Mary opened her eyes gradually, confused and cold. The first thing she realized was that there was none of the amazing warmth she felt during the night. The next was that she was alone in the bed with Maria's side disarray as if the younger woman clambered out of bed in a hurry. And finally, the rhythmic thudding and occasionally curse was coming from the same person who should be in bed with her right now.
Mary turned her head to look at Maria. As she had suspected, and dreaded, Maria was looking around the room for what appeared to be a missing boot with wide eyes that flashed to every spot in the room, except for the bed. She was clothed in her dress and one boot. However, the collar of the dress was dangling from her right shoulder, indicating the amount of haste she threw the garment on. Mary could see the random marks that littered across that shoulder, ones that she caused and ones that she hoped Maria would enjoy having.
Mary sat up while the dread in her belly bloomed to her entire being. She spotted the missing boot, dangling on the edge of the bed, which explained why the younger woman did not see it. Maria still did not notice Mary had woken as she paced to the other side of the room, her hair whipping about with each turn of her head.
"It's over here." Mary grimaced at how weak her voice sounded, as if it had already given up all hope that of this trip would not become what she feared it would be.
But of course the fates had to make it so. Maria gave a yelp and looked over her shoulder to see her boot. She walked briskly to the bed and snatched the footwear, still refusing to allow her eyes to even glance at Mary.
Even though Mary could not meet the younger woman's eyes, she could feel the emotion roll off of the younger woman. Regret.
Maria struggled to get the boot on, more curses flying out of her mouth as a hand gripped her head in pain.
Mary found herself blushing; more than one of those colorful words have been murmured out the night prior.
But of course, any remote memory of the night not being a mistake but a night of passionate lovemaking was obliterated with two simple words.
"I'm sorry," Maria finally said, still looking down and away from the other woman.
"For, for what?" Mary despised the tremor in her voice and how it caused Maria to flinch as if she raised her hand to strike her.
"Last night, it should have never happened. I -We - were drunk and things got out and hand and-" Maria raised her arms in an exasperated gesture that tore apart Mary's heart. "What I'm trying to say is-"
"It was a mistake." Mary finished the sentence for her, unable to hear the words coming from Maria's mouth.
Maria flinched again and Mary tried to ignore the flash of pain in the younger woman's eyes as her head snapped up to look at her. Slowly, Maria nodded. "H-How much do you remember?" she asked.
"How much do you want me to remember?"
"Mary it isn't like-"
Mary lifted a hand to silence the younger woman. Deciding she had had enough, she got up from the bed, not bothering to be modest and cover her naked form with the sheets. Maria had already seen everything the night before. She did not respond to Maria's sharp intake of breath or to the fact that a miniscule amount of hunger she so recently felt entered brown eyes. She simply went about the room to collect her clothing, seizing them into a bundle in her arms. "Can you please go so I may change? Afterwards, we can go to the train station and never speak about this again."
"W-wait, you need to understand," Maria started, taking a step forward and grasping Mary's arm.
That was her mistake. Mary narrowed her eyes at Maria who let go with a hurt expression. "No, what you need to understand is that I need to get changed and we need to get to the train station. Now go."
Maria looked hurt for a second longer and that expression only stoke the anger burning inside Mary. The younger woman nodded and turned to leave the room. "I'll go take a shower and make breakfast," was all she offered as she shut the door gently behind her.
As she heard the soft click, Mary threw her clothes on the messy bed, trying to ignore the image of Maria laying there that popped up in her mind. She marched to her bathroom and glanced at the mirror. She saw another woman, much like herself, except her hair was messy and the blue eyes were red and puffy with the warnings of the need to cry. She grimaced at the mirror and hurried into the shower, turning it on and sighing as the hot water rolled down her back and calmed her. She rested her head on the wall next to her, her face tilted up so she could feel the water fully. After a few minutes, Mary began to wash herself, swallowing down a quiet sob each time she found a mark left from Maria's lovemaking.
No, Mary thought bitterly, it was only fucking.
Once she was clean, Mary dried herself off and got dressed. She packed everything without a care, grateful that her suitcase was magically enlarged inside so she could simply throw everything into it. If she were forced to fold all of her clothes, she might catch a whiff of Maria's perfume on them.
Mary with a full suitcase, left the room and saw that Maria had already cleaned up and was currently cooking breakfast. Ignoring the younger woman, Mary placed her suitcase near the door and sat down on the loveseat. She watched the sun rise as the smell of bacon and eggs hit her.
"Breakfast is ready." The sound of Maria's voice almost startled Mary. It was so meek and filled with guilt, the exact opposite of the woman who placed the two plates of food on the kitchen table.
Mary left her seat and walked over to the table, sitting down with a murmured 'thanks.' She did not speak to Maria as she ate. As time ticked away with the pace of a snail, the tension between the two women went from uncomfortable to unbearable. A soft clang of silverware against china caused Mary to glance up and notice that Maria had only pushed around her food, eventually giving up and placing the fork on the plate none too gently, causing the sound she heard. When Maria turned her head to look at the sun, Mary gasped. On her neck was a bruise, the mark Mary no doubt left on her the previous night. Despite the fact that Maria had made it clear that she regretted the night, Mary could not resist the small swell of joy at seeing the bruise marking Maria as hers. Maria must have noticed her staring because she let her hair down, successfully covering the hickey. Mary looked down at her food, what little appetite dying with the small gesture.
