Secrets 80

Chapter 80

Luna’s condo. New York.

For the last ten minutes, Violet had been watching in complete silence how Luna had been digging her fork in her salad. Luna had stopped eating a while ago and was just making a little tomato dizzy, rolling the small thing over and over; her mind seemed to be miles away.

“It’s not that I mind eating in a comfortable silence, but you’re awfully quiet today,” Violet smiled teasingly as she reached out, placing her hand on Luna’s.

Luna blinked fast, snapping out of her thoughts and met Violet’s concerned gaze. She was only now realizing that she had been lost in thought for who knew how much time, completely forgetting that she wasn’t alone. It was an impolite gesture and Luna blushed in embarrassment.

“Oh, God, I’m sorry, you must think I’m a terrible host,” she hastened to say, offering an apologetic smile.

“It’s okay, Luna, really,” Violet reassured her, squeezing her hand softly. “I know you have a lot of things going on in your head.”

“That’s not an excuse,” Luna protested, “I’m really sorry,” she sighed hard and Violet smiled in understanding.

“Tell me, what’s bothering you for real?”

“Nothing, it’s just that I’m a bit tired, that’s all,” Luna forced a wide smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m not sleeping too well lately.”

It wasn’t a lie but it wasn’t the truth either. Violet didn’t believe the younger woman for a second.

“I have no doubt that you’re brilliant writer, Luna, but you’re not a very good liar, you know?” Violet smiled, patiently waiting for Luna to tell her the truth.

“Yeah, I can’t lie, worth shit,” Luna whined a bit causing Violet to chuckle. Right now, Luna looked like an insecure little girl more than a self-confident grown up woman. Violet’s motherly instincts kicked in full force.

“You know you can trust me with whatever is bothering you, don’t you?” The older woman’s voice sounded so comforting that Luna felt like crying. Violet’s gentle gestures reminded Luna of Delora. Damn! She was only now realizing how much she missed Vin’s mother.

Heaving a hard sigh, Luna smiled sadly. “My lawyer phoned me; it seems that my green card is ready.”

Violet blinked a bit disconcerted. That should be great news because now Luna would be able to get US citizenship, legalizing her situation in the country. However, judging by the expression written all over the younger woman’s face and how Luna’s eyes sparkled with a deep sadness Violet realized that for whatever reason, Luna didn’t see it that way.

“I take that getting your green card doesn’t make you happy?” Violet ventured to ask.

“Well, it’s not like that, exactly. It makes me happy, but…” Luna let out a heavy sigh, “Vin and I agreed that we’d file the divorce as soon as my situation here was legalized.”

“Oh,” Violet reached out, taking Luna’s other hand in hers. “And you still want to divorce him?”

“I don’t know anymore,” Luna shrugged her shoulders. “Many things have changed since we agreed on that, you know? And we haven’t talked in weeks, so I’m not sure what he would want to do either,” she confessed truthfully.

Violet nodded in understanding.

“Back then I had just lost our baby and I was so angry and so upset that the only thing I wanted was to be done with him once and for all…but now…” Luna trailed off, sighing heavily. “I miss my husband. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I do, I miss that fucker,” she chuckled sadly, “and I hate myself for needing him, for wanting him to be here with me, but I can’t stop feeling that way. I love that asshole and I’m tired of pretending that I don’t care about him.”

Once more Violet nodded in understanding. Right after Carla, her daughter, died, she and her husband Tom had gone through their own personal living hell, blaming each other for the painful loss. Their marriage hadn’t seemed half stable back then and it had required a lot of effort to work things out. Then, Tom had died too and Violet had always felt as though she had been wasting time, fighting, instead of enjoying what would turn out to be the last months of her husband’s life. If only she would have known…

“Does he love you?” Violet asked softly.

Luna chuckled sadly. “In his own weird, self-centred, fucked up way, he always loved me, but,” she sighed hard, “I don’t know if love will be enough anymore.”

“Luna, if still there’s love then everything else can be fixed,” Violet smiled warmly. “You and Vin went through hell and back, and I’m sure you two can find a way to work things out.”

