Chapter 75

Esmeralda Rosaria de la Cruz was so caught up in the raptures of love that she forgot about her friends – Simona and Maria-Luisa. Aurelia was all she could think, live, and breath for the past few months. Her friends had taken the backseat. She could not remember the last time she called them on her own volition. The times they had talked on the phone, they had been the ones who reached out first. She did not make it to the weekly and sometimes biweekly (once every two weeks) hangout where they met up at the Puerto Cruz Club to catch up. Esme behaved as though life started and ended with Aurelia, causing all her other relationships to suffer.

Events of recent times made her see the folly of her ways. Being in a romantic relationship did not mean she could not maintain other relationships. She began to see the ways her relationship with Aurelia was co-dependent. That had explained why she was beginning to feel neglected when Aurelia returned to her job. These few days apart from Aurelia (which felt like decades) gave Esme time to reflect on so many things. She was sure that she would not make that mistake again. With her own hands, she would not isolate herself from her support system despite being in love with someone.

Feeling dejected, she called Simona first. She told her friend they had to meet up that evening, at the usual time they normally met, saying it was an emergency situation.

When she called Maria-Luisa telling her the same thing, the woman had made a joke. “Have you finally decided to kill Aurelia and now you want us to help in hiding the body?” Trust Maria-Luisa to make jokes to lighten situations. But Esme was not in the mood to laugh.

At exactly 4 o ‘clock in the evening, Esme was already seated on the terrace of the club’s cafe. It was obvious her friends would be a little late. There was a little traffic jam in town. The highway leading from the hacienda to town was always free of traffic congestion.

It was Maria-Luisa who arrived first. They exchanged pleasantries, and then she noted that Esme was looking sad, even though she had tried to hide her feelings.

“Is it Aurelia making you sad? Trust me I know how annoying she can be, and it’s not out of place to imagine she is doing something foolish. Is she the problem?” Maria-Luisa asked in a serious tone, as she sat across from Esme at the table for four, which had a red polka-dot table-cover.

“Yes,” Esme said emphatically.

“I knew she was no good. I always knew it. What has she done?”

“Please, let’s talk about it when Simona gets here? So I don’t have to repeat myself.”

Maria-Luisa nodded in understanding. “True. I’m dying to get the story. And is this where you tell me what has kept you so busy that you have not had time to see us? All we have done for months is talk on the phone, and even at that, you don’t call first.” She sounded gentle, her voice not bearing any form of accusation. Esme figured her friend was hurt.

“I’m so sorry about that. I just got engrossed in things and I just couldn’t be around. I’m really sorry about that,” she said and reached across the table to take Maria-Luisa’s hand in hers.

“It’s alright. I hope we don’t have to wait for Simona for much longer.”

They went on to talk about Maria-Luisa’s new promotion at her workplace.

About ten minutes into them chatting, Simona showed up. She walked up to them in a hurried, almost harried, manner. Before getting to the table, she started off with making apologies. She managed to flash an adorable grin at them.

Maria-Luisa chuckled. “For you who is the time-keeper to come late, it shows that something really came up.”

“And that diabolical traffic jam!” Simona said as she sat down beside Maria-Luisa. “I’m sorry once more,” she said with her hands clasped before her on the table.

“It’s okay,” Esme said and looked from Maria-Luisa to Simona seating across from her. It would seem as though she was here for an interview. With the way they sat together across from her, she could tell that the two must have gotten closer. Then she stopped her thoughts. It was too early to start reading meaning into body language.

“I have missed seeing you, Esme,” Simona started in a solemn tone. “And why do you look dejected? Trouble at the hacienda?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

Before Simona could complete her question, a waiter approached their table. He had come earlier when Esme was sitting by herself, and then she told him she was waiting for two other people. The waiter offered that he would come around when her table was complete.

After they had placed their order and the waiter had left their table, Maria-Luisa inquired, “What is this Aurelia problem you told me about?”

