Javier's days took on a monotonous tone. He found himself going back to the same bar he had seen Katey at almost every other night, but to no avail. It seemed that she had made some decision to not go there again for he never saw her. Disappointed and a little more than upset, he would return home to his son and the disapproving stares of Senora Lopez as he took Diego upstairs and put him to bed each night.
Work at the garage was better; he made fast friends with the men who worked there for his extensive knowledge of automobiles and his easy going, friendly manner. More than one of the boys' sweethearts attempted to set him on blind dates, a prospect he found both daunting and offensive. On Sunday, his day off, he decided to take Diego to the beach, to try to get some of his young son's energy out. The boy had taken to running rampant throughout the small apartment, trying to flush all of his belongings down the toilet. As amusing as it was, he was tired of fishing soggy socks and wads of toilet paper out of the ancient monster.
The sun was shining and there was a nice breeze as they walked along the sidewalk towards the stairs that led to the beach. Families were all about, mostly Cuban for it was ultimately a Cuban neighborhood but there were some gringos and their families partaking in the lovely weather. Javier grinned widely as he saw a semi-circle of older Cuban men, some with guitars out, others with percussion instruments. They sang a lively song on the sand, sitting on blankets. Couples danced around them, some parents holding small children, others lovers who were getting rather intimate despite the public setting. Javier laughed as he saw Americans gently steering young children away from the exhibition.
Diego clapped his pudgy little hands, white teeth bright in his round brown face and Javier led him over to the group to listen to the music. The beat of the drums caught him up in a whirlwind, and he found himself tapping his feet and swaying his hips languorously to the song. Closing his eyes, he let the rhythm take his body and move it to its will. It wasn't but a minute later when he opened his eyes again that a sharp knife of panic cut into his gut, for Diego was nowhere to be seen. Cursing himself for a fool, he darted his dark eyes around frantically.
"Katey look at this little boy!" Susie came trotting over, kicking sand onto Chuck's towel, the older man frowning and trying not to notice that it seemed to be on purpose. The red-haired man was literally slathered in suntan-lotion, white zinc oxide on his nose so as not to burn. Susie thought he looked to be a horrible square. Rolling her eyes, she steered the tiny Cuban boy who clutched her hand, a placid expression on his adorable face. Katey shielded her eyes, adjusting the top to her pale blue swimsuit and giving Susie a stern look.
The younger petite blonde waved a hand, the pink scarf she wore tied in her curls matching the pink two-piece she wore. Explaining that she had been listening to the Cuban band a few feet away, the little boy had wandered over to her and just latched onto her hand, looking up at her like a stray puppy.
"We really should find his folks, Katey they'll be worried sick he's just a baby." Katey put a hand over her eyes and cast about, looking for a frantic Cuban mother. Instead she got an eyeful of a pissed off, scared looking Javier who was darting about the crowd, his white shirt unbuttoned to reveal the bronze expanse of his lean chest. Turning an instant bright shade of red, she ducked her head and swore furiously. The little boy's eyes lit up and he parroted her words perfectly.
Susie clapped perfectly manicured hands to her mouth, giggling brightly while Katey turned an even deeper shade of crimson. Chuck looked annoyed, and he stood up, catching sight of the harried young Cuban man heading towards them.
"Is that your daddy kid?" Grasping the little boy by the shoulder, he turned him so that he was looking in Javier's direction. The little boy took off, tiny feet churning sand as he launched himself at Javier, wrapping chubby arms around a leg. Javier hefted him to his waist, where the boy wrapped legs around Javier's hip and set his head on his narrow shoulder.
"JAVI!!!!" Susie's cry was loud, but excited as she raced towards the young man, nearly knocking him off of his feet as she swept him into an exuberant embrace. If it was at all possible, the scowl on Chuck's face deepened, and Katey strained to look innocent. She had mentioned Javier to Chuck awhile back when they had first met, describing him as a fling in Cuba who had taught her how to dance. She had never told him how much she had felt…still felt for the boy.
"Susie, my God you're all grown up!" Javier held the girl out at arm's length to get a better look, while Susie blushed prettily. Javier turned and looked at Katey, whose face was changing an interesting shade of green. Javier then stuck his hand out to Chuck and smiled pleasantly at him.
