Chapter 31: A Traitorous Heart

Chapter 31: A Traitorous Heart
MERA

Camilo was on a call, which he ended as soon as he entered and walked over to Lorenzo and me.

Lorenzo cleared the table and stood up to throw away the empty containers, and I could tell he was trying to avoid Camilo. But I stopped him and took the empty boxes to throw away instead. I was not prepared to face Camilo yet.

After throwing everything away, I walked to the kitchen, pretending to be busy so I would not have to talk to him, and I was still standing there when I heard Lorenzo's voice behind me.

“I’m going to head out. I’ll check you guys later." He stood at the entrance.

"Sure. Thank you for the lunch."

“You’re welcome,” he said, then walked out. I grabbed a bottle of water and one of the counter stools, but as I was about to sit, my name echoed behind me.

"Mera?" I turned to see Camilo standing by the entrance, and he moved forward.

“Is everything alright?”

“Everything?”

“With you, I mean. Are you okay?”

"I'm great," I said, turning away from him again, wishing he would leave already, but he was not finished.

“Are you sure?”

“I was drunk last night, Camilo. I’m sorry I almost ruined your night.”

“I don’t care about that. I’m worried about you.”

“Well, don’t be. I’m fine.”

“Mera, come on. I can feel the weird vibe between us.”

“Weird vibe?” I let out a humorless chuckle. He was one to talk after giving me the cold shoulder for weeks and then proposing. “Am I wrong?”

“I don’t know, Camilo. And frankly, I don’t care much about this conversation. In fact, I’d rather not have it.”

“Please, don’t be like this.”

“Like what? What do you want from me, Camilo?”

“I want you to talk to me,” he said, walking around the counter to stand in front of me.

“Why? And say what? You’ve been icing me out for weeks, and now you want to talk. Why? What do you want to hear? Do you want me to cry and tell you how hurt I am by your engagement? That, like a fool, I believed you when you said you had feelings for me and let myself fall for you? That even though I knew you weren’t mine, and that it was impossible, I still held on to some crazy hope for us. That I spend almost every hour of every day thinking about you? Is that what you want to hear? Because if so, then there--I’ve said it.”

“Mera, I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you," he said, approaching me and attempting to touch me, but I took a step back.

“Why? Why did you lie to me, Camilo?”

“I didn’t lie to you. I do have feelings for you, Mera.”

“Then why have you been cold to me? Why all of this?”

“Because I feel guilty, okay? I feel guilty for putting you in this situation and hurting you. I’m in love with you, Mera, and the fact that we can’t be together is driving me crazy. I’m a mess around you. But I care about Ava too, and I can't just... leave her. She's been with me through so much. Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done this to you. You don’t deserve it. I shouldn’t have lost control like that, knowing we couldn’t be together. I’m sorry, Mera,” he said, stepping closer again and reaching for my hands.

This time, I let him, too caught up in trying to figure out how I felt about everything he had just said, and before I knew it, I whispered. "This serves me right. I deserve to feel like this for having a traitorous heart."

“Hey, come on, don’t say that," he said, pulling me into a hug, and I hugged him back, having no will to resist as he continued to say it was not true.

"I broke the sister code, Camilo. I betrayed my best friend."

"Then we both had traitorous hearts, because I should never have slept with my girlfriend's best friend. Mera, it was wrong of me to put you in this position. And I'm sorry."

"You did what?" A voice shrieked behind us, startling us both, and we scrambled away from one another.

"You fucked?!" Camila shrieked and stepped into view, her face frozen with shock.

"I can explain," Camilo said, approaching her. But she stepped back and shook her head. "No! How could you do that to her, Camilo? How could you betray her like that? She trusts you. She loves you. Is that why you proposed? Because you feel guilty?"

“No, of course not. I love Ava, you know that."

"Then why did you do it, Camilo?"

"We made a mistake, Camila, which we both deeply regret," he said, but she pushed past him and approached me. "And you," she said, disappointment looming in her eyes, and I averted my gaze, unable to face her.

"She heard the two of you fucking, didn't she? And you were still able to look her in the eye and feed her some bullshit story about a one-night stand? You made a fool of her. How could you? She’s been like a sister to you. What is wrong with you, Mera?"

“Camila, it's not her fault. It's mine," Camilo said, attempting to defend me as I stood there sobbing, wishing I could take it all back, and she pivoted toward him.

"You’re right. It is your fault. She’s your girlfriend; you’re the one who was supposed to love her and stay loyal to her. I can not even stand to look at either of you right now," she spat, turning and storming out of the kitchen.

"Fuck!" Camilo muttered before running after her, and I slumped into the chair, exhausted. Ava was going to hate me, and I earned it. I wished I could rewind time and undo everything.

Camila’s and Camilo’s voices grew louder on the other side, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying anymore as they had switched to Spanish.

I wasn’t off the clock yet, but I had no idea how I was supposed to face Camila again or what I was going to tell Ava. I wished the ground would open up and swallow me whole.

What have I done?