Final Chapter Song: Faithfully by Journey

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Forever The One

Betty looked at him and her eyes started watering against her will, her lips curled in expectation.

"Looking at you standing so proud and beautiful here, in front of me, against all odds, I believe…" he felt his voice abandon him for a second until he found the courage to continue, "I know no other woman could be more right for me. I love you and I always will".

Two large tears trailed Betty's cheeks and a little sob broke through her chest.

"Here" Someone touched her shoulder and handled a napkin.

She took it from the woman that was sitting by her right side. Or was it a man? She couldn't tell from the mustache.

"I'm sorry. I always cry at weddings".

"Are you from the groom's side?" the old dandy man from her left asked.

"No… from Antonella's" she answered wiping her tears trying not to mess her makeup. She looked at the bride, dressed in a beautifully designed white gown, clung in an embrace to her now husband as their favorite song played. It was an old song from the time Antonella wasn't even born. But Betty knew well where her taste in music came from.

"I'm forever yours… faithfully" sang a voice to her ear. Betty jumped in her chair.

"Yes, nice song, mister" she said slightly pushing the old man that was leaning over her. "If you don't mind, please".

"Kind of cheesy, if you ask me" said a girl from the table chewing a large piece of bread in her mouth.

"I think it's nice", said Betty.

"I also think so, pretty lady" said the old man touching her left thigh under the table. She took his hand away, smiled politely and focused in eating some of the pastry she had on the table. "They're really something", Betty thought looking at the people sitting around her, and wondered why she always ended in such peculiar tables at weddings.

Antonella danced with her husband and the rest of the men in her family. Music was lively, many people started dancing. Italian weddings were really nice, Betty thought, fighting for the last piece of bread with the lady with the huge hat. She had the pleasure to be in many of them and she always enjoyed them.

There was salsa in the air. She knew that song and she couldn't control her body, sitting there on the table, as it started moving to the beat of the music. It seemed that not many knew how to dance that exotic rhythm and the floor was becoming deserted.

She noticed that the women in her table started whispering and exchanging glances. She turned to look and she found herself facing the object of their attentions.

"So, Betty, are you ready to impress everyone?" the man in front of her extended his hand to her.

She had been wondering why it took Gio so long to ask. She stood up with his help and he guided her to the floor. They were almost alone, having the whole floor for themselves; they danced together to the upbeat latin rhythm of the music, their movements gracefully coordinated, every step so full of energy and passion.

"So, I'm running out of parties", he said pulling her closer in a complicated turn. "You've seen all my sisters and brothers get married. I've been in Hilda's wedding and even got into Justin's."

"That was a good wedding" she said.

"A very good one."

"The food was amazing", she winked at him. She knew he had specially dedicated himself to cater Justin's wedding. He pleased them so much that he branched out his business out of the amount of new contacts he gathered there. Who would have thought the amount of parties that gay people threw per year?

"Thank you" he said holding her tighter. He made his steps shorter and pushed her closer to him. "You never bring any of your guys to the party so I always end up rescuing you from the bachelorette's table."

"Not that I needed any rescue."

"You always need it. But that's only when you're not rescuing others…"

Music changed into a more contemporary beat. Younger people started invading the floor. Gio led her out. She felt a bit let down just by thinking of return to her table. She thought could very well go and help Mrs. Rossi with the whole organization. She was sure she would appreciate that. Just when she was about to ask Gio where his mother was, Antonella came almost dragging her husband all the way to where they were standing.

The guys shook hands. Antonella pushed her brother by the arm. "Gio, let me introduce you to the rest of Sean´s family". Betty was about to walk alone to her table when Antonella waved at her. "Betty, you come, too. You know you are family".

Antonella introduced them to her husband's family. They were nice people of Jamaican origins that lived mainly in San Francisco. She was also moving to the west coast. Gio thought that was the problem of living in a house with so many women. They ended up leaving. He hated when people left, especially people he cared about.

One of the younger sisters of the groom came to where they were. "Nella, I finally find you". She shook her cocktail glass. "You must take a look at the bartender. He is hot!" She stopped to check on Gio and Betty. "I know you, you are Nella's gorgeous brother and you… you must be Maria".

"No, that's another one" Antonella pushed her sister-in-law back and told Betty, "Don't mind her. She's drunk".

"I'm not drunk", she complained. "I've seen you before… you're always together. You're his fiancée".

Betty smiled and looked at Gio who raised both his eyebrows, amused.

"No, she's Betty. Friend of the family, remember?" Antonella quickly fixed.

"Don't worry" Betty said. "We get that all the time".

The girl took a step further and took a closer look at Betty.

"Then why aren't you together? Look at him! He's a catch!"

Gio and Betty looked at each other trying to contain their laughs.

"Yes, 'catchy man', why aren't we together?" she asked hugging Gio by the waist.

"You tell me. I don't know". He started laughing and Betty followed.

"Let's take you back to your table, Daisy" Antonella rolled her eyes and pushed her friend away while Gio and Betty watched them leave. Gio held Betty tighter. They walked to the cocktail table arm in arm. He asked for her favorite drink.

"You know, Gio… I've been thinking…" She took her cocktail and took a quick sip before continuing. She gathered the strength she needed to say the words. "Gio, I'm leaving".

He turned around and looked at her. Somehow he wasn't surprised. She searched in his eyes looking for a reaction.

"So, you chose L.A. after all". He raised his glass for a toast. "Congratulations! Nothing like being your own boss, right?"

