He told you about the fire? And my vovó?
I nodded. “I asked him about your mom, actually, and he told me everything.” I put a subtle emphasis on the word ‘everything’ so that she’d know that I was also aware of the reason behind her loss of speech.
She swallowed.
When did he tell you?
“The first day,” I answered.
Her shoulders slumped, and she looked so small and broken that I reached out and cupped her face between my hands. “Rina, hey.”
She gazed up at me, and then wrapped her fingers around my wrists.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” I told her. “And I’m so fucking sorry for hurting you like this. I am ashamed, just like Daniel said I should be, and I’m willing to do anything to fix what I’ve fractured.”
She sniffed before nodding at me. I gave her a gentle smile, and then let go of her face.
You’re still an asshole, even though you’ve apologized.
“Of course,” I said.
She bit the inside of her cheek as she studied me for a moment.
And I still think that you made the wrong decision by letting my grandfather affect your choices.
“I agree.”
She took a fresh page and continued writing.
You pronounced Avô incorrectly, by the way.
I cleared my throat. “Okay, I’m sorry.”
Rina pressed her lips together to hide a grin, but I could still see it pushing through. Well, at least she was having fun at my expense.
Her expression, though, soon turned solemn as she wrote something new before showing it to me.
So, what changed, then? What made you defy Avô?
“What, you don’t think your friends insulting the hell outta me just now was reason enough for me to change my mind?”
She gave me a ‘Really?’ look, so I just…told her the truth.
“I was miserable, Rina,” I began, and then swallowed. “Not being able to look at you without feeling guilty, not being able to touch you, talk to you, or even think of you – it was all starting toget too much for me. I kept telling myself that I’d be okay; that I’d get over it. But the truth is: I wanna learn everything there is to learn about you, and I wanna do it without feeling like a damn criminal. I’ve decided to live forme, and live life the way that fits my comfort more than anything else.”
Her eyes darkened; my pulse quickened. She slowly pulled a new paper out of the stack and scribbled something on it.
I want hot chocolate.
I did a double-take just to make sure I’d read that right.
“You want hot chocolate?”
She shrugged.
I snorted. “I just poured my heart out to you, Rina, and you wanthot chocolate?”
She smirked as she nodded.An expensive one,she then wrote with a flourish.
