Easy Rumba

by Edwards, Anna

  “Mamá, what do you mean?”

  “I’m sorry, Elise.” My mamá starts to cry. “I tried to stop him from leaving, but he insisted on going.”

  “What do you mean, Miss Sofia?” Elise questions.

  She is shaking now, and I bring her closer to me. I’m torn between comforting her and my mamá, who’s in obvious distress as well.

  “Mamá, can you tell us what you mean, please?”

  She nods.

  “Elise, your father and I had spent the day together. I thought my husband was away for the night. We were watching television after dinner, and we got into a discussion about the future and what we were going to do because carrying on the way we were was doing neither of us any good. We discussed ending it and staying as far away from each other as possible, but we knew it wouldn’t work with the families being such close friends. In the end, we decided we had to do the one thing that would break everyone’s hearts, leave our partners so we could be together. I’d never kissed him before, but we sealed our pact with a small peck on the lips.” My mamá pauses and takes a deep breath before she continue, “Unfortunately, Leo, su padre, walked in at that moment and saw our chaste kiss. He assumed the worst, despite me protesting nothing more had happened between us. The two men flew into a fight. Elise, your father was trying to protect himself more than anything. Eventually he was pushed over and hit his head on a table. He blacked out for a few seconds, and when he came to, he was ordered out of the house by my husband. I tried to stop him going, but he insisted everyone needed some time to calm down, and he had to speak to your mother, Elise. He left. I wish I’d told him I loved him that night because a few hours later your mother called and said he’d been killed in a car accident. He’d blacked out at the wheel, and a truck had run into his car. I knew it was because of the bang to his head even if it wasn’t in the medical reports.”

  The room falls silent except for the sound of my mamá and Elise sobbing. I’m in shock, my own hands shaking as well now. Elise’s father died after a fight with mine. My parents were going to split, and my mamá was going to be with Elise’s father. It’s too much to take in and try to comprehend in one go. But equally it explains so much, the fact my mamá moved to Spain after Elise’s father died, and the mental health issues she’s had. She lost someone special to her. She must have dreamed of a new life with him, but it was cruelly ripped apart.

  “Does my mama know?” Elise eventually breaks the silence.

  “No, I decided it was best not to upset her further. She loved your father a great deal. I mourned in the shadows and let you and her believe he died a loving husband to her,” my mother responds with a sob.

  “Thank you,” Elise manages to answer and looks up at me. I try to think of something to say, but I’ve got no words yet. “I feel sick,” she says quietly, and I stick my arm out and point in the direction of the bathroom. “I won’t be long.” Elise disappears down the corridor with a weak stagger.

  “Leo?” my mamá questions. “Talk to me.”

  “My father killed Elise’s?”

  “No, it didn’t happen that way. It was because of the stubbornness of men. Elises’s father thought he was fine to drive. I should have insisted he went to the hospital. If anyone is at fault, it’s me. Your father walked out after the fight, Leo, and I haven’t spoken to him since. I don’t know why he’s dragging everything up now. It’s in the past, and too many people have been hurt as a result of the feelings Elise’s father and I had. I promise you we never touched each other apart from that one kiss. God had other plans for my life. I should have remained faithful and not even kissed him. I was wrong. It was all my fault. I lost him, Leo. I loved him so much. It hurts every day.” My mamá is becoming frantic now. The voices inside her head are taking over, the ones that only began after Elise’s father died. “I want to be with him. I can’t mourn him any longer. Let me go.”

  “No.” I shout, and getting to my feet, I go over to her and pull her into my arms. “Mamá, I know it’s painful. It hurts so much to be separated from the person you love. I lost Elise for a long while and what’s happening now is tearing us apart again—I can feel it. But you have to live, Mamá. You have to believe he’s up there watching over you. He wouldn’t want you talking this way, and he wouldn’t want my father doing the same. The lies have to stop. Truths need to come out, no matter how much they hurt everyone. I love you, Mamá. I’m always here for you even if I remind you of the man you hate.”

