The Woman at the Docks - Jessica Gadziala Page 0,57
not do details when you talked in places that were often wired by the feds.
"Justice will be served," I told her, shrugging. "Does that bother you?"
"I think it should be televised. And then maybe the other sick assholes of the world would think twice about acting on their disgusting fantasies. Sorry. That was a little harsh."
"Just the right kind of harsh, I think," I countered. "Wine?" I asked, going over to the rack.
That's a rhetorical question, right?" she asked, piling the filling onto the pitas.
"What goes well with arepa?" I asked, looking over the choices.
"Alcohol," she said, rolling her eyes.
So then we ate arepas on the couch while steadily avoiding the news, not wanting to subject ourselves to more of that, knowing it was going to be a part of our lives for several days to come yet. Sometimes, you just needed a little distance to keep your sanity.
After dinner, we washed and dried side-by-side, talking about what we wanted to put on the menu for the next day, how long a work day I would have, who Lorenzo was and why he was coming—with some details spared, of course—and then both got ready for bed and fell into each other's arms, each other's bodies.
And all of it, every banal detail, every moment with her felt right.
There was no other way to put it.
It felt right.
I'd spent my entire life without someone by my side, in my home. But after just a few days with Romy there, I couldn't imagine it any other way.
I couldn't stand the thought of going back to how it was before, to not come home to her, cook with her, eat with her, go to bed with her.
I didn't have long, but I wanted to take every spare moment I could find before we found Celenia to prove to Romy that we could make this work, that what we had was something special, that I wanted a future with her. And not just a couple days or a couple weeks.
I wanted a forever kind of thing.
With her.
Chapter Thirteen
Romy
I couldn't stop thinking about the Disney movie Hercules.
It was one of the few movies we had lying around when we were kids, and I remembered countless hours of Celenia asking my mom to put it on again it so she could watch it while my mother and I pleaded with her to watch The Little Mermaid or Snow White because we were so tired of hearing her belt out the words to all the songs.
But the songs, in particular, were what were on my mind as the days ticked down to when the next container was supposed to arrive.
In particular, the one Megara sings about not wanting to say she's in love.
While the Muses are singing along like 'Who the hell do you think you're fooling, girl?'
I guess it was on my mind because I was pretty sure I was falling for Luca.
But I couldn't seem to let myself admit it.
Because, really, what would it accomplish to do so?
We would still be from two completely different worlds. His, one of danger and uncertainty and family and wealth. Mine, one of boringness and safety and lower middle-classness.
A lamb could fall in love with a shark, but how could they ever build a life together with an ocean between them?
And that was another thing.
My work, my apartment, my life was in California. Where I would likely need to take my sister to help her recover, to get her the care she would need to overcome what she may have gone through.
So, yes, I could love him. He could mean a lot to me. But what was the point of voicing those feelings when there was no future for us?
Maybe if I kept it to myself, it would be easier to handle the sting when it was over. Though, to be perfectly honest, I was pretty sure it wouldn't be a sting. It would be like death by a thousand cuts. With some vinegar poured in the wounds just for good measure.
I wasn't sure I had ever truly given much thought to having a future with a man. And if I were to analyze that, I might come to the conclusion that it had a lot to do with my parents' relationship, my father's abusiveness. When the only close male relative of yours was someone who enjoyed beating women down both mentally and physically, how were you ever supposed to nurture a positive, healthy relationship with the opposite sex?