I staredat the clock all afternoon since lunch, and it felt like it had a personal vendetta, its minute hand sprinting around the face like it was late for something, dragging my sanity with it.
"See you tomorrow," Eliana said, and I looked away from the clock on the wall and gave her a smile.
"You OK?" she asked softly.
Eager to have her gone, I rushed to my feet. "Yes. I have a meeting. See you tomorrow."
My secretary lifted an eyebrow. "A meeting? There was nothing on your calendar. Do you need me there?"
"If I could, I'd have you go in my place."
Eliana's brow knit as she tilted her head. "What?"
"Forget it. Have a good night, see you tomorrow." I walked out of the office and headed to the elevator; might as well get this over with. Once Bruno and I spoke, we could go on with our lives, and that's what I wanted. Right?
It's what I've been doing for a year very successfully.
Five minutes later, I walked into the diner, paused at the door, and scanned the place. All around, people ate, drank, some even smiled; clearly no one else was there against their will. Then I spotted Bruno, already seated with a plate of food and a steaming cup of coffee. I sighed, slipped off my coat, and sat across from him. "I'm here as promised. Let's just get this over with."
My choice of words wasn't planned, but now that they were out there hanging between us, we both looked at each other.
"Alex. I don't want us to be over."
My throat tightened as I promised myself not to interrupt, to let Bruno say it all, as this might be the last time we spoke.
"That girl came on to me, and since you were pushing me away, out of anger I took her up on the offer."
I bit my lip to stay silent. Really fucking hard. But my face and eyes tightened, so Bruno noticed he wasn't making any progress.
"No. Don't get me wrong. I'm not excusing what happened. I was an asshole."
My body relaxed; finally, he said something we could agree on.
"Be fair. I didn't technically fuck Monique. Yes, I let her give me oral sex in a moment of weakness."
Not replying to that weak moment line took effort.
"We never did more than that. She was nothing compared to you. That day, I went to your dorm ready to fight for us, and the little psych major worked me over.
"She told me, 'You are a handsome man. You do not need to beg any woman to stay.'
"After everything you had been saying and the way you had been acting, it got to me. I am not proud of how quickly I gave in, but you wanted space, to be with other men. That is how I interpreted it," Bruno said.
As I sat there, his words had an annoying ring of truth. Well, partly. Still, when you get an eyeful like I did, no explanation can fix things. Bruno has always owned up to his betrayal, but his one moment of weakness wasn't completely his fault.
Monique's eyes always sparkled when Bruno entered the room, but he was a good-looking man. At the time I didn't fault her for noticing. Shit, all my friends called him handsome, but I knew none of them would fuck him. Stupid of me for thinking all the women I came across would be just like the three I treasured…
The week Bruno cheated was a bad one for my family. My mother was all the way in Spain sobbing into the telephone about Padre's deceit. He'd secretly fathered not one, not two, but three children with a woman who'd showed up at my mother's gate to ask for a larger weekly allowance. He was away on business, and according to his mistress, that didn't mean her children should go without. Imagine the fucking nerve. If I were home, she'd get the hose turned on her.
In my ears, mother sobbed but wouldn't acknowledge the advice I'd repeatedly given since the start of this conversation.
"Leave him."
At the beginning of our chat, I was seething with anger at Padre's betrayal and embarrassment, but the longer Mother ignored me and I realized she wasn't going anywhere, my anger turned on her. "Why don't you just let them move in?"
"¿Qué?(What?)"
"Well, for years, he's been cheating, and you've never done anything; at least this would save him the time going from one house to another."