  “I don’t hate you, Leo. You’re my flesh and blood. My son. I’m just tired. I want to go sleep and never wake up. Why does it hurt so much? He died, Leo, and it’s my fault.”

  “It’s not your fault.” Elises’s voice comes from behind me. She’s returned from the bathroom, looking broken, devastated. But she gracefully walks across the marble floor to wrap her arms around my mamá. The woman who would have been responsible for destroying her parents’ marriage. “My father made the decision to drive. He wouldn’t have known he’d blacked out earlier. He wouldn’t have realized the danger he was putting himself in. Fate had him in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s also fate that brought Leo and I back together. Maybe it’s righting its wrongs. You say the only thing you and my father did was kiss, and I believe you. It must have been hard on you both as well. I’m not stupid. I saw the cracks in my parents’ marriage. They were more friends than lovers at the end. You gave my father love before he died, and I’m grateful for that.” My mamá lowers her head to Elise’s chest and cries hard. “Leo is right, though. The lies have to stop. I’m glad you told us the truth. Thank you.”

  Elise kisses the top of my mamá’s head as she completely breaks down. Years and years of keeping her secret and guilt have taken their toll on the woman I relied on for my strength, growing up. Eventually I call for a doctor to come and see her. He administers a sedative, and she’s taken into care again, for her own safety and security. Losing Elise’s father broke her but not in the same way Simon broke Elise. The two women closest to me are suffering, and I need to step up and be strong enough to support them both, no matter what. The past is just that, the past. Wrongs happened on all sides, and my father was central to them. He may believe the story of infidelity he’s been telling, but he’s wrong. I need to silence his lies now, and then we’ll stop Simon. His web of deceit is tangled and twisted—it’s time for him to face his fate.

  Chapter 23

  Elise

  “Thank you. I’ll be in touch as soon as we land.” I hang up the phone and place it on the table designated for eating on the luxury plane.

  My lawyer’s just given me an update on Izzy, and she’s doing all right, which calms me a little. I don’t really know what time it is or what day, for that matter. Everything has blended into one chaotic mess of emotion. What about my father, should I hate him or be devastated by what happened to him? I don’t know. I really don’t know anything at the moment. All I do know is Leo’s mother wasn’t safe to be left alone. Getting her into care was the best thing we could do for her prior to boarding the plane back to the USA.

  My lawyer is meeting me at the airport to give a press conference. The first one I’ve done in well over a year now, concerning myself and not the dance show. I’m not looking forward to it. I can’t reveal what Simon did to me, even though I know the lies have to stop. The results from the lie detector test we took at a lawyer’s office in Spain should help along with the true version of events from Leo’s mother. It was traumatic talking to my mama, especially on the phone. It broke her heart to know the truth after all these years, but it couldn’t be helped. In all honesty, I think she knew. I can’t explain why I think that, it’s just a feeling I got. It’s strange how interlinked my family and Leo’s are, and now we’re fighting to save our love while everyone is trying to pull us apart…well, mainly Simon.

  A half-drunk glass of wine sits next to my phone. The steward served us dinner shortly after take-off, but neither of us ate much. Leo retired to the bedr
oom at the back of the plane about an hour ago to sleep while I made arrangements prior to our landing. Tiredness suddenly hits me. Downing the rest of the wine, I go to join Leo. He’s laying in the bed, his breathing even as he sleeps. It must have been hard to see his mother that way and hear her story. Even though it would have meant the end of my parent’s marriage, I wish she and my father could have found happiness together. Fate was cruel that day, not only to me and my mother but to Sofia also. She lost the love of her life before it even had a chance to manifest itself. At least I know what it’s like to have Leo make love to me, to feel him moving inside me, and experience his lips exploring my body. All Sofia will ever have is the fantasy of the man she loved. I don’t blame her for my father’s death. It was an accident. I feel more relieved to know the truth behind it, to be honest.

