Chapter 68

Chapter 68: Meeting Again Even Eason being here would be less of a surprise for me. Mr. Ramirez needs to talk to me? But about what? What could possibly bring him from the east coast to the west? I swallow hard and step aside, whispering under my breath,“ Please come in.”

Mr. Ramirez makes his way through the door and then nods at Liam, who still seems very confused at the moment.

“Umm Nat? Who is this again? Liam asks me with a frown.

Right at this moment, dad and Hallie follow us out of the dining room. Dad freezes the moment he lays eyes on Mr. Ramirez-of course he recognizes his ex-wife’s current husband.

“Sorry for intruding,” Mr. Ramirez says calmly, his eyes glancing around the room. “I just need a moment with Natalia.”

“What? Why?” Dad takes an instinctive step forward and snaps. “Did-did something happen to Alicia?”

“Oh no, it’s nothing like that. Nothing urgent. I really just need 5 minutes alone with Natalia,” Mr. Ramirez says.

I’m slightly relieved hearing that mom is ok, but it makes me even more curious about what he is going to say to me.

Eventually Hallie breaks the silence, “Nat dear, maybe you can use the laundry room? It’s just around the corner… Liam do you mind—”

WW “Yeah sure. Follow me please,” Liam immediately nods.

He leads us to the small laundry room down the hall and opens the door for us. Before I follow Mr.

Ramirez inside, he stops, me grabbing my arm and quickly whispers to my ear, “I’m right outside, OK?”

I know he is worried, which is really sweet. So I smile at him gratefully and close the door behind me.

Then we are finally alone, in this dark little room with a musty smell hanging in the air. I’m still weighing my words, but Mr. Ramirez simply goes straight to the point:

“You and Eason were together.”

And just like that, like a huge iron hammer smashing right into my face, my entire world crumbles down at once. A thousand emotions surge through me, and the most obvious one is guilt.

This is the man who protected me, fed and sheltered me, brought me into his family and treated me like his daughter. I still remembered that he drove me to school himself on the first day of school, just to make sure that I wasn’t overwhelmed by anxiety.

LI But how did I repay him? I slept with his son.

“Is it true?”

I hear him asking me again.

There’s a lump in my throat, making it impossible for me to say a full word. So I can only choke and nod, my eyes filled with tears of shame.

I don’t know how he found out about this…but the least I can do now is stay honest and own up to my own fault.

ILIST I hear him sigh deeply in the dark and says lowly, “Natalia, I’m really sorry.”

1 TV I burst into tears almost instantly.

“No! No please don’t say sorry…I-I should be the one to apologize,” I cry and stutter under my breath, my body trembling from head to toe. “I let you down and I-I don’t know what I was thinking…I’m so ashamed of myself…” He takes a quick step forward and gently pats my shoulder, like what he did on the first day of my school to cheer me up. I hear his deep and soft voice in the dark saying, “Don’t feel bad about yourself. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s Eason’s, not yours. You two are young kids, and kids like you make mistakes. We just need to fix those mistakes.”

1 LI Then he hands me a handkerchief and waits me to calm down a bit before continuing, “The day you left Boston, Eason confessed everything to me. He was still trying to come to Miami to get you, but I locked him up and took his phone away.”

Oh, so that’s why I haven’t heard from Eason at all, no phone call, no messages. I was slightly shocked by his unusual calmness, but now I see the reason.

“Thank you Sir,” I murmur, wiping the corner of my eyes with his handkerchief. “And that’s working, right?

As long as we are kept apart like this, he will forget about me eventually.”

LLLL I say this while trying to ignore the obvious pain in my heart.

Yet to my surprise, Mr. Ramirez shakes his head heavily, “It works fine at first. But Eason kept trying to escape and got into a few fights with the bodyguard. A week ago, he got badly injured during the fight and fell from the third floor.”

I clamp my mouth shut to stop a gasp.

Oh my god Eason….he is crazy! “And that’s not the worst,” Mr. Ramirez adds. “He refused to work with the doctor not let anyone treat his injuries, unless I agree to let him out of the apartinent.”

Suddenly, I understand why Mr. Ramirez came this far to talk to me.

“He—”I struggle for air and say through my gritted teeth.” He is on this way to here, right?”

“…I’m afraid so. Yes.”

I suddenly feel my head really light and the whole world start spinning around me. I’m not ready to face him. I worked really hard to put him behind me just a little bit and seeing him again will set everything back to square one.

“Natalia! Are you OK?”

Mr. Ramirez quickly holds me before I drop to the ground. I cling to his arm and take a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment.

