Bruno's P.O.V
I lay on my back in the bed in the guest room, staring up at the ceiling as if it was going to disappear any minute now. It was late, about 11pm, and I couldn't sleep.
Why am I sleeping in the guest room of my own house you might ask?
I can't step foot into my own bedroom.
The memories there, they were too much. Her smell lingered everywhere, on her pillow, in our closet, in our bathroom.
The smell that I once found hypnotizing and intoxicating was now sickly sweet and with it came the rush of memories that I did not want to relive with just the whiff of her fragrance.
It's been 3 weeks. 3 weeks since she has been gone. I try to convince myself that I was strong, that I could get through it without shedding a tear, or taking it out in the kids, but I broke both of my expectations when I threatened Kalani to leave my car and when I cried in front of the kids.
All this stress, it was coming back to slowly choke me.
What am I supposed to do without her? How am I going to be a single father? I lost the love of my life, how am i supposed to act? Like a emotionless father or a weak lunatic?
Then there's funeral.
I've never liked funerals ever since I was little. The overwhelming scent of flowers that was enough to stifle me, the sad songs.
The lifeless bodies. Hands crossed over their chests, poorly done makeup, the smell of the chemical they used to preserve the body. It was enough to send me hurling towards the nearest exit.
Their pale skins, wrinkled hands.. I take a deep breath and run my hand through my curly afro and wipe the tears tickling my cheeks.
I'm startled by a knocking at my door. I check my watch with a raised eyebrow. "Come in." I say.
Kalea tiptoes in with her little teddy Bear clutched to her chest, her face red. "What are you doing up so late, princess?" I ask her.
"I can't sleep, daddy. I've been standing out there for a while, trying to decide how I would walk in." She tells me, tugging her pink Cinderella pajamas. She looks up at me with pouted lips and big eyes. I give her a small smile and sit up, pulling the blanket off my legs. I pat the space beside me,signalling her to sit beside me.
"You wanna sleep with me tonight?" I ask as she struggles to get on the high bed. I let out a small chuckle and help her up. She plops herself beside me and sticks her thumb in her mouth, pulling the blanket over her legs.
"Yes, please." She mumbles. She leans her curly hair against my broad chest and hugs her teddy closer to her.
"Why didn't you put your hair up, baby?" I ask as her long curly hair tickles my arms.
"I tried, but my arms started hurting and I gave up. Mommy used to do it for me." She tells me. She takes an elastic off of her tiny wrist and hands it to me. "Can you do it for me, daddy?"
I shrug and take the elastic from her. "I can try, sweetheart."
I pull her hair up and start wrapping the elastic band. She holds her breath and crosses her fingers. "Please don't break, please don't break, please don't break." She mumbles.
I finally untangle her hair and wrap the elastic band around it and put it into a little bun. "Whatcha doing?" I ask.
"I have to do that every time I put my hair up so the elastic doesn't break. Because curly hair is no joke." She snaps her fingers with sass and I chuckle again.
"You are just like your mother." I tell her.
"I get that a lot." She replies.
"I can tell."
We sit there in silence. I slowly start to dose off but she shakes me awake.
"Can we look through the family album, daddy?"
I rub my eyes and run my hand through my messy hair , exhausted. "Can we do that another day, Kalea? Daddy's tired and you have school tomorrow. "
She frowns and crosses her arms together. "Can I stay go half day then?"
I shake my head no. "I have work tomorrow, Sweetheart. I promise we'll look through the album another day, ok? Get some sleep."
I reach over to turn the lamp off at the bed stand as she snuggles closer to me and closes her eyes.
"I love you, daddy. Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite." She tells me. I smile a little and lean down to kiss her temple.
"I love you too, sweetie. Goodnight."
●○●○●○●○
The next day so far was not going great. I barely got any sleep, and because of that, I was exhausted. Getting the kids out of bed was even more exhausting, because today was Friday and they thought I'd let them stay home. But as much as I wanted to stay home with them, I had to go to work.
Even though my father-in-law was in charge of the funeral, I still wanted to contribute and I needed money to do that.
I pack Kalea's lunch and put it in her backpack while she's getting ready. I usually pack Kalani's lunch too, but he's 13, almost 14. It's time for him to start doing stuff on his own.
"Y'all better get down here in 5 minutes or else I'm leaving y'all here!" I yell to them as I down the rest of my coffee and put the empty mug in the sink. I walk into the living room as Kalani approaches.
"That doesn't sound like such a bad thing." Kalani mumbles as he runs down stairs. He rolls his eyes when he sees me and walks past me into the kitchen. I sigh and shake my head.
"Aye, where's my lunch?" He yells from the kitchen.
"You wanna act grown, then make your own lunch." I tell him. My mouth twists into a small smirk when I hear him exhale slowly.
"Where's your sister?" I asked as I walked back into the kitchen.
"Struggling with remembering which foot her right sock is supposed to go on." He tells me nonchalantly with a shrug as he raids the refrigerator and finds the pizza box from last night. He takes it out and throws it on the counter.
