((I updated, after a week? Amazing isn't it? I have the last two chapters to write before I launch into the 15 Diego chapters. Yep, there are 15. They won't be over 2000 words because then it will take forever to write and I would like to finish them pretty soon. Okay, that's enough. Enjoy! xx))
I LIED.
I was busy making pancakes when I got a phonecall. I reached into my back pocket and answered pressing the phone between my shoulder and cheek. I carefully flipped the pancake using my spatula and grabbed a plate. I quickly removed it from the pan before pouring more batter.
"Where are you? It sounds quite loud," Diego wondered.
I had two choices at that moment. I could tell him the truth. I had returned to a restaurant and resumed my waitress duties by waiting tables and cleaning floors. He would yell about what this would be doing to the image I was supposed to be creating for us. And he would probably give me the nickname Waitress Castillo again.
Or I could tell him that I was walking in the street looking at fast food stalls. That people were yelling food orders in the street. He would then tell me to call Greg and to buy something nice. Perhaps popcorn.
"I'm walking down the street, looking at fast food stalls that's all," I said.
Yeah, I lied. I didn't feel that guilty at the moment. In fact, I was congratulating myself for predicting his next sentence.
"Well if you are going somewhere far you should call Greg. Or call Greg anyway. But first, buy something. They have good food on the street," Diego said.
"Aren't you working?" I asked him plating another pancake. I counted the stack. Seven. Another three.
"Yeah. I just have a tea break. Your prince just wanted to check in," He teased and I blushed.
At least if any of the others staff saw me right now I could blame it on the heat of the gas.
"Bye!" I quickly cut the call.
And now ten minutes later refilling a cup of coffee I suddenly felt guilty. I mean what could Diego have done all the way in London? Even if he sent Greg I could have negotiated with him. What was I doing?
I was never a very good liar. Through childhood and adolescence, I always ended up telling the truth. When I was a child, if I ever did anything wrong I would succumb to the pressure (my puzzled parents would kindly ask what happened) and spill everything. Sometimes they didn't even need to ask me and I spilt, they just had to look at me for a moment.
Even during high school when I should have been at the peak of my lying game I couldn't even tell a white lie. Francesca and Leon knew me too well and as soon as I looked at them they could tell I lied.
I was told I was an open book. My feelings were visible through my facial features. And when I lied it usually portrayed through my eyes or even my lips. I was pretty terrible.
Another reason I was so untalented in deceit was that I always felt guilty. If I ever got away with being insidious I would be filled with such remorse that I would eventually tell the truth. Francesca and Leon (experts) called me a hopeless case.
I was never sure whether to take it as an insult or a compliment.
And now I had just lied to Diego. It wasn't the first time which is what made it worse. Maybe it was Diego. As soon as I met him I was suddenly gifted at deceit. I could hide the truth from everybody, I was doing it right now with Andres, Ludmila and Natalia.
The last time Diego found out I lied he seemed devastated. Or maybe disappointed. He always told me that I was supposed to be the saint in the relationship. I was the innocent one, I was the one who walked around with an imaginary halo. But it hardly ever felt like that.
He said he was the one who would have eventually ruined this relationship if we weren't bound together by a contract. That if it wasn't for those papers we probably would have ended ages ago because he would have found some way to destruct this relationship.
He would be disappointed in me right now.
But it seemed like I had the power to destroy this relationship at the moment. I was the one who had feelings for the other. I held these one-sided feelings. If I expressed this affection I may ruin everything that we had right now.
Our kind of friendship. We cared about each other, that much was clear. But maybe in different ways. His emotions could be platonic and mine are romantic. I didn't want to ruin that.
This was why I could never tell him that I...liked him.
Which meant I was lying to him.
What was wrong with me?
TODAY WAS SATURDAY and was my third day of volunteering at the Black Mint and was, unfortunately, the last.
Diego would be back tomorrow ending his business trip in London. It was his first trip as the CEO of GD Enterprises and I hoped that everything went well.
One of his fears of being such a young CEO was that nobody would take him seriously. He was worried that everybody would see him as a Daddy's Boy and that everything he got was handed to him. That everybody would think he never actually worked a day in his life and that he was a spoilt.
He wasn't. I knew him and he worked hard. Since he became CEO he was always busy with calls or at the office itself. Considering the number of calls that he did he mainly worked in the study in the penthouse to not bother people too much at the office.
He could be quite loud when he was annoyed.
Hopefully, everybody in London now knew what a determined young man he was and that even though he was young he earned his place in the company. Nobody deserved the position more than him. I could see that even though it tired him out, there was a spring in his step. He was happy.
I had never seen anybody work that hard or care that much about something, especially something like a job position. He cared about it so much that when there was a chance that he would not get it he had a relapse and got drunk again.
It was admirable.
Anybody who didn't see him that way was blind.
It was always the people who cared the most that acted like they didn't at all. He was a perfect example. But his heart was selective, he didn't care for anybody. Maybe that's why when he cared he did it wholeheartedly, he had a lot of love to give.
