Alex’s POV –
“Papa?” I call out, pushing open his front door and slamming it shut. I still have keys to the house incase there’s an emer-gency. The house is silent as I walk in, pulling out my phone to call him. The phone rings and I can hear it somewhere up-stairs in the house. I immediately end the call, raising one eyebrow as I stand on the first step. I arch my back to look up-stairs and slowly begin to walk up them, making sure I don’t creak the floorboards.
“Papa.” I say firmly, waiting for his response. Silence greets me once again. I head straight for his bedroom, my fists curled up by my sides. His room door is slightly ajar and I push it further open. He’s sat on the end of his bed, his head hung low. His dark hair is covering most of his face but even from here, I can see the pain in his features. I can feel my throat dry out as I take another step forward, unable to believe how broken he looks.
Papa isn’t a man who shows emotion, ever.
“Papa?” I question quietly, my eyebrows creased together in worry. His shoulders tense as he notices my presence in the room. He suddenly inhales deeply, reaching up to wipe his eyes.
“Yes hijo?”
“What’s wrong Papa?” I ask softly, the sight of his broken face making my heart hurt. I love my parents, both of them. I would die for my family, family means everything.
“I miss your madre Alejandro.”
It’s the first time in years he’s spoken willingly about her. I suck in a breath and her smiling face flashes through my mind. I take a few steps forward and kneel down in front of him, blinking back tears.
“I miss her too, everyday.” I murmur, my head hung low. A few seconds pass between us and Papa reaches forward, tak-ing my hand in his. The contact surprises me but I don’t say anything and give his hand a reassuring squeeze.
“I promise you –” I start, my voice breaking slightly. I clear my throat, pushing any emotion deep down inside of me.
“I promise that we’ll find her killer. We’re so close Papa. We’ll find him.” I say firmly, my jaw clenched with determina-tion.
“I know we will. I trust you hijo. Your mother would have been so proud,” he says quietly, his voice thick with emotion. I blink back tears, surprised to hear those words come from him.
“Gracias,” I whisper, feeling more motivated and determined than ever before. Papa suddenly clears his throat and just like that, he becomes emotionless once again. His tears dry up and his eyes turn blank as he detaches himself from his feel-ings. I sigh and take a step back, knowing there’s no point in trying to talk to him any further.
“Is there anything you need me to do today?” I ask him quietly, the last few minutes already seeming like a figment of my imagination. He pauses for a few moments before nodding. I watch as he walks over to the large canvas picture on his wall, pulling it down. He rests it against the floor and stands back up, facing the safe hidden inside the wall. He types in the combination and the beep fills the room. Mountains of cash and stashes of drugs stare back at me and Papa takes out a single wad, throwing it my way. He does the same with a package of drugs and I catch it one handed with my free one.
“Where are these going?” I ask him. There’s five grand in cash and a huge ton of drugs.
“The drugs need to be delivered to Benjamin.” Papa says firmly, scrolling through his phone. Benjamin is the manager of one of the clubs we own downtown. He sells the drugs for Papa when I’m not available to do it. It’s important to have a steady flow otherwise people go elsewhere and we can’t let that happen. Papa begins to frown at the screen and I already know I’ve lost his attention. I let out a small sigh —
“And the money?”
He barely glances up from his phone as he walks past me and out the door. Before he can disappear, he pauses at the top of the stairs.
“You keep the money. Take the car and a few friends away for the weekend. You deserve it.”
I blink back the surprise and Papa tears his eyes off me before walking down the stairs and disappearing from my sight. A wide grin spreads across my face as I toss the five grand in the air before catching it again.
“Let the weekend begin,” I smirk, already knowing exactly what I’ll be doing with the money.
*****
Ariana’s POV –
“Ariana! It’s so nice to see you again honey. How are you feeling?” My manager asks me as I walk in, a wide smile on his face. I clear my throat and make my way to the back, shrugging my jacket off.
“I’m feeling great. I think the virus has finally disappeared,” I lie, giving him a small smile that doesn’t quite reach my eyes. I lied to him about needed emergency holidays, I didn’t have a virus but instead a broken heart to deal with.
“The coffee hasn’t been the same without you,” he jokes, handing a customer their change. I let out a dry chuckle, pulling the apron on and securing it around my back. I take a look around the small coffee shop, grateful to have some sort of distraction.
“It’s good to be back,” I say quietly, a genuine smile stretching on my lips.
*****
“Go home, I’ll lock up.” I smile at him and he gives me a grateful look, grabbing his jacket and keys before heading out. A customer sits in the corner, finishing up their coffee and carrot cake whilst reading the newspaper. Outside, the sky is be-ginning to darken and silence falls around me.
I head into the back for some cleaning supplies and turn the radio up slightly, bobbing my head along to the music. Clos-ing shop is one of my favourite things to do. I love to be among the quiet hum of the music and the scent of coffee and cake whilst I take my time in leaving. I barely get any customers and when I do, it’s exhausted workers who are ending their day and want a quick friendly chat before they leave.
My thoughts turn to Alex as I’m wiping the tables down and I find myself smiling without realising, biting down on my lower lip to stop it from spreading. A warm feeling settles inside my stomach and I can feel the tingle his touch gives me even though he’s not here.
“Goodnight, thanks for the coffee,” the customer interrupts me, giving me a friendly smile. I wave goodbye to them and they leave, the bell above the door ringing as the door shuts. I walk over and clean the final table, looking forward to going home and soaking in a warm bath.
“Ariana.”
I jump in surprise, dropping the glass to the floor. It shatters everywhere and I gasp, taking a step back. I didn’t even hear him come in. He must have entered from the back because the bell didn’t ring.
“What are you doing here?” I ask him bluntly, staring at the broken glass in disbelief.
“I need to talk to you.”
“No Justin. No, no. I can’t do this!” I yell at him, my emotions overflowing. I feel the familiar aching in my chest and I drop to my knees, picking the pieces of glass up. My head hangs low as I try to blink back the tears filling my eyes.
“Stop that! I have to talk to you Ari.” Justin pleads, walking towards me. His face is drawn in, dark bags underneath his eyes. I notice him clutching a bottle of beer and when he walks, he’s struggling to remain on his feet. My lip begins to wobble unsteadily as I try to keep my cool, placing a hand up in the air to stop him.
“Stay where you are. Stay away from me. I don’t want to talk to you Justin, get away from me now before I go crazy at you.” I warn him. That’s when I notice the cut in my palm from the glass, blood slowly dripping down from it onto the floor.
“Look at what you’ve done now Ariana!” Justin screams, signalling at my hand. My mouth hangs open in shock and disbe-lief as his voice boom around the empty shop.
“I didn’t—I didn’t mean to! It was an accident!” I yell at him, unable to hold the tears back any longer. Justin begins to scowl, pointing at me shakily with his finger —
“You’re a mess, you stupid bitch.”