L I A R .
act 1, scene 9.
"WOULD YOU SAY Ventura Nunier's arrest affected your relationship with either of his children?"
The Inspector seemed to be able to read minds, as just as Inés began to question whether she would bring up the arrests, she did.
"Not really. It wasn't until later that things started to change."
"How much later?" The Inspector asked.
Inés bit her lip as she looked up at the older woman. "After my father was arrested too."
──── T W O MONTHS EARLIER
INÉS SHUDDERED AT the sound of her classmates gossiping as she rounded the corner into the room they all resided in. She was running late, after having to listen to her father's strict instructions of what she could and couldn't discuss with her friends on the car journey to school, and rushed to sit amongst them.
"It's pre-trial detention." She heard- Guzmán groan as she perched herself beside Ander on the table he sat on. "We pay bail and he's out."
"And how much is it?" Lu hummed. She broke her attention away from rubbing Guzmán's shoulders to send her best friend a short smile, one lacking in much meaning at all.
"Six hundred thousand." He sighed, locking eyes with Inés. She nodded at him in an attempt to reassure him everything would be fine, but he hung his head in his hands. "We'll pay this afternoon."
In truth, Inés was utterly terrified. Last night she hadn't realised the true affects of what was happening and just how much danger it put her family in.
She was well aware of both the legal and illegal dealings her father was involved in, and now Ventura had been outed, the same could happen to Luis or Teo. And Inés couldn't bear to watch her friends' lives ruin before her eyes.
"What about the trial?" Polo asked. Guzmán was his best friend, and he and Inés were similar in ways they hardly knew. They just wanted the best for those they cared about.
"It doesn't matter." Guzmán dismissed, "They've got nothing."
"Then why did they accuse him?" Ander asked from beside Inés. She looked up at him crossly, trying to warn him that he was out of order in his questioning. Her frown fell when she began to contemplate his question though, as it was quite a valid query.
"I don't know, Ander!" Guzmán snapped, brushing Lu's hands off his shoulders. "Some judge wanted to be on the news. I don't fucking know!"
"Guzmán." Inés called in a soothing manner to try and ease the situation. "They have nothing. He'll be released on bail and that'll be the last we hear of it."
"At least that's what Carla's father says." Guzmán scoffed, scowling at his friends.
"What are you talking about?" Inés frowned, looking over at the blonde girl to her left.
"Nada." Carla shot her down, pausing for a second with her eyes still set on Guzmán, turning to Inés only as she spoke again, "Come with me to the bathroom before Martín arrives?"
"Okay." Inés nodded before following her friend our, not caring how suspicious they looked to their friends.
"Someone stole my father's watches." Carla sighed, pressing her fingers to her temples. "And one of them is a pen-drive with documents on that would incriminate my dad, your dad and Guzmán's too."
"Mierda." Inés gasped.
Never had she expected the plan to go this sourly. She could feel her heartbeat increasing with each second that the girls stood beside each other, a layer of sweat forming across her brow as she anxiously waited for the scenario to play out.
"Do you know who has it?" Inés asked. She maintained her composure but still made sure to feign a concern and lack of knowledge towards the situation. Her breathing had noticeably quickened, but she hoped Carla wouldn't be able to detect it.
Inés waited for a reply from her friend, but the blonde girl stood silent, watching as Polo left the classroom they had just exited. He quickly spotted the pair and rushed over, pulling Carla to his side.
"We think Christian stole the watches." He answered despite never hearing the question.
Inés felt her eyebrows raise at his words. "What? You think he stole them after you..?" She trailed off as she tried to figure out the right way to phrase the three's arrangement.
"Had sex? Si." Polo nodded bluntly. Inés could tell by his inability to stand still that the situation was making him anxious and where Carla's arms around his waist usually calmed him down, today they had no such affect.
"Well, shit..." Inés mumbled. She ran her hands through her hair with a sigh, pausing when the boy in question just so happened to be heading towards them. Every confrontation Inés begged not to arrive seemed to fall smoothly into place that day.
"Excuse us." Carla sighed, rolling her eyes towards her friend with a chuckle. Inés smiled weakly, trying to force out a laugh. Polo seemed to notice her unease (he had known her for quite some time, after all) but left with nothing more than a raised eyebrow as his girlfriend dragged him over to argue with their lover.
Inés let out a deep sigh as the pair left her alone, quickly readjusting the bag on her shoulder and failing to notice the eyes of Marina and Samuel gazing upon her.
The former followed her out of the classroom and watched the whole conversation with Carla while biting her nails, but the latter had only accidentally caught glimpse of her when he tried to figure out what his girlfriend was staring at.
Intrigue bettered his intuition, and before his head registered what he was doing, Samu was following Inés to one of the many music rooms her father had funded the construction of. He lingered outside the door for a few minutes, listening intently to whatever sonata Inés was playing, until he knocked on the door lightly.
