Antonio
Valentina's eyes stalked me as I moved closer to her. Her face carried a thousand different expressions but scared wasn't one of them.
A brave woman indeed.
Lending my hand, I waited. Her apprehension was clear. A man who almost choked her to death, now planned a surprise for her. She was only playing cautious.
"I won't bite," I said on my approach, taking her fallen hand. Her narrowed eyes watched me like a hawk. "Unless that's what you want."
Val tensed under my hold for a while. With her shoulders dropping and her smile reappearing, she relaxed and walked as I pulled the chair for her. A mannered woman that she was, her phone was placed face down on the table, while her face rested on her intertwined fingers.
"What is all this?" her hand waved to the starry lights and the round table setting.
"An apology for the way I treated you."
Her half smile grew deeper. She nodded at me as I sank into my chair, opposite to hers. Soft music flowed from a quartet which remained stationed in the background. A musician herself, Val watched the coordination of the violinist as they liven the surrounding with their performance. The crisp air was refreshing, it carried mist from the fountain.
"This is really beautiful."
Sliding her gaze off the musician, she addressed me. Her smile was a genuine one and her eyes were misty.
As much as I wanted to assume it was the air and the fountain's doing, I knew the truth. Knot inside my stomach and pang inside my heart grew with every passing second.
Looking away, I felt her warm hand over mine. She intertwined her fingers with mine.
I swallowed the sourness rising in my mouth. This wasn't how I assumed the night to pass. It wasn't even in the worst of my imaginations that I wanted this for us.
Valentina and I would always remain unfinished. An untold story.
The chef announced his preparation as he placed his creation on the table. The smell wafted into my nose, watering my mouth.
Val straightened her back as she laid the napkin over her lap. Her hand directed the rising aroma from the steaming food towards her. With her eyes closing softly, fluttering eyelids and her bobbing throat indicated her likeness for the food.
"Smells divine," she turned to the chef who was beaming with joy at her reaction.
He bowed gently, before retiring back behind the door he emerged from.
A man in white, walked out with wine in his hand covered under a white cloth. One hand behind his back, he served both of us without any eye contact before following his chef's path into the kitchen.
I turned to Valentina who watched her food carefully as if she was taking a mental picture of her plating.
"Shall we?" I forwarded her the condiments.
She carved a knife into the buttery meat, squirting the juices in the plate. Taking a big bite, she leaned back on the chair as the soft morsel melted in her mouth.
With eyes jerked opened, Valentina grabbed the round bottles of condiments. She smiled at herself as she tapped seasoning over her food.
"Thank god the chef didn't see me salting his food."
After a generous splash of salt and pepper, she dug in again, repeating the process. This time, her eyes remained shut for longer. It was a soft hum she emitted while her jaws worked.
"I can't believe I never had this preparation before." She dug into the stake again, cleansing her palette with a generous gulp of the red. "Does the chef not make this regularly?"
I swallowed my morsel. "He isn't our regular chef. He is only called for special occasions."
As curiosity spiked in her, I topped her wine. Watching her guess the occasion was fun. She even came up with weird guesses.
"Okay. I give up." She cleared her throat and finished her wine. "I can't guess the special occasion. Please tell me."
She leaned back, removing her scarf as she felt the air around her grew warm.
"You barely guessed two. And no, this day didn't mark my first kill," I confirmed.
With slurred speech she coughed.
"I don't know, Antonio. Please tell me." She leaned back, clearing her throat and wiping away her sweat beads. "Antonio, are you feeling okay?"
"I am fine, Val. Why? Is something wrong?"
"Not feeling.. umm.. Antonio."
She grabbed the wine bottle, evaluating its content. Her eyes darted to my glass which contained sparkling water; hers was red wine.
Holding onto her throat, she panted. "Why?"
She tried to pour water from the jug. It spilled all over the table, extinguishing the candles. Grabbing the tablecloth, Val tugged onto it while gasping for air.
"Help me." She tapped onto the table. "Please don't do this.."
Her voice was barely a whisper which scratched through her throat as it spewed.
"What about you Valentina? Didn't you plan something like this for me? Didn't you try to kill me?"
I stood over her shivering body. She grabbed my lapel, standing up as her legs trembled. Her head tilted sidewise, eyes brimmed but she never shed one tear even in the aftermath of being poisoned.
"I wouldn't have killed..." Her legs gave up as she scrambled back onto the chair. Her hands held mine in place. With paced up breath and reddened face, she nodded again. "I couldn't kill...yo..."
"You tried to betray me, Valentina. You, of all people."
I was heartbroken to confess to a dying woman. I trusted her after her loyalty display for my family. Turned out, it was all a ruse.
"Please," she wheezed.
Her grip over my hand loosened as the light in her eyes dimmed. Breath hitched in her chest. Gasping for air, she clenched her jaws.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she smiled at me, closing her eyes. "Anto."