"How do you do, I'm Javier Suarez, an old friend of the Miller sisters." Chuck took the other man's hand, and they shook solemnly eyes fixed on each other. The muscles in either man's forearm strained yet the expressions on their faces didn't change. Finally, growing tired of the pissing contest, Katey stood up.
"Diego, mi hijo this is Katey and her sister Susie. Girls, this is my son Diego." Susie's eyes grew round; Katey hadn't told her about this news. Katey hunkered down slightly and took Diego's hand into her own, smiling at him. The little boy, never bashful, cracked a grin and batted his long eyelashes at her. Katey was immediately smitten with this miniature carbon copy of Javier.
"Oh my," she said, putting a hand over her heart, "What a charmer he is." Javier nodded in agreement, blessing his son's attributes silently. Chuck muttered something about getting something out of the car, and stalked away apparently not liking what he was seeing. Katey called after him, but he ignored her, hunching his shoulders and furiously whipping the shirt he had grabbed from his towel around his shoulders.
Katey faced Javier once more, eyes narrowing at the smug look that flitted across his lean face before he smiled at her innocently. Putting her hands on her hips she shot Susie an angry glare and the younger girl took Diego from Javier and hastily went towards the water, chattering brightly to the little boy about finding sea shells.
"Did you plan this?" Her voice was tight and throaty, and Javier couldn't help but throw his hands out to his sides and laugh. Looking at her disbelievingly, he raised his eyebrows at her.
"Plan this? You give me too much credit; I haven't seen you in weeks let alone talked to you to have learned of your plans today. I came to the beach with my son to spend some time away from the plotting woman downstairs who is dying to see me married so that my son isn't living with the horrible influence of a single father." Katey's eyes softened a fraction and she sat down on her towel. Sighing and giving up, she patted the sand next to her.
"Sit, talk to me. We haven't talked in ages and it's about time we did." Javier looked about for Diego and saw him happily splashing around in the surf with Susie, and shrugging, sat down next to Katey. He noticed that she scooted away from him slightly, still skittish about contact. This coming from the girl who had so blindly fallen for him in Cuba and had wanted to be around him at all times.
A breeze blew his hair away from his forehead and he caught her smiling fondly at him. It made his heart lurch, and his pulse race. Swearing inwardly at his unchecked emotions, he cocked his head at her questioningly.
"You need a haircut," she said simply. Javier smiled, his crooked grin charming her as it always had. Tugging on a lock of his hair he made a forlorn face and shrugged his shoulders.
"Perhaps you're right, maybe I should cut it all off." Katey made a horrified sound in her throat and put a hand on Javier's arm, swiftly taking it away and turning red before stammering that he would be foolish to do that. They sat in silence for a few moments, the dull roar of the ocean crashing onto land, children's shrill voices yelping happily, the Latin music the only noises to be heard.
"Do you hate me that much that you can't talk to me? Look at me? Touch me?" Javier's voice was strained as he tried hard to keep his tone light, but it shook and Katey immediately grasped his hands in her own, her eyes earnest, lower lip trembling with the effort it took her not to burst into tears.
"Javier, please don't think that, it's not like that at all. I just…What we had…It means more to me than you'll ever know."
"What we had? You think that feelings disappear just like that?" He waved a hand through the air in a cutting gesture, his eyes full of disbelief. Cupping her cheek in his hand, he once again marveled at the difference in their skin colors, and was slightly taken aback when she nuzzled his hand instead of drawing away.
"Oh, Javi…" Javier stroked the side of her face gently before pulling away and standing up. Better to leave now, when he had her wanting him to touch her. He didn't think he could take it if she drew away from him again. A seagull swooped low, casting a winged shadow briefly across their faces as she looked up at him, squinting against the sun.
"We will see each other soon, Katey that I promise you. We have much more too…talk about." Katey felt her heart flutter at his purposeful pause and she shaded her eyes with a hand as he pointed towards a red apartment building in the distance.
"That is my home; I live on the top floor, first door on the right. Come see me when you wish to talk more." Bending low, he stroked her cheek with the side of his hand, and lightly planted a kiss onto the top of her head.
