My Winding Wheel

Esmy woke up the next morning in the same position as the one before, with Josh’s arm wrapped around her and a smile on her face. She stared at the wall across from her, taking in the true happiness she experienced from just being held by him with concern. Quietly, she slipped out from under his arm and softly padded into the bathroom, careful not to wake him. He groaned in his sleep, rolling over and curling up on his own. She smiled softly at the innocence of it all, quietly shutting the doors behind her so she could attempt to get ready. She quietly mulled about the bathroom, doing her daily task of hair and makeup in her sweats and old shirt. She took her time curling her long hair, knowing the meetings for that day were more important than the rest. It was the true walkthrough of the store and she wasn’t exactly ready for it, as in London she just was checking numbers not the store itself yet.

She made her way back into the bedroom, smiling over at Josh. Quietly she collected her things from the wardrobe, changing in the restroom quickly. She tucked her striped sweater into her ottoman style skirt in the front, letting the back drape loosely. She decided against wearing her heals around the hotel room in order to avoid waking Josh. She quickly scribbled him a note, leaving it on the bed as she finally went to leave. With one last glance, Esmy fought back tears as she left knowing she wouldn’t get to see Josh again for quite some time.



Josh groaned quite loudly as he came too, sighing contently as he realized where he was. He turned over, expecting Esmy to be there, only to find an empty bed and a note folded neatly on her bedside table. He crawled over groggily, grabbing at the note as he sat up in bed. Refocusing, he opened the small card to find a small note from Esmy left there,

Joshua,

Sorry I couldn’t stay until you woke up. Had to be to a meeting and you looked too innocent (which is rare!) to wake up this morning! I spoke to Max in a text and he said you guys were leaving this afternoon? Sorry I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye in person. I’m not very good at them anyways. Max said he’d be at the hotel at one-thirty, so feel free to order room service on my tab or whatever you please. I’ll miss you! See you again soon I hope? I’ll be in London in two weeks, then New York for a week, LA for two, New York for one, and back to London for a month and a half to prepare for fashion week. Let me know your schedule? And don’t be a stranger!

Always,

- Esmeralda Guadalupe Corteze

Josh noticed the time, only ten in the morning actually, and sighed despondently. He pulled his phone out, texting Esmy before anything else, even checking his email and missed text, Way to leave me high and dry Corteze. You owe me when you come to London for Fashion Week preparations, since I won’t see you again until then.

Josh reread the text after he sent it and frowned deeper each time as the realization that he wasn’t going to see her for quite some time actually sunk in. Josh was in deeper than he wanted to admit, and he was going to find a way to get himself out.



When she finally made it back to New York and to her apartment, Esmy spent her day off sleeping and avoiding the outside world. Annabelle attempted to call her to grab drinks with the rest of the office and celebrate a successful first travel for her, but she wasn’t ready for it at all. Knowing full well she was leaving in a week for London to aid in inventorying the items for their runway show fourth months from then at Fashion Week, Esmy packed her bags in her spare time. Josh attempted to call, but she ignored the phone shooting him a quick text apologizing and explaining she was super busy. She promised to call, but she knew she wouldn’t.

She finally managed to call him back two days later as she headed into the weekend with her last day at the office until Monday. The phone rang three times as she weaved through the busy sidewalk to attempt to hail a cab. On the third ring, a sleepy Josh answered with a half-aware, “’Lo?”

“God it’s good to hear your voice. This job is going to kill me. Did I wake you? Sorry…”

“S’okay,” Josh laughed slightly, letting it fade into a loud yawn, “Need ta be up soon anyways. At some seedy lil’ motel in god only knows where, we have ta drive soon though. How are ya love? It’s been a minute, hasn’t it?”

“I know, worst friend of the year right now,” Esmy sighed, shaking her head as she climbed into the taxi that finally stopped for her, “I’ve been so stressed with work. I finally get two days to completely relax tomorrow and Sunday, but then I fly to London next Friday! It never ends.”

“Least you’re successful yeah?”

“Success should not be measured in how much money I make or how many fuels I can waste with cars or traveling for work. Should be by happiness and happiness alone.”

“You sound like my mate back home Rou. You two’d get along quite nice I imagine.”

“Speaking of back home, scale of one to ten how much do you love me?”

“Arguable and depending on my mood, but pretty high up there love. Why?”

“I need a ride from the airport and I wanted to see if you knew anyone. I know you come home two days later, but I needed to get from London to some place called Surrey.”

“S’where I live, it is. Let me call my sister, see if she can come and get ya. I’ll let you know later in the week yeah? She’s a bit feisty with me right now.”

“Sounds good. Look I’m about to get home and I plan to reinstate my long term relationship with my bed. I’ll call you later?”

“Will do, bye love.”

“See you soon Joshua.”

Esmy hung up before they could say anything else to each other. Staring up at the buildings as she passed them by, she couldn’t help but wonder how she got to this point. It was only a few months before that she was jobless and new to New York. Now she was familiar with every block within a ten mile radius of her work and home, she frequented Williamsburg and the Upper East for lunches with Annabelle, and she ran in Central Park every morning. Margret stopped returning her calls, much to her disappointment, and Peter finally stopped bothering her. All in all, she really had no complaints with where her life had placed her. She was known for having bad luck constantly, and the streak of good luck made her weary, but she was savoring the moment while it lasted.

Paying her cab fee, she quickly made her way into the building. With a quick “Hola!” to the concierge Gustavo, Esmy hurried by him and into the elevator. She made it up into her apartment, kicking off her shoes and leaving them in a pile in the front hall with her peacoat, not even bothering to hang it on the coat rack next to the door. Without hesitation, Esmy shed her clothing as she went, grabbing her clean sweats and a tank top before she curled up into bed and quickly attempted to fall asleep, ignoring the vibrating phone with ‘Papi’ on the ID on the floor next to her, in favor of her nap she planned to take.

It kept going off however and after ignoring three calls, she finally reached down and grabbed the iPhone off the hardwood to answer the fourth, “Papi, it’s been a really long week and I’m just about to go to sleep, can it wait?”

“Esmeralda?” The teary voice that met her was not her father’s, rather that of one of her younger siblings Marcus. “Esmeralda it’s Marc…I…I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to tell you.”

“Marc? Marc what is it…what’s wrong?”

“It’s papa Esmy. He’s in the hospital.”

“Why? What happened Marc?”

“Papa fell down the stairs and got hurt really bad Es. He’s in a coma Esmy.” Esmeralda gasped, listening as Marc began to break down crying on the other end. Poor Marcus, only sixteen, was the only boy still at home. He was taking care of her youngest sibling, Miranda, most of the time since she was only seven.

Esmeralda muttered a quick excuse to leave, hanging up her phone without a second thought. She quickly dialed Josh, listening as it went to voicemail. Without thinking, she began to leave one even though anyone could listen and tell she was on the verge of a minor breakdown into tears, “Josh, I really could use someone to talk to right now. Please…please call me soon.”

Hanging up, Esmeralda curled into a fetal position as she slowly began to sob. This was not how she wanted to start her weekend off. All she really needed was someone to talk to though and for the first time in a long time, Esmeralda felt completely abandoned and alone.