Chapter Fifty-eight: Premonition.
Oh well, that was quite disappointing, but at least Angelo's cousins were here.
"He has frequent meetings with his lawyers. I too wonder what he's up to." Pedro said, shrugging apologetically, "One could even argue that he spends more time with them his own girlfriend." He joked.
"Tell me about it." Someone else put in.
"Camillo." I grinned, turning around to watch him as he caught a ball one of the other boys had tossed over our heads, that same roguish grin on his face. "It's so nice to see you, what about Elena?"
"She's at home, she would freak out when I tell her I saw you. I saw a picture of your friend Susan and I thought, 'hey, maybe I'd have a chance with her if I found her first', you know?" He smirked and I grinned back.
"You want to meet her?" I asked.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Another person said, coming out from the car with his phone in his hand and I recognized him from the Dia de los Muertos party at the hotel. He was also a cousin of Angelo's, Jose or so. "I saw her first." He pointed out, and I laughed.
Susan was busying herself with some pizza that someone had so generously thought to order, talking with the group of boys she had spotted earlier when we approached.
"Susan, I want you to meet Angie's cousins." I gestured at the boys before rolling my eyes when they nearly fell over each other trying to get to her first. "Jose and Camillo."
"I'm so glad I got to meet you." Camillo started smoothly, taking her hand with that smirk of his. "Imagine missing an opportunity to meet a woman so lovely."
"Oh," Susan said, eyes round.
"A fate worse than that of a Greek tragedy." Jose put in, holding his hand out for hers, "I'm Jose by the way, so you don't get us mixed up."
"Oh." Susan said again, putting her hand in his, fascinated. Then as they slowly walked off, discussing whatever, she looked over her shoulder at me. "They're so fine." She mouthed and I grinned back at her, two thumbs up.
"They haven't got a chance." Annie said, coming to stand by me and I nudged her.
"Don't jinx it!"
"Really, look." She said and I did in time to see Pedro walk past them, flicking through a copy of Pride and Prejudice.
"Oh wait, that's mine!" Susan suddenly called, a little panicked and Pedro stopped in his tracks, turning to look at her. She paused, blinked, then pulled her hands out of Jose and Camillo's "I- I mean I borrowed it from the library,"
Pedro smiled, "Oh. I saw it on the floor near the fence, I was afraid I'd have to start asking around for the culprit. Its a perfectly good book."
"Well, you got me," Susan said nervously and I marveled. Susan? Nervous to talk to a boy? "Someone must have gone through my bag. Thank you."
"I think it was a goat," Pedro joked, friendly as always. "I've been meaning to finally pick up a Jane Austen book so I'll take this as a sign."
"You read a lot?" Susan asked, taking the book from him.
"Oh yes, and I love classics."
"And you're telling me you've never read Pride and Prejudice."
"Only because it's a romance."
"You don't like romance?!" Susan gawked and I exchanged a pleased look with Annie. I never could have seen this coming.
"You seem like an avid lover of the genre yourself." Pedro gestured to her.
"Romance is... everything!" She said and Pedro made a playful grimace face.
"Ehhh I beg to differ." He said, "But I'm willing to see what people love about it so much."
"If you want some recommendations I could hook you up with some, I saw a bookstore on the way here that I could show to you." She waved the book lightly, "I'm assuming you like hard copies."
"I do." He replied, but then he checked his watch, "Unfortunately, I have a program to attend this evening and I really should be on my way. You're a friend of Violet's uh..."
"Susan." She said, "I'm Susan, and yeah, I'm Violet's friend."
"I'm Pedro. I'm her boyfriend's cousin " He said and waved our way, we waved back as he started to step away, "I'll look out for the bookstore you were talking a out and grab a copy of that."
"Yeah, you do that." Susan sighed, watching him leave, obviously crestfallen since he didn't catch her hints. I sighed and hooked my arm through Annie's as we walked up to her.
"Seriously?" I whispered.
"This many options and you went for the one who doesn't look remotely interested?" Annie asked.
That made Susan laugh. "It's turning into an actual problem." She said. "But this time, I'll wait to see if it's meant to be."
〜(꒪꒳꒪)〜
"What do you think they're up to this time?" I asked, looking over my shoulder at the popular table where Casandra and her followers were in action once more, I don't know how they did it but they got their environment to look like the set of a movie. "But then again, I don't really care."
"Right?" Susan and Annie chorused.
"Ugh, my fans have missed me so much." Susan sighed, looking at her phone and I guessed the ship account was back on. "Too bad I'll have to quit soon.... you know, I really thought I'd have footage of you and Angelo locking lips by now, especially..."
I tried to listen to what she was saying, I really did, but for some reason, all the sounds around me seemed to dim down. My brain... started to feel fuzzy as my heartrate sped up at random. Just as I started to wonder what was going on, a pair of bright blue, crystal eyes flashed before my eyes, menacing.
