Chapter 28
Los Angeles
Two weeks later
“Now, look who’s finally gracing me with her presence!” Marcela teased as she hugged Luna, kissing her cheek. Luna laughed softly, kissing Marcela’s cheek and smiled broadly.
“Yeah, about time, huh?” Luna replied as Marcela released her, taking her hands as she took a step back, giving Luna a fast once over.
“Wow!” She exclaimed, her eyes wide open. “You’re stunning, sweetie!” Marcela added, making Luna flush with her compliment.
“Why, thank you, Marcela. You’re such an angel.” Luna replied, smiling broadly. Marcela laughed hard.
“No, honey. I’m serious. How much have you already lost?” She asked, her eyes wide.
Luna frowned slightly at her question and after a moment she answered nonchalantly. “I don’t know. A couple of pounds or something like that.”
Marcela blinked, shocked. Actually she would have sworn that Luna had lost around 20 pounds (9kg) in a little more than two weeks.
“Are you starving to death or working out like a woman possessed?” Marcela asked as she narrowed her eyes, dropping her tone of voice. “Or is someone else taking care of that for you?” she asked, grinning wickedly. Luna flushed even more and laughed again.
“Do you want to hear the details?” Luna mocked, flashing Marcela with a mischievous gaze.
“Oh, God, no!” Marcela replied, rolling her eyes. “I don’t want to lose my appetite, thank you.” She added and both women burst out laughing hard. After a moment, Marcela turned around and grabbed her purse. “Where do you want to have lunch?” She asked, heading to the elevators.
“What about that little Spanish restaurant at the centre?” Luna answered as she pressed the button of the elevator. Marcela chuckled at her words.
“Have you got an attack of homesickness?” Marcela teased as she entered the lift, pulling out a cigarillo. Luna smiled broadly.
“Yeah, more or less.” She replied, stepping inside. “Memories of the past are coming back faster than I thought.” Luna added and she couldn’t help but her voice sounded tinted with sadness. Marcela noticed and narrowed her eyes.
Two hours later both women were in the dining room of the Spanish restaurant where Luna wanted to have lunch and they had already devoured their delicious meals. Marcela lit up her cigarillo and took a deep puff as Luna did the same with her cigarette.
They had been talking about the casting of “Seth”, Renee’s imminent wedding with Valentino and of course about Luna’s career and the new agency. Marcela wanted to leave for the end the topic of Luna’s and Vin’s relationship.
Marcela couldn’t deny the fact that Vin had changed a little over the last weeks, he definitely seemed more centered. He had been spending almost all his time with Luna, studying his lines of the script and working on his role.
Of course after the pictures of both of them kissing at the RHCP’s party were published the alarms had started to sound already. And even though Vin and Luna had been taking care of being seen clubbing with Valentino and Renee as usual, people was starting to put two and two together.
At least Vin had followed Marcela’s advice and now each time they were out, they were especially careful with their displays of affection. Luna was always dressed in expensive clothes and since she had started to lose weight, the comments about her changed.
A high percentage of Vin Diesel’s fans liked Luna because she seemed more real than any of the other women who had shared Vin’s bed. Even Richard Hopkins, Marcela’s ex husband, called her, asking Marcela if Vin was seriously thinking about settling down.
However, Marcela’s instincts were still screaming in a silent alert and she already smelled trouble. It was just a question of time. Marcela wasn’t worried about their relationship. Watching how Vin and Luna acted when they were surrounded only by their close friends, sooner rather than later, they would take another step. In fact Marcela loved the idea, but for some unthinkable reason, she suspected that everything seemed too good and perfect to be true.
“So, you’re not going to move in with Vin?” Marcela asked as she sipped from her cup of coffee. Luna shook her head ‘no’, smiling.
“I want to take it easy, Marcela. It’s an important decision and neither of us is ready for that step yet.” She replied, flicking the ashes in the ashtray. “I love my independence and I’m spending more time at his place than at my own apartment. But still, I don’t want to run blindly into a too serious relationship with Vin. He’s too changeable.”