How did this happen? Mary worried in her head. Everything was going wonderfully and suddenly, I am no longer a friend?
The sudden scrape of chair legs on the floor brought Mary back to reality. Maria grabbed her plate and scraped the uneaten food into the trash. It was only when the younger woman had walked to the door did Mary get out of her own seat to do the same with her plate. She joined the other woman and together, they left their suite. Mary stopped by the reception desk and dropped off the key without glancing at the man behind the desk.
"I hope you come again." The man sneered in return. The glare he earned managed to shut him up.
Mary grinned at the bellboy and once again gave him a hefty tip. It seemed that the young man saw through the smile as he had accepted the money with concern in his eyes. He nodded to the two women and went back to work, glancing behind him occasionally to watch them disappear in the crowds on the street.
Sooner than either woman expected, they arrived at the train station. They boarded their train without comment and sat in an empty cart at the way back of the train. Maria stared out of the window and played with her fingers relentlessly. Mary meanwhile dragged her eyes along the paragraphs of her book without taking a single word in.
The sudden jerking informed them that the train had begun to move and Mary let out a breath of relief. She counted down the amount of time she would have to suffer the suffocating tension before she could leave Maria to her own whims and return to her beloved castle. The older woman was shocked at the eagerness she wished to part ways with Maria. She beat back the feeling by trying to read at least one page of her book with little success.
More than once Maria looked like she wanted to say something but each time it ended with her giving a sad sigh and looking out the window. Mary tried to ignore how her heart lurched each time this occurred. She also ignored how she did not know whether it was in relief or fear.
After what felt like days, the train slowed to a stop. Mary and Maria went to grab their respective bags and followed the stream of people exiting the train. There was one instance that Maria was pushed into Mary's back by impatient travelers. Mary steadied the other woman and quickly left the train before Maria could express any gratitude.
Mary spotted the group before Maria did. She tried to walk away before the three could notice her but she was not so lucky.
"Oi!" Joaquin called out, effectively gaining everyone in the train station's attention. "Mary, where are you going?"
The woman in question heaved a sigh and smiled as brightly as she could at the hero. She walked over to the group consisting of Manolo, Joaquin, and Chuy. She saw the pig dart towards Maria and almost crashed into the woman in his hurry.
"Hola Manolo, Joaquin. How are you?"
Manolo raised an eyebrow at the tone Mary was using. His instincts that saved him countless wounds in the bull ring rang in warning at the tired look in Mary's eyes. Something had gone wrong in Arroba and by the way Maria was ignoring Mary, he could guess at what.
Joaquin, even if a decorated hero, did not see the signs as clearly as Manolo. "How was Arroba?" The name rolled off of his tongue with a suggestiveness that made Manolo shake his head in dismay.
"It was fine," Maria said quietly, petting Chuy. The pig sniffed at the woman in hopes of treats and after a moment he barked in disbelief. He studied his friend's face, tilting his head in confusion. He glanced between the two women and like Manolo, sensed that something was off.
"Just fine?" Joaquin asked with a playful scoff in his voice. "You two are practically glowing! Let me guess, you two were only out long enough to get into the hotel and –OW!" Joaquin rubbed at his side where Manolo had elbowed him as he glared at the man.
"Enough Joaquin," Manolo meaningfully looked at Mary, then at Maria, and finally at Joaquin with his eyebrows raised.
Joaquin followed the pattern and understanding lit his face. "Oh shit," he whispered.
"If you would excuse me," Mary said abruptly. "I have to get back to my house. Buenos dias everyone." Mary felt everyone's eyes on her back as she walked away. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Maria gazing sadly at her but the older woman did not look at her. If she did, she might do something stupid like telling her it is all right when it wasn't.
Mary walked into a dark alley and, without looking at her surroundings to see if there was anyone there, waved a hand with her eyes closed. A cloud of marigold petals swirled around her being and when she opened them they had disappeared.
La Muerte was standing in her throne room but she was not alone as she had hoped. In front of her were the Adelita twins. Both of them bowed in respect, sharing a secret glance to one another.
Something is wrong with our ruler, they both thought.
La Muerte waved away the gesture with a small smile. "Has Carlos let lose one of the bulls again?" Even the goddess winced at the lack of wit in the joke.
"No we were just-" one of them started, her eye patch catching the natural glow of the castle.
"-about to tell you that-" the other continued.
"-everything is fine here," they finished together.
"Good," La Muerte breathed. "Thank you for keeping an eye on things while I was away. Please tell the other Sanchezes that I will throw a grand fiesta as a way of showing my gratitude."
The twins grinned at this and turned to leave the castle.
La Muerte watched them go and sighed. She sat down in her throne and felt something glide down her cheek. She reached up and brushed it off with her fingertips. Looking down, she was shocked to see that it was a tear. Her head fell to her hands and her body shuddered once with a sob.
"What have I done?" she asked. But of course, she received no answer.
