I Don't Need Anything Else

28: Unpredictable

Valentino

Being with Elena is never boring.

We breathe hard as our shoes slam against the cracked concrete. We move through dumpsters, clotheslines, and stray dogs. The pounding of my heart is drumming against my ears and my brain feels scattered and collected all at once. If her fans catch up to us, they'll tear us into pieces, so this obviously isn't the best case scenario, but despite all of this, she smiles as she runs, spreading her arms open and accepting the sun and the wind.

I laugh with her as we take down another alley, screaming and hopping as the space between us and the fans grow.

When it feels like my lungs are going to rip a hole, I take her hand and guide her toward a fence. I put my hands together to form a step.

"Get on."

"What?"

"Get on and jump the fence," I say.

"I've never jumped a fence in my-"

I wrap my arms around her and lift her up onto the fence.

"How am I supposed to do this! This is stupid! Get me down!" she screams.

Her fans turn the corner. "Hurry!" I yell. "Go over it and land on the boxes."

Without protest, Elena does as I tell her and I barely have time to make it over the fence myself. As the mob starts to climb the fence, I knock over the boxes that would help them get down.

Elena pulls on my hand and we set off on another run.

When I look back and there aren't any fans left, we stop. We made a full circle as we're back at the taco stand and the car. We rest against the brick walls of the alleyway and catch our breath.

Then she starts to laugh and so do I.

"I can't believe I just did that," she says with a smile. Sweat beads at her forehead and for the first time, she's not glamorous or sexy. She's just Elena. Barefaced in my clothes after jumping a fence. It's the most attractive she's ever been.

"Why're you looking at me like that?" she says softly.

Because you're stunning. Because there's so much more to you than you let on. Because you make me laugh even when I think about terrible things. Because I never feel this light unless I'm with you.

"¡Diez de carneasada!"

I blink a couple times as I come back. "T-that's ours."

I hurry over to the line as Elena follows behind me. As we stand, a couple guys cut in front of me. I step back to avoid crashing into them. An annoyance is all I feel but that's it. I'm not really the type to get angry about this stuff. But by the way Elena's eyebrows scrunch together, I remember that she is.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" She speaks up to them.

Immediately, I put my body between hers and theirs. They turn around, a nasty look on their face as they do.

"Who said that?"

"The tree," Elena sneers from behind me. "Who else?"

Their eyes scan me, then they chuckle and turn around. I turn to Elena. "Stop," I whisper. "It's okay."

She frowns as the anger goes up to her head. Then she goes around and steps in front of them. "Valentino, come on."

"Elena," I warn.

The two guys size her up. "Who are you?" one of them asks. "Get back in line before your boyfriend gets a beating."

Elena takes his wrist and bends it behind his back. The other one goes in at her and I push him away, sending him to scramble on the floor.

"Touch him and I'll break your fingers," she says, gritting her teeth. "We were in line first."

She tosses him to the floor and he crawls over to his friends. "Get behind him," she says, her voice steady.

The guys sheepishly walk behind me, muttering some insults as they do. She turns to me. "Don't even think about giving me a lecture right now." Her eyebrows are still scrunched together as she continues, "You're such a doormat, Valentino. You can't just let people walk all over you. You were first in line and it's not like they need tacos so urgently to cut in front of you." She drags a hand down her face. "God, it's because you just look like a damn doormat. I have to take you shopping and fix all of this."

"Thank you," I say.

She blinks at me a couple times. "I- uh, what? Are you thanking me?" I nod. "You're not mad at me?" I shake my head. "Why?" she asks, puzzled.

"No one's ever really stood up for me." Before we could talk about this any further, I moved forward in line and picked up the plastic plates with our food.

I lead her over to a picnic table and place her plate in front of her. She reaches for the taco without putting any condiments on it. "Don't try it like that," I tell her.

Taking her plate, I prepare her tacos the way they should be. Different types of spicy sauces, lemon, a tad bit of salt and lots of cilantro and onion. "Okay, try it."

She looks at it like it'll jump out and bite her. To encourage her, I take a bite out of my own and exaggerate my facial expressions. "Oh, these tacos are the best." They are though. My mouth explodes with savory tastes of sweet and spicy yet salty.

Slowly, she picks it up and nibbles it. "What was that?" I exclaim. "That was not a bite. You have to actually try to eat it."

She takes a deep breath and chomps down on the taco. I watch as the creases undo on her face as if they were being ironed down. She gasps making head turns to us.

"This is such a wonderful mix of favors! I swear my tongue doesn't even know what's happening right now." She takes another bite and another one until she finishes the 5 tacos. "Get me more," she demands as she burps.

"On it." I bring back 5 more tacos for her and she also wipes the plastic plate clean. She sighs and taps her belly. I smile at her enjoying her day.

"I want what you're drinking," she says.

"Horchata?"

"I want it."

I buy her a drink and she takes a few sips. "Yours looks better." She snatches my cup and sips from my straw. "Much better when your lips have been on it."

"What if I had a disease?" I ask. The sun is slowly falling behind the horizon as the city life buzzes to life.

"Then I'll get it with you."

I scoff, taking a sip of the sweet rice beverage. "If I jump off a bridge, are you?"

"Of course. I'll follow you around for the rest of my life if I have to."

There's something so genuinely sincere in her voice, something so drastically different from her straight up flirting, that makes my heart pause. It stops and my blood rushes to my cheeks. Her gaze locks on mine and I'm too stunned to look any other way.

"You're unbelievable," I whisper.

She smiles, the real one, and I see a blush of her own coming to the surface. "I can't tell with you," she says, her voice low and seductive like always.

"What?"

"If you're insulting me or complimenting me."

Everything around me is predictable. I know I have to work, I know I have bills, I know the girls' entire schedule. Everything is a cycle except for her. She is unpredictable.

But saying this stops at my lips. Instead I ask, "Want to go to a party?"