13
Alejandro was concentrating on the road, looking through the window, while Sebastian was driving in silence in front of him. Tessa was sitting next to Alejandro. She was staring through her own window, counting the light poles, like when she was a kid and she was traveling with her father on long distances. But she was losing track every fifteen poles or so and started all over again. She felt this was really a stupid thing to do, but she was unable to concentrate on anything else than the road and the idea she would spend the night alone at her place. Actually all she wanted was to take a warm bath and forget about the day.
The detail that kept rolling in her head was the faces of the two new guys Alejandro had met earlier that evening. She noticed that the brunet had been staring at her in a persistent way. Perhaps he liked the way I sung or maybe … oh forget it, Tess, you're imagining things again. Okay, he looked rather cute but you know what these guys are... so don't even think you might... oh man, here I go again, talking to myself... I really gotta stop this... get some rest... and hope this will end soon. No more pretending...
Comfortably installed on the passenger's seat, Ricardo was thinking of Tessa most of the time. There was that same little smile on his face, the one he showed when Matt had whispered something at The Rose, before they said their goodbyes to Burnett and Collins, that nasty smile which he had when he was thinking of a wicked plan. But, as he was sitting in front, no one could see his ironic look.
When they parked in front of Tessa's place, Alejandro told Seb to wait in the car, stepped out and walked around the car to open the door for Tessa. She stepped out without looking at him. She was trying to show a casual attitude, calm and relaxed, but Al took her by the hand and accompanied her to the door. Ricardo was following a few steps behind.
When the three of them entered into the young girl's apartment, Ricardo had not uttered a word yet. He acted as if he was waiting for his uncle to order him to leave. But as a matter of fact, Al was really acting as if his nephew was not there.
Tessa had already taken off her coat and headed to the bar to prepare Al's usual drink.
"Do you want something, Rico?" she asked.
"No, thanks, Tessie." Rico replied, and smiled again when he saw the young woman's reaction. He knew she did not fancy that name. She had told him a couple of times before but he kept calling her that, as if he wanted to appropriate a part of her by giving her a name no one else used.
Ricardo liked to play with people's nerves, like a cat with a condemned mouse. Over and over again. Until they lost their temper and made a mistake. He was playing with her. For now, she was his mouse to play with. It had started the very first day he had met her.
He sat on the couch and looked at her and Al who took the drink Tessa gave him. After sipping a few gulps, he put the glass on the counter and turned to Rico.
"Could you go down and tell Sebastian I'll be back in a minute?"
As Rico did not move, Al's voice raised in volume and authority.
"Now, Rico!"
Ricardo raised an eyebrow, discreetly sighed and headed for the door. Before leaving the apartment, he turned to Tessa.
"Great performance tonight, Tessie. Really. Good night."
Tessa shivered. She knew this kind of compliment only meant one thing and she hated him a bit more for speaking like that in front of Alejandro. She hated everything about him: his attitude, the way he looked at her, the words he used, the tone he spoke in to his uncle sometimes. She felt something dangerous was about to emanate from him and – even though she had an idea about what it was – she did not know when it would come out nor how hard. But she knew.
When the door closed on Rico's back, Al turned to Tessa and reached for his inner jacket pocket. He was holding a small box in his hand.
Oh Gosh, no, please... don't you dare! She thought. I should have quit this a long time ago. Look at me, I must be completely crazy.
Alejandro opened the little black box in front of her eyes. There was a thin and delicate golden bracelet shining inside.
"Happy Birthday, Tessa. See... I did not forget."
The young girl gasped and stood motionless. As she was standing there, staring at the jewel, he took the bracelet and adjusted it on her wrist.
"Don't pay attention to Rico, he is impetuous and even invasive. Don't you worry about him."
"Huh... I... thank you... But..." she finally uttered, unable to find anything else to say, except in her head Get the hell outa here and leave me in peace!
"I gotta go now. You sure you're all right? You seem a bit... worried."
"Yeah... I'm fine...I'm gonna be fine, Al. Thank you. You... you gotta go. You got new business to attend, right?"
She was trying to engage the conversation onto the men he had just met.