"And you couldn't help her out?" I ask him. He shrugs again and begins taking out 2 slices, placing them in a Ziploc bag
and throwing it into his backpack. I raise an eyebrow at him.
"Not my problem." He mumbles as he grabs a handful of granola bars from the cup board and shoves them in his bag. "You know, packing my own lunch ain't even that bad." He tells me with a smirk.
"Whatever." I murmur. "And pull your damn pants up, your ass doesn't go that low." I yell at him as I start climbing up the stairs. He sucks his teeth.
I find Kalea indeed struggling with her socks and shoes, pantsless, and close to tears.
She looks up at me with tearful eyes when she sees me and blows a curl of hair from her face, exasperated.
"What's up witchu?" I ask softly as I pick up her shoes that's on the other side of the room.
"I can't put my pants on. And I don't remember which way is left and right. Mommy used to remember for me." She tells me. I frown at seeing her in so much stress but then let out a chuckle.
"Kalea, sweetie, your pants go on before your shoes. That's why it's not working." I tell her with a smile. She scrunchies her face up in confusion before glancing at the shoe in my hand.
"Oh," she pauses with a little smile. "Can you help me, daddy?"
I nod at her and help her put her dark blue jeans pants on, then help her put her socks and shoes on. I check my watch when I'm done and sigh. "It's time to go, big girl. Your bag's downstairs. C'mon." I take her little hand in mine and lead her downstairs.
Soon, we're heading out the door and into the car. As I'm about about to drive off, I remember something.
"Damn, Kalani, can you run inside and feed Geronimo please? And hurry up!" I tell him. He gets up with a groan and exits the car, then quickly runs up the stairs and through the front door.
When he's back, I drive off and make my way to their school. I stop in the drop-off are beside the side walk and nod at Kalani.
"I'll see y'all later. Love y'all." I tell them as they both start to exit the car. They say their goodbyes and wall to the front door of the school, waving to one of the teachers supervising there and entering the school.
I soon realize that the teacher is Ms. Williamson. She waves at them with a sweet smile and holds the door open for them, and they're inside, she turns around.
I'm not even gonna lie, she looks fine in a red, blue and black vertical striped jumpsuit. It suited her curves but didn't show them off at the same time.
She glances around and suddenly makes eye contact at me. She gives me the same sweet smile and nods. I do the same with a little wave and drive off.
I quickly make my way to work. At this point, I was somehow late for work. L.A traffic was horrific, especially at this time in the morning, when everyone was trying to go about their business. To be totally honest, I was getting tired of here. The polluted air, the traffic, the random and unexpected earthquakes. The boiling hot summers. Kallie wanted to move to the country side for years but we never got around to doing that. My heart sinks at the thought of her.
I rest my hands on the steering wheel as the traffic comes to a complete stop. Curse words and the blaring of horns flew through my window, and I pressed the button to the roll it up. This is the other thing that I disliked about here.
Some L.A drivers were from a different species.
●○●○●○●○
I nod at the young blonde seated at the front desk. She was about in her early 20s, and she was restless. Always laughing, always walking around.
Always flirting with me.
I always made a show of showing off my wedding band whenever she was around, or speak about Kallie just to remind her that I was happily married and had no interest in her. But my wedding ring was now stowed away in the nightstand located in the room Kallie and I used to share. One glance of it sent my heart sinking, made reality kick in. I tried to distance myself from anything that might remind me of what was actually happening in my life. My wedding ring, family pictures. I didn't even use the same flower-scented laundry detergent on my clothes anymore. It was her favorite.
In other words, I wanted to become numb.
"Good morning, Mr. Hernandez." She greets.
I give her a simple nod and slow my walking to linger at her desk. I was already late, I thought. There was no point in rushing anymore. I glance up at her to see the strange expression printed on her face. Sadness, confusion, and pity.
"Something wrong, Ms. Summers?" I ask her with a raised eyebrow.
"I heard about your wife, sir. I am truly sorry for your loss." She tells me sincerely.
A whirl of different questions bounce around in my heard, causing me to wince. She knew? How could she..
How could she know? No one knew, only my family. Unless maybe the kids told their friends, and-
"I heard about it on the news." She tells me, as if reading my thoughts.
"The news?" I thought out loud.
Ah yes, the news. A car accident as bad as hers would definitely be featured on the news. I haven't bothered to turn on the t.v since it happened. Every local news channel showed a crushed, disfigured silver minivan upside-down in a ditch with-
"You don't look too good, Mr. Hernandez. Why didn't you stay home?" She asked. I can't help but noticed the worried tone in her voice. She really cared. I forced a small smile.
"Money, Ms. Summers. I need the money. I gotta..." My voice trailed and I looked down and fiddled with my tie. "I gotta feed my kids. I'm a single dad now."
She nodded and gave me a pained expression. "I know how you feel. I gotta feed my little one too. Her dad isn't here to help."
I realized that there was a lot that I didn't know about Ms. Summers. I've been working with her for about a year, too. Each day she greeted me with a bright smile and sent me home with a 'How has your day been?'
