Adriana
ONE YEAR LATER
"It's almost two in the afternoon, aren't you going to get up?" Mateo said from my doorway. I groaned and pressed my head against my pillow. "Earth to Adri!" He yelled.
"Go away," I groaned while throwing a pillow at him. I was exhausted. I hadn't gone to sleep until four in the morning. A very poor decision on my end, but the reason made it worth it. "Can't you see I'm tired?"
"Hey, its not my fault you stayed up all night talking to your boyfriend. It's Christmas. Plus, there's someone here for you," he said nonchalantly.
"Who?"
"I don't know. She didn't say her name, but she said it was important," he said. I was curious. Who would be here to see me on Christmas of all days? I got up and put on my slippers. I walked down and saw a very nicely dressed woman sitting with my mother. I walked down the stairs and eyed her. She looked familiar, but I couldn't pinpoint from where.
"Look who finally decided to wake up," my mother said as she saw me. The woman turned towards me and set down her coffee. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything."
The woman stood up and I took notice of her gorgeous hazel eyes and deep brown hair. I walked over and offered my hand, "Nice to meet you, I heard you were asking for me."
Instead of shaking my hand, she pulled me into a tight hug. I was very confused at first, but figured she was an affectionate person. I hugged her back.
"I'm sorry," she apologized and let me go. "I didn't even tell you my name and I'm already hugging you."
I smiled. "It's no problem, really."
"Well, nice to meet you, Adriana. I'm-" She stopped when we heard the elevator. Jesus fuck, who the hell is here now? We turned towards the elevator and my eyes widened.
No fucking way. No fucking way!
"I'm sorry, please excuse me for a minute," I said. She nodded and I ran towards the elevator. I completely ignored Luis and jumped into Xavier's arms. He stumbled backwards and wrapped his arms around me. "Oh my God! What are you doing here?" I asked in pure excitement. "I wasn't supposed to see you until next week."
"Yeah, well, I missed you too much. I couldn't wait till next week. Merry Christmas, baby." Aware of our guest, I didn't kiss him how I desperately wanted to. I merely pressed my lips against his for a few seconds. I set myself down on the floor and went to hug Luis.
"Nice to see you, too, Adri."
"You-" I started, but got cut off.
"Luis?" The woman said. She had dropped our coffee mug on the floor. It spilled everywhere. Thank God, it didn't get on the white rug. My mother would've flipped her shit. I saw her wide eyes and parted mouth. What was going on? Who is this woman?
"Xiomara?" Luis said after a couple of moments. The name sounded awfully familiar to me. Then, it clicked. Xavier's mother, the love of Luis' life. I can't believe she found me.
A little context. When I found out about Xiomara, I desperately wanted to find her. I wanted Luis to have her back and for Xavier to have a relationship with his mother. My family knew a few private investigators and I asked them to find her. I never thought she would show up to New York. I wondered how she even found me.
"Oh. My. God," I muttered breathlessly.
"What are you doing here?" Luis was the first one to break the silence. I looked over at Xavier who had a face of bewilderment.
"I... I need to talk to Adriana. What are you doing here?" Xiomara asked.
"We're visiting," Xavier chimed in with an emotionless tone. I didn't know what to do.
"Hey, is everything okay? I heard a glass shatter," my mom walked in. "Luis and Xavier! About damn time." She looked over at me and I discreetly shook my head. "I'm sure you guys are tired," she said as she walked over to Luis and Xavier. "C'mon, we have coffee." She pushed them over to the kitchen and looked at me with wide eyes. She mouthed, fix this. I nodded.
Xiomara snapped back into reality and looked at the floor. "Damn it. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to drop it."
"It's okay, but how did you find me?" I asked. She sat back down and I walked over to sit next to her.
"Well, it wasn't easy. I had a sense that I was being stalked, essentially I hired someone to watch over me. A couple months later, I learned that I had a P.I. stalking me. Of course, I wondered who hired him. After weeks, I finally found him and confronted him. Let me tell you, he was one hard shell to crack. The way I got it out of him was not pretty. He solely told me your name, nothing more. I, then, hired my own P.I. to find out who you were and what you could possibly want with me. It led me to this address and finding out that you were merely nineteen years old."
"Twenty." I corrected her.
"Sorry, twenty years old. I still wanted answers, so... here I am. Looking for them, but I seem to have already found them." She said glancing in the kitchen.
"As you probably gathered, Xavier is my boyfriend. I met him around a year ago in California. Luis is a very close friend of the family. After finding out about you, I had the need to find you. As I think about it now, I probably shouldn't have. I wanted you to reconnect with Luis and for you to have a relationship with Xavier. But I don't know. You could be married with other kids. You could want nothing to do with X and Luis. I don't know."
She sighed. "It's been two decades, but I'm still the same when it comes to him. I never loved a man the way I love Luis. So, that's the reason I never married. I was heartbroken when he left me as if I was nothing to him. Believe me, I wanted to be apart of Xavier's life, but I couldn't handle it. Seeing him right now... he's a spitting image of Luis. I would be reminded of the most devastating heartbreak of my life whenever I saw him. It didn't help thinking that he most likely hated me. I did leave him, after all."
"He understands that you didn't have a choice. Your father was a demanding man. Trust me, I was in the same exact boat as you. Except, I didn't get pregnant. Not that getting pregnant is bad. I'm thankful you got pregnant, because now Xavier is here with me. But then that pregnancy led to... I'm sorry. I'll just stop talking," I facepalmed myself.
