Page 202 of Gabriel
Silence.
“Is that you?” I try again.
A man clears his throat. “It’s me,” he says, and I stiffen.
“What do you want?” I ask, recognizing my father’s voice.
“Mijo,”—son—he says. “Podemos hablar?”Can we talk?“Is now a good time?”
“No. It isn’t,” I tell him and hang up my phone.
He calls again, and this time I ignore his call.
I haven’t had anything to say to my father since he and my mother signed over my trust, effectively cutting me out of their lives. He wants something. It’s the only reason he can have for calling, and these days, when it comes to my parents, I’m not in a giving mood.
“Everything okay?” Julio asks, stepping into the room and seeing my expression.
“Peachy,” I tell him.
“Give her some time,” he suggests. “You’re worried, and that’s fair, but give her some space. After what she’s been through, that girl needs it.”
My jaw tightens. I’m getting really sick of Julio suggesting I back off. When is he going to get it through his thick head that I’m not going to give up, not when it comes to her? His bullshit is getting real old.
“My dad called,” I tell him, eager to change the subject.
His eyes widen. “Yeah? What’d he want.”
“Don’t know. I hung up on him.”
Julio sighs and scrubs a hand over his face. “Seriously?”
I cut him with a glare. “Yes. Seriously. What the fuck would you have me do?”
“Talk to the man,” he says, throwing his hands in the air.
“When hell freezes over,” I tell him. “As far as I’m concerned, my father died months ago. So did my mother.”
Julio grunts. “I take it you’re not going to her wedding, then?”
I snort, prepared to tell him I’m not, when an idea slips into my mind.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Glancing at my phone, I consider messaging Cecilia now but the wedding is still a few weeks away, and Julio was right when he said she has a lot on her plate. I’m not trying to add to it.
Giving Cecilia space feels like the right thing to do, but it's eating away at me. Still, if she needs time, I'll respect that.
For now.
Maybe.
Hopefully.
I fucking hate this.
I can't shake the feeling of helplessness that gnaws at me. It's like being stuck in a nightmare, unable to reach the person I care about most.
Depending on how long she plans to avoid me, I can use my mother’s wedding as an excuse to reach out to Cecilia later. To spend time with her and see how she’s doing.
