"So, what? You broke up with Bruno to be friends with benefits? I don't get it."
I spent the next mile explaining how I kicked him from my room, parts of last night that I remembered, the number of drinks, and even the car ride when Bruno told me goodbye, and I felt uneasy.
"Whoa. Alex, please talk to him. You guys need to have an adult conversation," Demetria said, then paused for a second. "If you ask me, you two have unresolved feelings. Sounds like you were miserable at the thought he'd disappear and got drunk to mourn the pending loss."
Leave it to Demetria to act like my therapist. "I've had casual sex plenty of times." I shrugged.
"Nothing between you and Bruno is casual. Plus, why do you sound so distraught if it's no big deal?"
I let out a groan. She knew me too well, and I hated it.
By the end, we'd shifted to safer topics. I wasn't calm exactly, but I at least could breathe normally again.
Thanks to the talk, my walk back went quickly. As I left the elevator, all I wanted was a hot shower and to get into bed. Housekeeping should've changed the sheets by now. Yes, the man was gone, and soon after my shower, all traces of Bruno would disappear.
That was my thought until I approached my room. What I saw made me rush to hide behind the ice machine. I watched a fully clothed Bruno knock on my hotel door, loud and sharp. Frightened he'd see me, I held my breath as he glanced around, and pressed back against the wall, willing myself invisible.
"Alex, I know you're in there," he said after the next three knocks. When that got no reply, Bruno hit the door harder.
"Alex. Stop this childish crap. We have to talk?—"
He paused when two doors near my room opened. Each occupant stared at him.
Bruno wisely backed away from my door, and when he started walking toward me, I slipped away from the machine and hid in the staircase.Coward, I told myself.
A whole minute passed before I figured the coast was clear and I could get inside my room. The elevator had already sounded, so I assumed Bruno was gone by now. Still, I sprinted down the hall, heart thudding, and fumbled with the key before shoving the door open and slipping inside, breathless. My heart was racing so hard it echoed in my ears. I poured myself a glass of water to calm down. Then something hit me. Bruno's scent was still in my room. Confused, I looked around at the freshlymade bed. Then the carpet line that told me it was vacuumed. The room was turned over, but still he was going nowhere.
He was like a damn STD I couldn't fucking be rid of. Yes, initially there was enjoyment, but the aftereffects left me regretting my actions.
In that moment, I made the decision to leave. All the scheduled PR stuff was done the day prior. Today was all about influencers, and my staff could handle it. After booking myself a ticket on the next flight, I took a quick shower. With my hair still damp, I dressed in record time. Then grabbed all the clothes I brought and shoved them into my carry-on bag with shaking hands. "I'm fucking out of here."
I slipped out of the hotel in a baseball cap and oversized sunglasses, looking like a budget celebrity dodging paparazzi, pretending that leaving Los Angeles would somehow erase my mistakes.
Demetria called it running when I told her of my actions once I was safely in the airport terminal.
"I'm not running. I just don't need to spend any more time with him."
"You can't dodge Bruno forever, Alex."
As I waited in the TSA line, I rolled my eyes. "Call it whatever you fucking want. I don't need this complicated crap in my life right now."
She backed off, so I ended the call, but Demetria's words stayed with me the entire flight back to the East Coast.
When I landed and spotted a call from my father, I closed my eyes and braced myself. Typically, all calls came from my madre, so the fact he was calling meant it was important.
"Yes, Padre."
"Oh, I hear you have been ignoring your mother's calls. Wanted to see if you had balls that I wasn't aware of, and would dare to not pick up if I phoned."
So, he'd called to argue. Figures.
"I just got off a flight from California?—"
"Why do I care?"
Silence.
"Your mother and I are coming to America. It's about time I see the reason you wasted that expensive business degree I paid for, and what nonsense phone app your mother is talking about."