She chuckled and placed a reassuring hand to my shoulder. "Ah, don't fret. I know what you mean. There were days where I regretted leaving Xavier, but at least something good came out of him being with Luis. I learned about the situation with your family, I'm sorry. It's a good thing Gabriel is dead."
"Thank you and yes, it really is." I sighed. "When you left, where did you go?"
"Back to Italy. I couldn't be here anymore. The pain was too much, so I fled back home. With the permission of my parents, I lived with my grandparents. When they died, I came back to California. Mine and Luis' families were still working together, so I laid low. I stayed home most days and was a mess. Sooner or later, I learned the ropes of the family business and my father passed it down to me after he retired."
"You came back?" We both turned and saw Luis eavesdropping. "You came back and didn't think to contact me?"
"You said you didn't love me anymore, that I was a fling. I wasn't going to make a fool out of myself, chasing after you when you had said all those things." She retorted.
"Why are you here, Xo?" He asked.
"I had someone track her down. I'm sorry if that's not what you wanted, but I think you two need to talk." I stood up and walked towards the kitchen. I bid him a smile and he walked towards her. I stepped towards Xavier who was watching me with an expression I could not read.
"Xavier..." I started.
"Why did you do that, Adri? Who knows what she wants with my dad? They haven't seen each other in two decades. She could have moved on. This... this was a bad call. He could leave New York feeling as heartbroken as he did twenty years ago. And who's fault will that be? Yours," he gritted out. He set his coffee down and stormed off. I stood there, agape, before following him. He grabbed his coat and pushed the elevator door. I quickly ran and slipped inside the elevator before it completely closed.
"I'm sorry. I wanted you to have a relationship with your mother. I wanted your father to reconnect with her. If it's any consolation, she's still in love with him. I know it was probably a bad idea, I didn't think of the possible bad aftermath."
"That's the problem. You don't think of the aftermath when you make decisions. You're so impulsive, Adri. It drives me crazy sometimes. I know, I know you had good intentions, but... I can't get over how bad this could backfire. My dad was heartbroken over the loss of her. He can't handle losing her again for a second time. I just... I need time away from everything right now, including you." He spoke in a calm, but frustrated tone.
"I understand, but please. Be careful and be safe," I said. The elevator landed on the first floor and I stopped him before he could get off. "Can I get a kiss, please?" I hesitantly asked. He leaned down and softly kissed my lips. My hand went towards his cold cheek and gingerly caressed it. He pulled away and I faintly smiled at him as he left. I pushed the button back up to my floor and picked at my nails. I walked in and saw Luis and Xiomara talking. I creeped inside the kitchen and eavesdropped.
"I wanted to, Luis. I really did, but how could I? How could I contact you after everything that happened? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me, I thought you didn't love me anymore," her voice was shaky and her tough exterior diminished.
"Why did you leave X with me? He needed a mother," Luis said.
"I couldn't be a mother to him. It was the hardest decision of my life, leaving him. But have you seen him? He's a spitting image of you. I couldn't have a constant reminder of the man I was so desperate to forget. I wouldn't have been the mother he needed me to be, but I knew you would be the father he needed you to be."
"I'm so sorry, Xo," I peeped out the kitchen and saw him place his hand on top of hers. "I'm sorry for all the shit I put you through." He took a deep breath. "I lied twenty years ago. When I said I didn't love you, when I said you were just a fling. You were not a fling to me, Xiomara. You were -- are -- the love of my life."
"Luis..." she started, her voice quiet and my heart stopped. This was like a movie.
"Oh God, are you married?"
"No. I-"
"Boyfriend?"
"Luis, no-"
"Kids?"
"No."
"You don't love me anymore. That's it, isn't it? I understand, it's been two decades. It's fine, I fully-"
She shut him up by leaning forward and pressing her lips to his. My mouth fell open and I put my hand over it. Yes! A tear drops from her eye and onto his cheek. He pulled away and kissed the tear.
"I've loved you since the moment I saw you twenty-two years ago and I never stopped. I could've said that, but you kept cutting me off." She laughed. He smiled like I've never seen him smile before and kissed her again.
"Yay!" I cheered excitedly. My hand went towards my mouth as I didn't mean to say that out loud and intrude on their private moment. They both turned towards me, happiness on their face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. Well, that's a lie. I did mean to eavesdrop, but I'm just really happy for you guys."
"It's okay, Adri. After all, you're the reason why she's back in my life." Luis said.
"Well, maybe." She said. We both turned to her, needing an elaboration. "Has everyone forgotten about Xavier? I know he's grown, but we still need to know how he would feel about it. I can't just marry his father without hearing his opinion first."
"Marry?" Luis asked, stunned.
"Oh, you know, or date. I just thought--"
"I'm just teasing, Xo. You know I'd rather marry than date you." He kissed her cheek and she smacked his chest.
"You fool. Anyway, does anyone know where he is?" She asked.
"Oh, he's... out. He needed some air," I said quietly. I saw her face grow pale, probably thinking it was her doing. "Don't worry, it's not you. It's..." I sighed, "all me."
"Don't overthink it, Adri. X will come back any time soon. That boy needs you as if you were the oxygen in his lungs." He said and I smiled faintly.
"Again, I'm sorry for being a chismosa. I'll leave you guys alone to... talk." I said. I walked inside the kitchen and towards my mom.
[ someone who's nosy ]
"Where's X?" She asked. I sighed and leaned against the counter.
I ran my fingers through my tangled hair and said, "I don't know, mom."
And that was the truth. I had no idea where Xavier was. I just had to wait until he came back.