I clenched my jaw. I really couldn’t be here. I knew that people did drugs, but I’d never been right next to someone doing them.
“Bye, Alejandro.”
He ignored me.
I walked out to the hallway and leaned against the wall. I had my arms wrapped around me.
I felt cold, very cold. Their air conditioning must be set to the coldest setting, because I was shivering.
Emilio came out only a few seconds after I did, closing the door with a quiet click.
He saw me leaning against the wall and braced his arm above my head. He brought his face close to mine.
“I’m sorry that you had to see that,” he whispered a half inch from my face.
“Can we go home?”
Paler
Naelle
His lips touched mine gently.
“Yes.”
His arm was around me as we got back into the elevator. The mirror showed someone who was substantially paler than I’d been the first time a
round.
His arm kept me close. I was glad that he was anchoring me in place. As the elevator descended, he pulled me into his arms, so that my face was against his hard chest.
“You want to talk about it?”
I shook my head.
He kissed the top of my head.
“We’ll talk about it later.”
“You said that he had a daughter?”
“Sofia,” Emilio said softly. “The best part of him.”
When we walked out of the hotel, the doorman hailed a cab, which we got into quickly. Emilio told him where to go, and we were quickly on our way.
“How did he know that we needed a cab?” I asked Emilio. It was as if the doorman had ESP.
“I didn’t come in my car.”
“We could’ve parked nearby.”
“People like me don’t drive themselves, here, cari.”
“Cari?”
“Cariñosa,” he said, stroking my arm gently. “I’m going to get you home and we’re both going to forget about what happened today.”
He kissed my cheek before moving to my mouth. I saw the driver looking at the two of us in the rearview mirror. I felt embarrassed, but Emilio didn’t seem to want to stop, and I didn’t know if I wanted to stop, either.