"Violet?"
I jumped, startled back into the present.
"Whoa, are you okay? We can take you to the nurse." Annie said, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder.
I blinked, "I'm not sick, why would you do that?" I chuckled, but it was humorless, everyone lately had been treating me like I was going to fall apart any second. Even Angelo.
"You just spaced out and we had to call you three times before you came to." Susan explained.
"Girls, we've had two hours of chemistry and the day's not even over, I think I'm allowed to space out." I rubbed my temple, looking down at my uneaten lunch. Also, Franca Frances was weaving her way into my mind now, just great.
"Hey, don't look so offended, it's okay to need help after all the stress you've been under." Annie said, biting on the potato at the end of her fork.
"Yeah, just remember that its over now. You've got nothing to worry about." Susan said.
Over? Then why did I feel so...?
Annie giggled suddenly at her phone, all girlish and giddy and Susan and I shared a look.
"Uh... what happened to breaking up with Jason for a week?" Susan asked, raising a brow.
"Oh damn, I even forgot about that." I said. It wasn't like Angelo and I had been hanging out much, but he did send me flowers yesterday.
"Wait, so I just got myself worked up for nothing?" Annie asked, "I thought we were in this together, I was so stressed out on how I was going to tell him."
"Hey, it was your idea." I sipped from my straw with a shrug.
"So what happened when you told him you wanted to break up?" Susan asked, turning in her seat to face Annie.
Annie tried to keep a straight face, but then she suddenly burst into another girlish giggle and I sat up straighter.
"Annie, what happened?!" Susan asked again, grinning.
"Keep your voice down, I told him and he totally freaked out okay?" She started.
"And...?" I urged.
"And, he kept asking me for a reason which of course I couldn't provide because I obviously didn't think this through."
"Obviously," Susan said.
"I'd never seen him that panicked before and... he looked so sad and all, but I came up with some dumb reason on the spot like... how were in different leagues or something? Then we argued a bit, one thing led to another and we ended up um... you know?"
"Oh!" Susan looked taken aback.
"What, like making out?" I asked, looking between them. Annie hid her smile with her hand and shook her head.
"OH!" I exclaimed, and then laughed, and then the three of us squealed so loud, people paused their conversations to look at us.
"I have a TON of questions." I said, going around the table to sit next to her and Susan.
"I just want to know everything!" Susan giggled maniacally.
"Ladies, ladies, please." Annie made the 'calm down' motion, "I got you, I'll tell you everything that you need to know."
I wanted to listen, I really did...
But it got worse. I kept seeing her, her wicked smile, hands outstretched, she was coming for me. But I knew it was just my mind playing games, so I did all I could to convince myself I was fine.
Sometimes, it seemed people on the street were watching me, but I ignored the prickly feeling on the back of my neck. I carried on with the rest of my week, I was normal. I tried to drown out my thoughts in the bathtub, I was... normal.
Under the water, where the silence was louder than anything else, my head was empty, I had no anxiety and the whole world didn't seem like it was pressing on me from all sides. I was alone though. So after a while in the water, I would think about Angelo. I knew he was angry, but it wasn't with me, and I just knew he was scheming, busying himself in Tio Damien's office with whatever he was up to. Whatever he had done to Hale was only just the beginning.
I'd barely seen him for a few days now since Mom told him to leave and we barely talked, except for the little text messages we sent to remind each other we were alive. I knew he'd answer me if I called, but I wanted his presence more. So much so that my brain started to play tricks on me, and I'd see him waiting for me above the water, but he was never there when I came out, of course.
Today, my thoughts were traveling in a different direction. What would happen if I just stayed under the water and never came back up? I let out a breath and it floated away from me as bubbles. I'd never see Franca again if I drowned... but I'd get my cast wet and that would make Mom and Dad upset.
A while later, I wasn't sure if it was a second or a minute later, Angelo's face appeared above the water again, hazy, and rippled like always. I raised myself out of the water, closer to his silver eyes and fair lashes, his golden hair spilling onto his forehead, a dream.
"I wish you were real." I whispered.
"I am real." Angelo said back, arching a brow "And a little concerned."
"Holy shi-!" I jumped backwards, splashing water and nearly actually drowning myself.
"Easy there." He chuckled, reaching into the water, long sleeves and all to grab my shoulders and pull me back up. Then he pushed my hair out of my eyes as I spluttered. "I didn't mean to startle you, darling."
"Why did you-?" I coughed, flustered and surprised, "-you just walked into my bathroom like that, what if I was, you know, naked?!"
He raised wet hands in the air, dripping down his elbows, smiling slightly, "In my defense, your Dad said you'd be out of the bathroom soon, and that was before he left. Thirty minutes ago. Did you forget you were expecting me?"
