Sorry for the delay, I've been complicated.
I hope you enjoy this chapter.
BirdsandStars
—Shit!
A scream made me wake up and sit on the bed. I looked to my side, Christian wasn't there. I got out of bed to the bathroom and after washing my mouth and putting on some clothes I left the room looking for him.
—Christian! —I shouted trying to locate him.
—In the kitchen. —I heard his scream and went there.
Christian was in the kitchen finishing breakfast.
—Sit down, I made a cheese omelet. —he said without turning in my direction.
I did as he asked. I sat down and watched him finish preparing breakfast. And put several dishes in front of me, in addition to the cheese omelet. Toast, juice, butter. Everything that wasn't in the fridge yesterday.
—Where did all this come from? -I asked him curiously as he turned in my direction and only then did I get a good look at him for the first time. —Are you wearing an apron?
—To cook I'm supposed to need one if I don't want to ruin my clothes. —he said to me with a smile as he sat next to me.
—I thought you weren't too worried about the clothes you were wearing. That you had enough money to buy another one.
—I have it, but that doesn't mean I should ruin the clothes I'm wearing by cooking and then throwing them away.
—Hum. —I said to him while I was having toast. —Where did all this come from?
—From the market, where else.
—When did you go shopping?
—Early, you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you. —he said to me as he looked at me smiling. —Let's have breakfast, we still have to go back to L.A.
It wasn't the first time Christian had made me something to eat, but I think I could get used to this. And as we started, we quickly finished and picked things up.
—We're going, but first. —he said to me, walking towards the living room and taking two helmets, he gave me one. —Safety first.
—Did you also buy me a helmet?
—And a jacket. —he said to me, reaching for the black leather jacket I hadn't seen on the sofa. —You're going to need them. —he said to me as we walked out the door.
He took the bike out of the garage and climbed elegantly on it, pressed a button and the engine came to life. I put on my helmet and jacket and went up behind him while I held on to his shoulder.
—I recommend you hold on tight. —he said to me as he gently accelerated inside the city.
And so I did I grabbed on with all my strength from his waist. Christian was driving cautiously into the city. But as soon as he was on the highway, it was totally different. If I was already holding on tight, now I had to hold on tighter. The cars passed by us like a blur that was hard to distinguish. Well they passed no, Christian passed them. And the trip to L.A. seemed shorter than it should be. When we left the highway behind, Christian slowed down and I saw myself on the road heading home. Christian stopped the bike in front of my house and only then did I let go of him.
I got off the bike, took off my helmet and stretched it to him.
—It's yours. —he said to me, rejecting it as he got off the bike.
—I don't think I'll need it anymore. —I gave it to him again.
—Yes, you'll need it.
—You're not thinking of picking me up on the bike to take me to the studio. —I said as I walked towards the door of the house.
—Of course I did. Didn't you enjoy the trip?
—I couldn't enjoy it very much when I could barely see the scenery behind us. How fast were we coming?
—To a forbidden one. —he said with a smile.
—Did you come at more than 60 mph?
—No. I'm not that crazy, Anastasia. —he said to me as he walked in my direction. —I came at more than 120 mph.
—But you're crazy! —I shouted at him, throwing him the helmet he caught in the air.
—No, I'm not.
—What would have happened if we had fallen?
—We weren't going to fall, unless there had been something on the road. I'm qualified to drive at that speed.
—Eh!
—Don't you know you need a special license to drive motorcycles over 1000cc?
—I didn't know.
—Well, I have it, so you don't have to worry. —he said, arriving in front of me. —As long as you're with me you're safe.
—I know.
—Safe from everyone except me. —he whispered in my ear as I laughed.
Then a noise behind us made us separate and we both turned towards the door of my house. Through the door came two men dressed in masks, with fumigation tanks in their hands. Only then did I notice a white van parked in front of where Christian had parked.
I headed towards the two men leaving my house. How did they get into my house?
—Excuse me, can I know why you have a key to my house? —I asked them while they took off their masks.
—This house is owned by Grace Grey, right?
—Yes.
—We have a contract with her and every six months we inspect her properties. We told her we would do it yesterday and she gave us the key to get in because she said her resident was gone.
—I just got back. —I watched as the other man locked the door. —When can I come in?
—I'm sorry to tell you that you won't be able to come in for another week.
—Why not?
—Because we detect a plague in the house and for a week we have to fumigate it to exterminate it completely.
—And what will happen to my things?
— Your things were removed and moved to Mrs. Grey's house yesterday.
And there I watched them leave and leave my house closed.
—Do you need a ride?
I turned to Christian who was holding my helmet and I stared at the helmet in his hand.
—I'm going to accept because I don't have any other choice. —I said to him while he laughed and I took the helmet out of his hand.
This time he drove slowly to his mother's house, well, at least that's what I thought. I got off the bike and prevented him from taking off his helmet.
— I wouldn't do that if I was you.
—Why not?
—Because if your mother finds out that you've gone to look for me in Santa Ana, it's going to get tangled up.
—What makes you think she doesn't know? I'll call you later. —he said to me as he started the motorcycle.
— Are you hurried?
—Yes, my mother's coming. —he said to me as I looked briefly at the road and saw her approaching in my direction.
Christian accelerated the bike and went out at full speed, quickly getting lost on the road. I turned to Grace again.
—Where's your car?
—I left it to my brother, he needs it more than I do. I've just arrived and found out about the plague. —I said to her as I walked beside her inside the house.
—Yes, apparently, they used some infested wood in the construction. —she said to me, holding the key to the apartment again. —How was the trip?
Her question took me by surprise and I answered with some doubt.
—Good. —something fuzzy.
