Page 53 of Game of Revenge
“He will be okay, right?” she asked, tears falling down her cheeks.
“I will do everything I can,” I admitted. “And I welcome your help,” I conceded in an effort to make peace—whatever it took for Alejandro to get better. “But no one, and I mean no one, can know we are here. His life is in danger.”
Elena looked at me with scared and questioning eyes. I thought it was best to tell her this. I wasn’t sure I could trust her, but her sorrow and concern for Alejandro seemed candid, and I didn’t want the other people in the neighborhood to know we were there.
“Está bien,” accepted Elena.
I was torn. I didn’t want to owe this woman anything, but we needed groceries. I wanted to have some food for Alejandro to eat. I could ask her to stay with him, but the idea of leaving her alone with him made the hair on the back of my neck rise.
“Would you be able to go to the mercado? He has to eat,” I explained, hoping she would be willing to run the errand.
“You go. I will stay here with my boyfriend,” she said, her hands on her hips. “I don’t know how to drive,” she added with a satisfied smirk on her face.
I wanted to scratch that stupid smile off her lips. But I didn’t think I had a choice. I had to accept Elena’s idea. That would allow me to call the doctor. I gave Alejandro more water and took his temperature again. It seemed to be going down, and he was sweating a little less. I caressed his face. “I will be right back,” I whispered before I headed back out to Casa del Carmen.
The grocery store was very nice and had everything. I bought some meat, fish, taco shells, bread, fruits, leafy greens, spinach, coffee, and everything needed to make some soup and solid meals for the week. I still had a good amount of money left from his wallet.
One of the employees was nice enough to help me put all the provisions in the car. I drove back like the devil was behind me. My hands were sweating, my heart racing as I imagined Elena touching him or kissing him. Alejandro was an asshole, like all other men, with countless girls adoring him, none of them enough to satisfy him. And he apparently expected me to be one more in his little harem.
I realized that this was probably the first time in my life that I felt real, raw, almost blinding jealousy. None of the men I had dated previously had ever elicited such a visceral reaction from me, likely because I was never really emotionally involved. Most of those men had been handpicked by Richard himself, which was likely a big part of the problem in the first place. In my anger, I almost forgot to call the doctor. He was pleased with the small progress and made himself available if I needed anything else.
When I got back to the house, I called out Elena’s name so she could come help me, but she refused to join me. It had only taken about an hour, but I was concerned that Alejandro would wake up and decide to go look for me, so I moved as fast as I could, filling the kitchen with the provisions. I had bought a good amount of already cooked food, anticipating not having time to prepare anything from scratch for a day or two. I quickly heated up some fresh caldo de pollo and added some fresh spinach and cooked beans. I grabbed one of the Gatorades and the vitamins I had bought and hurried upstairs.
Elena was there, of course, sitting next to Alejandro, caressing his face, holding his hand. As I got closer, I noticed that his eyes were slightly open. He looked at me and smiled. I ignored Elena and went straight to him. Elena reluctantly got up.
I put a big pillow behind his back. He was still dozing off, but I brought the bowl with me and sat next to him, urging him to drink some of the soup. He didn’t want to eat, but he didn’t have the strength to fight me, so he let me feed him. My heart melted with relief when I saw his usual mocking smile slowly draw on his face. He was staring at me now, clearly enjoying being taken care of.
I almost jumped when I heard Elena scoff, having forgotten that she was still in the room. She suddenly walked to Alejandro, standing between me and him.
“Mi amor, que te paso?” she asked, almost crying, grabbing his face between her hands.
“I’m okay, Elena,” answered Alejandro awkwardly. “I will call you, I promise, pero ya dejame descansar.”
Elena lingered a little bit more but got the message that he wanted her to go and let him rest.
“I think you should leave your keys here,” I said before I could stop myself. “It is safer that way—for her and for us,” I doubled down, looking back at Alejandro, trying to hide my real motive.
The last thing I wanted was for her to just appear out of nowhere. Alejandro raised his eyebrows and looked like he was hiding a smile. I was divided between pettiness and embarrassment for my behavior.
“Tiene razon,” he agreed, never losing sight of me. Elena wasn’t budging.
“It’s safer for you, Elena. I have people trying to harm me, as you can see,” he added, looking at her for a few seconds before turning his gaze back toward me.
Elena’s eyes grew wide. She threw her keys at the bed and finally left, slamming the door behind her without a word.
I continued to feed Alejandro silently, avoiding his mocking gaze the best I could. I felt flustered and could feel my cheeks burning with satisfaction and shame at the same time. When I could no longer take it, I got up.
“I think you can feed yourself the rest of the soup.”
“I much prefer when you feed it to me,” he teased with his usual smooth, deep voice.
The smirk was fully drawn on his face now. He was surely feeling better already. I ignored him, looking out the window. I hadn’t realized how close the house was to the ocean. I could see the waves gleaming under the sun.
“You like the view?”
“It's perfect,” I whispered almost to myself. “I find the ocean mesmerizing. A fascinating and terrifying reminder of how lucky we are to live but how insignificant we are in the world.”
“Yes, this house is very different from the house I grew up in, but the view, the smell…it’s all those little things that take me back,” he said. We remained peacefully in silence, not wanting to ruin the moment.