CHAPTER 17: CONFESSIONS

CHAPTER 17: CONFESSIONS

"Harry, me..." He pulled away slightly from his lips to continue speaking.

"What's wrong?" He looks at me, confused. I'm about to respond, but I'm interrupted by the sound of my phone indicating a new message.

"Who's bothering my wife at this hour?" he says, getting up and walking towards my phone.

"Wait, it might be my mother," I say, getting up and quickly walking towards my cell phone. When I unlock it, I realize that the sender of the message is none other than Imanol.

"Is it your mother?" Harry questions, seeing the worry on my face.

"Yes, she's asking how we're doing," I lie, trying not to sound nervous.

"Fantastic, right?" Harry says, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes," I say and smile. I return my gaze to the phone and quickly read the message.

"Imanol Hey, rich girl. I'm in Marseille. It's beautiful here. The only thing missing is you. I miss you."

My heart feels like it's about to jump out of my chest. For a moment, I feel happy about the message, but at the same time, I feel strange and very guilty. Harry is standing in front of me, watching me.

"My mother's texts are always long," I say and smile again.

I pretend to type on my phone, then lock it and leave it where it was.

"Done!" Harry looks at me and approaches dangerously close. "Are you hungry? I'm starving. How about Chinese food?" I say, trying to evade the situation.

"I crave you," he gets even closer, and I burst into laughter like a mad woman.

"Does that work for you?" I question, and he furrows his brow.

"Always," he says with a bad boy expression.

"Not with me," I say, and my perverted inner self laughs in my face.

"If you don't pee yourself, it's a miracle, darling!"

"I see. And what does work for you?"

"A delicious dinner of Chinese food," I close my eyes, clasping my hands and resting them on my chin, trying to make a cute face.

Harry smiles and covers his face.

"Don't do that."

"Why?"

"You're too adorable," he removes his hands from his face and looks at me. "I don't know what this is that I'm feeling with you, but it makes me feel very different from who I usually am. Since I met you, I've experienced many emotions, emotions that were practically nonexistent in me."

"Did you feel something for me from the first day?" I ask seriously, and he messes up his hair.

"I don't know if it was from the first day, but honestly, when they told me I had to marry you, I saw it as purely a business arrangement, until I saw you for the first time, and everything changed," he says, getting closer to me.

"I didn't know that was happening to you," I look at him and lower my gaze. I feel uncomfortable because I didn't feel anything for him the first time I saw him, even afterward, when I met Imanol, I was immediately attracted to him, something that didn't happen with Harry.

"What's wrong?" Harry looks at me with concern.

"I have to confess something," I can't look him in the eyes, so I look down at his feet.

"What is it?" he asks, placing his fingers under my chin and lifting my face to see him.

"You might hate me after this," I look into his eyes, and he furrows his brow.

"Why would I hate you?"

"Because I kissed your brother," I confess, looking him in the eyes, and he removes his fingers from my chin

"Why would I hate you?" he asks, completely confused.

"I'm sorry, I truly am. I was confused, and then your brother and..."

"When did this happen?" he says calmly.

"On the day of the dinner, in the afternoon," I say, and Harry looks at me. Any trace of tenderness and affection has vanished from his eyes; now his gaze is cold and distant.

"Why did you do it?" he questions, and I move closer.

"I don't know, I was very confused," I say, tears welling up in my eyes.

"Do you like him?" he asks, and I'm about to respond, but he interrupts me. "At least, what you told me, is that true?"

"Yes, Harry, I like you. I wasn't sure before, but after what happened this morning, I became certain," I say.

"What if Imanol hadn't left? What would have happened? Would you be with him?" he asks, disappointment evident on his face.

"No, I..." I hesitate for a few seconds before continuing, but Harry cuts me off.

"Don't say anything. I don't want to hear anymore," he says as he puts on his shirt and walks towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I ask, sobbing.

"Do you care?" he looks at me angrily, then turns around, opens the door, and leaves, slamming it shut.

"You're an idiot," I say to myself as I hold my head in my hands and cry.

I sit on one of the armchairs and start crying even louder. I don't know if I'm crying out of anger towards myself or out of sadness from seeing Harry's disappointed gaze.