“We shouldn’t have gotten married at all; it was a mistake,” Luna released one of her hands from Violet’s and rubbed her forehead. “We weren’t nearly ready to assume such a commitment.”

“Maybe,” Violet conceded, “but it doesn’t make too much sense to throw in the towel if you both feel that there’s hope for your marriage, don’t you think?”

Luna smiled sadly, “I guess so.”

Violet squeezed Luna’s hand in hers. “Then you should work things out with Vin, Luna,” she smiled warmly. “Save your marriage even if your husband is not the perfect husband you dreamt about.”

Luna thought about Violet’s words; they indeed made sense. But she had done so many things that were wrong, that now Luna wasn’t sure if she had the guts to tell Vin.

Her cell phone rang, pulling Luna out of her thoughts and, glancing at the little screen, she saw who was calling.

“It’s Vin,” Luna stared at her cell phone a bit paralyzed. All of a sudden she wasn’t sure what to do.

“Are you going to answer?”

“I should, shouldn’t I?” Luna replied in a shaky voice.

In response, Violet nodded and squeezing Luna’s hand once more, she stood. “I’ll go make us coffee,” she exited the salon and headed towards the kitchen, leaving Luna privacy to talk with her husband.

———–

Valentino’s mother’s place. New York.

Valentino had folded and unfolded the piece of paper Luna had given him more than a dozen times. Inside she had written down a name, James Haltom, and a telephone number in LA.

It seemed that this James Haltom guy was a private detective that Thomas, Luna’s lawyer, had recommended to her when he had asked Thomas for someone trustworthy who could help Val in his research for his father.

Val had agreed to contact the private detective as soon as possible but he couldn’t stop replaying within his head the conversation he had had with Gordon and George earlier that day.

Vin had given his approval for Val’s documentary, and even though it wasn’t official because the administrative council of the company had yet to have an extraordinary meeting, ‘ORNY’ would produce it. Paul, Samantha, Luna, Gordon, George and Vin had agreed to back up the project without reservations; the meeting would be a mere formality.

It seemed, according to what Gordon and George had told Val, that they had even sized up some TV channels and there were several that had shown interest in buying the documentary. Some of them had even offered to co-produce it too. So, the pre-production could start whenever Val and his family members were ready.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Valentino pinched the bridge of his nose. Finding that not even one of his siblings wanted to have anything to do with his searching had been a painful blow to Val; he hadn’t expected for them to jump up and down in excitement, of course, but realizing that he wouldn’t have their support either was a bitter pill to swallow.

Lucia, Val’s mother, entered the kitchen, carrying two grocery bags and placed them onto the countertop. She realized that her son was so lost in thought that he hadn’t even noticed that she was back.

Frowning in concern, Lucia closed the distance between them and, bending forward, she kissed his temple. “Valentino, mijo, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Val offered his mother a fleeting smile that didn’t fool Lucia for a second before he averted his gaze, staring down at the table top.

Sighing softly, Lucia took a seat next to her son. “This is because of how Ramon and the others reacted, si (isn’t it)?” As she spoke, Lucia stroked Val’s hair affectionately the way she had done many times for years.

Reluctantly Val nodded, but said nothing.

“Ay, mijito,” Lucia pulled Val’s head to her, letting out a heavy sigh. “You have to understand them, Valentino,” she spoke softly as she kept caressing his hair.

“And I do, ma, but why can’t they understand me in return? Why can’t they offer me their support?” Val straightened on his chair, meeting his mother’s eyes. “Is it that hard for all of them to see that I need to find mi papá to know why he abandoned us?”

Lucia cupped her son’s face in her hands. “It is important for you, si (isn’t it)?”

Val nodded. “I have all these questions that need an answer, ma,” he heaved a hard sigh. “I’m gonna be a father too and I can’t understand why a man would leave his family behind without even saying a word?” Val’s desperate voice caused his mother’s heart to clench in pain.

“Because he was a loser,” Roberto’s voice sneered as he stood at the entrance of the kitchen.

Val’s head swung around in time with every muscle in his powerful frame tensing. “What did you say?” Glaring openly at his cousin, Val tried to stand, only to find that his mother was squeezing his shoulder, pressing down hard.

