Holly
Three Days Later
I’m in Dare and Ang’s old condo. I was flown to an airport after everything happened and then me, Dare, and Tommy got on a charter to California and then we took a commercial flight and Dare took me back to their house, where Ang was waiting.
I stayed two nights without hearing anything. It was torture. It felt longer than the five weeks in Costa Rica, almost longer than the nine months in Tasmania.
And then Dare told me that Alessandro was on his way to me and that he offered their condo so we’d have our own space. Alessandro accepted.
Dare said they had been using it as a corporate rental since buying the house, but he said it’s ours for as long as we want it.
I’m on pins and needles here in the condo waiting for him to turn up. I want to know he’s okay. Until today, I didn’t even know if he’d be coming back. I’ve been in the pits of despair, feeling like half of me is missing.
Tino and Tino’s brother Nino are here with me until he gets here.
“Am I in danger? Is Alessandro?” I gasp.
“We don’t think so,” Dare tried to settle me down, “But we’re just being careful. Sandro had very few resources at the end, looks like he came back because Lex cleared all his money out of his accounts one by one and he had next to nothing when he got back. But Lex wants you kept safe. It’s just a precaution.”
So, he has given me more than a passing thought, then? I guess you could say I’m feeling a little bit bitter. I haven’t heard from him and it’s been three days since his life was turned upside down. I was beginning to wonder if I was even a factor for him anymore.
Ang and Dare leave me at the condo with Tino and his brother, but before they go, I hug my sister and say, “You look really pregnant today.”
“I feel really pregnant,” she says. “I have my ultrasound this week. I’m so sick and getting big so fast. I think I’ve got more than one baby in here. They said that could happen with the fertility treatments.”
I try to smile. I have no idea whether I pull it off or not. I’m happy for her, I really am, but inside I’m just so destroyed. Three days of being frozen out. Three days of thinking of all he’s been through. I’m just so damn sad.
Dare told me that Alessandro’s father is in custody and that he won’t ever see the light of day. He may even face the death penalty. I’m assuming Alessandro has had to do a bunch of stuff for the authorities. I also imagine he wanted to be alone to mourn his mother. Dare told me an autopsy was being done and it’d take weeks for the full results but preliminary results were looking like she had cancer all through her body.
She knew she was dying. I could see illness on her when I first laid eyes on her. She knew she was dying and she wanted to help put an end to Alessandro’s suffering. I imagine she didn’t want to see him watch her wither. I also saw some strange thing pass between her and her husband and I suspect Mr. Romero knew his wife was dying, too. With her death, he’d lose his leverage with his son. And if his son had drained his accounts and got word to him that he’d been destroying his business? I don’t know what Mr. Romero thought he’d accomplish by coming back. Maybe he had no place else to go.
Ang said that Sarah had stopped by and stocked the condo with groceries for us and Ang told me Luc & her husband Ed’s restaurant was on speed dial for Italian food delivery.
After they go, I immediately get started on making spaghetti and meatballs for him.
***
It’s late, after midnight. Tino and Nino are watching a soccer game on TV and I’ve fed them and basked in their compliments. They’re Italian so I feel like it counts for something that they’ve each eaten two plates.
Still no sign of Alessandro, so I’ve decided that even though I don’t know how long we’re staying, I’ll settle in. Some of mine and Alessandro’s things were delivered from his house in Mexico as well as from the things I’d brought to and gotten while in Costa Rica, so I unpack them.
I’m putting toiletries away in the master ensuite bathroom when I hear talking and the door closing. I wait ten minutes, hoping he’s gonna come to me. He doesn’t.
I step out, to look in case I was wrong and he’s not actually here yet. I see that Tino and Nino are gone and I see the back of Alessandro, he’s outside on the balcony, wearing a suit, smoking a cigarette, a bottle of booze in his hand. He holds it up by the neck and drinks straight from the bottle and then slumps, forearms on the balcony railing.
I make my approach and open the door. He glances over his shoulder. “Go to bed,” he mutters and takes a drag off the cigarette.
And that really fucking hurts.
I stand there a moment, not knowing what to say.
“Please, Holly.” He groans and pinches the bridge of his nose.
My heart sinks even further.
“I love you. I’m here for you. Okay?” I say, a frog in my throat. I clear it.
His answer is putting the bottle to his lips again. I get nothing else.
I step back and close the door and do as I’m told. My heart hurts. He didn’t come to me and he doesn’t want me in his orbit right now.
I go to bed but I go to bed naked. Hoping.
I lie there for hours until I finally pass out, I guess, because I wake up in the morning and I’m still alone. It’s early but the sun is up.
I get dressed in a tracksuit and put my hair up. I wash my face and brush my teeth.
I go out and expect to see some bodyguard there and him gone, but instead I see him asleep on the couch, still in his clothes, his shoes even. A three quarters empty bottle of booze on the coffee table. My lip quivers. I just wanna curl up with him, feel his warmth, give him comfort.
I see a fluffy throw over the side of the opposite couch, so I shake it out and gently lay it over him. His eyes open and he sits up, startled, looking ready to murder someone.
He looks rough. The whites of his eyes are webbed with little red veins.
“Sorry, to startle you.” I say.
He swallows and puts his palms over his eyes, his fingers threaded into the hair on top. He rubs and then stretches.
“Can I get you anything?” I ask.
He shakes his head and gets up and goes to the bedroom. I follow close behind but he shuts the door in my face. It startles me.
I stand there staring at the closed door, a lump in my throat. I don’t even know how long I stand there. It feels like an eternity. I back away and go out to the balcony and lean against the railing, looking out at the waking city. Birds are chirping. People ten storeys below are walking to work, walking their dog, rushing off to wherever. Life is going on around us, but his whole world looks different today. What will mine look like?
I go back inside and make coffee and then sit out there and drink it, staring out at the city.