The brunette looked up from the keys in surprise - as nicely built as the music rooms were, they were definitely not sound proof and she hadn't head his footsteps approaching.
"Hola, Samuel." She smiled, shuffling along on the piano stool to accommodate the boy as he made his way inside. He gladly took the seat beside her and watched patiently as she finished the piece she was playing.
Samu knew there was no point in interrupting her, as Inés Almero always got what she wanted.
"That was really good." Samu smiled once she had completed the movement and set down the lid of the piano.
Inés raised her eyebrows at him. "Really good?" She asked, with her face souring more and more, "I've been practising that piece for 2 years and all you can say is that it's really good?"
Samu knew the kids at Las Encinas were entitled but Inés' display shocked him slightly. He didn't expect anything less from her, if he was honest, but the words sounded foreign leaving her mouth. His face faltered - but only until Inés' own lips widened into a grin.
"I'm kidding." She laughed. Samu noticed even her laugh sounded wealthy. Everything about her screamed money. And it made him feel sick. "Did you follow me here?" She asked.
Samu nodded his head. He hadn't really followed her, just his curiosity to know what Marina was so intrigued about. "I can leave if you want?"
"No." Inés shot out before she could think. Looking back, she knew she sounded far too eager, but in the moment she just wanted his company. "You're the only person who doesn't treat me differently anymore."
The boy frowned at her words. They had hardly spoken to each other in weeks, yet she was proclaiming he was comforting her. And as far as he was concerned, everyone still both adored and feared her like they usually did. "How do you mean?"
Inés looked at him with a sad smile. "Lu hasn't spoken to me since Guzmán's birthday. Ander and Polo won't even look at me because Carla and Guzmán are scared that I'll say something."
"Say something about what?"
"They're scared about their dads. They think one of them will throw the others under the bus." Inés scoffed, turning away from him. "Carla's paranoid about her father's watches."
As soon as she saw Samu's face drop, Inés knew she had said to much. That was another one of her fatal flaws - not knowing when to shut up. He was unaware of the brunette's involvement but the truth was extremely close to seeping from her lips.
"Surely the watches aren't that big of a deal?" Samu swallowed harshly as he mumbled a quiet response. "Her family is rich enough to buy that collection 5 times over."
Inés bit her tongue. She contemplated her possible responses for far too long, her views furrowing and a sigh escaping her lips when she decided to confess.
"I know Nano stole the watches." She sighed, biting her nails. Samu's lips parted in shock as he stuttered to find an excuse. "I gave him a key to the door and the alarm code."
"Why would you do that?" Samu's words dripped with a combination of disbelief and disappointment. Marina had told him if the scolding she had been given by the girl (albeit not the full reason she had received it), so he wondered in surprise why Inés would have even considered the idea of helping his brother.
"I did it for you, Samuel." Inés mumbled, here eyes glassing over.
Everything happened in slow motion. The pair were both leaning in, neither sure who had instigated the situation but grateful it had been.
Samu's lips were dangerously close to Inés' cherry painted ones, and even as Marina's smiling face flashed before him, he daren't pull away.
Inés had mustered up the courage to close the minuscule gap, but the clacking heels approaching the practice room made them both leap apart.
She turned around with a flustered look as Azucena opened the door, a serious expression plastered on her face. "Could I talk to you for a minute, Inés?"
"¿Por que?" Inés asked with a frown. As far as she was aware she wasn't in any trouble at school - and surely she would have a police officer knocking at the door if they had found out about the watches.
"I have a message from your mother." Azucena mumbled, looking over at the boy by Inés' side. "It's probably best if we discuss this privately." She smiled.
"It's okay." Inés smiled back. Samu has never seen the act the girl put on go her teachers so up close before, and if he hadn't have known her for some time, he would have been thoroughly convinced she was this nice all the time. "Samuel can hear too."
Azucena sighed as closed the door behind her and stepped into the room. Samu couldn't help but fee like he was intruding, but the delicate hand in his thigh made it impossible for him to excuse himself. Only after Samu's uncomfortable shift did Inés realise that maybe Azucena had bad news, and she suddenly regretted slowing him to stay - but she couldn't bring herself to move her hand from its resting place.
"Your mother wanted to let you know Ventura Nunier's bail has been lowered." Azucena began.
Inés cut her short with a dramatic sigh. The weight lifters off her shoulders immediately. Maybe she wasn't in as dire situation as she thought. And the small smirk that graced Samuel's lips in response reassured her of that fact.
"Inés." Azucena repeated sternly, making the teen's heart sink. "Your father was arrested 2 hours ago."
Inés shut her eyes tight as they filled with tears. Her head collapsed onto Samu's shoulder as his arms wrapped tightly around her. At any other moment, the affection would have made her heart swell. But all she could feel was the weight of her family's livelihood fall back in her shoulders.
She needed that red watch.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
who do i think i am updating so quickly....