Secrets
At the penthouse, the phone rang, he got out of the shower, and dressed to his heart's content.
For the tenth time his phone chimed to life.
"What?"
His lips thinned at the news, Gustavo Gonzalez, his chief of security spoke rapidly in Spanish, the last statement didn't surprise him.
"It's those thieves again, they hit the warehouse in Madrid and tried to steal barrels bentonite clay"
Bentonite clay was used to purify wine_white wine specifically.
"Luckily my men were able to capture three of them before the rest fled"
"Good"
Silent again "What is it?" He asked
"I would like to speak to you in private over dinner"
The fact that his right hand man wanted to talk over dinner wasn't like him at all....
"Jefe" 'Boss'
"Make sure there's a bottle when I get there"
****
Stella helped herself with a potsticker after one of the parents from the St Louis daycare sent it over with a note.
𝘔𝘳𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘻 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘩 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩! 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳.
She smiled a little knowing how much the kids have grown to love her but the one thing that left her bitter was the last name 'Martinez'.
She had been working at the daycare to get by__she also loved teaching very much, when she met him dropping off a child who had wandered out of the daycare unnoticed.
She thought she was going to have a heart attack that day. If the adults should find out she had been irresponsible. Probably why she fell head over heels for him, he was a lifesaver. No one knew about the divorce, she had to work there and take it.
For all she knew, she wasn't going back.
...
Max looked across the table at the bald man with a leonine facial features and grey eyes, well tailored suit with vertical thin white stripes, he looked more like a member of the Italian mob.
A man over forty, tipping the bottle of wine on the glass till it bubbled up and gave off fizzy noises and then the bubbles died down, then filled his own.
At 9pm they were already seated, Max could have cancelled all the meetings with the clients for today and waited later this evening for whatever Gustavo Gonzalez thought was urgent.
They sat at a booth away from public eye shielded by palm trees.
He swirled the glass and drank from it
"What is this about?" It had been a long day and he wanted very much to sleep and recover.
"I haven't gotten any information about who they work for but I presume it may be Hugo"
"We haven't heard of him since father died" Max said. Alejandro Martinez ran the manor before he took over, he resented Hugo Alvarez dela Cruz who was a greedy, envious bastard and wanted nothing more than to take the manor for himself.
After a moment's thought.
"I want to know who these men are and find out if they have any connection to Alvarez"
Gustavo nodded.
Looking deeply into Gustavo's grey eyes
"That's not all....is it?"
A beautiful shapely waitress dropped what they ordered and bowed, Gustavo passed her one suspicious look just in case she wasn't eavesdropping waiting for her to leave.
"The private I_ The private I dropped these by"
He slid a yellow envelope across the table to him.
Max ripped it open. A tablet.
Gustavo urged him to look into it, he turned it on. His muscles tightened, odd he seemed to have forgotten how to relax
They were shots of his ex-wife.
****
History upon history popped up on the screen, he rubbed his day old beard scrolling through the appointments she had missed and the ones she had attended. Prenatal care, antenatal classes...on the picture, brunette, well rounded and very pregnant, far different from the small, slender caretaker he met in the US.
Her eyes shielded by glasses from the sun, she wore a flowery top with leggings and flats holding a white bag__ probably went shopping for supplies and a baby kit, walking across the street. With no one to accompany her. Assuming the private I was a stalker out to get her, she wouldn't suspect a thing.
Apparently the woman he knew and loved was keeping secrets too.
Rubbing his forehead, he received another complaint from the receptionist that the staff and workers weren't happy with the new routines and safety measures. The system had to change.
Tapping the answering machine. "Fire them, fire them all!"
At least the ones who failed to adjust or refused training
"Alright Sir"
"Oh and Margarita"
"Yes Mr Martinez?"
"Cut off the workload for today, I'm leaving work early"
...
The baby cried stiffening, agitated by her absence.
"Hold on sweetie!"
Running to lift her from her cot, already awake. Stella barely had enough time to dry her hair up.
Breastfeeding her till she was full and rubbing her head so full of hair she smiled, an exact copy of her except for her chin and dark hair and hazel eyes. Her pride and joy. Three months old now.
She had left work before the pregnancy would show, wearing baggy clothes would raise suspicion. It had been a tough year with no one to encourage her or tell her
𝘖𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹 𝘩𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺 or 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭
No mom, her parents had died on a trip to Hungary, it had been hectic since she was only 16. Forcing her to leave school and work at a grocery store to support herself. No relatives to bunk with.
She missed college, her dreams of becoming a teacher was put on hold.
At least, she only got a dose of that dream working at the daycare and a bitter taste of divorce.
Mariana_Mia squawked giving her a toothless smile, the love of her life. It had been a year since Max. It hurt that he left without any explanation, she had always taken it personally, she wasn't exciting enough or good enough. She was broken.
Mia had come as a shock, she wasn't alone anymore and the best part was...he didn't have to know. She would raise Mia herself in their slightly less decent home, get a decent job.
...
Max walked down the pavement counting the blocks, hers was at the 5th, knocking on the door.
"I'll be right there!"
He worked his jaw, hearing her voice, footsteps, clicking locks, the door swung open. Her pupils dilated, his eyes went down to her abdomen, flat.
"Maxwell"
He grimaced "I'd prefer if you referred to me as 'Max' God knew what put it in his mother's head to give him a name like that.
"What're you doing here?" She asked putting up a front with him, he noticed.
"It's been a year, aren't you going to gesture me in?"
Stella's hand on the door handle tightened, her expression changed, one year and she couldn't get some closure. She was a ball of nerves right now.
He was towering over her, wearing a casual black polo shirt, jeans, sneakers except a diamond encrusted watch from God knows where. His thick dark hair he used to cut short a lot grew longer and wavy, his hazel eyes filled with delight, entertained.
She would have loved to poke her fingers in those eyes, why was he suddenly pleased?.Tall Hispanic and attractive as ever on her doorstep.
"No..."
"No?"
"Why are you here?"
He scanned her, she looked like she hadn't slept in days and her hair was in a rough bun but through all that mess he saw a pretty young woman who was valiant and strong. It struck him how he always did see her that way like he was enchanted...
"It's been a long trip, can't you at least give a warm hug to your loving husband?"