Marcela nodded in understanding and glanced at Luna’s right hand from the corner of her eye. No engagement ring yet.
Luna was wearing ‘The black star” on her middle finger and Marcela couldn’t help but grin. Actually Vin was taking it easy too. At this point in the past, Vin had already bought a ring for Judith.
Marcela gave thanks to God silently, rushing things only would cause trouble and she knew full well how impatient Vin was concerning things when he wanted them badly and for any reason he couldn’t have them.
However something more, aside from the ring, caught Marcela’s attention. Luna’s index finger and middle finger showed a slight abrasion similar to a scratch at the level of the knuckles, making the skin looking lightly reddened.
Marcela narrowed her eyes suspiciously and smiling gently, she took Luna’s hand in hers and lifted it to take a closer look.
“I love this ring, Luna. It’s really a beautiful piece of jewellery.” She said, staring at her hand, pretending to be admiring the ring, but in fact she was checking the injury.
Luna tensed and swallowed hard, wincing slightly at the sudden sting in her throat. Marcela noticed it, but pretended she didn’t. Luna had been wincing almost the entire lunch while swallowing her meal.
“Yeah, an old friend gave it to me as a gift a few years ago.” Luna replied, releasing her hand from Marcela’s gentle grip and resting it on her lap under the table. “Vin loves it.” She added, smiling.
At that exact moment a young waiter approached at their table, asking if they would like desserts. Marcela’s eyes widened.
“No way, honey!” she exclaimed, laughing. “A second in my mouth and forever on here.” She said, pointing at her hips, grinning. “I’m too old to be sweating, burning those extra calories while working out my fine ass.” Marcela mocked, winking at the young boy.
The waiter smiled broadly and looked at Luna, waiting to know if she was going to ask for dessert or not.
For a few seconds, Luna frowned deeply, biting her lower lip as if she was struggling with herself and she couldn’t help but a shadow of guilt, flashed in her gaze. It was then and there when suspicions hit Marcela’s gut instincts like a hard kick in her stomach.
The abrasions on her knuckles, the sore throat, the voice more hoarse than usual, the guilt about eating foods full of calories….
Oh, God, no. What I’ve done? Marcela cursed herself silently, fighting the urge to scream and took a deep puff of her cigarillo, doing her best to keep calm.
“I wouldn’t mind a piece of that chocolate cake,” Luna finally said, smiling, but Marcela noticed that her smile didn’t reach her eyes that still sparkled with an emotion that Marcela recognized too well because she had seen it before in herself when she was a teenager. “I’ve got a big guy who is all ready to help me get rid of it later,” Luna added, pulling Marcela out of her painful past memories and after a heartbeat both women burst out laughing.
The young waiter nodded, grinning and turned on his heels to bring the dessert.
“So that’s your secret, sweetie?” Marcela said nonchalantly as she sat up straight again, flicking the ashes of her cigarillo.
Luna tensed all at once, swallowing hard, wincing with her action and Marcela grimaced a little. She had to be careful, this was an extremely delicate matter and Marcela suspected she was walking on thin ice here.
“I mean that’s how you lost weight, honey?” She asked as she lowered the tone of her voice, waggling her brow. “Fucking your big sexy baldy senseless, huh?” In response, Luna looked down at her lap, staring at her hand, chuckling sadly at Marcela’s words and then back up at her.
“What can I say?” Luna whispered, grinning. “He’s all over me 24/7,” she added, winking.
Marcela giggled, but narrowed her eyes, making a mental note to speak with Vin as soon as possible.
Honestly, Marcela wasn’t expecting this sudden change in the curse of the events and she knew full well that she had fucked up this time. Cursing herself silently, Marcela hoped that Vin was able to take care of it. The sooner, the better, before things got out of hand.
The waiter returned with Luna’s piece of chocolate cake. Marcela cleared her throat and watched Luna fighting an inner battle with herself before she finally dug the small fork in it, slicing a small bite.
