Tae stared out the window of his bedroom. He hadn’t slept well last night. His mind kept mulling over the maddening situation involving Tia, Julieta, Jin, and himself.
Julieta had said that Jin had invited Tia to dinner only to plan a surprise for her. And Jin had convinced him that he wasn’t interested in Tia. But it didn’t really change anything. Tae had seen the way Tia had looked at Jin. He had made her laugh. Tae had never done that.
Mostly, what Tae remembered of Paris was the way he had irritated Tia. And quite possibly hurt her. No wonder she was flirting with another guy. Tae had been an idiot. He should have texted her again after the last time he saw her. He should have told her how he felt. Now it was too late.
—
His memory was faulty. Tae had made her laugh. Twice.
Tia was thinking about it as she lay in her bed, hiding under her pillow. She’d been in bed all night long. Hiding from Julieta. She couldn’t face her sister. Not now that she knew Tae loved Julieta.
Scalding tears burned her eyes. Not again! She blinked them back. She’d been crying off and on all night long. She heaved a gargantuan sigh. She needed to drag herself from bed. Today was Julieta’s birthday. She couldn’t ignore her anymore.
Tia hauled herself from bed. She headed first for the bathroom where she applied cold water to her burning eyelids. After a few moments, she at least looked a tiny bit better.
Ah. Who was she kidding? She still had dark circles under her eyes. Casualties of a night spent mourning the loss of a first love.
She opened the door and peeked around the corner. Then she went in search of Julieta. To no avail. The living room was empty. So was the kitchen. Tia wandered back to her sister’s bedroom. Empty. Was she in the bathroom? Nope. The door was open, the room empty.
“Juju?” she called, but no one answered.
Where on earth was she?
—
On his birthday, Jin’s first thought upon waking was the sudden realization that he hadn’t told Julieta what he’d learned from his father. Jin couldn’t sleep because of it. He rose very early in the morning, dressed, and slipped out of the house before anyone else was awake. His friends would be disappointed later that he had evaded their birthday breakfast surprise.
He headed for her office, arriving before the sun had even risen. Why was he surprised when she was the first to arrive? She came walking up the road, alone, very early in the morning, in the dark.
Jin was shocked at how badly his heart started aching the moment he saw her. He had ruined everything between them. He would never slide his fingers through those gorgeous, silky, chestnut locks. He would never kiss those pretty, pink lips. He would never hold her in his arms again.
Jin, this is no way to treat yourself on your birthday.
He wanted to jump out of the car and wish her a “Happy Birthday!” But he figured she’d hit him over the head with something or run in the opposite direction, so he refrained from following the impulse.
Instead, he opened his car door and stood up, calling to her, “Miss Flores, I’m sorry to disturb you today, but I have some important information for you.”
Julieta looked up, her heart flying into her mouth. She suddenly felt like sobbing.
Not again. I was up nearly all night.
She didn’t want him to see her. Even makeup hadn’t hidden the circles beneath her eyes.
“I’m sorry! I’m really busy today. Can it wait until tomorrow?”
“No.” His voice brooked no argument.
Her eyes locking with his across the parking lot, she suddenly forgot what she looked like, the urgency in his voice scaring her. She walked towards him.
Had she slept at all last night? She looked ghastly. Had he done this to her? Had she cried herself to sleep last night, or had she not even slept at all?
“Have you been crying?” he whispered when she was within earshot of him.
She stopped abruptly. “Whatever you have to say, you can say it now.”
He sighed. He’d managed to upset her again. He might as well get straight to the point. It was obvious she was barely tolerating his presence now. She clearly wanted to be rid of him.
“Mr. Gonzalez now controls forty-nine percent of your company. He is trying to get a meeting with the top three stockholders. After himself, you, and your sister, of course.”
There was more, but did he really want to tell her? Especially today of all days?
Shock rose in her face to blanket her features in horror. “What?!” Could this day get any worse? In the history of her life, could she just blot out December 4?
Her knees suddenly buckled beneath her, and she crumpled to the ground. She sat there, staring blindly off into the distance. “He’s won, then. I might as well sell him my shares. He clearly hates me,” on the last syllable a sob escaped her lips, “though, I don’t understand why.” She sat on the lonely ground sobbing.
Jin couldn’t take it anymore. He hurried over to her and knelt down next to her. “Julieta, I know you neither like nor trust me anymore, but please come sit in my car. I don’t want anyone seeing you like this.”
He reached out and touched her arm, and their eyes locked as they both felt the jolt of his fingertips on her elbow. Ruthlessly, Jin ignored the sensation, instead choosing to draw her upward towards him. But he resisted the impulse to pull her into his arms. Until she suddenly crumpled again.
She took a step away from him and then began to weave forward. Jin caught her, looking down at her with concern in his eyes. He steadied her with his hands on her arms. Peering into her lackluster eyes, he asked sharply, “Julieta! When is the last time you ate?”
She gazed off at some distant point. “I don’t know. Sunday?”
“SUNDAY? Today is Wednesday!”
She shrugged. Then a wave of dizziness hit her, and she went pitching towards him. Jin had had enough. He caught her and then swung her up into his arms. He carried her to his car, somehow managed to get the door open, and deposited her in the front seat. She leaned her head back against the headrest, her eyes closing in relief. Jin bent over her to fasten her seatbelt. His eyes studied her pale face. She was breaking his heart. After he heard the click of her seatbelt, he whispered, “You’re breaking my heart, Julieta. You know that, right?”
Her eyes fluttered open to stare at him perplexedly. “What?” she whispered.
“You’ve got to stop this, Julieta, before you hurt yourself. You’re hurting me already, you know?”
She smiled crookedly. “Didn’t you know? That’s what I do. I hurt people. Everyone who’s ever gotten near me.” Her voice trailed off, but not before he heard her mumble, “Mamá, Papá, Santiago, Martina, Tia. Now Jin too. How he must hate me…”
“No! Julieta! I don’t hate you!” I love you.
Jin froze. What had his heart just cried out? He stood, staring down at the precious girl, her eyes now closed. In sleep? Or was she hiding from him again?
He shook his head. He didn’t care. He was getting her out of here. But where could he take her?