"Yeah. You know what, I feel like these two could be my last deal. I'm sure they want to sign for more, but Rico will deal with them after I initiate our business. Then I thought maybe we could... leave... just you and me."
Tessa forced a weak smile and turned to the bar so he could not see the tension she was trying to fight off, the frowning of her tired eyes, the muscles in her jaws tensed, her fists ready to hit.
The big man approached her from behind and put a soft kiss on her neck, which made her shiver even more, from surprise as well as disgust.
"Take care," the tender voice of Alejandro whispered in her ear. "I'll send Sebastian to pick you up tomorrow. OK?"
"OK." She whispered back, which Al wrongfully took for an anticipation reaction.
Then he left and gently closed the door behind him, leaving Tessa crying silent tears in the middle of the apartment. Out of rage, she took off the bracelet and threw it in the ice cube box.
S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~
Sebastian was patiently waiting behind the wheel when he saw Rico exiting the building and walking toward the car. He let out a heavy sigh before Ricardo reached the passenger door and opened it wide. Yet, he did not climb into the vehicle immediately. He was watching the building, and more precisely the windows of Tessa's apartment.
Sebastian put both hands on the wheel and stared in front of him. He could not admit it to anyone, but he never liked Ricardo Mendoza very much. There was something he'd always found repulsive about the short man, though he could not explain why. Some gut feeling? It all started when he met Alejandro and became his right arm. The young Ricardo had been acting like Sebastian was nothing more than a servant, not the trusted body guard his Uncle relied upon all the time. There was some connection between the two older men which Rico never fully understood, even less acknowledged. He remembered when Al's nephew was just a little boy, he used to abide by every single wish Rico had, simply answering "Yes, Mister Rico" or "As you wish, Mister Rico". But soon, Al Fuentes had notified the body guard to treat his nephew in a more strict and not as obsequious manner.
"But he is your nephew, Mr Fuentes." Sebastian had retorted.
"I don't care, Sebastian. He's gotta learn he is no prince here; heir maybe, but no special precious movie star, I don't want him to turn into a spoiled brat."
Sebastian remembered the exact words. Spoiled brat. Rico certainly did not look like one right now, more like a bird of prey about to swoop down on a little lemming. For the last couple of months, he was paying more attention to Rico's attitudes, just in case. Gut feeling, again.
Because Sebastian did care. His loyalty was to Mr Fuentes. His only regret was that his boss seemed to prepare for some kind of retirement and Sebastian did not want to be allocated to Ricardo's protection afterwards.
Rico finally sat on the front seat, next to an uncomfortable yet secretive Sebastian.
"How are you, Seb?" Rico asked in a falsely amicable tone.
"Very well, Mister Ricardo, thank you."
He could have sworn to have felt his passenger shiver if only for a second when he answered. He had always called him that, since Rico was a little boy, which was for him a form of respect. Yet, Rico never understood the nuance and took this way of addressing him as an insult. The short man sitting next to Sebastian did not react.
"Good." Rico simply uttered and went on observing the building.
They waited for a few more minutes. Alejandro appeared in the front door, seemed to search for something in his pocket, looked at the car parked in front of the building, down the stairs. He raised his look at the dark sky, as if he were expecting a shooting star, heaved a profound sigh and slowly headed for the car.
S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~
As soon as she felt a bit more relaxed, after she had boiled with rage for more minutes than she could count, she headed to the bathroom, took off her clothes and, without going to the trouble of putting them in the laundry basket, she slid her tensed body under the shower and set the water to 'cold'.
When the biting cold sensation became intolerable, she stepped out and quickly slipped into the bath gown and let her body slowly slide onto the floor. She raised her legs against her chest, put her arms around them and rested her head on her knees.
Tomorrow, I will go and talk to HIM. There is enough I can give him for me to get out of this trap.
Tomorrow... Alejandro won't need to see me before lunch time. I can go and pretend I'm gonna do some shopping. They never keep a close watch on me... not yet... I need to take advantage of this.
Tomorrow...
She put on an oversized white cotton sweater and laid down on her bed, her eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling.
After she had made up her mind about the course of action of the next day, she felt too nervous to sleep. All she could think of was the day after... and the decision she would have to make, for her own safety.
S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~