Marcela narrowed her eyes and changed the subject. “So, tell me, Luna. How is the new agency treating you, honey?” Marcela asked, making herself comfortable. “I have references from Allison; she’s one of the best concerning scriptwriters.”
Luna smiled broadly and started to tell Marcela about Allison, her agent and her relationship with her.
When they both were done, Luna drove Marcela back to her office and headed to her place, driving Vin’s Mercedes.
Luna told Vin that she was going to be working on the soap opera script all afternoon, but Vin made Luna promise him that she would be back at his place before 7pm, spending the night with him. In response, Luna laughed and joked, saying that nothing would be able to stop her, not even her own death.
———–
Vin was in front of a big mirror, practicing different faces and features to use in his role of ‘Seth’ when his cell phone rang. He turned around, picking it up from the table. As soon as he saw the name written on the little screen, Vin grunted annoyed, he had been concentrated on his task.
“Hi, Marcela,” he said, frowning slightly.
“Are you alone?” Marcela’s voice asked with concern in her voice. Vin knit a brow, surprised.
“Yeah, why?” He asked, tilting his head to both sides, cracking the bones in his neck, releasing the tension in his muscles. Marcela heaved a hard sigh and cleared her throat.
“Have you noticed that Luna has lost a lot of weight really fast?” She asked, making herself comfortable in her chair. Vin’s brow arched at once, chuckling.
“Are you calling me to talk about Luna’s weight?” He replied, shaking his head. “You were the one who suggested to us that she should lose a couple of pounds.”
Marcela lit a cigarillo up and took a deep puff, grunting. She should have bit her tongue if she would have known what was coming.
“Answer me, Vin. Have you noticed or not?” she hissed, blowing the smoke through her nose. Vin rolled his eyes, sighing.
“Yeah, Marcela, of course I noticed. Did you forget that we’re sleeping together?” Vin teased, chuckling at his own words. In fact they weren’t sleeping too much lately. Marcela cursed silently, shaking her head. “No wonder though, she’s practically living at my gym, grabbing my set of dumbbells more often that my dick.” He mocked, grinning, knowing that that it wasn’t completely true either.
Vin was having more sex lately with Luna than in all the previous months together with other chicks. Luna seemed to be horny almost 24/7 when she was around him, turning every conversation into a mind-blowing sex session. Vin had never been so active as he had been during the last two weeks.
Marcela shut her eyes, rubbing her forehead, feeling guiltier with every second that passed. She knew full well the reality that was hidden behind Vin’s joke.
“Listen, Vin, I have a bad feeling concerning Luna’s health.” Marcela said, her voice as serious as a heart attack. Vin frowned deeply as his heart started to race inside his chest. By the tone of her voice, he knew Marcela wasn’t kidding.
“Don’t beat around the bush,” he said coldly, his voice a mix of fear and concern. “What the fuck are you talking about?” Just thinking that maybe Luna wasn’t ok was making him feel uneasy and worried as hell.
Marcela took a deep breath and plunged ahead.
“Do you know anything about eating disorders?”
———–
Luna sat Indian style in the middle of the kitchen, looking at the mess around her. Chewing her lower lip, Luna sniffed slightly, blinking her blurry vision as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. Looking down at her trembling hands, she cleaned her tears and got to her feet, walking directly to the bathroom.
When she entered it, Luna closed and locked the door. She pulled off all her clothes and stepped on the scale, looking down. 116 pounds (53kg). Cursing silently she looked back up at herself and stared at her reflection.
Luna felt so guilty that she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. Here she was lying to everybody who meant something to her. She, who had demanded from Vin respect and no more secrets, and in spite of that, here she was keeping this terrible secret from the man who loved her and was showing her his respect.
Right now, Luna felt like dirty shit and all she wanted was to feel better. She only wanted to be able to get over her guilt and self-pity.
“This is the last time, Luna.” She whispered softly as she nodded ‘yes’, trying to reassure herself that it actually would be the last time.