"I guess I thought you'd be busy," I said pointedly and he sighed, running a hand over his hair.
I realized my heart was still stuttering even long after I was done holding my breath under water, he was really here.
"Letty-"
"What are you doing?"
"You know what I'm doing. If I want to take over ownership of the company from Franca soon, then I have to make proper preparations, I have to strategize, make good alliances. Unfortunately it's timetaking especially since I'm dealing with...other things, but I just want to do this right." He said, sitting so he was staring at the cabinet across the bathroom. Even now it looked like his mind was at work.
I reached up to run my fingers through his soft hair, scratching lightly at his scalp occasionally and his head fell back. "It's a good thing you came then, sounds like you could use a break." I said, he caught my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the inside of my palm.
"I'll have to hold on with that anyways, I've missed you too much."
"Did you miss me or did Tio Damien kick you out of his office?" I asked and that made him laugh, the sound immediately bringing more heat to my cheeks.
He turned and looked at me, his silver eyes lingering on my features like he won't have the chance to again. "No. I just missed you, most fervidly."
"Oh." I whispered with a small smile. "Then I missed you even more."
He glanced at the water then back at me, "Do you want to tell me what this is about?"
I hesitated, sinking a little more into the tub like I could hide from the question.
"What are you worried about?" He probed gently.
I rubbed my hand- the one that wasn't currently in a plastic wrap- under my eye tiredly, "Just take one huge, random guess."
"Of course. Her." Angelo said, his lips forming a grim line.
"You're not going to start talking about how it's over, are you? How I shouldn't worry? That's what everyone keeps saying." I said, absently scooping up water and watching it run through my fingers.
"Actually, she most definitely is going to make a move." Angelo said and I looked at him, wide eyed.
"Wh- at me?" I asked, then narrowed my eyes. "And you're just telling me now?"
"I didn't want to cause you to panic. I should have figured you'd do that anyway."
"Of course I would Angie, all my senses are heightened. Everyday I feel like someone's watching me."
"Those are probably the bodyguards your parents and I put in place to make sure nothing suspicious is happening around you." Angelo said, tapping his finger against the porcelain.
I blinked at him.
"Your parents also installed cameras around the house."
I blinked again.
"Your Mom's also found a lawyer willing to defend you, she is going to sue Hale to court."
"I'm not crazy." I said and Angelo frowned slightly.
"I... thought we both knew this." He said.
"Ugh, I've been so on edge this week, I thought I was losing my mind." I laughed dryly, rubbing my eyes.
"Why didn't you just ask?" He asked me, pulling my hand away from my face.
"Because I was tired of looking scared and fragile and panicky," I said, raising my toes so they peeked through the water, distracting myself by checking if they were pruny or not. "I guess I just am."
Angelo hummed, cupping my face in his big, warm hand, making me look at him. "That's normal." He said firmly. His confidence was infectious.
Then he stood up and started emptying his pockets into my sink. "Alright, move over, I want in on whatever this is too."
Damn, if he didn't suggest it, I would have. I scooted backwards to make room for him. "You know my tub isn't as big as yours,"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, so we'll have to scooch in a little closer."
He grinned and I nearly just drowned for good this time, "We can work with that."
Dress shirt and slacks and all, he sank in the water and I wanted to laugh at how outrageously we were behaving. I wondered how much more odd the things we were yet to do would get.
"Not so bad." He said and I moved towards him, smirking.
"No?" I asked, and reached behind him to opened the shower tap, dousing both of us in cold water.
"Ah! Not the eyeliner!" He exclaimed, causing me to giggle.
I had to lean back to see what he meant and sure enough, streams of black were running down from under his eyes, I laughed so hard I slipped on the tub and fell forward into his chest, bumping my nose. Instant karma. "Ow..."
"Watch the cast." He chuckled, catching my arm before it was too late and raising me up. "You know, when I first walked in, I thought you were drowning, but then I saw you still had your cast arm hanging over the side. Even still I thought, you are the one person I know who could manage to drown herself with one hand sticking out of the water."
"Hey!" I pouted and splashed water into his face when he continued laughing, "I think you find me a bit too funny."
"You are hilarious." He admitted, that sweet smile of his never fading, "But really, I'm just glad to see you."
I wanted to ask if we were going to spend even more days away from each other after this, but I felt I already knew the answer.
So I just leaned forward and pressed my lips to his, feeling a pull in the depths of my belly when he gasped slightly, then he guided my hands up and around his neck, bringing me closer to him as he kissed me back. How nice, it was almost like time didn't exist anymore when I was with him, neither did my worries or...
"Seriously? You're both in there?" Someone called and I won't have paid them any heed if they didn't sound like they were right in the bathroom with us.