At that, Simona’s eyes widened. “Aurelia? What the hell did she do? That girl is trouble. I have always said so.”

Maria-Luisa said, “I bet she has allowed her inner bitch to come out. And now, she is doing all-”

“Girls, girls...” Esme said in a firm tone, her palms off the table as she gestured for them to tone it down. They looked at her expectantly. “Aurelia has not done anything wrong or bad.”

“Then what is it? Enough with the suspense,” Simona said.

Esme swallowed. She did not know how to say the next few words that were about to come through. She wished she had ordered for wine, something to make her tongue have the ability to run loose.

“We’re listening,” Maria-Luisa said.

Her friends were watching her with anticipation across the table.

Esme swallowed. She cleared her throat and said, “Aurelia is the reason I have not been around you two much. And it is not her fault.”

“Was it a hostage situation?” Maria-Luisa asked.

“No, no...” Esme looked away from them and looked at her thighs. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with her.”

“That is because of the wedding. I know she is unbearable,” Simona said.

“She has possibly taken up most of your time with all the demands she must have been making.”

Esme raised her head, and with a sad smile, she said, “Aurelia and I are in love.”

Her friends stared right back at her in shock.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Simona whispered.

“I didn’t plan for things to go the way it did. Before she came over the hacienda, I thought I would hate her. I mean, I already hated her, based on what you two have told me through the years. But then, I met her in person, and then I learned she is an amazing, lovable person.” Simona and Maria-Luisa were looking at her in horror, as though she were narrating a harrowing ordeal she recently experienced.

That did not stop Esme from talking about her feelings for her lover. She went on, “She is gorgeous! You girls never told me that. I didn’t know what hit me until it hit me. And then, she is brilliant. I love you two, honestly, I do. I know we have a connection. But with her it is different. I didn’t understand my feelings at first. But then, it was so easy to fall in love with her. Until her, I didn’t know what actually being in love with someone was.

“I’m sorry that you might be offended, because she is someone who you have come to see as an enemy, someone you have come to hate. I’m sorry I couldn’t feel the feelings I was supposed to feel for her. I promise, I tried to resist my feelings. I fought with myself. But in the end...” She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I guess that is it. Love happens, and it does not give us warnings. It just happens.”

Simona and Maria-Luisa looked at her like she was speaking in a different language.

“Please, say something to me!” Esme reached out to take their hands.

“You just offloaded a lot of information on us, Esme,” Maria-Luisa said.

“I’m still processing you being in love with Aurelia,” Simona said before asking, “Is it the same Aurelia Villalobos that we know?”

“I’m afraid yes.” Esme said, she could feel tears almost falling down her eyes. Her friends had seen her cry before, but not in public.

“Well, that explains why you have been away from us. You must really be in love.” Maria-Luisa grinned.

“Is she not marrying your brother next tomorrow?” Simona leaned in and grasped Esme’s hands.

“The wedding has been called off.”

“You don’t say!” Maria-Luisa gasped.

Esme gave them the rundown gist of everything that had transpired.

“Oh, that is a lot.” Maria-Luisa muttered. “You think her father is keeping her locked up in a dungeon somewhere?

“I wouldn’t put it past him.” Esme retrieved her hands to pick up the handkerchief on her laps. She dabbed the corner of her eyes.

“Is there anything we can do?” Simona asked looking searchingly into Esme’s eyes.

“Just be here for me.” Esme tried to hold back her tears, but she failed woefully. Maria-Luisa stood from her seat and came to sit beside her.

“It’s okay to cry.” Maria-Luisa pulled Esme’s head closer to her and placed it on her shoulder. When Maria-Luisa patted her head, it reminded her of Aurelia. One of those many things that reminded her of what she was lacking at the moment.

Crying brought with it relief. It was a little like purging. Only that it was not enough. Her tears were not going to return her lover.

As sobs wracked Esme’s body, Carlos was back at his apartment in town drowning to the bottom of a tequila bottle.