Luna took a deep breath and kneeled in front of the toilet. Hesitantly she inserted her index and middle finger as far as she could reach inside of her mouth, closing her eyes and bent her head.
next…
Secrets 28
Chapter 28
Los Angeles
Two weeks later
“Now, look who’s finally gracing me with her presence!” Marcela teased as she hugged Luna, kissing her cheek. Luna laughed softly, kissing Marcela’s cheek and smiled broadly.
“Yeah, about time, huh?” Luna replied as Marcela released her, taking her hands as she took a step back, giving Luna a fast once over.
“Wow!” She exclaimed, her eyes wide open. “You’re stunning, sweetie!” Marcela added, making Luna flush with her compliment.
“Why, thank you, Marcela. You’re such an angel.” Luna replied, smiling broadly. Marcela laughed hard.
“No, honey. I’m serious. How much have you already lost?” She asked, her eyes wide.
Luna frowned slightly at her question and after a moment she answered nonchalantly. “I don’t know. A couple of pounds or something like that.”
Marcela blinked, shocked. Actually she would have sworn that Luna had lost around 20 pounds (9kg) in a little more than two weeks.
“Are you starving to death or working out like a woman possessed?” Marcela asked as she narrowed her eyes, dropping her tone of voice. “Or is someone else taking care of that for you?” she asked, grinning wickedly. Luna flushed even more and laughed again.
“Do you want to hear the details?” Luna mocked, flashing Marcela with a mischievous gaze.
“Oh, God, no!” Marcela replied, rolling her eyes. “I don’t want to lose my appetite, thank you.” She added and both women burst out laughing hard. After a moment, Marcela turned around and grabbed her purse. “Where do you want to have lunch?” She asked, heading to the elevators.
“What about that little Spanish restaurant at the centre?” Luna answered as she pressed the button of the elevator. Marcela chuckled at her words.
“Have you got an attack of homesickness?” Marcela teased as she entered the lift, pulling out a cigarillo. Luna smiled broadly.
“Yeah, more or less.” She replied, stepping inside. “Memories of the past are coming back faster than I thought.” Luna added and she couldn’t help but her voice sounded tinted with sadness. Marcela noticed and narrowed her eyes.
Two hours later both women were in the dining room of the Spanish restaurant where Luna wanted to have lunch and they had already devoured their delicious meals. Marcela lit up her cigarillo and took a deep puff as Luna did the same with her cigarette.
They had been talking about the casting of “Seth”, Renee’s imminent wedding with Valentino and of course about Luna’s career and the new agency. Marcela wanted to leave for the end the topic of Luna’s and Vin’s relationship.
Marcela couldn’t deny the fact that Vin had changed a little over the last weeks, he definitely seemed more centered. He had been spending almost all his time with Luna, studying his lines of the script and working on his role.
Of course after the pictures of both of them kissing at the RHCP’s party were published the alarms had started to sound already. And even though Vin and Luna had been taking care of being seen clubbing with Valentino and Renee as usual, people was starting to put two and two together.
At least Vin had followed Marcela’s advice and now each time they were out, they were especially careful with their displays of affection. Luna was always dressed in expensive clothes and since she had started to lose weight, the comments about her changed.
A high percentage of Vin Diesel’s fans liked Luna because she seemed more real than any of the other women who had shared Vin’s bed. Even Richard Hopkins, Marcela’s ex husband, called her, asking Marcela if Vin was seriously thinking about settling down.
However, Marcela’s instincts were still screaming in a silent alert and she already smelled trouble. It was just a question of time. Marcela wasn’t worried about their relationship. Watching how Vin and Luna acted when they were surrounded only by their close friends, sooner rather than later, they would take another step. In fact Marcela loved the idea, but for some unthinkable reason, she suspected that everything seemed too good and perfect to be true.
“So, you’re not going to move in with Vin?” Marcela asked as she sipped from her cup of coffee. Luna shook her head ‘no’, smiling.
“I want to take it easy, Marcela. It’s an important decision and neither of us is ready for that step yet.” She replied, flicking the ashes in the ashtray. “I love my independence and I’m spending more time at his place than at my own apartment. But still, I don’t want to run blindly into a too serious relationship with Vin. He’s too changeable.”
