It's A Game, But Who's Keeping Score?

“So?” Fernando asked, holding out his hand.

“And what if I say no,” I said crossing my arms over my chest.

“I’ll be forced to do this,” he smirked before throwing me over his shoulder and walking towards his car, where he would throw me into the passenger side.

“You know, technically this is kidnapping.”

“Can’t kidnap the willing.”

I glared at Fernando as he backed out of the parking spot and drove out of the stadium. “Who says that I’m willing?” I asked as I relaxed into the leather seats.

“I saw the smile when I asked you to go for a ride,” Fernando replied with a huge grin.

“It wasn’t a smile…”

“Then what was it?”

I huffed and then snapped, “Watch the road.”

Fernando turned back to watch the road and stayed quiet, every once in awhile tapping along with a song on the radio. The houses became familiar and a park soon came into view that was basically right in the middle of our houses. I had taken Grecie and Alma there a few times when they visited to give Pepe and Yolanda some alone time.

The park was totally deserted, which was expected at almost 11 at night. The moon was full, illuminating the entire park. I turned to ask Fernando why we were at a park, but he was already out of the car, walking over to my side. He opened the car and held out a hand.

I hesitantly took his hand and he pulled me gently out of the car. His fingers interweaved with mine, tugging me along. In his other hand, he held a blanket. “Why did you bring me to a park?” I whispered.

Fernando looked at me like I had grown a third eye. He then nodded to the park and then stared straight at me.

“Ohhhhhhh,” I finally said and then smiled. Fernando was recreating our day in the park in Vienna, where we had made huge headway in our…relationship or whatever you wanted to call it.

We walked out to the centre of the park, Fernando tugging me along once in awhile because I had stopped to look up at the stars.

“Now I know why I call you little star,” he said jokingly.

“Ha ha, you’re a riot,” I snapped, pulling my hand away from his.

“Hey now,” Fernando whispered, grabbing my hand again, pulling me closer. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Fernando let go of my hand and spread out the blanket. He laid down and then patted the spot next to him. I stood still and crossed my arms over my chest, “What’s Olalla’s take on this?”

He pouted, “She doesn’t know I’m doing this. Frankly, she despises you, but I don’t. I want to make things better.”

“If you didn’t have one of the cutest faces in the world, I’d be long gone,” I said, lying down next to him.

“You called me cute,” Fernando giggled, taking my hand in his once again.

And then it went silent, just the sounds of the park filled out ears; the occasional car, crickets and other night life. I think we weren’t exactly sure what to say, but we knew we had to say something.

“I’m sorry about Vienna and Olalla,” he finally said. “I’m sorry for all the hurt I put you through.”

“Why did you do it?” I whispered, blinking back the tears. I had finally asked the question that had been eating away at me for almost a year.

Fernando sighed and rubbed his face, exposing the tattoo that adorned his left forearm. “I’m not exactly sure why I did it…”

“How can you not be sure?!” I growled.

“Let me finish,” he said softly. “I feel…comfortable with Olalla, I always have.”

“Comfortable?”

“Yes, comfortable. We’ve been ‘together’ since high school. But then I met you and things just changed. You made me feel adventurous,” Fernando said with a grin.

“You make me sound like a hooker you order over the phone,” I huffed, turning away.

“Don’t do that,” Fernando growled playfully, rolling over and wrapping his arms around me. “You’re not a hooker, not even close.”

“If you say so,” I mumbled.

“Oh, I know so. Your skills in the bedroom are much than any hooker.”

I sat up abruptly, “What did you say?!”

“I-uh, never mind…”

“Yeah, you better not say that again.”

“Look, I’m sorry,” Fernando pouted. “I brought you here so we could be friends again.”

“Friends?” I asked hesitantly.

“Well yeah, I want to be friends. Don’t you?”

“I-I think so.”

Fernando smiled and wrapped me in a bear hug. He pulled back, “Why’d you leave Vienna? Why on the day of the final?”

I froze; my eyes as wide as saucers. “Honestly? I couldn’t stand to see you with Olalla. And I felt disgusted with myself.”

“Disgusted?”

“Well, in the course of three weeks I slept with two different guys and cut myself, which I vowed to never do again. And well, you broke my heart.”

Fernando reached over and took my face in his hands, “My intention was to never hurt you. You know me better than most people, maybe even Olalla. But I’m going to marry her.”

I nodded and then opened my mouth to tell Fernando the truth about the baby, but then his face when he talked about the baby flashed in front of my eyes. I couldn’t ruin that for him, not even if the baby wasn’t his.

“You okay?” Fernando whispered.

“Just fine, I’ve wanted to have this talk with you for a very long time,” I whispered back and then I saw a flash from the bushes. And then another. “Fernando,” I said sternly, yanking him up. “Run!”

As soon as we started for the car, the paparazzi popped out of the bushes and chased after us. More waited in cars that were parked beside us.

“What the -”

“Don’t speak, run!” I yelled.

We managed to get to the car after, but the paparazzi still followed us in their cars. Then, it started to pour, making it very hard to see the road ahead.

“Are they mental?!” Fernando shouted as the other cars started to pull into the other lane, attempting to get their pictures.

“Just get us out of here!” I pleaded, my hands gripping the seat.

The drive to my house seemed longer than usual even though we were going way past the speed limit. Finally, my house was visible, we were almost home. But then another paparazzi car pulled into the other lane, sending the car that was coming the other direction into our lane.

“What the-” Fernando barely said because we went flying into the ditch. The impact threw me forward, the air bags deployed, knocking the wind out of me.

I groaned, “Nando? … Nando?!” I looked over to the driver’s seat; he was slumped over the steering wheel, a thin stream of blood trailing down his forehead. I frantically threw my seat belt off and ran out of the car, into the rainstorm.

I managed to get Fernando out; he was semi-conscious and was on his feet. All the while, the paparazzi snapping their pictures from their cars. We staggered to the front door, where I managed to knock on door without dropping Fernando.

Pepe answered the door, “What in the world happened?”

“I’ll tell you in the morning,” I grunted, pulling Fernando along and up the stairs, into my bedroom. I stripped him down to his boxers and tucked him into my bed. I stripped down and slipped on an oversized t-shirt and walked into bed, cuddling into Fernando’s unconscious arms.