Chapter 7 The Broken Line.
Chapter 7.
The Broken Line.
The atmosphere in the living room is thick with an unbearable tension. Alicia, still soaked from the rain, clings to Lucas, and her confession of love hangs in the air like a sentence. Their lips are locked in a second kiss, and she is unwilling to let go. She kisses him with a deeper desperation, trying to melt into him. Lucas, despite the internal storm raging in his head, reciprocates, however much he resists. He grips her hips and then her backside, pulling her to him with a primal force that overflows his control. Disturbing desire imposes itself over his reason. His hand moves up to the nape of her neck and presses her more vehemently against his lips—an exchange of breath, passion, and guilt. They stop from lack of air, a span of seconds that breaks the spell. It is then, in that instant of forced lucidity, that he pushes her away. Holding her shoulders firmly, he steps back from her, as if physical closeness were a threat to his own stability.
“Don’t ever do that again,” he tells her, with the harshest and coldest voice he has used with her in their seven years of living together, a voice that makes her tremble.
“But… You responded to me, Lucas. I thought that…” Alicia stutters, hope vanishing from her green eyes.
“Don’t overthink things, Alicia. I am your uncle, did you hear me?!” His shout is not loud, but his firmness is a dagger. She shivers, hot tears rolling down her cheeks as she lowers her gaze, unable to hold the fury and coldness in his blue eyes. “This cannot happen again. It’s madness. Suppress those feelings, now. It is forbidden.”
“No!” she cries, getting up from the sofa, feeling her dignity crumble but her love remaining unshakable. “I can’t anymore, I’m not going to hide it, I don’t see you as my uncle! We have no blood ties, Lucas, look at me, I’m not a little girl anymore, I’m a woman, and I’m not going to repress this feeling anymore. I love you, and I know you don't see me as your niece, otherwise, you wouldn't have responded to me. Tell me, tell me you love me just like I love you! Look at me, Lucas!”
Lucas looks away for an instant; that confession is a bomb. “That’s not true. I am your uncle; I forbid you from ever saying another word about this. This cannot happen again, Alicia. Nobody must know about this, and you cannot mention it again, do you hear me? I don’t feel anything like that for you; you are my niece. I do not love you as a woman; I am going to marry Carolina because she is the woman I want and need in my life!”
Alicia looks at him, blinking weakly, with a tearing pain in her chest.
“Go to your room, get out, go. And don’t forget, don’t cross that line again.”
She looks at him one last time. Her face, once full of the emotion of the first kiss, is now a mask of despair and betrayal. She flees, feeling an intense pain in her heart, a tearing. She cries inconsolably while Lucas remains there, consumed by rage and self-loathing. He throws a heavy decorative piece onto the floor, feeling powerless, but he must remember his duty.
At dawn, Alicia refuses to come down for breakfast. She remains broken in bed. Her Nana tries to persuade her, but to no avail. Suddenly, Carolina appears, holding a food tray.
“Alicia, dear, come eat. Your uncle told me you got drunk last night; that’s normal at your age, dear, don’t feel bad, maybe it’s just a hangover,” she comments in an overly sweet tone.
“I don’t want to, thank you, you can take it away,” Alicia replies, without moving.
“Alicia, I brought you some freshly made chicken broth; it will do you good… Open up,” Carolina insists, bringing the spoon too closely.
Alicia refuses, turning her face away with disdain. Carolina, seeing her insolence, feigns a clumsy movement and spills the boiling soup onto herself, screaming in pain and clutching her hand.
“Alicia…!”
Alicia jumps up, confused and alarmed. “I, I didn’t mean to, I don’t know how…”
Lucas appears at the door, alerted by the scream, noticing a crying Carolina, the spilled soup, and the mess.
“I just wanted to help you, Alicia, I didn’t deserve to be treated like that!” Carolina whimpers, exaggerating the pain.
“What did you do, Alicia?” Lucas asks, his voice now cuttingly cold, taking Carolina’s ‘burnt’ hand.
“I, no, I didn’t mean to, I didn’t…”
“Apologize to Carolina and clean up this mess. Now.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to burn you,” Alicia whispers, feeling the weight of the injustice.
“Clean all this up, and come down to eat. Don’t make me come for you a second time, do you hear me? Come down immediately after cleaning!”
He leaves with Carolina in his arms, treating her with a sweetness and tenderness that disarms her.
When she arrives at the dining room, they are already there. Lucas focuses on her with the severity of a patriarch, with no trace of the man who kissed her hours earlier.
“Sit down,” he orders firmly.
Alicia sits in her usual spot. Lucas feeds Carolina by mouth, as she has a bandage on her hand—a gesture of love and devotion that is completely new.
“Thank you, my love,” Carolina says.
Alicia looks at the scene with unbearable pain, lowering her gaze. She concentrates on her plate, which she barely touches, while a memory pierces her mind: the last time she was sick, Lucas used to put boneless pieces of chicken on her plate, just as he is doing for Carolina now. Her heart tightens with silent agony, holding back tears as her chest heaves with a disturbing rhythm.
“I’m done, may I leave?”
Carolina, enjoying the tension, intervenes.
“But you haven’t eaten anything, dear, eat a little more, it’s not good for you to stop eating. You look pale.”
Carolina, with her healthy hand, puts more food on Alicia’s plate, and Alicia rejects it with a small but noticeable push.
“I don’t want to, I’m fine, thank you.”
She moves to get up but is stopped by Lucas.
“Sit down, and eat a little more.”
Alicia closes her eyes for a few seconds before turning around to look at him.
“I’m full, Uncle.”
“Sit down, Alicia. It’s an order.”
She looks at him. The tension is a thread about to snap. She walks back to her seat and sits down, once again, without saying anything. She clenches her dress with her fists under the table while watching Lucas continue to feed Carolina, completely ignoring her.
“Thank you, my love, you are a wonderful man.”
Carolina gives him a kiss, and Alicia feels a collapse in her chest. A tear escapes. She wipes it away with frantic speed before they can see it, and swallows whatever is left on the plate in one gulp, chewing with difficulty.
“I’m finished. Excuse me.”