"Soy el tuyo, siempre que usted me desee," he whispered into one of her ears, tickling the hair that curled past them down the nape of her neck, falling out of the loose ponytail that it was gathered up in. Biting her lip, she looked at him, blue eyes curious.
"What does that mean?" Curling the corners of his lips up into a mysterious smile, he turned his head and waved to Susie, who saw them, and picking up Diego headed back up the beach. Sticking his hands into his pockets, the wind picking at his hair and the corners of his shirt which he had discreetly buttoned half-way; he tilted his head back and looked at her in a satisfying manner.
"Ask your friend at the bar what it means, she can tell you." And after kissing Susie's cheek good-bye and hefting his now sleepy son into his arms, Javier walked away, without looking back. Susie sighed and Katey heard herself mimicking her sister, before she gasped in mortification and ducked her head. Susie crowed triumphantly and smacked Katey's upper arm.
"I knew it! You still like him like that! Thank God, Chuck is SO stuffy!" Katey listened to Susie prattle on, and for the rest of the afternoon, her mind was swarmed with thoughts and memories of Javier and Cuba and their innocent time together that had yet created such a deep bond between them. Evening found herself making her way to the bar to find Francesca. She was deeply curious about the Spanish phrase that Javier had muttered to her before disappearing with his son.
The small Cuban girl was wiping down the bar, hips swaying to the music that flooded the crowded bar. Throwing her towel up into the air, she embraced Katey ferociously and Katey felt guilty about avoiding this place because of Javier. Really, her friends here didn't deserve that. Pulling Francesca outside, she wrinkled her nose up as the girl lit a thin Cuban cigar and puffed away contentedly.
"Translate something? Is it something that hot-eyed Cuban boy said to you? Dios mio, I'd love to get him between my sheets." Katey turned three interested shades of red, pink, and hot crimson before admonishing her friend gently. The other girl just giggled and waited for Katey to spit out the Spanish in a halting, clumsy tongue.
Once she did, Francesca's eyes changed became dreamy and she hugged herself and spun around before looking at Katey with a dead serious expression on her elfin face. Stubbing out her cigar on a post and tucking the rest away for later, she shook a finger under Katey's nose.
"He said, 'I am yours, whenever you want me'. Do not let this man get away from you mi amor, he is one a million, a true romantic. That sent shivers down my spine, ninguna mentira." Fanning her face with a small hand, Francesca went back inside to work, while Katey blindly made her way home, mind awash with thoughts of Javier and what he had said.
"My God, I'm crazy to throw away what I have with Chuck, plain crazy! Who does this boy think he is to come waltzing back into my life and…and…and remind me of how much I love him?" Katey's plaintive whisper was heard only by herself and a dog sniffing around some trash as she sat in the window seat of her bedroom; mouth tight with anguish and indecision. Bowing her head so that her blonde hair swept her shoulders and hung forward to hide her face, she knew that this thing with her and Javier wasn't over, not by a long shot.
A/N – Sorry this took so long guys, won't happen again, I promise!
Ninguna Mentira – No lie
Mi Amor – My love
Soy el tuyo, siempre que usted me desee – I am yours, whenever you want me
'I am yours, whenever you want me' is a line from the song 'I Am Yours' by The Adicts
Shout Outs!
John Cena's Basketball Star – Wow thank you, that is an awesome compliment, to hear that my story flows with the original movie and such! I plan on making this story last a few more chapters if I can, don't you worry.
Duckiez143 – Hehe..noooo I'm not going to kill Chuck, just maybe make him end up being totally miserable ;)
Musique – Aww, thank you I hope you keep liking this story
Jane and Adam – Yep and I'm back again for this next update!
Danielle18 – Well you get one of your hopes in this chapter, Katey meets Diego! I promise I won't wait so long to update next time.
Princess of the Damned – Ahh I loved that movie..Especially Stewart Townsend in leather pants, yummy.
Vampssuck5605 – Hehe…she's going to have to, I mean who else could she be happy with except Javier?
jESSiEnESs – Wow the best one? Awesomeness, sorry to keep you waiting!!
Queen of Diamonds1 – I have to make them end up together eventually or I will kick my own butt! Thank you so much for your review.
Emily aka Hallelujah89 – Thank you so much girlie for the awesome compliment! Hopefully you like this chapter more than the last one!