Chapter 78
Alaia
“Take me to a bar, please,” I said, and the taxi driver looked at me as if I had grown two heads.
It must have been the hour, but he nodded once.
We arrived at a familiar area, and the car stopped.
“A great friend works here, they serve good drinks,” he shrugged after I looked at him, silently asking, “Here p>
“Thank you,” I said and opened the door, remembering that I hadn’t brought any money or my phone. Damn it, my head was really lost.
“Miss Russell,” I heard a man say my name and found the pleasant gaze of the waiter from the restaurant I had seen a long time ago, when I came to the meeting with Nick and the minister.
I heard the taxi driver’s voice telling me the fare, and embarrassed, I searched my pants pockets; I should have brought money.
“Of course, if you had been aware that you were going to spend the night with your ex,” I thought to myself.
“Thank you,” said the waiter, and that’s when I saw that he had paid the taxi driver, who had left.
“I don’t have any money,” I bit my lip.
“Alright miss, come on, the restaurant is closed, I can buy you a drink,” he looked at the bar in front of us; he must have guessed what I was coming for.
He guided me to the restaurant, opened the back door, and let me in. Everyone watched me while some cleaned the restaurant and others arranged the tables.
“I’ll go to the restroom,” I said, and he pointed the way.
I walked in and looked at my appearance; I looked like a crazy person.
I gathered my hair and hoped it would hold by itself, tidied up a bit, and went back out.
What was I thinking when I decided to come for a drink? I asked to make a call home, and the guys lent me one of their phones. I talked to Loli and asked about my kids; they had slept over at their uncles‘ who thought it would be a good idea to have a sleepover. I asked her to tell them that I was fine and that I’d be home soon, before they realized I was calling and started to worry.
“Go ahead,” he said and showed me the chairs in front of the bar. I sat in one of them and ran my hands over my face when I heard the sound of the glass on the table.
“Excuse me, I didn’t ask your name,” I said, closing my hand around the glass.
“Roberto,” he replied and nodded.
“Alaia,” I responded and took a sip. He smiled as if to say, “I know p>
“Bad night?” he asked, and I stopped making faces to focus on him.
“Yes,” I spoke without thinking, and vivid memories of the night with Nick bombarded me. I could even feel a tingling in my core and on my skin.
“I mean, no,” I clarified; the night was perfect. I sighed.
“Bad morning, I would say,” I commented and took another sip.
“The man I once loved asks me to love him again. I don’t know if I have stopped loving him or if I have just kept my love in a hidden place in my heart, waiting for the day it might resurface.
He abandoned me pregnant, but according to him, he didn’t want to; he did it for his father, whom he thought was dead,” I commented, and the words came out as tangled as they were in my head.
“When lovers love each other, there is no place for forgetfulness or heartbreak; love will remain alive despite everything,” he laughed.
And I thought about his words.
“So his father isn’t dead,” Roberto commented with a slight smile on his lips, and I could see his eyes widen in surprise for a fraction of a second.
“No,” I whispered.
“I’m afraid to love once more,” I confessed, looking at the glass.
“I imagine that man is Mr. Garnett,” Roberto said, wiping a glass with an impeccably white cloth.
I looked up, surprised that he knew.
“Just looking at you is enough to know there’s something important between you,” he commented and continued doing his thing.
“Of course p>
‘I’m very sorry for what I did that day,” I apologized again.
“Alright, miss, shall I tell you a secret?” he approached me and spoke in a low voice.
“Okay,” I said and leaned a little closer to him.
“I have known Nick for years, since he was a young boy and came with his father, who was or shall I say is, due to the news you just gave me, a great person,” he smiled.
I was starting to feel dizzy; it was too much information for a morning, my head was spinning.
“Nick stopped coming regularly after what happened with his father, but he returned two years ago, sitting in the same place he is now, coincidentally; he would drink alone until closing time p>
“So, I had fewer reasons to treat him like that,” I said, omitting the other part. Nick was going to drive me crazy.
“Well, he’s a rather temperamental, proud, and impulsive young man, but he’s a good person,” he commented and sighed.
“The boy who was with me that day is my son,” he stated, and my head just screamed, “What p>
“At that time, my son was lost and didn’t want to commit to anything. I invited him to work with me, and he accepted, but he only used his money to spend on his friends, drugs, and useless things that were leading him nowhere. Nick learned about the situation and offered to help us; his company would pay for my son’s university, and he even gifted him a car. After talking to him, Nick promised that he wouldn’t have to work anymore and could focus on studying. My son started to get back on track. That day, my son showed up without warning to take a shift. I hoped it wasn’t what I was thinking. Then Nick saw him and got furious. I know it might not have been the right way to act, but we understood. My son knows he has to answer to Nick, so he shouldn’t stray from the path p>
I rubbed my face with my hands and took two more sips. Everything negative I thought about Nick had been destroyed in one morning.
“Miss,” the guy who had lent me his phone approached. I heard the screams through the line.
“Alaia Russell, what do you think you’re doing?” shouted Tino, just as I brought the phone to my ear.
“I’m sorry Alaia, I kidnapped my phone,” Loli shouted from somewhere.
“Do you realize what time it is, woman? Have you forgotten your wedding? Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, it’s going to be a big mess p>
“The wedding!” I exclaimed.