Till The End

Sixteen

I wake up the next morning to dozens of calls from both Heidi and Juan. Seeing that Bella is still sleeping, I sneak off into the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind me and call Heidi first. "What's up? Sorry, I just woke up-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" she interrupts me abruptly. "Have you looked at the article I sent you?"

I shake my head, confused. "No-"

"Look at it! Put me on speaker or something, but look at it." she says hurriedly, making me feel extremely uneasy.

I nod slowly. "Okay, just give me a second." I put her on speaker, and open up the message she sent me. I click on the link of the TMZ article and have to take a seat on the edge of my tub when I see what it is. "Oh my god." I cover my mouth, shaking my head.

"You saw it?" she asks.

I nod. "Yes." they're pictures of Juan and I from last night. Pictures of us at our table eating, pictures of us walking out of the restaurant, of us kissing besides his car.  Oh god, the kiss. His hands are rested on my waist comfortably, my arms draped over his shoulders. They captured it perfectly. From all different angles. As if we'd been standing there in broad daylight kissing for minutes when in reality it was merely a two second peck. I squeeze my eyes shut, shaking my head. "I-I didn't even realize anyone was taking pictures."

"Have you read it? It says a couple of fans took the pictures and then paparazzi found out where he was too." she scoffs. "There's no way you could've known. What fucking assholes."

I let out a shaky breath. "I can't focus on reading anything right now, what else did it say?" I ask, trying not to have a full blown panic attack.

"They don't know your name, they've just titled you as his 'mystery' girl." I roll my eyes. "There's other pictures that have also supposedly come out  of when you went to his concert a few nights ago. There's pictures everywhere of you two together both last night and the other night at a club. They're gonna find out who you are, Ximena." she sighs.

I shake my head. "I should've known better then to let him kiss me in public. Oh my god, Heidi. What am I supposed to do now?" I ask, freaking out.

"I...really don't know." she says, sounding just as helpless as I feel right now.

Before I can say anything else, I see I have an incoming call. From Juan. "Heidi, I'll talk to you at work later, alright? Juan is calling me." I don't wait for a response, I just hang up and answer Juan's call. "Hello? Juan?" I answer anxiously.

"Ximena." he lets out a sigh of relief. "I've been calling you all morning. Have you seen the-"

I nod. "Yeah. I have." I stand and begin pacing the small bathroom. "What now? What do I do now?" I ask. "They're gonna find out who I am."

"Do me a favor?"

I nod again. "What is it?"

"Can you go look out your window?"

My eyes widen. "What? Why?" I ask, walking out of the bathroom.

"I've had the paparazzi follow me around for years. Same thing goes for the girls that are seen out with me. They might've followed you home." he sighs.

I feel my heart drop. "What?" I ask in shock, rushing towards my bed. I climb onto my bed and open the blinds slowly, keeping my phone to my ear. "Fuck." I groan, seeing a few cars lined up in front of my building but behind the gates. Thank god these apartments are gated. Either way, they have a clear view of my building and will easily see me as I walk out. I quickly shut the blinds again before they have a chance to see me. "I'm pretty sure they're right outside of my building. It's a few cars lined up on the street."

"Yeah. That's probably them." he sighs, cursing under his breath. "I'm so sorry, Ximena. I should've known better. I just...I wasn't thinking. I'm a fucking idiot. I'm sorry."

I shake my head. "It's fine. It's not your fault. What do I do though?" I ask, annoyed at the situation. "I have to go to work in a few hours. Will they still be here?"

"I...don't know. There's nothing you really can do. Do you have to go to work?" he asks.

I roll my eyes, nodding. "Yes. I do. I have bills to pay, Juan. I can't just pick and choose what days I go into work." I snap, and immediately regret it, cringing at my tone. "Look, I'm sorry, this is all just new to me. I just--fuck, tell me what I can do so they don't get more pictures of me."

"It's fine. I get it." he says. "Uh, try going out in your baggiest hoodie? Pull it over your head and just walk to your car as quickly as possible. If they aren't paying attention, they might not even recognize you."

I nod slowly. "Yeah, okay."

"And do the same for Bella." he says after a few moments.

I let out a deep breath, pinching the bridge of my nose, already way too overwhelmed. Bella. I had almost forgotten I have to walk out of this building with her in my arms. "Yeah, okay. I'll talk to you later."

"Call me when you make it to work?" he asks.

I nod. "Yeah." I hang up, not waiting to hear another word from him.

- - - -

"Okay, Bella, we're gonna play a game." I say, crouching down in front of her.

She nods slowly. "Game?"

"A game." I smile, nodding. "Just don't take this hood off, okay?" I say, pulling her hoodie over her head, securing it tightly around her face. I had to rummage through all of her clothes, but thankfully found one hoodie that I had almost forgotten I'd even gotten her. "And then you win."

She lets out a big smile, nodding quickly. "Okay, mommy."

I pick her up, swinging her over my shoulder, not used to her heavy weight anymore. We make our way out of the apartment and then down the stairs. I let out a nervous breath as I open the door, walking towards my car as quickly as I can, trying to keep my face as covered up as possible. "Remember, don't take the hoodie off." I remind Bella as she tries taking it off.

I feel my heart drop as I hear car doors being shut as I almost make it to the car, and suddenly, I hear the clicks of at least a dozen different cameras going off, all at once. "WHAT'S YOUR NAME? HOW LONG HAVE YOU AND MALUMA BEEN SEEING EACH OTHER? WILL YOU GIVE US AN EXCLUSIVE? WHO'S THE FATHER?" I feel a pang in my chest at the last question. Bella's head snaps in the direction of all the shouting men as soon as they begin yelling and she immediately looks to me with fear in her eyes. She begins crying, clearly frightened by all the men aggressively shouting at us.

I shake my head, as I open the car door, putting her into her seat. "No, no, no." I shake my head again, kissing her cheeks quickly, wiping away her tears quickly. "It's okay, baby. It's okay." I smile, reassuring her as I buckle her into her car seat, but it's no use as she continues wailing. "I'm sorry." I apologize as I have to shut the door, running over to my side of the car, getting in as quickly as possible. I turn on the car and begin to drive away, getting to see just how close to us they really were. No wonder poor Bella was so scared. I keep my head down as far as possible as I drive out of the parking lot. Luckily, I drive fast enough that they don't seem to be able to follow.

Bella eventually calms down on the drive over to my moms house and I drop her off with no problem. I'm unable to hold back my tears as images of my daughters poor face flash through my head as I continue driving to work. She was so scared. I'm able to calm myself by the time I get to work, and thankfully no paparazzi are waiting for me at the restaurant. I walk in, already dialing Juan. "Are you okay? Did you get to work okay?" he asks, picking up immediately.

I nod. "Yeah, I got here fine. Can you come over later?" I ask.

"Yeah, sure. Where?"

"At work. I need to talk to you." I say shakily. "I lock up tonight. We close at midnight today." I nod. "Be here. I'll let you in."