Chapter 28: Infinite

"Hi, mom. Bye, mom."

"Hang on, Ander. Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

Ander halted in his steps, turning his gaze from the front door to his mom, who was poking her head from the kitchen.

"I'm going to visit Reina," he said.

"It's nice of you to go over so often. She must be very bored. Does she know when she can start walking again?"

Shrugging, Ander replied, "We don't really know. She will be seeing the doctor in a couple of days, so hopefully it'll be good news."

"Shall I fix her something for you to bring to Reina? To cheer her up? It'll just take a minute."

Before Ander could protest, his mom disappeared back into the kitchen. He could hear her opening the fridge and then walking over to the oven.

Ander had no choice but to wait. He pursed his lips as he reached for his phone from the pocket to check for messages. He had texted Reina but there hadn't been a reply for the past half hour.

He decided to give her a call.

Reina didn't pick up.

Second try.

Still nothing.

Hmm. Okay, I'll call just one more time.

Finally, Reina answered. "Ander. Hello."

"Hey Reina. Is everything okay?"

A pause. "Yes. Of course."

Ander could tell that something was off from the sound of Reina's voice. "No, really. What's wrong?"

Reina clicked her tongue before saying, "Just first world problems. I'm sick of being stuck here in the pool house, staring at the same fucking walls and seeing the same stupid shows on Netflix. Can someone please just kill me?"

"Well, it's a good thing you're not being overdramatic or anything," Ander teased.

"Honestly, I'm in the worst mood ever. So umm don't come over, okay? I'll be awful company."

"As if I've only ever seen you in your best moods?" Ander continued the teasing.

This elicited a throaty laugh from Reina.

"Besides, my mom is fixing you some food," Ander added. "Don't ask me what it is because I don't know. We'll find out together later."

"I don't know..." Reina hesitated.

"C'mon. I'm already dressed up for the visit."

"Let me guess – a Lacoste polo?"

"Huh. Lucky guess," Ander remarked.

Reina laughed again. "Okay, okay. I'll see you in a bit."

"Okay. Bye, Reina."

Just as Ander hung up, his mom appeared with a rolled up brown paper bag. "Here you go."

Ander took the bag that smelled of warm pastries and soup. "Thanks, mom."

"It's nothing." A wide smile spread on his mom's face.

"What? What's with that smile?" Ander asked curiously.

"You look a lot happier lately, that's all."

Ander coughed self-consciously. "I guess things have been good."

His mom nodded. "With school?"

"Yeah."

"And friends?"

"Mm hmm."

"And romance-wise...?"

That drew another cough out of Ander. "Well..."

"You don't have to be shy about it. It's quite obvious, honestly."

Ander blinked, puzzled. "Obvious how?"

Damn. I thought I'd done a good job in concealing my relationship with Omar. Or is this some sort of powerful mother's instinct?

His mom chuckled. "I've seen the way you look at her. And the way she looks at you."

"She?" Now Ander was even more confused.

"Yes. Reina. She's your girlfriend, isn't she?"

Ander's eyes widened and his lips let out a surprised scoff. "What? No! Reina and I are just friends."

With utmost surprise herself, his mom replied, "Then who are you dating if it's not Reina?"

"Uhh it's still a really new relationship... I'd rather not go into the details right now, Mom."

"Well, as long as you're happy."

"I am." Ander smiled.

When Ander walked through the front door of the pool house and saw Reina sprawled motionless on the sofa like a murder victim, he had to laugh.

"How are you doing, Rein? All good?"

Reina glared at Ander. "It's really cruel to mock me in my moment of deep despair."

If only Mom could see Reina now, Ander thought to himself as he recalled what she had said – something about the way Reina looked at him? What did that even mean anyhow?

"All right, I'll leave the mocking for some other time then," Ander quipped.

"Thank you."

"Can I interest you in some food?" Without waiting for an answer, Ander sat on a part of the sofa that wasn't occupied by Reina, placing the paper bag on the coffee table and began unpacking its content. "We have roasted pumpkin soup. We have tuna empanadas. And ooh, there's even churros."

"Please thank your mom for me, Ander. But I'm not very hungry. Maybe later," Reina muttered moodily.

Ander turned and lifted an eyebrow at her.

"And I know you've been coming around a lot because you feel responsible about my lack of mobility right now," Reina went on. "But honestly, it's okay if you don't – don't visit me. I'll be fine."