She continued when I didn't reply. "Well, I'm here to talk if you need to talk. I'll see you at lunch, have a nice-" She stopped herself and gave a smile that said 'Sorry.' "I suppose today won't be a very nice day for you. Maybe many days after today, too. But try to get through today, Mr. Hernandez."
I gave her a grateful smile and nod. "Thanks. That means a lot."
And with that and another small nod, I made my way to my elevator and up to my office.
I worked in a huge law firm as the secretary of a well-known lawyer. My job was stressful, not only because it was a lot of work to do, but because if you knew me, you'd know that I hated all things paperwork. But it paid really well.
I was contemplating getting my life in order again. Restarting my music career and picking up where I left off. But then Kallie got pregnant-
Music now seemed useless. Could it bring my wife back?
It couldn't. And so I wholeheartedly gave up on it.
Maybe, one day, when the pain subsided and my heart was whole again, I would find the time for music. The thought made me laugh darkly and I shook my head as I walked out the elevator. The pain would never go away. The emptiness would never go away. But yet, somehow, for some reason, my wife did-
"Mr. Hernandez." I looked up from my reverie to see my boss looking at me with his arms crossed, leaned up against the door that led to my office, the hell hole where I spent my days toiling away at something that I hated. He looked at me up and down and stood up straight so that his 6"1 figure would tower over me. I inwardly groaned at the fit African American Man standing in front of me and forced a smile.
"Sir." I replied with a small nod.
"You're late. Again." He said.
"I know sir, but it won't happen again-"
"That's what you said the last time, Peter." He told me, looking at me so sternly that I felt like I was being reprimanded by my father.
I let out a sigh and run my hand over my afro, suddenly exhausted.
"In my office, please." He jerked his head towards the direction of his office and I followed behind like a lost puppy. I had to. Once we were in his huge office that over looked Los Angeles, he motioned for me to sit down, which I did. He squinted at me and I resisted the urge to gulp, playing with my tie again as I silently prayed to God that this man wouldn't fire me and leave my kids to starve.
"I heard what happened." He suddenly said. My head snapped up and I gave him a raised eyebrow.
"About?"
"Your wife."
Again, the memory was like a punch to my gut. I sucked in a breath and felt my protective walls damn near crumble.
"Your reaction was all I needed. It's true?" He asks.
"Yes, sir. I wish it wasn't but..." My voice trails off as I look down and play with my fingers.
"In that case, I'm sending you home." He tells me.
My eyes shoot up to him, my nostrils flaring up in anger. "You can't do that, sir-"
"I need someone that can focus. And with all that's going on in your life right now, I don't think you can focus." He says again. I squint my eyes at him in distaste and let out a breath, my lungs feeling like they were caving in.
"My kids, Mr. Leonard. I need to feed my kids, this is the only way I can. You couldn't be so cruel to fire a single father with 2 kids, sir-"
"Who said I was firing you?" He asks. I watch him, confused.
"You said you were sending me home."
"On a temporary leave, yes. It's not a vacation leave, so you'll still have those to use for the year. And you'll still get paid. Think of it as a kind gift. And if you know me, you should know that I'm not kind very often. You've been unfocused this week, and I haven't failed to notice."
I slowly take it all in, staring down at his dark brown office table. "Why are you doing this?" I finally ask him quietly. He looks me in the eyes and lets out a small, broken laugh.
"I've been in your shoes before. What size are you, anyways? 4 in women's?" He asks, letting out a hearty laugh this time and lightly slapping the desk. I smile a little. "I'm playin', I'm playin'," He tells me, his face suddenly holding the same serious expression he had on earlier. "When my momma died, I had this boss I used to work part-time with during law school. He was always up my ass- pardon my language. I tried to explain to him, expecting him to have some sympathy. He never did."
"So, what'd you do?" I asked.
"I hired a hitman to take him out. I got some connections." He tells me with a completely straight face. I furrow my eyebrows as he laughs again. "Kidding. But anyways, I crumbled. Almost fell out of law school, doing the thing I loved." He pauses and gives me a look. "What do you even like to do? Because I'm sure it ain't law."
I let out a nervous laugh and scratch the back of my head. "I like to sing, sir."
"I know, Mr. Bruno Mars. You were doing good in the music industry, why'd you stop?"
I try to hide but my shock but fail. He lets out another laugh at my expression.
I hoped that very few people knew about my alter ego, my character in the entertainment world. Or so I thought. Touring the world and making hit songs seemed like another life of another person in another lifetime.
"How did you know?" I asked. He chuckles.
"How did I know? We all watched when you won those Grammy's, and the world thinks you're making another album. But instead you're working for me. You're a talented guy, so why did you stop making music?"
"I had a family to take care of, sir." Was my simple reply.
He nods and smiles, satisfied at my response.
"Good answer. You have my permission to go home right now." He says. I paused for a minute then look up at him again.
"Can I stay here and work for the day? My kids are at school and the house is... empty. I don't think I can take that right now."
He looks at me in sympathy and nods. "Have at it."