“If you feel that this is too hard, I can—”

“No I’m fine,” I interrupt him with a low voice. “Maybe we need a closure.”

“OK, if you are sure about this. He will be here in the next few days, so be ready. My men will stay close nearby. If he overreacts, they will take him away by force.” I nod stiffly. My mind remains a blank. “Let’s go back out there. I’m sure your family is getting worried.”

LLI LL He opens the laundry room’s door and lets me go out first. Liam is right outside, leaning against the wall and waiting for him. He stands straight the moment he sees me walking out.

“Are you crying?” he asks with a frown, shooting a glare at Mr. Ramirez. “Did something happen?”.

“No it’s alright,” I shake my head. “Mr. Ramirez is leaving. Oh, and your handkerchief.”

I want to return the handkerchief to him but it is covered with stains right now. So my hand hangs awkwardly in the air.

“You can keep it,” Mr. Ramirez gives me a faint smile. “Don’t miss your mom. She will be fine. And if you need any school paperwork done in Boston, you can always call me.”

LLLLL I get it. He is asking me not to come back to Boston anytime soon.

“Thank you,” I murmur.

Mr. Ramirez bids us goodbye and heads to the front gate. Before he exits the door, he suddenly turns around to me and says, “Natalia, always remember what’s right and what’s wrong. Don’t let him get to you again.”

He is right. I can’t afford to go through that painful heartbreak again.

***

After Mr. Ramirez left, my family immediately gathers around. I can tell they are worried. “What does he want?” dad growls. “Dragged you into the little room and made you cry like this…I shouldn’t have allowed him.”

After my previous emotional outburst, I just feel so exhausted right now. Letting out a huge sigh, I wave dismissively at my dad, “Don’t blame Mr. Ramirez. I’m fine.”

“Then what were you crying for?!” I ignore dad and turn to Liam, “Does our date still count?” It takes him a second to realize what I’m talking about, and then he quickly nods, “Of course.”

Dad is about to say something else, but Hallie stops him, “GO have some fun you two.”

She pushes him back to the dining room, giving us an opening to escape from his interrogation.

Liam hails a cab and takes me to a local bar. He apparently knows the bartender and manages to get us a table despite the crowd.

“Here you go,” he sets two cups of beers and some snacks down. “Hope you drink beer.”

“Yes that’s fine,” I groan frustrated, “Wait, I should buy you that drink.”

He chuckles lightly, “You can take the next round.”

I raise my glass and take a few big sips. The sudden rush of alcohol clouds my mind and makes the rest of the world sightly out of focused, which is just what I need right now.

I wish I can just stay drunk for the next few days so that I don’t need to face Eason again.

“Hey,” I hear Liam asking me across the table. “Mind if I ask you a question?”

I hiccup and shrug, “I knew these drinks aren’t free. Go ahead.”

“So…is Eason your stepfather’s son?” he asks.

Well, apparently, he has been ears-dropping.

“Yes,” I pour another mouth full of beer down my throat and add. “He is my stepbrother just like you.”

He hesitates for a second and then falters, “So…so you two have been—”

LL “You’ve heard everything, don’t you,” I smile bitterly. “Go ahead and judge me. Yes, I slept with my stepbrother.”

“No! Why would I judge you? You guys aren’t related,” he pauses and stares at me, his eyes brimming with eagerness.” Just like us.”

My heart skips a beat as I quickly look elsewhere to avoid his hot gaze. Luckily, he doesn’t say anything else and stands up offering his hand to me, “You want to dance?”

I place my hand in his palm and smiles, “Why not.” Right now, I just need to put all my worries and troubles behind me.

He leads me into the dancefloor and holds my waist. He is really tall, so his hot breath sprays right behind the sensitive area behind my ears. I flinch a bit and slightly tilt my head, which would seem like that I’m hugging him back.

“Natalia?” Liam’s low and hoarse rings above my head, “So I was thinking,”

Suddenly, the rest of his words is interrupted by a huge crackling noise outside the dancefloor.

Everyone jumps and turns their heads to look, including me and Liam. I hear a few gasps of shock outside the crowd and then everyone starts scuttling out of the way.

I can’t believe my eyes.

It’s Eason, standing by the edge of the dancefloor with a broken half glass bottle in his hand.

His hair is messy, and his face covered by bruises and scratches. His left hand is still in a cast.

He seems terrible.

We lock eyes with each other across the room, my eyes full of panic and his eyes bloodshot.

Then the next second, he suddenly raises the sharp glass and starts striding towards us!