The accident forced Eric to end his internship early. A shattered right wrist rendered him useless. He used his right hand mostly on everything. There had only been a few weeks left of the summer anyway, and he’d been glad to be able to spend them at home with Sofia. His dad was already talking about getting him another internship—one he could finish.
It took a few weeks for things to feel like they’d gone back to normal. His biggest fear after the whole ordeal was that he’d have trust issues and would drive Sofia crazy, questioning her every move. But after much thought, he’d come to the conclusion that Sofia was genuinely regretful. She’d gone out of her way to show him in every way she could how much she loved him. He was satisfied he could trust her without having to be that insecure nagging boyfriend. That just wasn’t him.
By the time they’d gone back to school in the fall, everything seemed to be back to normal. Their routine, however, changed a little, and his dad was none too happy about it. They were seeing more of each other during the week than before the summer started. Last semester they’d go several days at a time, more during finals, without seeing each other. So far this semester, they’d managed to see each other almost every day. His grades weren’t suffering from it yet, but he found himself dozing off during class a lot more than he had last semester.
Most of his classes ended before the winter break. During fall break, his dad dropped another bomb on him. They were having their traditional Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant, just the two of them. “I got you another internship. The best thing about it is you can go to school at the same time. So you’d be doing the internship and getting credit.”
Eric stared at him. “What? You mean like for next summer?”
“No, this is a shorter one during Christmas break. You’d leave after Christmas.” His dad took another spoonful of his dinner and waved the waitress down. “Can I get another glass of wine, please?”
“Same place?”
“Nope.” His dad drank down the rest of what was left of his wine. “Madrid.”
Eric stopped mid-chew. “Spain?”
His dad smiled. “Merry Christmas.”
“For how long?”
“Just four weeks. You’d be back before the end of January.”
Eric could feel his stomach turning. “Wait, whoa, Dad. I got classes in the winter.”
“Yeah, in Spain. The credits are transferable. Don’t worry,” his dad winked at him then at the waitress who refilled his glass, “I made sure I covered everything.”
Eric wasn’t ready for this. What happened over the summer was still too raw. He didn’t need another roller-coaster ride this soon.
New Year’s Eve this year was supposed to be huge. Sarah was a New Year’s baby. Angel’s birthday was just a couple of weeks before hers. This year they were both turning twenty-one, and they were planning a big party on New Year’s Eve. The worst part was this would be the first New Year’s Eve he wouldn’t be spending with Sofia in years. “I don’t know, Dad.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? It’s done, Son. Your passport is ready, the tickets are booked, and they’re non-refundable. It’s gonna be great. I thought you’d be excited.”
Eric frowned. “No, you didn’t.”
His dad smirked, taking a drink of his wine. “Look, I’ll add international texting for the month to your cell phone plan. This way you can text her all you want.”
Eric almost groaned. He hadn’t even thought about that part. Unlike with his internship in Los Angeles, they wouldn’t be able to talk much on the phone. The cell phone bill would be astronomical. They wouldn’t even be in the same time zone. Telling Sofia was going to be brutal. She already thought his dad didn’t like her. She’d insinuated his dad got him the internship in Los Angeles to get Eric away from her. He was sure that’s what she’d be thinking about this. Only this time, he had to agree.
After the accident, his dad hadn’t made it a secret he thought Eric was way too emotionally involved with Sofia. He said he’d never seen him as upset as he had the day he found out about Sofia and Brandon. His father attributed his careless driving to the whole distraction. He never really asked Eric about the details of Sofia “cheating,” but ever since, any talk of her changed the mood, partly because his dad did nothing to hide his disapproval of their being so serious, but mostly because Eric was ready to snap if his dad made even one negative remark about her.
Friday after Thanksgiving, Eric and Sofia took a weekend snowboarding trip to a resort in Big Bear with Angel and Sarah, compliments of Angel’s parents who owned a timeshare up there. They stayed there until Sunday. As romantic as the weekend had been, Sofia made a few comments about the holidays officially starting and how much she loved this time of year. It dampened the mood for Eric. He hadn’t planned on telling Sofia about Spain until they were back home alone, but on the ride home, Angel brought up the New Year’s/birthday party.
“So you can get a long enough play list with just the good stuff together for me, right, Eric?” Angel glanced back at him. Eric sat in the back seat. Sofia leaned against him, holding his hand. “This way we don’t have to have anyone manning the music all night,” he chuckled, “or worse, have Romero take over.”
Eric shifted in his seat. “Yeah, I can do that. I’ll just email it to you, so you can download it to your laptop.”
“I’ll probably need to borrow your speakers too. Mine blew out.”
“Yeah, I’ll bring them over when we get home if you want.” Sofia snuggled into him. Even with the windows all closed and them being bundled up, it was still cold.
“Nah,” Angel said, “just bring them over the day of. I don’t need them this soon.”
Sarah turned around to face Sofia. “You think we should give the party some kind of theme? You know like eighties or a masquerade or something.”