“Roberto!” Roberto’s mother, Antonia, glared at her son as she entered the kitchen, heading directly to her sister. “Lucia,” Antonia smiled apologetically, kissing Lucia’s cheeks and then turned her attention to Val, kissing his forehead. Turning around, she once more glared at her son. “Apologize now, Robert!”

Roberto chuckled. “Why? It’s not like what I said isn’t true, mom,” he said evenly as a small smirk tugged up the corner of his mouth.

“No me importa. ¡Discúlpate ahora mismo! (I don’t care, apologize right now!)” Antonia replied sternly.

Roberto grumbled at hearing his mother scolding him and in Spanish no less! His smirk vanished in seconds and he straightened his back. “If someone deserves to be shown in a documentary that’s my dad, at the end he was the one working his ass off to feed this starving loser and his siblings!” Roberto tipped his chin in Val’s direction; his eyes sparkling with unveiled disdain.

“Roberto!” Antonia gasped astonished at hearing what her son had said. It wasn’t just his words but the hatred that they held.

“Puto pendejo de mierda…” Valentino tried to get to his feet; he was going to make his cousin swallow his teeth and then he’d made sure that the cardiologist pissed blood for at least one week.

Once more, Lucia pressed down hard, digging her fingers into the skin of her son’s shoulder with such strength that Val end up hissing in pain. He was sure she had drawn blood even through the fabric of his t-shirt.

“Fuera de mi casa, (Get out of my house),” Lucia’s voice sounded as cold as ice itself and even Valentino cringed inwardly at hearing his mother. “Y no vuelvas, nunca mas (and don’t come back, ever),” she added staring at her nephew’s eyes.

Roberto chuckled, not in the least affected by his aunt’s words or his mother’s hurtful gaze. “Fine, but you all know that’s the plain truth,” and with that he turned around, exiting the house.

“I’m so sorry, Lucia,” Antonia sighed hard, taking her sister’s hand in hers. “Valentino, please, don’t bear a grudge against Roberto,” she begged her nephew. “He’s stressed out because of work overload and under a lot of pressure.”

Val gritted his teeth but said nothing as he took his mother’s other hand in his, squeezing it gently. “Ma, are you okay?” Slowly he got to his feet, never averting his gaze from his mother’s.

In response, Lucia nodded, smiling sadly. “Of course, mijo,” she cupped Val’s face, stroking his cheek warmly. “Now, go see your wife, I have to talk with your aunt.”

Val nodded and, pulling his mother to him, he held her tightly. “I love you, Ma,” he whispered, kissing her cheek.

“I love you too, mijito,” Lucia smiled, kissing her son’s forehead. “Dios me lo bendiga, (God bless you,)” she let go of him and turned around, staring at her sister’s face.

Lucia waited until his son was out of earshot and then pointed to one of the chairs. “Siéntate, Antonia, (Seat,)” she ordered her younger sister, all trace of warmness gone from her features and her voice, replaced by an iced stare that caused Antonia to shudder.

“Listen, I…I’m sorry Roberto talked that way, Lucia,” Antonia fidgeted nervously with the hem of her blouse. “You know that”

Lucia didn’t let her sister finished whatever she was going to say. “I’m going to give Valentino the letters Miguel sent me.”

Antonia gasped but said nothing; she didn’t dare after what her son had said.

———-

Luna’s condo. New York.

Violet exited the kitchen, carrying in her hands a tray with two mugs of coffee and headed directly to the terrace where she found Luna. Her gaze was once more fixed on a spot only she could see and Violet cleared her throat a little to announce her presence.

Luna lifted her face, smiling. “Thank you,” she took one of the mugs and sipped form it while Violet made herself comfortable across Luna.

“It’s nothing,” the older woman returned the smile. “So how was it?” she asked, picking her mug.

“It seems that there are some technical problems with the shooting,” Luna drew in a slow breath, letting out the air slowly. “So Vin is coming for at least two weeks.”

“Well, that’s good news,” Violet smiled gently. “When is he coming, exactly?”

Luna sighed softly. “Tonight.”

next…