  Goodnight, Daddy, sleep well and watch over Sofia.

  Removing my t-shirt and jeans, I place them at the side of the bed and climb in next to Leo. He instantly shifts to pull me into his arms. He’s been my rock through all of this.

  I heard him saying to his mother that he feared our relationship would suffer as a result of what’s happening. We’re strong together, though, and I hope we can survive. But no matter what, we need to right the wrongs of the past.

  “Are you all right?” Leo murmurs, his voice laced thickly with the heaviness of sleep.

  “Yes, we’ll do the press conference at the airport after we land. A suitable room is being organized.”

  “Now tell me, are you okay with what my mamá said about your father?”

  I shift in the bed so I’m facing him. A small night light illuminates the room, and I can see his face. His eyes are open and staring directly at me.

  “Surprisingly, yes I am. I’m sad they didn’t get their happy ever after.”

  “Always selfless.”

  “Not selfless, I just know what it’s like to be with the man I truly love, and Sofia never got to experience that.”

  “Not sure I want to think about my mamá being with anyone, but I know what you mean.”

  “It’s going to be all right, Leo. We’ll sort this out.”

  “I know.”

  I press my lips to his.

  “Make love to me, please.”

  “Always.”

  Our lips join again, twisting together in a powerful embrace of emotion. We’re both so exhausted we’re unsure of what planet we’re on at the moment, but we know this is what we need. Time for just the two of us, so we can forget about all our worries for a while. I know Izzy is physically unharmed. But mentally, I’m not sure what she’s suffering. However, I have to give my little girl credit. She’s stronger than I thought she would ever be. Maybe I did do something right in the way I raised her.

  Leo moves his hand to rest upon my breast. I’m still wearing my bra, and he reaches behind me and deftly unfastens and removes it before throwing it to the floor. His lips find my breasts, and I roll onto my back to allow him better access to the tender flesh there. He nips and licks, teasing the nipples into hard peaks.

  “I could spend a lot of time with these. Playing with them and licking them. They’re perfect.” He massages my breasts and flicks the nipples, sending a direct shot of energy to my clit. My breath quickens, and I move my hips against him, trying to guide him lower. “Feeling a little hot and bothered elsewhere?” he asks with a smile.

  “Yes.” My voice is breathless already.

  Only Leo can melt me into a puddle of need like this. I want him. I crave his touch everywhere, especially between my thighs. I’m wet and ready for him, but he’s not going to give me what I want yet. No, he teases his fingers between my folds, dipping one into my entrance before pulling it out again. He then brings his fingers to his lips and sucks my essence from them.

  “Delicious and all mine.”

  I squirm on the bed, needing something more. All of a sudden, Leo flips me over onto my stomach and pulls me up onto all fours. He’s behind me, and I feel the head of his cock at my entrance. He pushes in deep in one slick movement, thanks to my readiness for him. His hand reaches around between us and strokes my clit at the same time as his hips pump in and out of me. I’m going to come quickly like this. I’m a totally pliant lover beneath his expertise.

  Three thrusts later and I explode, my body shuddering as Leo holds me close to him. I don’t feel him come. He still has more to give, but as my body comes out of its pleasure, he withdraws from me and strokes himself a few times. I sit down on the side of the bed, my mouth open wide, and my tongue out like a dog begging for a bone—a big juicy one. Leo smirks salaciously before pressing his cock against my lips and I lick the tip. Then pushing himself in to the back of my throat, he begins to move, and I gag on his length with every piston of his hips.

  “Fuck,” he cries out, wrapping his hand firmly around my hair. “I love you, Elise. Don’t ever let us lose each other again.”

  I moan around his cock before he pulls it from my mouth.

  “We won’t. We’ll hold on tightly this time,” I reassure him.

  “I want to come inside you, mark you. Marry you. Make a child with you when you’re ready. Everything. Everything my mama and your father never had.”