Sofia straightened up and moved closer to the edge of her seat. “Oh, that would be fun!”
“Masks are kind of fruity,” Angel said.
Sofia rolled her eyes. “How about famous couples?” She turned to Eric. “Me and you can be Bonnie and Clyde.”
Ah hell.
Sarah smiled big. “I like it.” She squeezed Angel’s arm. “I’ll be Miss Bennet and you can be the dreamy Mr. Darcy.”
Eric saw Angel’s eyes pinch in the rearview mirror. “Who the hell’s Mr. Darcy?”
Both girls ignored Angel and went on, more excited by the minute.
“Alex and Valerie can be Danny and Sandy from Grease.” Sarah giggled. “That would be so perfect.”
Angel spoke up again. “Not everyone coming is a couple: Romero, for example.”
“I’m sure he’ll find a date.” Sarah waved her hand at Angel. “The guy has a new girl every week.”
“Or maybe he can be Clyde with you for the night.” Eric squeezed her hand.
Sofia looked at him confused. “Why?”
“I’m not gonna be here for New Year’s, babe.” He rubbed his hand over the back of hers.
“You’re not?” Angel asked, looking into the rearview mirror.
He glanced back from the rearview mirror to Sofia, who was staring at him. Noticing Sofia’s sudden change in mood, Sarah went back to facing forward.
“My dad got me an internship in Spain.” Sofia didn’t say a word, just sat back.
“No shit?” Angel looked in the rearview mirror. “For how long?”
“Just four weeks. I leave the day after Christmas.”
Sofia attempted to pull her hand away, but Eric held it firmly.
“Well, that sucks you’ll miss the party, but that’s pretty cool. Spain. Wow.”
Eric smiled at Angel’s comment, but he knew the conversation he and Sofia would be having in private was going to be tense.
She didn’t say much the whole way home. A few blocks from his house, Eric whispered to Sofia, “Get off with me at my house so we can talk. I’ll take you home later.”
Sofia nodded, but didn’t say anything else. Eric was happy his dad wasn’t home when they got there. Ironically, during the summer when he and Sofia’s relationship almost fell apart, his dad had met someone and was seeing a lot of her lately.
As soon as they were in the house, Sofia turned to him. “Why haven’t you told me?”
“I just found out on Thanksgiving.” He pulled her in his arms. “I wanted to wait until after this trip. I had a feeling you wouldn’t be happy, and I didn’t want to ruin the weekend for you.”
“Spain? Really? He couldn’t find anywhere farther?”
Eric smirked. “C’mon, babe, it’s only four weeks.”
Sofia exhaled. “Is he gonna do this every time you get any time off of school? Make sure you don’t spend the time with me?”
“No.” He kissed her gently. “That’s not what he’s doing, Sof. He’s just always been like that. Wants to make sure I get the opportunities he never had. That’s all.” He pulled her with him to the sofa and sat down. She sat next to him, still noticeably despondent. “Spring break next year, we’ll take that vacation we were supposed to take this past summer.”
One side of her mouth lifted slightly. “A cruise?”
“Whatever you want,” he smiled, glad that she was warming up to the idea.
She sat up suddenly and climbed over onto him, straddling him. With those lustful eyes that always drove him crazy, she stared and started to unbutton her blouse. Her beautiful ample cleavage had him hard in a second. “What I want is to start making up for those four weeks you’re gonna be gone.”
Eric buried his face in her cleavage. Damn, he was going to miss her.
~*~
The holidays had a different feel this year. Sofia wanted so much to enjoy them as much as she always did, but knowing Eric would be gone the day after Christmas dampened her spirits.
Christmas was just a few days away. Eric was spending the day with his dad, getting everything he needed together for his trip. Sofia and Sarah had finally finished their last minute shopping. The mall was a mess. As usual when she hung out with Sarah, they laughed non-stop. It was a nice release from the gloom that grew with every day that got closer to Eric’s leaving.
As they turned the corner into her cul-de-sac, Sarah was trying to finish telling her about something that was apparently hysterical. As usual, Sarah couldn’t even get halfway through her story without cracking herself up. Sofia laughed just listening to her. Then she saw him: it wiped the smile right off her face, and she gripped the wheel.
Brandon and Angel were outside her house, talking. She’d never told Angel or Alex about what happened, but she knew Sal was home. She wondered if he’d mentioned it or even seen Brandon yet. She had no idea Brandon was home again.
She parked in the driveway. When Angel came over to help them with their bags, Brandon followed.
“Damn, Sofie. You buy enough stuff?”
Sofia ignored the comment, grabbing the last of the bags in the trunk.
“Mine are in the backseat. I’ll move them later to my car when Angel is not watching.” Sarah’s smile teased Angel, and then she turned to Brandon. “Hey, Brandon, you home for the holidays?”
“Yep, I’ll be around for a few weeks.”
“Oh, good, we’re having a big party for New Year’s Eve.”
Sofia felt her stomach turn. Then to make things worse, Angel added, “Yeah, you should drop by. Sarah’s turning twenty-one.”
