KATALINA
“I will miss you.”
Huracio aggressively kissed me in front of the house, rendering me breathless.
He grabbed one of my breasts and started flickering the nipple with his finger while exploring every nook and cranny of my mouth.
The first time he did this, I was seeing him off to the office. I was so stunned that I was rooted to the same spot long after his car had disappeared.
But now, I even expected it. The moment he started kissing me, I wrapped my hands around his neck and just let him devour me. It was more comfortable on my back that way.
When he let go, he gave me a pouty, puppy-eye look. “Wouldn’t you miss me too?”
Flushed and shy, I looked away and I nodded. The thing is, I was already missing him the moment he told me he would be traveling two nights ago.
Just now, I had responded to his kisses, using my body to tell him I didn’t want him to go. Yet, he chose to tease me into voicing my thoughts.
I am growing scared of my emotions. My head is telling me what to do, but my body feels otherwise.
And it scares me.
I am supposed to hate him more than anyone alive, but knowing that he would be away from home for two weeks gave me sleepless nights. And at the moment of his departure, I had to pretend to be calm.
“I will miss you too, Huracio,” I mumbled.
“Good girl. Now remember everything we discussed, and don’t give Rosa any trouble, Okay?
I twitched my nose and nodded.
Once his car was gone, I turned around to find Rosa by the door with her senile, strict face.
“Miss Katalina. How have you been?” She asked with a small smile.
I knew she was trying to break the ice, so I just gave her a tight smile and quickly went back inside.
The whole house suddenly felt empty. His touch was everywhere, and the smell of his cigar was in the air. I took a deep breath, trying to hold on to it, but it was too light, unlike when I sniffed it from his neck.
Feeling distraught, I went back to the bedroom which smelled better, and tried to sleep. With him gone, that was all I could do. But the pillows felt stuffy and uncomfortable without his hand under my head.
Exasperated, I became restless and looked around the room, thinking of what to do with myself. My eyes landed on the black card he gave me, and my phone.
Emilia! Yes, I should call her.
The last time we saw each other was seven or six weeks ago. That was at my mother’s wedding… no, scratch that. It was my wedding. She must be pissed, right?
I got out of bed and picked up my phone. Despite how happy I was when Huracio gave the phone back to me, I didn’t turn it on at all. I was happy about having the freedom to use my phone, but I was too scared to turn it on. I was scared of facing the world. In essence Kelvin and Emilia.
Pacing around the room, it took me almost twenty minutes to build up the courage to switch the phone on.
Immediately, it started buzzing and vibrating like an epileptic. The more it buzzed, the tighter my chest became.
After it stopped, I picked the phone up and saw several missed calls and text messages from Emilia. Surprisingly, there was nothing from Kelvin. To my relief, he really gave up on me.
Emilia’s earlier texts were filled with worries. Then, she became angry. Unexpectedly, her last message was from the previous evening. It read; ‘Why have you not called me?’ And ended with an angry emoji.
Taking a deep breath, I decided to reply.
“I am sorry, Emmy.” – Kata.
A few seconds after I sent it, my phone started ringing.
It’s been so long since I heard that ringtone that it made me jump.
It was Emilia calling.
I stared at it until the last ring was about to end. I then closed my eyes and picked up the call.
“Hello, Emilia,” I whispered.
“Babe, how are you? I thought you were gonna call last night, but heard nothing. Why didn’t you call me?”
First, she sounded more worried than excited. Where is the anger?
Secondly, why did she think I was going to call her last night?
I took a look at the phone’s screen, making sure she was really the one.
“Hello, hello, Kata? Are you there?” sh5e yelled in my ears.
“I am here,” I replied while my mind was reeling, trying to understand her tone.
“How do you feel now?”
How do I feel…?
“I- I feel good, I guess.”
“Good. It’s good that you can call now. Let me know when you are well rested. I will come see you.”
“You want to come see me?”
Wasn’t she very angry with me before? What the fuck is she babbling about?
“Emilia, I…” I wanted to explain to her that I was fine, but her next words had me choking on my saliva.
“When Huracio told me you caught some dang virus and was in a coma, I nearly went crazy. Kata, what did I tell you about going to those beaches in a two-piece swimsuit? Always wear a trunk. Don’t you ever listen?”
“… ”
Well, that was a lot to take in.
With my jaws on the floor, I just let her go off on me until she ran out of gas.
Huracio, that sweet bastard!
According to him, we went on a honeymoon and I caught a virus. I was in a coma for four weeks, in the ICU for two weeks, and came home right after I was discharged.
What the fuck?
“When did he call you?” I asked when she was done.
“Two days ago. He said you woke up earlier but he didn’t want you to be bothered. He told me you guys are back and he would remind you to call me last night, but you didn’t. I kept expecting the call all night.”
“Haaa… I am so sorry, Emmy. The flight was hard on me. Once I hit the bed, I didn’t wake up till morning.”
This was probably the first time I would be lying with a straight face. But what choice did I have? Nobody can know what is going on between Huracio and me. And since he had helped me deceive my best friend, it is in everyone’s best interest that I follow up on it.
The real problem now is how will I face her after lying so badly.
I needed to figure out how to look her in the eye because that girl always knew when I was lying. She claims that I always chew on the left side of my lip.