We Took the Fall

“You think he did what?” Esther posed, her eyes a little wide as she stared at Catalina. It was their lunch break, and after informing Esther that she had had dinner with Fernando, Catalina had proposed the notion that he had possibly tried to kiss her. She wasn’t sure, with her eyes closed, she hadn’t seen what he had been attempting to do, but she could remember the way his breath had passed over her lips, something which had placed the idea in her mind.

“There’s a chance, and I mean a tiny chance, that he may have tried to kiss me” Catalina said softly, her finger picking at the cheese and salad sandwich she had packed for her lunch. She doubted that it was a big deal, chances were that she had misinterpreted it anyways, but she wanted to tell Esther. It had gotten her hopes up, even if she was working to quell them, and she wanted Esther to bring her back down to earth, something she was an expert in.

“How the hell did that happen?” Esther posed.

“He drove me home seeing as it was late and there were no busses and he kissed my cheek” Catalina explained “He seemed to pause, lingering for a second and then he moved to kiss the other cheek and then his nose touched mine, you know, like it would if he were trying to kiss me, before his phone rang” she added.

“And you didn’t do anything to instigate it?” Esther quipped.

Catalina rolled her eyes. “Do I seem like the type of girl that would make a move on my own sister’s fiancé?” she poked.

“No” Esther replied “But you would make a move on a guy I know you still have the hots for” she added smartly.

Catalina shook her head. “I don’t still have the hots for him” she muttered.

“So that’s why you blush when you think about him then?” Esther teased, taking a bite of her sandwich.

“I do not” Catalina retorted.

“Whatever you say” Esther teased “Why do you think he tried to kiss you?” she posed.

“I have no idea. Dinner was alright, awkward really, and the dance lesson was even worse” Catalina noted with a little shrug.

“You went on a date” Esther pointed out as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Catalina furrowed her brow. “We did not” she refuted.

Esther quirked an eyebrow. She knew that Catalina wouldn’t see it, the blonde, when she wanted to be, could be awfully stubborn, but Esther had seen in the second that Catalina had opened her mouth to explain what had happened to her. She smiled when she said his name, blushed when she thought about the moment that they had shared, and Esther could only hope that Catalina caught up. She was smitten with the footballer and, from the way she spoke about him, Fernando still had some depth of feeling towards her. “You went dancing, then he took you to dinner and then he tried to kiss you. Lina, that is a date in my book, and a pretty romantic one too” she mused.

Catalina shook her head. “I had to go dancing with him because Alicia was busy” she defended,

Esther shook her head. “Defend it until your heart’s content, Lina, but the fact of the matter is that you almost kissed and that doesn’t sound like two people who are completely and utterly over one another. I don’t think you’re going to make a move on him, you’re too nice to do that to Alicia, but I don’t think you’re being honest with yourself when you sit there and say that you don’t still have some feelings towards him” she quipped as she gathered her things “Just be careful, Lina” she added as she moved to leave the small classroom, leaving the blonde alone.

Catalina shook her head and turned back to her sandwich, tossing the half eaten bread into the bin. She knew that Esther had a point and the idea that she did, made her stomach tighten. Her having any sort of lingering feeling towards her sister’s fiancé was only going to end one way and it didn’t end well for Catalina.

~#~
Padding up the street, Catalina sighed to herself, her bag weighing heavily on her shoulder. It had been a long day, with Esther’s words echoing in her ears and the children having been particularly excitable, Catalina’s mind had been overdrive, but she was glad to be almost home. Thanks to shift swap, she had the evening off from the restaurant and she couldn’t wait to take a bath and start on a book she had been itching to read. Wandering a little closer to her home, she pulled her headphone out of her ears and sighed, her blue eyes noting the familiar figure of Fernando sat on her doorstep.

“Nando” she muttered “What are you doing here?” she posed as she came to a stop ahead of him.

“We came to talk to you, Lina” Fernando murmured, gesturing to Alicia who had just gotten out of her car upon spotting her sister.

Catalina nodded. “Ok, but you could have called first. You look like you have been here for a little while” she commented, trying to keep her tone light.

“I know” Alicia mused, stepping up to Fernando’s side and purposefully kissing his cheek “But we were so excited to tell you our news” she added.

Catalina tilted her head. “You’re not pregnant are you?” she poked. Them getting married was one thing, being the aunt to Fernando’s child was entirely another.

Alicia scoffed. “Of course not” she noted “But we do have wedding related news” she added, giggling.

Catalina fought the urge to roll her eyes and smiled. “What sort of news?” she posed.

“We picked a date” Alicia grinned.

“Fantastic” Catalina replied, her tone edging towards sarcastic, something which Fernando greeted with a muted chuckle.

“We’re getting married in six weeks” Alicia revealed.

“Six weeks?” Catalina posed.

“Yup. Isn’t it exciting?” Alicia grinned.

Catalina blinked a couple of times, but nodded her head. “Very exciting” she noted before Alicia pulled her into a hug, something which caused Fernando to spare her a small apologetic look.

Catalina dismissed his stare quickly and hugged her sister tightly, knowing that she wasn’t going to stand in Alicia’s way.