chewed the inside of my lips. Beyond the fact that I hated leaving him alone the day before, I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if I hadn't come up with the brilliant idea of hiding it.
"You look worried." Lina covered the food and set it to keep warm; she put the unseasoned tomatoes in the fridge.
"I am. We messed up, Lina. You can say, 'I told you so'."
"That would be mean of me to say, even if I'm thinking it. But it's not like you can't come back from this."
"I have to believe that. It's Jake we're talking about."
She quirked an eyebrow at me, like she couldn't follow my train of thought. "Why does that sound like you wouldn't typically believe it? Are you having doubts?"
"No— I mean. Yeah, I wouldn't typically believe this is easy to come back from. Not that I think it's easy, I just…"
"Okay. What's going on?" Lina rested with her elbows on the stone countertop.
I wrung my hands together. "Did we make too many mistakes? I broke up easily with guys before for far less. But with Jake…"
"Are you thinking about breaking up with Jake?"
"No! That's not what I mean. We shouldn't have hidden it, but it was my idea. Meanwhile, Jake is having a hard time with everyone learning about us. Why am I okay with that? Because I am okay with that. With the other guys it was easy to let them go, but I hate the idea of even wondering about it when it's about Jake…" I sighed.
"Then it's different than with the guys before. Why?"
"Because I understand why it's hard, and because I love him…"
I let the words hang in the air, half expecting a reaction from Lina. She didn't show much of a response. She didn't appear shocked.
It helped. The knot around my throat loosened.
She gave me a lopsided smile. "I think all relationships go through a point where people need to decide if they will work through the issues keeping them apart for the sake of making it work. I think this is it for you and Jake."
"Did you go through that with Gabe?"
"Yes, of course."
I shook my head. "I wouldn't have known. Things with Jake have never felt easy, and yet here I am. Thinking it should be easy. Meanwhile, you and Gabe always looked so happy. From the start, you looked like you'd won the lottery. I expected to feel that way— uncomplicated joy. And even though there's joy— so much joy— there's also confusion. Struggle. I don't know how to wrap my head around that."
Lina snorted. "What if I told you Gabe and I struggled to stay together?"
My eyes widened. Jake had mentioned at one point that Gabe had almost broken up with Lina. It was as hard to believe back then as it was now. But if they had made it work…
"What happened?" I asked.
Lina sighed and reached for a wine glass in a cupboard. "I think this conversation calls for wine. Water only for you still?"
She grabbed a bottle of white wine from the fridge. I checked my phone; still no news from Jake.
"Okay, get me a sip or two, please." I sent a quick follow up text to Jake.
Vi : I'm at Gabe's with Lina. Let me know when you're free
Now with glasses next to us, Lina sat at the island with me.
"Are you going to tell me about the biggest fight you ever had with Gabe?" I asked.
"No. I'm going to tell you about how we started."
I took a sip of wine, a curious look on my face.
She sighed. "You see… Gabe and I weren't even real to start with. My uncle's machismo forced my hand, and I ended up asking Gabe to pretend to be my boyfriend. It was the only way I'd get to make the business move I wanted with my family's company."
Shock reverberated in my bones. "You guys were faking?!"
"At the start! After more than a year together, believe me— we're not faking anymore. My point is that we hid things, too, but we figured it out."
I blinked several times, adjusting the revelation into my mental maps.
"Did you get confused, too?" I finally asked.
"I did— for a while. I told myself I needed to get Gabe out of my system." Lina's smile held plenty of self-deprecation. "Flash forward eighteen months later, and I don't think that will ever be possible. I can't see my life without Gabe. Can you see your life without Jake?"
"Not at all. Even if I didn't love him romantically, I'd want him around. He is part of our world."
"You love him." Lina smiled. "Maybe it's a good reason to push through."
The words darted to my heart. Through my blood, they reached every part of me.
I grinned. There were no doubts. Mistakes or not, I loved Jake, and I wanted to stay with him.
And perhaps, he was part of the reason why I broke up with my exes so easily, or why I had never been heartbroken. It was never about something wrong with me; my exes had simply not been Jake.
I shook my head at myself. "I thought love was supposed to feel like being finally at peace. Like everything was in its place. Nothing has been easy with Jake… and it doesn't change what I feel for him."
"Love feels like that, warm and safe. But we all come with some sort of baggage that gets in the way. That's when we have to choose love."
The sound of keys and a door clicking open had Lina and I jumping off our island stools.
Gabe came into the condo with a happy smile on his face. "Oh! Vi! I didn't realize you'd be here."
He reached us and gave Lina a kiss on the cheek.
I crossed my arms. "I can't believe you faked dating Lina."
My brother startled. He stared at Lina.
She smirked. "I thought she could use some validation."
Gabe pursed his lips and considered us. "Why? Because she and Jake were hiding a relationship and she panicked at our kitchen island?"
I gasped. Lina laughed. Gabe chuckled, and gave me a kiss on the cheek too.
"I'm happy for the two of you," he said.
"How did you know?"
"Jake confessed his love for you…" he checked his watch. "An hour ago."
I melted at the idea of Jake telling Gabe he loved me. That he did as he said he would.
"You love him, too?" Gabe's eyes were soft as he studied me.
I nodded. "I have for a while, I think. I was just too scared to label it for what it was, just in case I was wrong and it lost me a relationship like our parents."
"I can relate to wanting the same." He put a hand around Lina's waist and brought her close. "I found it. I think you did, too."
"I know you worry about the mistakes," Lina added. "But it's in moments of hardship that people show you their true colors…"
"And what Jake is showing me is something I believe in." I smiled at them.
Unlike with my exes, who I never cared about enough to do the hard things for or to fix it. Maybe my friends had been right and I chose the wrong guys but, then again, maybe that had been on purpose. Those relationships were doomed because I was already in love with someone else, even when I didn't know it for what it was.
Gabe hugged me, and Lina followed.
"Thank you both," I said. "I'm not stressed about it anymore. Jake and I will deal with the consequences of our choices, and it'll be fine." I shrugged. "Then we'll be free to just… be together."
"No awkward 'we can't share the same space or we'll jump each other' vibes anymore". Lina smirked.
Gabe nodded. "No awkward glances between the two of you making me want to shake you both by the shoulders."
"Stop!" I laughed. "I didn't think we were that obvious."
"So obvious," Lina said. "You'll see everyone's response."
I rolled my eyes and grabbed my purse. "Anyway, thank you very much. Is Jake in his condo? I'll go talk to him—"
"Didn't you know?" Gabe frowned. "Jake went to talk to Mom and Dad."
A bucket of cold water washed over me. It dripped down my hair, taking the remains of my thoughts with it to the ground.
"He was literal ?!" I exclaimed. "He's doing it alone?"
I double checked my phone for a text. Nothing there yet. I would need to have a talk with Jake about his texting, but that was fine. I had a different priority at the moment.
"I'm going to fight him later," I said. "For now, I have to go stand by him."