Mena
The party was in full swing, and the ballroom of the mansion filled with music, loud chatter and laughter from everyone who had come to celebrate.
As the only normal person in this room, I wasn’t feeling it and found myself in a corner with my arms folded. Not that Alessio gave a damn since he hadn’t even glanced at my direction.
No. He was too busy mingling, laughing and clearly having a good time with everyone else while I had to do it with his ‘give me an answer’ attitude.
Worse than seeing him pretend like everyone was fine, was seeing Isaac amongst everyone as if he hadn’t played a huge part in all of this. His fake smile and his fake kindness made me just want to…
“Urgh!” I groaned in frustration before I went back to observing Alessio.
It was good that I had decided to come because Alessio had the audacity to invite a couple of escorts, including the one he was particularly close to-Estelle. I had looked her up before, like a crazy girlfriend might, scrolling through her pictures so I would recognize her. And there she was, even prettier than she had been in the pictures.
It made me angry, jealous and perhaps a bit insecure. The sight of Estelle, glued between Alessio and Gian was not a good one. Apparently he could laugh with her, but he couldn’t laugh with me.
“If you keep staring at her like that, you might kill her,” a voice spoke out, and I felt Pilar’s presence beside me. A drink was in her hand. I wished I could join her to soothe my stress, but with the baby on the way, I wasn’t taking any risks.
“That’s Estelle. The escort he’s been with before and the one he visited the other time,” I confided.
Pilar looked genuinely surprised as she glanced back at Estelle. “Oh shit, she’s hot,” she admitted, placing her lips to her glass.
I was glad we could both agree on that.
“I know!” I sulked, feeling frustrated and helpless. If he hadn’t had a past with her and if we weren’t ignoring each other at the moment, I would’ve paid less attention to it.
“Get your man because she’s trying to fuck him,” Pilar spoke bluntly as always.
I laughed, unable to help myself as I glanced over at Gian. “It’s not only my man you should be worrying about. I heard she had a go with all the Fanucci brothers.”
Pilar hummed in response, then emptied her glass in one go. “Let’s go,” she said. “My name is not Mena, so unlike you-I will go over there and put a stop to this.”
I giggled. “What will you say?” I asked, genuinely curious about how she planned to handle the situation.
“Simple,” Pilar shrugged. “I will ‘escort’ her to the front door so she can get the hell out of here.”
“The joke is not giving what it’s supposed to be giving,” I laughed, shaking my head as I followed her. For both our sakes, I hoped she wouldn’t use that one and would come up with something better.
As we approached, Alessio instantly walked away, his eyes carefully but openly avoiding mine. His actions were so strange, some even followed him with their eyes-sensing something was off between us.
Gian and Estelle’s gazes as we stood in front of them only added to the awkwardness.
“Who is this?” Pilar luckily turned her focus directly onto Estelle before someone could ask something.
I took the opportunity to observe Estelle more closely. She was ridiculously beautiful, with shiny blonde hair that almost looked white and striking eyes. Her curvy figure completed her good proportions, and her presence was full of confidence.
Gian flickered his eyes between Pilar and Estelle.
“This is Estelle. She…works for us,” Gian spoke with a cocky smirk, daring Pilar to speak back. “Why, are you jealous?”
“J-J-What!” Pilar cackled. “Oh please, I hope you realize that I’m the catch in this relationship.”
“So we’re in a relationship now?” Gian bounced back, and the two of them began bickering as always. Seeing them made me think of Alessio, and the dumb discussions we used to have. It hadn’t even been that long since our argument, if we could call it that-only hours had passed-but I missed it. I missed him.
Estelle cleared her throat, grabbing my attention. “So you’re the best woman with the little girl he just wants to do right by,” she concluded with a smile.
“M-Me?” I stuttered, caught off guard by her directness.
“I understand. You look good,” she complimented.
I was taken aback, surprised that Alessio would discuss me with Estelle. Did he really trust her that much to do that, and was that really any of her business?
“You also look good,” I complimented back.
We gave each other a small nod, then watched Gian and Pilar as they continued teasing each other. Both threw back insults worst than the other, but their eyes betrayed how they truly felt about one another.
“Do you want to take a walk?” Estelle asked. I looked over at Pilar, seeking her advice whether I should do it or not-but she was too busy with Gian.
“Yes, sure,” I answered. I had been wanting to step away from the crowd and this whole party altogether anyway.
We wandered out to the garden, and walked the path in silence. Neither of us initiated a conversation, and I could sense she was waiting for me to say the first word.
“So the weather is nice,” I finally said, trying to fill the quiet with small talk. Speaking first, especially with strangers, had never been my strongest suit.
“No?” Estelle lifted a brow. “It’s literally freezing,” she said, hugging her visible goosebumps on her arms.
It was indeed freezing. I sighed, wishing I could go back in time and keep my mouth shut. I couldn’t care less about the weather, and could smell an envious person from afar. The only thing I was interested in was the connection she thought she had with Alessio.
You know what?
Fuck it.
“What’s the deal with you and Alessio?” I asked, not giving a damn. If I had waited any longer to ask her that question, we would’ve both frozen to death.