My heart fell into a pit. Hearing her call my name for the last time broke my will. I was responsible for this, for trusting her more than anyone.
Betrayal comes from within.
I mistook Val's loyalty for the Moralez clan as her devotion. It was only her deception. It was all part of the elaborate labyrinth to hurt.
Valentina displayed loyalty as a mirror to me while remaining behind it, unaffected.
Then why was her last breath bothering me? Why was her hitched suffering, seeing the light go off from her eyes, killing me instead?
Fishing the antidote from my pocket, I pressed onto the sides of her jaw. As her mouth opened slightly, I poured the contents of the tiny glass bottle into her mouth.
Sealing her lips with my palm, I rubbed her throat, letting her gulp the elixir.
Warm huffs of air released slowly from her nose for a long time. I help her unconscious body slide down the chair and over to me.
Continuing rubbing her throat, I held her on the lush grassy lawn. The sweet scent of freshly watered soil mixed with her lavender scent tickled through my senses.
The corners of my eyes misted up. It wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to feel anything while ending her.
Val's movements were minimum. She was still in a state of shock. Even though her pulse began rhythmically pacing up, I placed her onto my chest and rubbing her back.
It could all have been over, all in one second.
I thought I was prepared. Nobody toyed with us and survived to tell the tale. But here she was, laying on my chest as an exception.
The woman who betrayed and survived.
When Valentina's breaths regained momentum, I took her back to her room. Her unconscious body felt light to carry.
Tomorrow, she would be asked to go back, for good. But today, even with everything in place, I couldn't execute the plan I thought I was capable of.
Did I ignore Valentina's importance to an extend that it took me trying to kill her to realize it? Maybe.
It took several hours before Val stirred in the bed. Her paler features were replaced with her normal skin color, bronze. Her eyelids fluttered as she tried to open them.
With patience, she made several attempts before opening her eyes and scanning the room only to watch me stand near the window. Her face displayed no expressions. She pointed towards the table indicated her need.
I poured water in a glass and sat her up against the headboard. Her body was still recovering from the aftermath of poisoning.
She held onto the glass with trembling hand even though I held it against her mouth. She gulped it, sending ripples into the glass. Parched, she groaned into the container as if it was sweet water that she tasted.
I moved back, placing her back on the pillow. Ready for her backlash fury and snide remarks, I was taken aback when she held my hand instead.
"Why?" she asked, her voice hoarse and weak.
The question with many answer.
Valentina wasn't asking why I poisoned her. She was asking the reason why I saved her.
The doctor's entry broke the silence in the room. Maria followed behind him, watching me with her narrowed gaze.
The doctor was paid to say what I wanted.
Had it been Valentina's dead body on the bed, he was paid to state it was suicide. Now that she was alive, he stated the incident as an accidental poison ingestion.
Maria was far from believing his words but for Valentina's sake, she remained silent.
With medicines placed on the counter, the nurse looked at me. "I need to give her medicines and check on her every half hour to make sure she isn't sleeping till the poison is out of her body."
With her hand gesture, she showed me the door.
"Stay." Val's hoarse voice stopped me at my steps.
My back faced her so I couldn't see what she she gestured to the nurse who walked out and shut the door behind.
"Why, Antonio?" her question rose.
Valentina wasn't reacting the way she was supposed to. She wasn't angry or throwing stuff at me. Heck, I was scared that the poison caused some internal damaged that made her remain calm.
"I will tell you once you become alright. For now, sleep, Val."
"I can't sleep. I have to stay awake for the poison to pass." Her words turned me to face her.
Sunken eyes and ridged lips greeted my sight. Val - the strongest woman I had seen - laid in bed. Tired and helpless, all because of me.
"Fine, don't sleep then. But rest and get better."
"Don't poison me again," she turned to her side, smiling. "Because there's only a limit to which I can forgive you."
Her voice was soft and low and there was a genuine humor in it. After a planned event of me trying to kill my own wife, I was shocked of her reaction to the situation.
Walking outside, I saw Agustin stand at the door, biting onto his fingernails. He turned and looked up when the door creaked.
"How is she, Anto?" His voice was dipped in concern.
"He's resting," I said. "The doctors will keep checking on her."
"How did it happen?"
I had no answer to it.
A part of me wanted to rescind the decision of letting her go back to her father's place but it was my mind that remained stoic, adamant. The rules applied to everyone. The rules were the same.
No place for rats, no space for traitors.
Valentina would be the only exception, having survived an unescapable attempt on her life. One which she will state as an reason to leave the house. Leave all of us behind.
This mansion wouldn't remain the same again. Its charm had already began fading.
~
And sometimes, the drastic measures one undertakes helps then navigate their feelings.
As I said before, there is lot of violence and harm from both sides. Only now, would things clear after the storm has passed..