"You must know that better than anyone" she said. She avoided his stare. She couldn't find what she was looking for. No, there was nothing left that could attach her in New York, she thought quietly.

"What's with the face? A brand new world is ahead of you" he gave her a sad smile. He knew what she was thinking. But instead he said: "Finally we can get out of this loop. You and me."

She cracked a smile and toasted with him.

"Yes, a brand new life"

—0—

Betty opened the door of her place. She was returning from another farewell party and she was spent. She stopped for a second before hanging her coat. There was another one made of leather resting in the hanger. Her heart shrank inside her. Was that night going to be her proper farewell? She thought leaving the keys near the ones that were on top of the table. She walked straight to the kitchen.

He was there.

Through the shadows she found him. It was dark. The light coming from the opened door cast a glow over him, like a vision. He was looking at her and she always felt naked when he looked at her in that way. A bottle of wine opened on the table: he had been expecting her. She looked at him already with nostalgia. Like part of that apartment, he belonged to New York. Soon to be nothing more than memories of her past life. She smiled, she had been prepared. She felt the calm overcome her. She just wanted to remember him like he had always been, like they've always been. "I've told you many times, when you plan to come here you must…"

"I'm not leaving you" he interrupted her leaving the glass of wine he had been holding in his hand on the table. There was a sudden silence in the room.

She broke the awkward silence with a little laugh.

"Are you asking me to marry you?" she said lifting one eyebrow.

"Are you refusing me?" he said crossing his arms on his chest. His voice was grave. He wasn't joking.

She avoided his stare. She turned on the lights and walked all around to the room nervously looking for an empty glass of wine but, incredibly unable to find one in her own kitchen.

"Aren't we a bit too old for this?"

"I am not leaving you, Betty Suarez" he interrupted again. She shook her head and kept looking in the drawers.

He took her by the elbow forcing her to face him. She looked at him with a puzzled face. His voice was commanding and echoed in her ears as he spoke them: "You're mine. You're nothing without me".

She was taken by surprise by his words but her pride quickly overcame her and she made a gesture. She escaped his claws "That's what you…"

"…and I'm nothing without you".

She turned and faced him again. Those eyes were giving his all and he didn't need to say more. She understood. Her heart understood. She tried to savor every second. There was nothing compared to this in those stories she used to read about or in those that she used to write about. Because this time it was her own story. She wanted to rejoice and remember every part of the emotion that overcame her and filled her with delight just by hearing those words. She needed that. She needed him. That was the moment. That moment that defined her own real story of life.

But she gave up. It was her curse. She let out the breath she had been holding all that time. No, she told the girl that was inside of her, life was more complicated than that. She didn't believe in Romeo and Juliet anymore.

"I can't change my plans. I already signed for California".

He got closer to her.

"You don't have to change them." She looked at him in disbelief. Those eyes, those lips were hypnotizing. "Just… let me be part of yours".

"And you? How about your business? Your plan!"

Why he had to be so passionate about everything?

"Business is as good in L.A. as any other part of the world".

Her heart was restless. It was too easy. Why couldn't she just jump to him and be happy? Why she had to make life even more complicated? Why couldn't she just learn to make things simpler? To just be.

"Don't let me go", he told her looking the way he only knew how to look at her. For a second she felt a pledge, a desperate request in his eyes. He frowned and the intensity of the determination of his eyes froze her. "No. I won't let you".

She heard his voice as pure and sincere as she had once heard fifteen years ago. She felt time return to the past. She was the one the one who needed peace, to be released from her prison, to be forgiven, the one that needed to be saved by him. He had broken her.

"Damn you! You always know what to say…"

He assaulted her opened lips and kissed her with passion. She took hold of his shirt and let herself abandon to him. He always knew what to do. He was the only one who could ever dominate and command her to his will. She tasted in those ardent lips a small sample of what the rest of the night had for her and only for her. She kissed him whispering his name between 'I love you's for as many times her heart desired.

She searched for air escaping for a moment from those drowning lips. He released her.

"You know this is going to be a difficult marriage", she pointed out.

"It's going to be exciting", he corrected her.

She laughed. Her fate was written the moment she met him many years ago. He was her destiny.

"So my husband is moving to L.A. with me!" she cocked an eyebrow. "Who's the man?!"

"Don't push your luck" He admitted sourly. "You don't know how hard it's for me. You are the one supposed to move to where your marido is working. Not the other way around".

"You and your stupid macho pride" she pinched his chest with her fingers.

He groaned.

"Why the nipple? Why always the nipple?!"

She smiled. He smiled back to her. He had broken just so many rules that night. And all was worth it. Just to engrave that smile in his memory was enough. "Hell it wasn't", he answered himself. He craved for everything. He wanted her to belong completely to him: forever his and only for him. He deserved her.

He caught her by the waist and violently rested his hips into hers.

"I'll show you who's the man". She felt every word against her body. He didn't have to prove her anything. She knew well enough what he was capable to do to her physically and emotionally. How he could overpower her with his touch, with his words… with his love. And he has always been her man. She couldn't belong to anyone else. She must have unconsciously known that for many years.

She kept laughing like crazy. Like years ago when she was young and naïve, when her smile was candid and spontaneous, like most of the times when he made her laugh. She knew she will be happy. She had been happy all these years. She laughed at herself and at her blindness, she laughed at her own happiness and at their future. Together. Forever her one and only.

THE END