CHAPTER 18: I CAN'T BELIEVE IT

CHAPTER 18: I CAN'T BELIEVE IT
"Ana, Anita, are you okay, my friend?" I say, laughing. It seems like I'm still drunk. "Anabelle, listen to me, please."

I keep talking to my friend, but she still doesn't pay attention to me. So I decided to get up and look for Harry.

I leave my room and enter Harry's room, finding his bed neatly made with no traces of the handsome man who occupies it.

I leave the room and go downstairs, searching in the living room, dining room, terrace, kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry room, but I can't find him anywhere.

Valentina sees me curiously, and I decide to approach her and ask about Harry.

"Valentina, where is Harry?" Valentina looks at me with concern.

"The sir didn't come home to sleep, ma'am," she replies, and I furrow my brow.

"Do you know where he could be?" I ask seriously.

"Perhaps he went to sleep at his parent's house," she says while looking at me.

"Could you call his house and ask for him?"

"Yes."

"But call a phone that Amanda won't answer," I say, getting closer to her and whispering.

"I can call the service phone; it can only be answered from the kitchen," she suggests, and I nod.

"Yes, call that number. I'll go take a shower," I turn around and start walking.

"Ma'am," Valentina calls me, and I stop and turn to look at her. "Would you like me to make something special for your hangover?" she asks, and I smile.

"Yes, something spicy, please," I say, turn around again, and continue walking.

I reach my room and find Ana still asleep on my bed. I try to wake her up, but it's impossible, so I search for some clothes and go into the bathroom to shower.

After a few minutes, I come out of the bathroom and find Ana sitting on the bed with a zombie-like expression.

"Oh, this head is going to explode," she complains, and I laugh.

"Go take a shower. I'll lend you some clothes, and then we'll have breakfast together," I say, and she nods.

I leave the room and hurry downstairs. I'm eager to know if Harry slept at his parents' house or somewhere else.

"Ma'am, I made some very spicy chilaquiles. It's what we usually eat in Mexico to cure hangovers," Valentina says proudly.

"I know, and I love them. My mom is Mexican."

"Ma'am?" she asks excitedly, and I nod.

"Yes, my grandparents live in Mexico. We used to visit them often when I was a child."

"I'm thrilled that you share my heritage," she says excitedly. "Well, you're half American and half Mexican, and also from the upper class, but you're still Mexican by race."

I laugh, and Valentina becomes a bit nervous. To be honest, I think very few people know about my Mexican roots. Based on my appearance and that of my mother, anyone would think we are completely American. Something that bothers me a lot is when people imagine all Mexicans to have indigenous features. While our ancestors and roots do come from the indigenous people, there are many mixtures, many Spaniards, French, Americans, and English who married indigenous people, creating an infinite variety of races in Mexico. Therefore, there are Mexicans with indigenous features, there are dark-skinned, black, white, etc. Mexico is like a small world full of different races and languages. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I'm half Mexican and half American, and I'm proud of it.

"I love sharing this with you, Valentina," I say, and she smiles from ear to ear. "Changing the subject, did you call the McBride house?"

"Yes, ma'am. My colleague informed me that Mr. Harry arrived in the early morning, very drunk. A driver had to come for him because he couldn't even stand on his own. However, he got up early and went to the office."

"Thank you, Valentina," I say as I gaze at one of the walls.

"Ma'am, will you have breakfast in the dining room?"

"No, could you bring everything to the terrace, please?" she nods and starts doing what I asked.

I go to find Ana and see her lying in bed, freshly showered

"Ana, get dressed and come down for breakfast."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," she responds, and I go back downstairs.

After a few minutes, we finish breakfast, and Ana takes some milk because apparently, she can't handle spicy food.

"What are you going to do?" she asks, taking another sip of milk.

"I have to talk to him. I was going to go to his office, but I don't think it's a good idea, so I'll wait for him here until he arrives."

"I hope you can talk and sort all this out," Ana says, looking at me with compassion. "I have to go. Let me know if there's anything."

Ana approaches, hugs me, and leaves.

"I love you," she shouts from the door.

"Me too," I shout back, and then I hear the door closing.

It's eight o'clock at night, and Harry still hasn't shown up. I spent the whole day thinking about a good speech to give him, and I also searched for photography universities. I found many, one better than the other, and I'm excited that there are so many options. However, it also overwhelms me because I'm afraid of choosing the wrong one.

"Ma'am, would you like me to serve dinner now, or will you keep waiting for Mr. Harry?" I look at Valentina, and my stomach growls like a lion.

"Serve it, please. It seems that Mr. Harry won't be coming home to sleep, again," Valentina nods and walks to the kitchen.

I finished dinner and took a shower, and Harry still hasn't arrived, so I decided to go to bed and sleep. I set the alarm on my phone for seven in the morning so that if Harry comes to sleep and leaves early, I can catch him before he goes.

The alarm starts ringing, and I quickly get up. I enter Harry's room, and the bed is a mess.

"So, you did come to sleep," I say and smile as I walk to the bathroom to see if he's there, but he's not in the bathroom either.

I run downstairs, searching everywhere, but there was no sign of Harry.

"Are you looking for Mr. Harry?" Valentina asks.

"Yes, have you seen him?"

"Yes, ma'am. He arrived after eleven and left at six-thirty. He didn't even have breakfast."

"Damn it!" I shout, and Valentina gets scared. "I'm sorry," I apologize and go back to my room.

Several days have passed since the last time I talked to Harry. He usually comes home after I fall asleep and leaves before I wake up. At first, I used to wait for him and wake up very early to catch him before he left, but now I don't even try. It's clear that he doesn't want to talk to me or even see me, so I ignore him as well.

Right now, I'm at the park near the apartment. Like every morning, I went for a run very early, and after finishing, I sat on one of the benches for a while.

Suddenly, the sky starts to darken, and thunder roars from all directions.

"Damn it!" I say as I feel a drop falling on my nose. I start running towards the apartment before the rain completely soaks me.

When I reach the building, I see Valentina getting out of the car with many shopping bags.

"Valentina, can I help you?"

"No need to worry, ma'am. Luck is helping me," she says, looking at Luck and then at me.

"Alright, but tell me, why did you buy so many things? It's just the two of us who eat here.

"All right, don't worry, ma'am. Luck is helping me," she says, looking at Luck and then at me.

"Okay, but tell me, why did you buy so many things? It's just the two of us who eat here. Sometimes we invite Luck, but that's too much."

"Oh, ma'am, it's because this morning Mr. Harry asked me to buy everything for dinner."

"Is Harry coming for dinner?"

"Yes, he told me he has important guests."

"Important guests? His parents?"

"No, he mentioned someone named Mr. Smith and his daughter."