Chapter THIRTY-FOUR

It's been two months since I came back to Miami. I miss Stefano terribly; I just wish he could be here with me. We talk almost every day; everything is going well between us. If someone told me a few months ago that I would be looking forward to my facetime call tonight with Stefano, I would have said that person is mad. The Stefano I met in Sicily four months ago isn't the same Stefano I have been dating for two months. I love the new Stefano; I am actually happy I fell for the other one, it means I like him no matter what. Things are also going well at the office. Once I came back, I did as I said I would and asked HR to hire Emily. Working with her so far has been good, but I haven't told Santiago that I hired her. Santiago hasn't been around the office a lot, so he hasn't seen her yet. I plan to tell him today while we are having lunch. "Hello, Sis I am sorry I am late. I got a little caught up with work at the warehouse," Santiago says, walking up to my table in the restaurant. "It's fine; I haven't been here that long." "How are you doing, how is work? I have been so busy with the new shipment I have not had time to come to the office." "Everything is fine, there is something important about work I have to tell you." "I am listening." "I hired Emily as my secretary." "Why would you do that? Are you trying to make sure we get back together?" "As much as I want you guys to get back together, I would not hire Emily because of it. I hired her because she really needs this job and is a good secretary." "What makes you think she really needs the job?" "When I met Emily in Sicily, she told me about her life. I felt bad, I couldn't do anything to help. Emily won't accept money from me. So, the day she helped me at the coffee shop, she agreed to work for me. I had to hire her; I knew this was the only way I could help my friend." "Why are you talking like Emily's life is horrible or something? I don't understand why she needs money so badly?" "She is not the same Emily we used to know." "What exactly has changed?" "Emily's mom has been suffering from a heart condition for years now. After her dad died, it became a little hard to keep up with her mom's treatment." "Why am I only finding out about her dad now?" Santiago asks shocked. "I only found out while I was in Sicily, so don't beat yourself up about it." "I can't believe her dad is dead. Do you know how many years he has been gone for?" "Four years" "That's a year after we broke up. I can't believe I was not there for her," Santiago says, balling his hand in a fist, staring far away. I am sure he is blaming himself for not being there for Emily. "You can't blame yourself for not being there for her. You guys were not together anymore." "It's my fault we were not together anymore." "Did you cheat on her or something?" He shouldn't be blaming himself so much. "No, I didn't, that is not important. How is her mom doing?" "Emily says she is doing fine. I plan to visit her this weekend." "Please let me know how she is truly doing?" "I will, stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault." "I will try not to." A few days have passed since my lunch with Santiago. I am currently at my inauguration party, I am the new Vice President of Lopez Constructions. I am wearing a gold tulle dress with embroidery and beads streaming vertically, adorned with fringy éclat's on the waistline and sleeves. Everything is going well; but I feel a little bored. I decide to call Emily and find out why she is running late for her own boss's inauguration. While I am calling her, something weird keeps happening. Whenever I call her, I hear a phone ringing, I stop, the phone also stops ringing. If I didn't know better, I would think she is here already. I call her number and try to follow the ringing of her phone. I follow it to the entrance of the hall I am in. I see Emily and Santiago; it looks like they are in a heated conversation. I move closer, so I can listen in on their conversation. "Why didn't you tell me about your dad?" Santiago asks. "I did not think you needed to know. We had broken up by the time he died." "Even though, you know very well that I would have loved to be there for you. Your dad was your everything. You were even closer to him than your mom." "Yes, he was my everything, but you were the last person I wanted to see after I found out what you did." 'I have told you so many times, I am sorry, but what I felt or rather what I feel for you is real." "I can't believe you, Santiago; for all I know, this might be another dare." What does she mean by another dare? I hope it is not what I think it is. If it is, I am going to kill Santiago. "Do I look like I am nineteen and have time to waste? No, I am a grown man, and I know what I want! You are what I want, Emily," Santiago says, walking closer to Emily and tries to take her hand, but she pulls away. "Santiago, how do you expect me to believe you now. You were dared to take my virginity, and you did." Emily says, crying. "You did what!" I don't even know the words have left my mouth until I have the two of them facing me. "Andrea, what are you doing here? I can explain what you heard," Santiago says. "How could you do that, Santiago? Here I was praying that you guys would get back together." I can feel myself on the verge of tears imagining how Emily felt when she found out. I can't believe my own brother would be so cruel. "You deserve to be alone," I say and grab Emily's hand walking away from Santiago. I ignore Santiago as he is calling my name and walk us to a bathroom. Emily's make-up is all smudged because she was crying. "I am so sorry you found out," Emily says as she tries to clean her smudged mascara. "Why are you sorry? You have nothing to be sorry about. I am the one who should be sorry. I can't believe I even gave him your number." "You didn't know, so it is fine." "How did you find out about the dare?" "The night we slept together, some of his friends came over to his apartment unannounced. They saw me in his shirt and were all praising him. I thought maybe they were praising him because it was a while since he got laid, but then they all started giving him money in front of me. They didn't even care that I was there, they started paying him for winning the dare." Santiago was in college and moved out of the house even though he did not go to school in Miami. He would stay in his apartment when he came home for the holidays. "Oh, my God, I can't even imagine how you felt. I am so sorry," I say, pulling her into a hug. I try to keep my tears at bay, but it's hard. "It's fine; you don't have to apologize and stop crying. It was years ago; I am totally over it." "If you are over it, why were you crying a minute ago?" "Ok, maybe it still hurts a little, but I am fine now." "I am sorry again." "It's fine."