Ipick up the call on the fourth ring. “Hello, handsome. To what do I owe the pleasure?” He laughs on the other end of the line. I love our playful banter. It’s been heaven these last few weeks, since we gave in to this thing between us, and it’s just effortless. We have been avoiding the issue of my finishing college and returning this fall, saying that we’ll find a way to make it work, but I’m eager to tell him that I'm considering doing it remotely. I am just waiting for the perfect time to surprise him. The thought of leaving him and Catalina guts me, and I don’t want to go. My home is here now, and I couldn’t be happier. Even Savannah had a great time when she was here last and approves, which in itself is a significant accomplishment because that girl doesn’t like anyone, but she does like Manny and, ofcourse, Catalina.
“Babe, focus,” he snaps into the phone, causing me to wake from my daydreams of family bliss.
“Yeah, got it. What’s up?”
“I was hoping you could go into my office and look for a proposal for a job that I wrote up. I printed it out, and it’s in the file labeled Sullivan.”
I walk up the stairs to the area that has Manny’s extra-large office, which was originally a bedroom. The top floor was converted into his office space, making the house only two bedrooms, but it works because the space is large enough for a Murphy bed placed against the wall, disguised as shelving.
I open the door and step inside. “Okay,” I report, “I’m in the office.” I huff and blow a piece of hair that has fallen out of my messy bun. I had been cleaning up and then doing some yoga outside. “Now where?”
“Go to the desk, and it’s in one of the top drawers on the right side.” I sit in the chair and drop the phone onto the desk, putting it on speaker. “Are you there?’ he asks quickly.
I glare at the phone like it personally affronted me. “So impatient,” I mutter under my breath.
“Babe?”
“Yes, I’m here. Just put the phone on speaker so I can have my hands free to do your bidding.”
He laughs seductively. “Well, if you find the papers for me, I’ll use these hands to do your bidding when I get home.”
I pause mid-reach. “I'll hold you to that.” I huff. “Not fair, Manny. You can’t turn me on like that, making promises when you’re not even around to fulfill them, now are you?” I counter, now feeling the need in his heated words.
“Well, Catalina isn’t home, and we have the house all to ourselves. I’ll be sure to take full advantage of the situation later.”
“Promises. Promises,” I sing as I continue my search. I pull open the drawer and rifle through some papers until I hit glass. “Hm. A picture?” I say aloud, and Manny comes through the phone.
“Baby, that’s the wrong drawer. I said the top drawer on the right,” he reiterates as I ignore him, shifting through the items to remove the picture from the drawer. I pick it up, seeing Mannyand a woman holding a baby. This must be Manny’s ex-wife, so obviously I want to get a better look. I pull it closer, and shock pulls at me because I’ve seen that face. It’s the same one Officer Stanley showed me a mere few months ago, which turned my life upside down. I drop the picture, and the frame shatters.
“Oh, God. I’m going to be sick.” I hold onto the desk with a death grip as I throw up violently in the trash can beside his desk. The sobs start immediately after, as a distant voice calls out to me. I feel like I’m underwater, and all the thoughts I tried to suppress after my parents’ death come up to the surface.
Manny screams at me, his concern evident as he freaks the fuck out on the other end of the line, but I don’t care. My whole world has been turned upside down. I pick up the picture once more, as the shards of glass pierce my fingertips, causing a crimson trail of blood to coat the image of my sister. Maybe it’s an omen, a sign of what’s to come, or a sacrifice for a sin committed.
I drop to the floor as a soul-wrenching cry releases out of me, and I don’t even recognize the sounds coming out of my mouth. I pick up the phone, in a hurry to call Savannah. Instead, I hear his voice coming through. I forgot he was even there on the line, so wrapped up in my own despair.
“Baby, talk to me! Are you okay? I’m on my way.” I don’t want to talk to him. I want to leave. To run and never look back. So I end the call and phone the only person I can count on.
“Savannah,” I hiccup into the phone.
“Nadia, what the fuck? Are you okay?” I hear her talking to someone as the door closes, and she returns to the phone. “What’s wrong?” I can’t say anything. Words get lodged in my throat. All I can feel is pain. She doesn’t hesitate.
“I’m on my way. Fuck,” she mutters as I hear her car start. “I’m on my way. I’ll meet you at the lake house, Nadia. I’ll come to you.” I hear the screeching of tires, and the call disconnects. I go to the bathroom and pack all my things, ready to leave and never come back. He lied to me. He knew, and he lied to me. That’s all I can think of as I stop short when I reach Catalina’s room. I sit on her bed and cry until there's nothing left. I walk over to her dresser, reaching for the picture of us from the day at her t-ball game. God,how things can change in the blink of an eye, and don’t I know it.
I don’t know how long I've been sitting there, but I still hold onto Catalina’s little rabbit that I gave her. I glance at the clock and notice that it’s almost time for Manny’s mom to bring over Catalina. I clean up the mess in Manny’s office and walk to the bathroom on autopilot. I feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience. As I brush my teeth and touch up the last of my makeup, there is a knock at the door, and I glance at the time. It must be them. I promised Manny that I would be here for his mom, since he was away today, and then when he gets here, I’m out. I don’t care what he has to say, and this is just too much.
“I’m coming,” I announce when the ringing turns to knocking. I pick up the pace as I take the last couple of steps toward the door and open it widely. A woman with long blonde hair cascading in waves down her back stands there. She is rail-thin, and when she turns my way, her cheeks appear sunken, like she is slightly malnourished. But she almost loses her footing when she sees me standing there, stumbling back. I notice brown eyes that used to look at me with love—a reminder of when my father would hold me tight and call me his love bug. I think of movie nights and pickles. The same nickname I call Catalina, her daughter. Her lips frown when she sees me, bringing my attention to it.
“Oh, God, the mouth.” My encounter with the girl at the ice cream place. She said Catalina and I have the same mouth and smile. We do, because I see it clear as day. I look at her, eyes narrowing, and I’ve never hated anyone more in my entire life. She threw her family away, and then she destroyed mine.
“Nadia,” she says, surprised yet hopeful. “I’m Layla, your?—”
I cut her off. My finger is pointed in her direction, telling her to stop. “Do not finish that sentence. You are nothing to me. Definitely not my sister.” I stare at her, hating her very presence. “You killed my parents, and now you are out after you caused their death!” I scream at her as a couple of neighbors walk by, and they’re not even trying to pretend not to listen.
She looks affronted by my words but calms her features, pulling her hair around in front of her. “I came to see my daughter.” She looks around as if her daughter will magically appear. I scoff at theaudacity of this woman. “Where’s Manny?” She tries to get past me, but I narrow the view of the house by closing the door.
“You have supervised visitation, from what I was told.” I cross my arms over my chest.
As if she can see the pieces finally clicking together, she turns to me. “Why are you here, Nadia, with my family?”
