Lucia
Ibarely slept last night. Barely managed fifteen minutes at a time, maybe less.
I look like shit run over backwards.
I don’t usually wear makeup on weekends, and I haven’t been wearing much at all recently, but I need it today.
One look at me would tell Alejandro I spent most of the night crying. My eyes are puffy, but I managed to get rid of the redness with eyedrops I use for my hay fever.
The dark circles needed concealer. Even with that, though, I still look off.
I dress in a pair of denim shorts and a T-shirt I bunch up at the side so I at least look like I’m dressed for the beach. I pile my hair up in a messy bun but allow a few wisps around my face to take the edge off.
When I’m ready and step outside my room, I hear the distant sounds of talking downstairs. It’s difficult to make anything out because of where I am. You can hear next to nothing up here.
The conversation become clearer when I make my way downstairs.
It’s Estelle talking with the other members of staff. She’s holding Mia while Marcello and Alejandro carry her things outside.
Alejandro notices me first, and I offer him a smile I force over the stab in my heart and the voice of my conscience calling me a traitor.
He looks me over with appreciation, and despite the people around talking, there is no mistaking the wild sexual energy rippling between us.
“Morning, everyone,” I say. That gets Mia’s attention.
“Morning,” Alejandro replies while everyone else smiles at me.
“Lucia,” Mia cries, reaching for me.
I hang back on purpose, but Estelle walks over to me and hands me Mia.
“It’s good she likes you,” Estelle says. “Children have the ability to see through a person. When they like you, it’s always a good sign of a pure heart.”
That’s the nicest thing she’s said to me since I’ve been here, and the nicest thing anyone apart from my parents have said to me in years.
“Thank you.”
“It’s just truth. Please take care of them both. They both need you.” She glances at Alejandro, and I feel so much worse than I already do. “It’s time for me to go. Argentina awaits. Do not be a stranger, Alejandro. None of you.”
She glances back at me.
“Of course not,” Alejandro says.
She gives Mia a kiss on her forehead then moves back to everyone else for a hug. She hugs Alejandro the longest and steps away from him with tears in her eyes.
“Be careful, criança.”
“Always. I’ll come visit in a few weeks.”
“You better. See you all.”
She looks at everyone, but her gaze lands on me for a moment, and the suspicion she normally shows me returns. It’s there just for a flicker of a second, just long enough for me to see it and know that even though Mia might like me, she still thinks something is up with me.
Again, I confess to myself she’s not wrong.
This time, though, as I register the look, something else enters her eyes. It’s disappointment. And when she returns her gaze to Alejandro, I know why.
It’s been no secret in this house that we’re together, and she probably feels some regret that she can’t feel happier about me because he’s into me.