“The party’s for both of us, Angel, not just me.”
“Sounds good.” Brandon brought his attention to Sofia. “Hey, Sof. How are you?”
“I’m good.” She prayed Angel wouldn’t invite him in. Her only hope—Troop was with him. Fortunately, his mother had taken to walking the dog, so she didn’t have to feel bad about not keeping her promise of walking him. There was no way she would, not after everything that had happened.
To her major relief, Brandon said he had to go. Her heart was still racing when she walked in the house. Angel put all her bags down in the front room. Sal walked in from the kitchen. “They actually got you to go Christmas shopping?”
“Hell no!” Angel reached for the soda Sal was holding. “Nah, I was outside talking to Brandon when they drove up. He’s home again for the holidays.”
Sal’s expression went hard. He glanced at her then turned back to Angel.
Angel took a swig of Sal’s soda and handed it back. “You didn’t see him this summer, huh? The dude’s changed.”
“No, he hasn’t.”
Before Angel could ask, Alex interrupted. “Any of you seen my wallet?”
He was on his way down the stairs. Great. Sofia glanced at Sal and hoped he wouldn’t say anything else.
“It’s probably in your car.” Sofia desperately attempted to change the subject.
“I’m gonna grab a water outta the fridge,” Sarah said, walking into the kitchen.
“Get me one too,” Angel said then turned to Sal. “What do you mean he hasn’t? Have you seen him?”
“Seen who?” Alex asked.
Sofia began grabbing her bags in hopes of making a mad dash out of there, but Sal wasn’t having it.
“Sofie, you never told them?”
Alex stopped looking around for his wallet and looked at Sal then Sofia. “Told us what?”
Sofia locked gazes with Sal. He made a face then took a deep breath.
Angel glanced at Sofia, but before he could ask anything, Sal put his hand up. “Sorry Sof, but if he’s back, they have to know.”
Sofia plopped on the sofa, rested her head on her fist, and waited for the inevitable.
“Know what?” Angel asked. “Did that fucker do something to you, Sof?”
“Who?” Alex demanded.
“Relax,” Sal said. Sofia hoped he knew what he was doing, because Alex looked ready to murder already. “Last time Brandon was here, he took Sofie over to his house. Once he had her in there, he took her to his bedroom and kissed her.”
“What?” Angel peered at Sofia.
“He was showing me his Marine stuff—pictures and medals and whatnot, and it just happened. He apologized after.” She spoke more to Sal than anyone.
“I think he planned the whole thing,” Sal addressed both brothers, “and made her feel bad by saying if she’d said no, he wouldn’t have.”
“That mother fuc—”
“Alex!” Sofia stood up, the tension in the room too thick for her to sit any longer, “He apologized before he left. It’s not like he forced himself on me.”
“Why would you go to his place in the first place alone, Sof?”
“I didn’t know we’d be alone. He just said he wanted me to show me something. It seemed perfectly innocent.” She turned to Sal. “I really don’t think he had it planned.”
“Bullshit.” Sal frowned.
“Does Eric know?” Angel asked.
Suddenly feeling a wave of pain, Sofia whispered, “Yes. We almost broke up because of it.”
“And he has the fucking nerve to show his face around here?” Alex asked.
Angel’s expression suddenly went from angry to exasperated. “I invited his ass to the New Year’s party.”
“I’ll un-invite him.” Alex started walking to the door.
“Slow down.” Sal took a step in front of him. “I’ll take care of this.”
“What are you gonna do?” Sofia asked.
Sarah walked out of the kitchen holding two bottled waters and Alex’s wallet. She handed a bottle to Angel and tossed Alex his wallet. All eyes were on Sal. Sarah didn’t say a word, but it was obvious the mood in the room had changed significantly since she walked out.
“I’m gonna pay him a little visit,” Sal turned to Alex, “by myself, and he won’t be showing his face around here anymore.” He glanced at Sofia. “Does Eric know he’s back in town?”
“I don’t think so. I didn’t even know until I got home.”
“Don’t tell him.”
“But—”
“Trust me, Sofie. Unless you want his ass arrested, don’t tell him. He’s leaving soon anyway, right?”
Sofia hated keeping anything from Eric. She’d promised him she wouldn’t ever again, especially about Brandon, but Sal was right. If he found out Brandon was back, no telling what he might do.
“Yeah, day after Christmas.”
“Then don’t tell him until he’s gone.”
After some arguing from both Alex and Angel, who wanted to go with Sal, he finally convinced them he’d handle it on his own. Luckily, Alex was in a hurry. He was already late to pick up Valerie, and Sarah’s presence alone was enough to pacify Angel.
Sofia never really asked Sal what exactly he told Brandon that night, but whatever it was, she hadn’t seen him at all since then. It was such an uncomfortable subject that she preferred not to know. She wouldn’t ask and bring it up again, but she was relieved she wouldn’t have to worry about seeing him at the New Year’s party.