I grab my phone and dial Ana's number. After a few rings, she answers, and I ask her to come see me. She immediately realizes that something is wrong, and she tells me she'll be there in twenty minutes.

After twenty minutes, Ana arrives and finds me lying on the couch.

"Little Ali, what's wrong?" She looks at me and I start crying again.

"I confessed to Harry, and now I feel like the worst person in the world," I say between sobs.

"What did you confess?" she asks, confused.

"Well, the truth is, I kissed his brother."

"What?! What did you do?!" She questions, shouting in surprise.

"I kissed him, I kissed him. I was confused, very confused, and he was there, looking all handsome at me, and I couldn't help but feel attracted to him. I don't know how it happened, I just let myself go."

"You like Imanol, that I already knew, but what about Harry? Do you also like Harry?" she asks curiously.

"Yes, I like Harry. With Imanol, I think it was just attraction or I don't know. Why can't I have both of them?" Ana looks at me angrily and gives me a small hit on the head.

"You're crazy, Allison."

"It's just inevitable to feel something for both of them. I'm very confused because when I was with Harry, I didn't think about anyone else, but as soon as I got a message from Imanol, I got excited, and I felt something strange in my stomach," I finish saying and cover my face with a cushion.

"The message from Imanol? What message?"

"It's on my phone, read it. He doesn't even know what's going on with Harry."

Ana looks at me angrily and searches for the phone. I see her reading the message silently and then she looks up at me, furrowing her brow. She scratches her head and approaches me again.

"It's like you're in a relationship."

"Which we're not," I say while sniffing my nose.

"Ali, you confused and led on both of them without being sure of what you felt and what you wanted. You were very immature."

"I know, I know I was very immature, but for a moment, I thought I knew what I was doing," I say, sobbing again.

"What if you lose both of them? Who would it hurt you more to lose?" she questions, raising an eyebrow.

That's something I hadn't thought about. I don't want to lose either of them, but I messed up everything, and if I had to choose one of them, I'm not sure who it would be.

"You're a bitch, that's what you are," says my conscience angrily.

"I don't know, I couldn't choose one," I say, crying and grabbing a bottle of wine. "I'm the worst person on the planet."

"No, you're not. You're just a little stupid, nothing more," says Ana, caressing my hair, and I smile at hearing her insult.

"Ana, promise me you'll never leave me," I say and take another sip of wine.

"Ali, I'll never leave you, but it's better if you stop drinking. Remember, you're not good with alcohol," she looks at me and tries to take the bottle.

"No, shh, let go, it's mine. I know I can't handle it, I'm not stupid," I say, hiccuping.

"You haven't even finished half the bottle, and you're already drunk," says Ana, laughing.

"Drunk? Me?" I sit on the couch and look at Ana. "Drink with me, and stay the night. I'm not going to sleep with Harry anyway."

"Fine, I'll stay, but don't keep drinking, Ali."

"Let me drink, you're not my mom," I say between hiccups. "You don't understand. No one forced you into marriage, you don't like your husband's brother and your husband at the same time, your mother-in-law doesn't want to send you away forever, and they don't want to ruin your dreams of being a photographer. And the worst part is, your husband didn't look at you with disappointment and coldness after you confessed that you kissed his brother," I say and start crying like a little child.

"At least your father doesn't have a second family," Ana says with her head down, taking the wine bottle from me.

"Your dad has another family?" I approach her, and she nods.

"And he has a five-year-old daughter," she says, sobbing.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I complain sadly.

"Because you're too absorbed in the problems that you never look around to see how others are doing," she looks at me with anger.

"I'm sorry, I, I didn't know. I'm sorry," Ana looks at me and cries even harder. "I promise you it won't happen again. You know I love you, you're my sister, and I'll always be there for you."

"And I for you," Ana says, and immediately we hug each other tightly and start crying.

A few hours later (I honestly have no sense of time, I'm very drunk), Valentina is helping us climb the stairs because neither of us can stand on our own.

Valentina helps us reach the bedroom and lays us down on the bed where we both fall like rocks, clumsy rocks, and we fall into a deep sleep.

I wake up and try to open my eyes, but I just can't. The light hurts me, my head feels like it's about to explode, and my body feels heavy.

I turn around in bed and bump into the feet of a woman who seems to be dead. I immediately get up and realize it's Ana, deeply asleep.