Catalina and Diego never got over each other after high school, but years later they meet by chance, and multi-millionaire Diego sweeps her off of her feet.
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Diego and Catali...
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For two weeks, we fall into a routine. In the mornings, we go for a run together on the beach, jogging at a steady pace along the packed sand outside of Diego's house as the sun comes up. I'm not usually a runner, but Diego asked me if I wanted to go. He said he wanted to run in the mornings and not at night, because the nights were for us.
So I thought about it, bought sneakers and went with him one morning.
Neither one of us speaks while we're running. We don't listen to music, either. Instead, we're both silent, letting the slap of our feet and the cries of the birds slice through the humid, salty air.
I'm trying to forget the photos with every step. It's working, sort of.
We return from our run and shower together. Well, usually. Sometimes Diego can't even wait that long. If I'm wearing a sports bra and shorts and if he's wearing only running shorts, sometimes he pulls me into the Gulf, and we swim and kiss. Then we'll go inside, soaking wet, and strip each other in his bedroom before ending up intertwined and breathless in the shower.
One of us makes breakfast. Sometimes Liam and Sawyer join us. It's pretty wonderful, all of us together. Like a team. Or a family. One weekend we even had Scott and Amber, along with Jessica and her fiancé over for a bar-be-cue.
Normal, except for the photos that looming like a summer storm in the distance.
During the mornings and afternoons, we work on the business like a true startup team. I do social media, a newsletter, some videos, pitch ideas to podcasts and vlogs and online magazines. Diego handles selling ads and talking with Sergei from Sahara about the acquisition. At three, Diego goes to 'work' gaming, and I continue on the computer. Then I'll make dinner or watch Sawyer or Liam struggle in the kitchen.
Sure, it's controlled chaos. There's a woman in France who watches Liam and sends him giant boxes of beef jerky. We have no idea why. There's always some mess somewhere, whether it's food wrappers, papers, toys.
A kindergarten for adult boys, I call it. But I join in my share of the shenanigans. It's more fun than college, truth be told. Like when Sawyer registered his car and got a vanity license plate — VIRGIN — it read. Playing on his geekiness. I made sure to take an entire video of him getting in his car and driving off with the plate, and the fans ate it up.
The video had 10,000 hits in an hour on YouTube.
On most days, I'll eat with those clowns and then either read, do more social media, or sometimes play online with Diego. At first, I was hesitant to go on the live stream with him, but so far, there's been no indication that any of the regular gamers are the ones who sent me the photo. And I think they're treating me like one of the guys, which is what I wanted.
Around ten I go up to Diego's room and send more emails, talk to some college girlfriends on Skype, chat with my mom. Paint my nails. I play with Zelda.