Marcela nodded in understanding and glanced at Luna’s right hand from the corner of her eye. No engagement ring yet.
Luna was wearing ‘The black star” on her middle finger and Marcela couldn’t help but grin. Actually Vin was taking it easy too. At this point in the past, Vin had already bought a ring for Judith.
Marcela gave thanks to God silently, rushing things only would cause trouble and she knew full well how impatient Vin was concerning things when he wanted them badly and for any reason he couldn’t have them.
However something more, aside from the ring, caught Marcela’s attention. Luna’s index finger and middle finger showed a slight abrasion similar to a scratch at the level of the knuckles, making the skin looking lightly reddened.
Marcela narrowed her eyes suspiciously and smiling gently, she took Luna’s hand in hers and lifted it to take a closer look.
“I love this ring, Luna. It’s really a beautiful piece of jewellery.” She said, staring at her hand, pretending to be admiring the ring, but in fact she was checking the injury.
Luna tensed and swallowed hard, wincing slightly at the sudden sting in her throat. Marcela noticed it, but pretended she didn’t. Luna had been wincing almost the entire lunch while swallowing her meal.
“Yeah, an old friend gave it to me as a gift a few years ago.” Luna replied, releasing her hand from Marcela’s gentle grip and resting it on her lap under the table. “Vin loves it.” She added, smiling.
At that exact moment a young waiter approached at their table, asking if they would like desserts. Marcela’s eyes widened.
“No way, honey!” she exclaimed, laughing. “A second in my mouth and forever on here.” She said, pointing at her hips, grinning. “I’m too old to be sweating, burning those extra calories while working out my fine ass.” Marcela mocked, winking at the young boy.
The waiter smiled broadly and looked at Luna, waiting to know if she was going to ask for dessert or not.
For a few seconds, Luna frowned deeply, biting her lower lip as if she was struggling with herself and she couldn’t help but a shadow of guilt, flashed in her gaze. It was then and there when suspicions hit Marcela’s gut instincts like a hard kick in her stomach.
The abrasions on her knuckles, the sore throat, the voice more hoarse than usual, the guilt about eating foods full of calories….
Oh, God, no. What I’ve done? Marcela cursed herself silently, fighting the urge to scream and took a deep puff of her cigarillo, doing her best to keep calm.
“I wouldn’t mind a piece of that chocolate cake,” Luna finally said, smiling, but Marcela noticed that her smile didn’t reach her eyes that still sparkled with an emotion that Marcela recognized too well because she had seen it before in herself when she was a teenager. “I’ve got a big guy who is all ready to help me get rid of it later,” Luna added, pulling Marcela out of her painful past memories and after a heartbeat both women burst out laughing.
The young waiter nodded, grinning and turned on his heels to bring the dessert.
“So that’s your secret, sweetie?” Marcela said nonchalantly as she sat up straight again, flicking the ashes of her cigarillo.
Luna tensed all at once, swallowing hard, wincing with her action and Marcela grimaced a little. She had to be careful, this was an extremely delicate matter and Marcela suspected she was walking on thin ice here.
“I mean that’s how you lost weight, honey?” She asked as she lowered the tone of her voice, waggling her brow. “Fucking your big sexy baldy senseless, huh?” In response, Luna looked down at her lap, staring at her hand, chuckling sadly at Marcela’s words and then back up at her.
“What can I say?” Luna whispered, grinning. “He’s all over me 24/7,” she added, winking.
Marcela giggled, but narrowed her eyes, making a mental note to speak with Vin as soon as possible.
Honestly, Marcela wasn’t expecting this sudden change in the curse of the events and she knew full well that she had fucked up this time. Cursing herself silently, Marcela hoped that Vin was able to take care of it. The sooner, the better, before things got out of hand.
The waiter returned with Luna’s piece of chocolate cake. Marcela cleared her throat and watched Luna fighting an inner battle with herself before she finally dug the small fork in it, slicing a small bite.
