Behind The Scenes

10. Hero

Two days later.

Well, here we are, Los Angeles.
«Hero, I don't believe it! I love you too much!» exclaims my sister hugging me. I made her dream come true.
«Me too».
The taxi driver is in front of the arrivals exit and we follow him to the car. Anna told me that Jo is not at home so I can drop by to talk about this whole story, so I give the taxi driver Anna's address.
«Hi guys, come in!» arrived at our destination, Anna welcomes us warmly.
My sister immediately decides to put down the bags and take a walk around the area and Anna and I could talk quietly.
She looks at me badly. «What have you done?»
«A mess...» I say, leaning my elbows on the kitchen counter and holding my head in my hands.
«If you see her, your heart will shatter. You can see that she is ill, not only morally but also physically. The capillaries of her cheeks have broken due to crying and now she has like two red spots under her eyes... You made a big mess, you have to tell me everything».
«Anna, I know, could you avoid repeating it to me?»
She nods.
«I don't know if I can, but I'll try...» I tell her what happened and why I did it. «But Anna, I swear to you what you want, this was before».
«Before what?»
«Before I fell in love with her, so much that I would do anything to have her...» I feel my eyes are filling with tears but I try to push them back.
«I know, but you shouldn't have done that, it doesn't justify you» she's right.
«If I hadn't done that, our story would never have started, and I'm glad it is, you understand, don't you?»
«Not quite but yes» she hugs me.
«Thanks».
She's strange, she looks at the clock every five minutes...
«Where is Jo?» I ask her.
«She's out with Asher, accompanied him to basketball» she explains nervously.
«Okay... why you are so anxious?» I say confused.
«Well, because...»
The door opens and I remain paralyzed.
Asher and Jo are back earlier than expected...
«Ash go to your room please» this means that Anna already knows what could happen.
Fuck...
The smile that Jo had on her lips as soon as she entered the house died when our eyes met. Her eyes start to get shiny and I see her trying to hold back the tears.
«You...» she begins in a broken voice, letting the envelopes she was holding fall to the floor, «I don't believe it» she sobs, leaning her back against the door. «What are you doing here?»
«I came for you...» her legs give out at these words and she cries more than before, it seems as if she could fall. «Hey hey, I'm here» I reach down and take her hands to lift her off the ground.
She pulls them off immediately. «That is precisely the problem! That you are here!»
I go away by instinct.
«You also have the courage to take my hands, after what you did!» she laughs.
«If we get up and let me talk I'll explain everything, everything. Then you can decide what you want to do with me...»
She looks at me from head to toe, she wants me to help her up, so I hold out my hands.
When I grab them I feel a certain shock, even this slight physical contact gives me hope of something.
Arriving in her room we sit on the bed at a distance, she is with her legs crossed and leans against the headboard and I'm sitting at the foot of the bed.
«Then?»
«Yes then. You remember that girl...»
«Yes, Chantal, of course».
How stupid, of course she remembers her. «Well, here... her and I have had a complicated thing. There was nothing, we met every now and then just to satisfy our needs, and this was good for both of us».
«Good heavens, it's disgusting...»
«It went on for a long time, until she started... feeling something for me. But I didn't, I just found that she was a beautiful girl, I didn't like her character, her manners not even... So I decided to end it. She kept haunting me with messages, phone calls... until one day I asked her what I could do to get her out of my way. She told me I should have fucked... you».
She sighs, as if I have pierced her chest.
«I thought it would be enough to accept and make her believe I would, but then she asked me for proof. If it hadn't been that I felt that the two of us would become something, I would never have done it».
«Why, if you didn't, what would have changed?»
«Chantal would always have intervened in our story, she would have tried to make us separate continuously by dragging us into a toxic relationship».
«Where are those audios?» her face fills with tears.
I go up to her to wipe her tears away with my thumbs. «Hey, don't worry, I got them eliminated by professionals».
She sketches a smile.
I caress the part of her cheeks where the capillaries have broken. «I'm sorry, I'm unforgivable, I know. But please, give me another chance, that's all I want now».
«Yes, you are unforgivable and...» she approaches my face, «I miss you, I miss you so much».
«You too...» our noses touch.
«I... I can't kiss you, I shouldn't...» she says closing her eyes, her lips two inches from mine.
«But you want to do it».
She nods. «Exactly, I want to do it...»
«Just do it».