Our trip back to San Sequoia was quiet, as one could imagine. My feelings were raw, like fresh sunburned skin, but there was an odd sense of calm too. I didn’t realize the dark cloud that hung over me while I stalled to lay Mama to rest. Now that we’ve done it, a weight has lifted. Hopefully I’m through the worst of it and things will begin to look up.
We all needed dinner, and Sophia volunteered to cook and get Desiree squared away. She said I’d been taking care of them all this time and asked to let her take care of me. It’s not unusual for her to do things like that, but…I don’t know. In the moment, I felt so loved. Naturally, I tried to compromise, offering to take one of those tasks while she does the other, but she declined and told me to take some time for myself. That wasn’t something I had done much since—honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever really been good at that. Ever since we started dating, much of my life has been about her, and now it’s her and Desi. I don’t mind serving and making sacrifices for them, but I recognize wisdom when I hear it, so I go upstairs to run a bath. I’m not exactly a bath guy, but I wanted to do something different to make this “me time” special. Besides, I had a lot of thoughts and feelings I wasn’t ready to let go, so mulling them over in the tub sounded like a good idea. Just as I’m about to turn on the water, my phone rings. Since not many friends call me, I answered the phone without checking the caller ID, assuming it was Alessia. I was very wrong.
You can imagine my shock when I heard Yasmine’s voice instead of my sister’s. It sounded very despondent, honestly. I mean, Yasmine isn’t the most cheery sim, but there was such pain and weariness in her voice. Naturally, I asked if everything was okay. Last time I asked, the answer was no, and it seems the answer was still no.
“Look, I know we’re not friends,” she said, “but I don’t have anyone else to talk to. I really need to talk to somebody!”
We’re not friends technically, but there’s no bad blood between us, and honestly, I still see her like a friend. I only let go of her for the sake of my relationship. My protective friend mode still booted up at the sound of her desperation. I wanted to know names and where to meet, heh. The old Luca would have run right over to her house to see what was wrong and how I could help, but I can’t do that anymore. I still care about her, but I love my wife, and she is not a fan of Yasmine. But, if I can help, I have to try so I ask what she wanted to tell me, but she said she didn’t want to talk about it over the phone. I couldn’t deny that it felt like a trap at first, but when she mentioned it involved her children, all my alarms went off. Apparently, she had twin girls. What is up with all these multiples around me? Anyway, I told her I wanted to help, but I could only do it if Sophia could be present. Part of me felt like she would decline because her plan to get me alone failed, heh. But she was desperate and accepted. She said I am the only one she trusts, and if having my wife present is the only way to have my attention, so be it. She lives in Oasis Springs now, and I told her we were practically neighbors and that Sophia and I hang out there a lot. If I could get her onboard, I told her I’d call her tomorrow to set up the details.
We hang up, and I run my bath water. I slide into the tub, my mind reeling, trying to figure out what in the world has her so frantic and desperate to speak to me. And what is wrong with the girls? Hopefully, nothing serious. She agreed to wait to hear from me, so it couldn’t have been that serious. Sophia had been around me and Chi Chi and Maira enough to know I only have eyes for her, so hopefully she’s had enough time to get over whatever hangups she had with Yasmine. True, I recognize that finding out I had been with someone else while we were talking could be shocking and upsetting, but she knows me. I technically did nothing wrong, and I would never entertain doing that again. Just in case she’s still caught up, I’ll have to be really sweet to her tonight so she’d be in an excellent mood in the morning when I present this to her. She is being really sweet to me, so rewards were already on the agenda, heh. I’ll just have to put in some extra work.