—Christian was hurry. Was he the one who brought you from Santa Ana?
Shit!
She had noticed.
Even with his helmet on, she had recognized him.
—Yes. —I confessed. — He went to see how I was doing and offered to bring me when he saw that I had left the car to my brother.
— How kind of him?
—Yes, Greg is in New York and my brother was very insistent that I not take a taxi.
—Is your brother okay?
—Yes. —I replied succinctly.
—Your things are in the apartment, I imagine you must be tired from the trip and the days in the hospital.
—Yes.
—I'll leave you to rest then, tomorrow I'll pick you up to go to the studio.
—All right. —I said goodbye to her.
And I went on my way to the apartment.
And I fell into the bed as soon as I entered. It's been too much stress for just one weekend. I need to rest.
I went to the bathroom, took a relaxing bath and then went to bed and dropped into it. I closed my eyes and didn't realize when I was falling asleep.
The sound of my cell phone ringing in the distance insistently pulled me out of my sweet, relaxing sleep. I had no idea what time it was, but I did imagine who was calling insistently.
I got up and looked for the phone. And as I smiled at the screen I answered.
—Don't you get tired of invading my privacy?
—I'll never get tired of that. Can you open the door for me?
—I thought you had the keys?
—Apparently my mother changed the locks.
—I'll be right with you. —I said to him as I walked towards the living room.
—I'm at the official door, my mother sent me to pick you up for dinner.
It was the last thing he said to me before hanging up. It was almost 8:00 pm and I hadn't even noticed. I arrived at the door and opened it, standing behind it, so that he wouldn't see me, and I invited him in.
As soon as I closed the door Christian turned in my direction.
—Don't tell me you were taking a shower? —he asked, walking in my direction.
—No, I was sleeping.
—Do you sleep very often with only your panties? —he said, standing in front of me.
—Actually, I've been sleeping naked lately. —I replied with a smile.
—If it weren't for my mother waiting for us for dinner... —he said, leaving the phrase half-heartedly as he put his hands on the edge of the panties.
—I imagine what you can do. —I said to him as I moved away from him and walked towards the room. —I'll let you show it to me later.
After dinner I went back to the apartment and stayed only in panties waiting for Christian to come and show me, as so many times already, his skills in bed. But he didn't. I imagined that something serious had happened so that he wouldn't have come as I knew he would.
I started typing a message to send him, but I decided not to. I didn't know if he would be with his mother. So I went to bed to study the scenes we would be filming tomorrow.
The next morning Grace knocked on my door when I finished getting dressed and we headed out to the set. As soon as we got there I went to the locker room and then to makeup where I met Christian. We exchanged an accomplice gaze, a greeting, and nothing more than a question about the job. As soon as we finished we headed towards our chairs on the set as they finished preparing things for the scene we were filming.
—How did you sleep last night? —he asked me suddenly.
—Uncomfortable. —and it was the truth, I had gotten used to sleeping with him by my side.
—I couldn't sleep. —he answered me while I stared at him.
—Did something happen?
At that moment Grace approached where we were.
—Ready?
We both nodded as we followed her to the set.
—I couldn't sleep knowing you were waiting for me with only panties in bed. —he whispered in my ear.
And I just laughed.
—How did you know I was only in my panties?
—I didn't know, but I imagined it. —he replied with a smile.
We get to the center of the room where we were going to shoot, right in the living room of his apartment. I looked around. It was the first scene we filmed in his apartment.
—"We started in five minutes, guys." —shouted Grace.
I walked around the apartment familiarizing myself with the things for the scene we were going to shoot. I memorized things to the best of my ability and returned to my position.
— "We started in a minute"
I stared at Christian, losing myself in his gaze, as he did in mine. I didn't know if it would be wise to ask him why he hadn't gone last night. Although I imagined that the main reason had been his mother.
—Later. —he answered by reading my mind.
—"Scene 180, Take 1, Action!"
I walked furiously and with a determined step towards the room, I opened the wardrobe furiously and took out a suitcase that I put on the bed.
—Elizabeth! Wait!
—What am I supposed to expect, Max? Thet you give me another one of your explanations?
—I know it's going to sound absurd, but let me explain.
—I don't think there's much to explain. You're married and as I understand it, that's not going to change in the near future. Is it?
But he didn't answer. We were just staring at each other.
—That's what I thought. —I replied as I began to put the clothes in the suitcase.
—Please stop. —he said, holding me by the hands and making the clothes fall off my hands.
—Leave me alone, please. —I begged him with tears in my eyes. —Let me go on with my life as if we had never met.
—I can't do that and you know it perfectly well, I can't let you go, not when you would take an important part of me with you.
—Please let me go, you're hurting me. —but Christian wouldn't let me go.
—"Cut!"
—"Christian, you forgot to let go of his hands, we're back on the last line."
—"Scene 180, Take 2, Action!"
—Please let me go, you're hurting me. —and only then did he let me go.
I finished putting the little clothes I had here in the suitcase and carried them to the living room. I could feel his footsteps as he followed me.
I opened the door.
—Please don't go, don't leave me. —he implored me, kneeling on the floor.
—I'm sorry, really, but I can't be with you anymore, not after all you've kept from me all this time after promising me you wouldn't lie to me anymore.
—I did it for your safety, I couldn't tell you, understand me. Don't make me make a decision that doesn't depend on me.
—I'm not asking you to decide Max, because I've already done it for both of us. I understand why you did it and I appreciate that you wanted to protect me. I love you, but I can't be with you, not like this. —I walked to the door and opened it.
—Don't go away.
I looked at him for the last time. I breathed deeply with tears in my eyes.
—Goodbye Max. —I said to him as I walked out the door.
—"Cut!"