"Rein..."

"For the hundredth time, don't call me that. You know I don't do nicknames. And yet you persist. Over and over."

Studying Reina's irritated manner, Ander felt more concerned than anything else. She was lashing out and pushing him away, which was a strangely foreign feeling to him now – things between them had been really good since the night of the accident. Or at least he thought so.

Noticing Ander's silence, Reina sighed and pushed herself up to a sitting position next to Ander. "Look, Ander. I'm sorry. I'm being a bitch. I'm sure you have better stuff to do on a Friday afternoon than to deal with my pissy mood."

"What's on your mind?" he asked, wondering if she would even open up to him. Ander was a private person himself, but Reina was even more so; always so tight-lipped about her personal life.

Reina shrugged her shoulders, wordless.

"It's not Matteo, is it? Is he still harassing you?" For a second, Ander got worried.

"No, no," was Reina's reply. "I mean, I'm still wondering how we're going to find out exactly what he's scheming, but that's about it. He hasn't been trying to contact me or anything."

"Okay." Ander tapped at Reina's wrist gently. "So what's on your mind?"

With eyes cast downward, Reina murmured, "My father's birthday is this weekend. And he won't be here. I don't care, but I know my mom was planning a massive party for him."

"Where is he?"

"On a business trip..." Reina paused, shaking her head. "No, that's a lie. He's actually in Monaco, with his other family."

This took Ander by surprise, but he looked at Reina steadily, encouraging her to go on.

"I'm honestly fucking fine with not having a father in my life, you know? He could stay with that other woman and kid forever, and it wouldn't matter to me." Reina sighed. "My mom though, she still loves him so much and she becomes this... ghost of a vibrant woman I used to know... whenever he's not around."

"You're close to your mom?" Ander asked.

"I don't know. I just don't want her to be sad about someone who isn't worth it." Reina began twirling a strand of her dark hair absent-mindedly with a faraway look in her eyes. "There's no longer a joy for life in her. She used to love planning for things – whether it was gala nights with friends and my father's business associates, or family vacations at exciting, exotic locations."

She continued, "The funny thing is, despite all the extravagance, my favorite memories come from our stays at the family lake house. Fishing. Hiking. Lounging by the pool. Barbecuing. My father would put on a record and pull my mom into an impromptu slow dance in the warm glow of the living room, and I would sit and watch. I remembered thinking how they looked like a real-life Disney royal couple. They were so handsome and so beautiful. And I was the adorable little princess, always in my pretty long dresses and fluffy bunny slippers. I would climb into bed still wearing my dress, and when my mom asked me to change into my pajamas, I would insist that we were on a holiday and I could therefore wear fancy things to sleep."

Reina blinked several times, as if awakening from a dream. "All of that – it's like a different lifetime now. Everything felt infinite then. It's stupid to think about the past when there's no chance of reliving it ever again, isn't it?"

Ander had never seen this side of Reina before – so vulnerable. It was endearing. He almost wanted to give her a hug. Or to bring back those precious moments to her, if only it was physically possible to do so.

"I don't think it's stupid," he told her. "Those are great memories to cherish. Great enough to make you feel like they were infinite."

Reina smiled a little. "But it doesn't do any good to dwell on days that are long gone."

Rubbing his chin in thought, Ander said, "So the lake house – is it unoccupied now?"

"Yeah. My parents haven't used the lake house in years. I'm the only one who goes there sometimes – mostly when I feel the need to get away from things. Why do you ask?"

"Well, instead of holding on to those lake house memories that cause you sadness, I was thinking you could make new memories..."

"How?" Reina glanced at him with a mixture of doubt and intrigue.

Ander flashed her a lopsided grin. "If you're not opposed to the idea, I was thinking we could throw a party at the lake house."

"Are you serious?"

"I don't joke about parties," Ander responded with mock solemnness.

Reina chuckled. "And I don't say no to parties."

"That's my girl. I'll go and make some phone calls first, okay?" Ander rose from the sofa and strode to a corner of the kitchenette.

Reina greeted him with a surprised look when he returned in under ten minutes.

"We're set," Ander announced.

"We are?"

Ander nodded. He bent down and extended a hand to Reina, smiling broadly. "So what do you say, princess? Ready to party?"