*** Picture above of Santi and Millie***
Chicago, May 21st
Macarena's POV
I wake up to an empty apartment. Dani left yesterday to Cape Town to meet Matt, I guess Jamie is almost over with the movie because Matt is returning to America with Dani. As I get ready to go to the studio, I run last night's episode once again, trying to understand Chris and I can't help but ask myself, have I been giving Chris mixed signs that I might like him? I hope I didn't because I love Jamie and the least I want now is to mess up the friendship between Chris and I. He's a great friend and I don't want to loose him as that. He's been here for me through all my heartache so I cherish his friendship.
I grab my phone and look for a message from Jamie, he had visualized my last message but no reply so I try to FaceTime him.
His phone rings but no response and I receive a message saying that he's not available at the moment, so I decide to send him another message.
Hey! How are you? I'm missing you and your poems ;) Call me when you have the time.
I press send and wait for the blue checks to show me that he has visualized it and nothing. A knock on the door brings back my attention. I walk towards the door with a smile on my face, maybe I was overreacting about what happened last night, Chris is here to follow our morning routine where he eats the entire contents of my fridge while I wait for him to give me a ride to work. But my smile turned into a confused look when I saw who was behind my door.
"Vince?"
He greets me and smiles at me.
"Hola Maca! Chris has asked me to come pick you up"
"Where is he?"
I frown and look towards the apartment next to mine, thinking that he might pop out of his door saying that they were joking, but nothing.
"He has some errands to run throughout the day so it's just you and me today! The studio has changed the schedule so we better hurry"
"Oh! Sure"
I look at him and he has a curious look in his eyes.
"I'm sorry! Im so rude! Please come in!"
He shakes his head no.
"Sorry Bonita, not today! If you're ready we should be heading to the studio"
I nod my head in understanding and go grab my purse. Once we are out of the elevator, Mr. McGregor calls my name.
"Miss Santana?"
I turn around and smile at him.
"Good morning Mr. McGregor!"
"You have mail"
I smile at him and grab the letter he hands me, I check the sender's name and its from Millie. My smile widens and I thank him.
"Have a nice day Miss! And I hope Mr. Evans gets better soon!"
I frown and as I'm about to ask him what he was talking about, Vince grabbed my arm saying that we needed to go.
Once we are in the car I turn to Vince.
"What was that all about?"
"What do you mean?"
"What he said about Chris? Vince? What do you know?"
"Nothing! Look! Chris will tell you when it's time. Now we need to go finish that movie"
I nod in understanding but I still have this strange feeling in my gut. Then my gaze wonders to the envelope I have in my hands and I open it. Inside there is a picture of the three of them. Millie holding a beautiful Dulcie and Santi with an arm wrapped around Millie but what surprises me the most is the engagement ring on Millie's hand and the words at the bottom of the card:
Save the Date: July 5th 2014
"Oh my God!!!!!"
Vince jumped on his seat.
"What the fu.... What's wrong Maca???"
"Shoot! Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you! It's my brother! He's getting married!!!"
And tears of happiness start streaming down my face. I grab my phone and when I unlock it I see the message I've sent to Jamie and the blue check marks were there. I frown because I'm confused, he has read my message but he hasn't replied..... I won't worry about that just now. As Vince drives around Chicago's traffic I FaceTime my brother. He answers after the fourth ring with a sleepy face.
"Mi Dios Maca son las dos de la mañana!" (Gosh Maca it's two in the morning!)
"What do you expect me to do? I've just received the wedding announcement!!!! Is it true?"
He smiles at the camera. His handsome smile.
"Yes, it is! Are you happy?"
"Of course I am!"
I start crying, my big brother is going to get married!! And what's best, to such a wonderful woman. I've got the chance of meeting Millie, getting to know her in Vancouver and she's the perfect fit for Santi. He's been in love with her since he met her in the hospital. I know it's too fast to think of a wedding but when you find the perfect person why waste time?
"Hi Maqui!"
I sleepy Millie comes to the image.
"Hi! Congrats!"
That's all I can say, now I'm fully crying, but this time I'm crying because this was supposed to be me, I was supposed to be married to Jamie.
"Oh sweetheart! Are you ok?"
I nod and accept a tissue Vince is handing me. We are on a traffic light so he comes to the camera to say hello.
"Hello there! I'm Vince. Congratulations on your engagement! Miss Peru here is a bit emotional but it's ok. I got her"
Millie looks confused but she smiles at him.
"Thank you! Nice to meet you...... Maqui?"
I put the phone towards my face and Vince resumes driving.
"Don't mind me Mills! I'm fine. Just over happy. How is Dulcie?"
Her concern leaves her lovely face and now she smiles, she looks even more beautiful when she talks about her daughter, her face lights up.