Angelo was the first to reluctantly pull back from the kiss, and we exchanged an unamused look before turning to see Hunter waiting for us to acknowledge him.
"Damn, are you two high? I'll have what you're what you're having." He said, grinning.
"Get out of my bathroom." I sighed.
"Don't have to tell me twice, just hurry okay? Everyone's waiting for you, you're lucky it wasn't Susan and her camera that found you here, you both have no idea how insane you look." He went on saying as he closed my door after himself.
After a bit of silence, I turned back to Angelo, "You think he's gone?" He asked, letting me pull him forward by his shirt.
"Probably." I muttered, but before we could even close the distance, the door slammed open again.
"I said hurry!"
\(ϋ)/♩
"I heard he's in the hospital now, totally busted. He was definitely attacked by a gang or something because they had to rush him into the ER with the state he was found. It's crazy, the poor guy, he was so nice and generous, how could anyone ever do this to him?"
"I feel your pain, girlfriend. In time, we would know who did this to our precious Hale Frances, I am Traci Knox and we'll be back after the break!"
Manon paused the video and everyone slowly raised their heads up to look Angelo who was quietly and carefully cracking an egg, trying to separate egg whites.
The whole gang was in my kitchen, baking cookies and just hanging out before we started the movie sleepover and Manon had told us that Traci and Cassandra had started a news blog for the school since there was 'so much drama' going on.
Fortunately, no one suspected that Angelo and I could be in the middle of anything. Not really...
"You know what? I totally see it." Hunter nodded, pointing with a whisk still dripping with batter, "the little ribbons in the hair and the dusty apron, he could totally kill someone."
"Is that sarcasm?" Annie whispered, "because if it isn't, I absolutely get what you mean."
"Yeah, but who wouldn't want to kill that....merde?!" Manon stressed, snatching the whisk from her boyfriend before he got batter everywhere. "I never even liked him, that boy, but now? After what he did?!" She gestured to me and I shrugged.
She knew, she and all of my friends, I'd told them everything they didn't know so they were all very angry and of course, very sorry for me, the last part couldn't be avoided.
"Violet's safe and that's what matters, guys." Jason said, and that got Angelo to look at him, "the dude got what was coming to him and now he's out of the way, so let's stop being depressing and bake these goods because I'm hungry."
"What he said." I gestured to him, pretending Franca wasn't coming for me.
"But he's been sitting on his butt all evening!" Susan laughed, gesturing to him.
"This is moral support." Jason replied, getting even more comfortable in the woven chair in the corner of the kitchen.
"It's okay," Annie stage whispered to us with a knowing smirk, "he thinks he's going to have even a taste of what we make."
He sat up instantly, "On second thought, Hunter pass me that spoon."
Hunter cringed, "It's a.... spatula, dude do you even know how to boil water?!"
I laughed, at this rate, we were never going to get anything done. But it was nice having them around.
Even Angelo seemed to find Jason chasing Hunter around the kitchen island entertaining, that was until his phone rang and he immediately wiped off his hands to pick the call. I rolled my eyes, I guess there were some things more important after all.
"Guys, I'm going to check Dad's car for chocolate chips, I don't see any here and he said he got some." I said, grabbing Dad's keys and dangling them. "I'll be right back."
Susan gave me a distracted thumbs up. "Take a coat, it's cold out- eek!" She'd barely missed getting hit in the head by a sieve one of the boys had sent flying.
On my way out, I passed by Angelo who was crouched on the floor, gently stroking Moo's back as he engaged in an intense conversation on the phone. On my way out, I tugged out one of the pink ribbons I'd put in his hair as a joke. He looked up at me, grabbing my hand before I could leave. "Where to, darling?"
"The garage, give me a minute." I said and leaned down to kiss him, holding my hair behind my ear. For a split second, the urge to tell him I loved him was so strong my chest seemed to weigh me down. The words were stuck hopelessly in my throat though, so I made my way out before I caused a disaster.
The chocolate chips were probably on the passenger seat and I unlocked the door before sitting in the diver seat with a tired sigh.
Side tracked by a thought, I reached into the compartment under the radio and took a familiar business card Dad had given me days ago. 'Alex Malachi, Psychotherapist.' it read. There were a couple phone numbers on the card. I put it back where I saw it.
"Why did I come here again?" I asked myself aloud.
"You were probably looking for this." A voice replied and a hand stretched from the back seat, using a silver gun to nudge forward a bag of chocolate chips.
My blood instantly ran cold. I raised my eyes to the rearview mirror, shivering. A pair of bright blue eyes stared right back at me from behind. This time, I prayed it was a fragment of my imagination.
To be continued...
A//N: IT'S DECEMBERRR. HAPPY FESTIVE SEASON! No one probably even says that, lol.
I genuinely want to know, did this chapter feel too long or too short?