  I feel tears pick at the corners of my eyes as he lays me back down on the bed and pushes himself into my sex once again. I wrap my legs and arms around him, needing to get him as deep inside me as possible. We move, barely, his hips rocking gently inside me now. There’s no urgency—just a burning need to be joined for as long as possible. If only we could freeze this moment and prevent the fragility of our situation from possibly destroying us. Our eyes meet. Leo’s are full of tears as well. The emotion is overwhelming him as much as it is me.

  At this angle, his groin rubs against my clit, and I can feel my orgasm building again.

  “I love you,” I whisper.

  “I love you too,” he responds, and we both find our release at the same time.

  Tears stream down our faces, and in the silence of the room, the only noise we can hear is the sound of the plane’s engines as it propels us, miles and miles, back to our fate.

  Chapter 24

  Leo

  Following Elise through the airport, I can’t help thinking her backside looks stunning in the white pantsuit she’s wearing. Her hair is piled on top of her head and adorned with designer sunglasses. I’m more casual in jeans and a t-shirt. I have to wear suits for my dancing, so if I can get away without putting one on when not performing, I do.

  I grab Elise’s hand as we stop just outside the door where the press are waiting for our news conference. It’s this part of fame I hate, having to explain my actions to everyone else when it doesn’t concern them.

  “Are you sure you’re all right doing this?” I question, wanting an honest answer from her.

  After our love making last night. I think we turned a corner. I know she won’t reveal what Simon did to her. She’s not strong enough for that yet, but she’ll tear him down for lying about us.

  “Yes, I didn’t ever want to be back in the spotlight as much as I am now. I wanted to dance and have fun. I need to get back to that, and this is the only way to do it. To confront those baying for our blood because of something that never happened.”

  “You do know they may not believe us?”

  “I know, but if I can get through to just a few, it could sway opinion, and that’s all we need. My lawyer has filed the joint custody agreement for Izzy. I’ve got numerous letters to prove I’m a good mother, and with the evidence we have that Simon and your father are lying, we’ve got a chance of succeeding. If I can’t get Izzy back solely, I’ll have to think of another way to get her back when I have joint custody.”

  “We’re running away.” It suddenly dawns on me.

  Elise’s plan is to escape all of this.

  “The world’s our oyster, and I have money. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect Izzy.”

  I nod and kiss the top of her head.r />
  “And I’ll be right there at your side.”

  I don’t like what she’s suggesting one bit. I never want to run from a fight, but I know in her mind, it’s the only solution.

  “Let’s get this over and done with. We need to start training for this weekend,” Elise says, surprising me because I thought she wanted to leave the show.

  “We’re still doing it then?”

  “Yes.” She smiles at me “Have you ever seen the ‘Sound of Music’, when the Von Traps disappear at the end? It could be a good ruse.”

  “Are you serious?”

  Elise winks at me and then pushes the door open to a flutter of camera lenses opening and shutting. Lights flash as we walk in and make our way to a table at the front of the room. Several of the dance show publicists are on hand to help us if needed, and Elise’s lawyer is already sitting there at the table, but he stands as we approach. She greets him with a kiss, and I shake his hand. He then offers Elise a seat, and she sits down.

  Elise pulls the mike toward her and starts to read aloud the statement prepared and agreed by all parties.

  “Hello, everyone. Thank you for being here. The sole purpose of this press conference today is to dispel several rumors that have come to light recently. Both Leo and I categorically deny allegations leveled against us by my ex-husband, Mr. Simon French, that we were having an affair during the time I was married to Mr. French. This is not true, and part of the press package you have received today includes lie detector tests confirming this to be the case. Leo Underwood and I had no contact with each other for fourteen year from the time I was eighteen. However, I can confirm now we are in a relationship. Leo is single, and I’ve been single since my divorce from Mr. French more than twelve months ago. My daughter is aware of what is happening between us and has given us her blessing. Leo and I have doing nothing wrong.”