"She's growing so fast! So are you coming to the wedding? It's going to be a simple ceremony with just family members and if everyone can make it we will baptize Dulcie as well, you're still a Godmother, aren't you?"
I nod frantically.
"Of course I am! And yes! I will be there! Do you need anything for the wedding? What about your dress?"
She smiles but a yawn escapes her.
"We need to talk this through, I do need your help, can we FaceTime later on? I don't want Santi to hear anything about the dress"
She winks at me and I hear Santi complaining. Vince parks his car in the studio so I have to say goodbye.
"I'll call you later, ok? I love you both and I'm very happy!!!!"
Millie blows me a kiss and Santi comes to the screen with his 'I am concern and don't lie to me' face.
"Call me later too. We need to talk. And call mom too! She's upset that you never call her"
Shit! He's right.
"Ok. I will. I love you!"
"I love you too Niña Linda" (pretty girl)
I hang up and get off the car where Vince is patiently waiting for me.
"Shall we?"
I nod and walk with him towards hair and makeup. As soon as I walk in, John, one of the crew guys gives me my script, since Chris is not coming to work today we are shooting the scenes without him and I have to memorize my lines in thirty minutes. Great! This day is only beginning!
At lunch time I'm sitting in my trailer with my phone in hand, Dani has sent me a message saying that she has arrived safe and sound in Cape Town and that she will call me later. As I dig into my Teriyaki Chicken I go to the FaceTime App and my finger hovers over Jamie's name. Should I call him? He hasn't called me back even after I asked him to do so.... Maybe Chris is right, it's always me going after him. So I decide not to call him and call my sister Antonia instead.
"Macarena Santana! Where have you been and why haven't you been answering my phone calls?"
I hate it when she gets mad at me. Sometimes she's worst than mom. So I offer her my 'I'm here in peace' smile.
"Hola Anto! I have missed you too! I'm deeply sorry!"
She sighs and smiles at me.
"Ok baby girl! How are you? I guess you've heard the news"
"I have! Isn't it wonderful! Santi is finally settling down and what's even better with Millie!!"
She smiles but her smiles doesn't reach her eyes. She's concerned.
"What do you think of her? Is she a good person? Won't it be weird to you and Jamie?"
I shake my head no.
"She's perfect for him. She is tender and cares about him but, at the same time she is tough enough to control his temper and he's deeply in love with Dulcie. As for Jamie and I it is fine, we're ok with their relationship, although......"
I trail off, I haven't told her about Jamie and I.
"Maqui? What happened? What's going on between you and Jamie?"
I look at her and sigh.
"Do you have a minute?"
She looks at her watch and nods.
"I have twenty"
So I start telling her everything, since our trip to Lima, to my missing Dulcie's birth, then my attempts to talk to him traveling to both Vancouver and London and his kiss with the French girl, stopping with our phone calls and his recent cold shoulder because he's definitely doing that to me.
"Maqui that's messed up! I don't even know what to say! It's a mistake after the other on both parts! You both are running away from each other instead of sitting and fixing your problems together, as a couple. What's wrong with you? Didn't you learn from your relationship with Cauã? Hasn't he learned anything from his previous relationships, you are engaged for Christ's sake! You should be planning a wedding together!!"
Now she's mad. Just great!
"Anto, don't be upset....."
She cuts me.
"I'm not upset! I'm mad! I need to think this through before I give you an advice. Can we do that?"
I nod feeling sad that she's right on everything she's said.
"And Maqui?"
I look at her beautiful brown eyes in my phone.
"Yes"
"I love you and the kids miss you. Come over after you finish filming?"
Going to Brazil? I don't know.... It's something I can think about because my relationship with Cauã nowadays has become a great friendship, he's dating Eloise. Before I met Jamie I couldn't even dream of going to Brazil without feeling heartache.
"I'll think about it. Kiss the kids for me ok? I love you Anto!"
"I love you too sweetheart and don't forget to call mom"
I roll my eyes.
"Ok! Ok! I will! I swear that's all I hear lately!"
"Well, call her then!"
I smile and blow her a kiss goodbye which she returns before the screen goes black.
A knock indicates me I need to get back to set and as I am about to leave my phone to charge a message pops in.
Hi. Have you heard the news? How do you feel about their wedding? It should be us, you know? I still love you.
And just like that my heart stops for several seconds.
*** Hello my dear friends! All those pictures of Jamie and Dakota are so inspiring!!! I have one more chapter for you. Don't forget to leave your comments and votes. I have a question for you, where are you guys from? I would love to get to know you better. I will start introducing myself, my name is Zoila and I am a Peruvian living in Brazil. What about you? Xoxo-Z***