It was always you

Chapter 18

That night she broke down in front of mami, she couldn't tell mami anything, Clay picked Sasha off the floor and brought her to Pedro's room, mami hugged Sasha. Mami never questioned her, mami was giving her space, knowing that she would tell what's wrong soon enough. She allowed Sasha to cry her heart out, Sasha felt like she lost the love of her life, she wailed in agony.

Days after that, Sasha wasn't the same, she barely ate, she cried most of the time, she barely spoke to anyone other than mami, Pablo, Samuel- Pablo's son and Pedro. Pedro knew what happened, he found the letter from Mateo, but he didn't mention anything about it. However Pedro understood how Sasha was feeling, he could only reassure her that everything would work out on its own.

A few days after the robbery, Sasha, Pablo and some of their staff came in to clean the place, soon after reopened with some borrowed furniture. They needed to generate revenue, so they sold what they could, while Pablo tended to the restaurant, Sasha and Samuel went to get new furniture for the restaurant, Pablo fully trusted Sasha's decision.

The following few weeks came to a blur, Sasha was officially part owner of Pablo's by the beach, thanking God for Samuel's help, they got along really well. Sasha transferred most of her money to help Pablo out, she settled the debts and they started minor renovations for the place and with the robbery, Sasha installed a security system for the restaurant.

Samuel often flirted with Sasha, she is beautiful after all but Samuel was in love with someone else who was still deployed, and Sasha was still nursing a heartbreak. They got to know each other really well, and knew of each other's situation, they respected each other enough to not push their limits.

Sasha had to travel from New York to Miami every few days, from taking care of their restaurant and her job as a realtor in New York, she was juggling everything on her own. Samuel followed her back to New York, requested by Pablo, Pablo was afraid she would hurt herself, Samuel agreed to be her lifeline till she gets back to normal.

Michela and Gen went back to Europe for their modelling career, Sasha could not admit what had happened between Mateo and herself to Michela, so she kept it a secret, she drifted further from Clay, he tried to be there for his best friend but she rejected his comfort. She only kept Pedro and Samuel as her support, she had the inclination that Pedro knew what had happened, she left the piece of paper on the bed by mistake, but he made no comments about it, she didn't care if he knew anymore. At times she felt betrayed and hurt when she looked at Pedro, knowing that Pedro was his twin and Pedro did nothing wrong towards her, she felt guilty for having those feelings.

After that night, she has not heard from Mateo. She knew Pedro and Mateo were still talking, often she would hear their conversation, and she could hear him laughing faintly from their conversations. Everytime her heart would hurt a little bit more, she felt like she was constantly being stabbed in the heart.

Even after weeks had passed, she hadn't told the Parker's about her part ownership of Pablo's by the beach. She didn't feel like sharing anything. She barely felt like herself.

***

2 months passed by, and 3 months since Mateo's letter, the restaurant was back to business, and business was booming, Sasha and Pablo felt instant relief, Sasha was constantly exhausted from drowning herself in work, she was still in New York, Mami's birthday was coming up, so she decided to send the entire Parker family an invitation.

Mami & Ted Parker,

Happiest birthday mami, wishing you well. Thank you for being my mama when I didn't have a constant one, thank you for being there for me without questioning me. I love you more so much.