Marcela narrowed her eyes and changed the subject. “So, tell me, Luna. How is the new agency treating you, honey?” Marcela asked, making herself comfortable. “I have references from Allison; she’s one of the best concerning scriptwriters.”
Luna smiled broadly and started to tell Marcela about Allison, her agent and her relationship with her.
When they both were done, Luna drove Marcela back to her office and headed to her place, driving Vin’s Mercedes.
Luna told Vin that she was going to be working on the soap opera script all afternoon, but Vin made Luna promise him that she would be back at his place before 7pm, spending the night with him. In response, Luna laughed and joked, saying that nothing would be able to stop her, not even her own death.
———–
Vin was in front of a big mirror, practicing different faces and features to use in his role of ‘Seth’ when his cell phone rang. He turned around, picking it up from the table. As soon as he saw the name written on the little screen, Vin grunted annoyed, he had been concentrated on his task.
“Hi, Marcela,” he said, frowning slightly.
“Are you alone?” Marcela’s voice asked with concern in her voice. Vin knit a brow, surprised.
“Yeah, why?” He asked, tilting his head to both sides, cracking the bones in his neck, releasing the tension in his muscles. Marcela heaved a hard sigh and cleared her throat.
“Have you noticed that Luna has lost a lot of weight really fast?” She asked, making herself comfortable in her chair. Vin’s brow arched at once, chuckling.
“Are you calling me to talk about Luna’s weight?” He replied, shaking his head. “You were the one who suggested to us that she should lose a couple of pounds.”
Marcela lit a cigarillo up and took a deep puff, grunting. She should have bit her tongue if she would have known what was coming.
“Answer me, Vin. Have you noticed or not?” she hissed, blowing the smoke through her nose. Vin rolled his eyes, sighing.
“Yeah, Marcela, of course I noticed. Did you forget that we’re sleeping together?” Vin teased, chuckling at his own words. In fact they weren’t sleeping too much lately. Marcela cursed silently, shaking her head. “No wonder though, she’s practically living at my gym, grabbing my set of dumbbells more often that my dick.” He mocked, grinning, knowing that that it wasn’t completely true either.
Vin was having more sex lately with Luna than in all the previous months together with other chicks. Luna seemed to be horny almost 24/7 when she was around him, turning every conversation into a mind-blowing sex session. Vin had never been so active as he had been during the last two weeks.
Marcela shut her eyes, rubbing her forehead, feeling guiltier with every second that passed. She knew full well the reality that was hidden behind Vin’s joke.
“Listen, Vin, I have a bad feeling concerning Luna’s health.” Marcela said, her voice as serious as a heart attack. Vin frowned deeply as his heart started to race inside his chest. By the tone of her voice, he knew Marcela wasn’t kidding.
“Don’t beat around the bush,” he said coldly, his voice a mix of fear and concern. “What the fuck are you talking about?” Just thinking that maybe Luna wasn’t ok was making him feel uneasy and worried as hell.
Marcela took a deep breath and plunged ahead.
“Do you know anything about eating disorders?”
———–
Luna sat Indian style in the middle of the kitchen, looking at the mess around her. Chewing her lower lip, Luna sniffed slightly, blinking her blurry vision as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. Looking down at her trembling hands, she cleaned her tears and got to her feet, walking directly to the bathroom.
When she entered it, Luna closed and locked the door. She pulled off all her clothes and stepped on the scale, looking down. 116 pounds (53kg). Cursing silently she looked back up at herself and stared at her reflection.
Luna felt so guilty that she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. Here she was lying to everybody who meant something to her. She, who had demanded from Vin respect and no more secrets, and in spite of that, here she was keeping this terrible secret from the man who loved her and was showing her his respect.
Right now, Luna felt like dirty shit and all she wanted was to feel better. She only wanted to be able to get over her guilt and self-pity.
“This is the last time, Luna.” She whispered softly as she nodded ‘yes’, trying to reassure herself that it actually would be the last time.
Luna took a deep breath and kneeled in front of the toilet. Hesitantly she inserted her index and middle finger as far as she could reach inside of her mouth, closing her eyes and bent her head.
next…