“No. Definitely not your place, but thanks. You don’t look bad yourself.” I chuckle. “Is that your costume for today?” I say, noting that he’s dressed as usual.
“Wait.” He raises his index finger and reaches into the inside pocket of his suit with the other hand. He pulls out what seem to be sunglasses and puts them on. “There. What do you say now?”
“Is that all? I was hoping you’d pull a full wig and heels from that pocket!” I say with a notably vexed tone. How come he doesn’t have to look like me? Although I gotta say, those aviator sunglasses look incredible on him.
“Yep, that’s it. Ready?”
“Yes.” Pfff, no I’m not. But we get on the car anyway.
And so it begins.
I’m nervous. My head is full of worries; I just want to go, to be there for my mother. I know she’s watching from wherever she is, and I want her to understand that this isn’t over yet. I want her to know the reason I’m going to take my revenge, for her, for dad and me. We all deserve this.
On the other hand, I fear that the funeral might turn out to be a massacre. Bruno warned me about a possible ambush, and I can’t shake that feeling.
After watching the same freeway, advertising signs, and trees for a while, now I feel relaxed enough to sleep for a bit. I push a button on the dashboard and the seat reclines a bit. The last thing I see before I close my eyes is Bruno, smiling at me like approving my nap.
Leon is here! The son of a bitch shows up, he’s about to touch my mother’s casket. I break character and run to avoid that. Bruno grabs my arm and doesn’t let go. I can’t defend myself, I fight Bruno but can’t win, he’s not letting me go.
“Sarah, wake up! Sarah!” I wake up, my body’s all sweaty, and I’m struggling to breathe calmly. I look around trying to make sense of it all. I’m still on the car, we’re still traveling. It was a dream, or should I say… nightmare.
“I just had a bad dream, that’s all.” I sit up and push another button on the dashboard. This one brings the seat to its original position. I pull the sun visor down and look at my reflection on the little mirror. My wig is still in place. He throws a worried look at me.
Fifteen minutes later, Bruno stops at a Starbucks.
“Come on, you need to clear your head and I need to stretch my legs.”
I step out of the car and he shows up next to me in a flash, takes my hand and helps me stand. I feel the warm touch of his skin right away, which spreads throughout my body. I look at him with curious eyes, trying to understand what is happening, but he just smiles back.
“I think it’s better if we pretend we’re together today. We don’t want to attract any unwanted attention.”
“I’d say he’s a slick motherfucker, but considering he was well on third base, I’m going to call him an idiot.” Life adds more nonsense to my mind, but she has a point.
“Got it,” I reply obediently after ignoring the rest of Life’s jabbering. His hand goes from warm to hot, making mine sweat a bit.
We enter the coffee shop. As usual, the vibe in here is welcoming— chill music at the exact volume, laughs, smiles and the appealing smell of coffee blends. Bruno and I get in line to order something and he asks me what I want. We are next in line and the cashier can’t stop staring at him. She even starts to touch a lock of her natural blonde hair again and again. I know that gesture and what it means. I can only look at her and feel sorry. I used to be ‘that’ person.
“Honey, snap out of it,” he says. He asks me what I want for the third time now.
“A coffee black and a bagel,” I reply.
“What the lady said, and I’ll take a hot chocolate with a chocolate chip muffin, please,” he said to the cashier, who after hearing him call me ‘honey’ is looking at me with hatred.
One of my favorite songs before captivity sounds through the shop— “Don’t Know Why,” by Norah Jones. We sit by the toilets. Not my first choice; obviously, Bruno’s. I saw him scouting the place while we were in line. He shifts the chair a bit to the side and gets closer to me. He really is into this ‘we’re together’ thing.
“What happened back there?” He asks.
“Where?”
“Back there.” He jerks his head. “With the cashier.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know. You threw the cashier this…” He squints his eyes. “…look. It was pretty obvious something was up.” He got me.
“Well… she reminded me of my former self. I felt sorry for her and a little embarrassed as well.” Bruno has an ‘I-don’t-know-what-you’re-talking-about’ look that’s priceless. “Clearly, she was or is interested in you and did everything she could to get your attention. She was trying hard. That made me flashback. I used to be like that, that’s all… You know, before the… huh…” I don’t say the word. He takes a few seconds before he speaks again.
“So… she’s interested in me…” He says while raising an eyebrow and finishing with a wink. “Maybe I should… huh… ask for her number.” My leg reacts on its own, propelling fast to kick him on the sheen, right where I wanted. Bruno grunts softly and pretends that it hurt him more than it actually does. It doesn’t matter if he’s faking it, I’m sated… for now.