"Hello, Camila!" I say cheerily into the phone.
"You still don't want to call me Cami?" She laughs.
"You're in a good mood. You in bed...with somebody?" I ask her suggestively.
"Fuck you, Violetta," She curses but I could tell she was smiling.
"You still don't want to call me Vilu?" I mock. "Is there a reason you called?" I finally ask.
"Yes, about Diego actually. Marco was meant to tell you but he decided to have a shower. he is a clean freak," Camila says and I giggle.
"What about him?" I ask.
"Well, he-"
"V, we got a table for you," Ludmila interrupts, poking her head past the door.
"You're having dinner?" Camila asks.
"Gotta go. I will call you back later," I say quickly and end the call.
I let out a deep breath. Ludmila was still leaning by the door. I get up and shove my notepad and pen into the pockets.
"Everything okay?" Ludmila asks and I nod.
Not even Camila could know that I was volunteering at Black Mint. I did not want her to tell Marco who would obviously tell Diego. And Diego, well he would be disappointed in me. For more reasons than just me ruining the image. I lied to him.
"Hey Violetta, there's somebody who wants take out and he is not taking a no," A new waiter, Trevor, says. His face was flushed so I could tell that this person was stubborn.
"I got it," I say to him and he smiles gratefully.
I walk to the front desk with my notebook in hand. I crossed out every order I had already delivered as I near the door.
"What are you doing here?"
I drop my notepad.
No. This was not happening.
I slowly look up and of course, it was him. Diego.
"You're here. In a waitress outfit," Diego says, more to himself than to me.
"Why are you here?" I ask him and he chuckles.
But it was different. It was not the way he usually did. It was exactly the way I did not want to hear it.
"Are you seriously going to interrogate me?" Diego asks and I look down. "Oh, so now you are ashamed?"
He was smirking at me. His eyes were cold but he was not totally furious. Which was something I did not want to see. I would have preferred if he was angry with me. That would have been much better than witnessing what was in his eyes right now.
"Hang up your little skirt, we're leaving," He says with his eye narrowed.
Yeah, I am dead.
"Nat, I need to leave," I pull her by the arm. She notices Diego and she nods.
Diego grabs my wrist but he loosens the grip after a few seconds. He clenches his eyes shut and lets out a deep breath. He doesn't pull me but he does lead. He doesn't say anything the whole way home. The only words he said were telling Greg that we were going home and then thanking him.
"Diego, please talk to me," I plead and he leans his head back.
"You wanna know what I was doing there? I decided to arrive early considering the shit you went through a few days ago. I hated that I was not there to personally comfort you so I came home early to try and make up for it.And then I thought I would get food from your favourite restaurant.
" I wasn't going to take no for an answer because I thought that you would have appreciated it. I pushed meetings to get an early flight because I thought you might need the company," he takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his hair.
"Diego I'm sorry," I say and he shakes his head.
"You don't get it! You lied to me. You did not tell me the truth and you had a perfect opportunity. I did not suspect a thing because I did not think you would do something like that.
"Especially not after everything that had happened between the two of us but you still lied. We lied to each other and we hated it. Why? Because we hurt each other when we did it. Why would you lie to me? What could you possibly think I would do that would make you lie to me?"
"I know that you care about the way the Hernandez name looks," I say softly and he kicks the floor.
"Really? Do you think my surname means that much to me? More than honesty? Especially when it's coming from you. I told you that I expect you to be the good one. You're supposed to be angry at me. I don't like being angry with you," He says, his voice lowering slightly. But barely.
"Diego, I was never meant to hurt you."
I hated the way he looked at me. He was disappointed in me and it felt horrible. He really did expect me to be the angel in the relationship.
"I need you to help me out of any messes. I am supposed to be able to trust you with my life and before half an hour ago I actually sort of did. You don't get that I actually care about you. That I don't hate you the way I used to," He runs a hand through his hair again and loosens his tie with his other hand.
"Over the past few weeks, we have really connected. Or at least I thought we did. I thought that we were at least beginning to care about each other but I guess I was wrong,"
"Diego you are not wrong. We are connecting!" I reach for his hand but he pulls away.
"I thought I could trust you, Letta,"
He walks away leaving me dumbfounded.
And guilty as hell.
Okay, I will admit that chapters are not as long as I would like them to be but at least they reach 2k. But don't worry, from like C54 they are well over 2000. So Diego's back. He rearranged meetings just so he could be there for her earlier after what happened with Lara. How sweet?
But then he finds out she betrayed his trust so things aren't doing so great. Which isn't looking good considering we are on the last ten of the book. But don't worry, you will get a few chapters of Diego. Core chapters that I think deserve a Diego point of view.
Well, he will actually be recounting everything. Only a few of the chapters will be him in the moment. I'm kinda pressing it thin considering I want to try and finish everything in this book and Heaven by December. But knowing me it will probably only be possible by January.
Tell me what you think! Thanks for reading 🙈 Sorry for any errors 💚 (I didn't proofread, oops. Okay, now I have {a few days later} but very lightly)
~Lexy 😈