Enchanted By You

by Alexander, Hilaria

  I decide to ask him a few questions hoping to lighten up the mood.

  “So, you never told me how many girls you’ve brought up here.”

  He laughs. “Might I remind you that this was your idea, Ines.”

  “Yes, it was. And you said, ‘I know that place well.’”

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” he laughs, rubbing his elbow with one hand, partly amused, partly sheepish.

  “Park. Sunset. It’s the perfect spot to make out.”

  “Is that why you’re bringing me out there?” he jokes.

  “Maybe,” I reply, wiggling my eyebrows.

  Although I love my view of the mountains, it faces east. I looked up online and found that the park is one of the best places where you can admire the sunset. It sits at 6,500 feet, with the Jemez Mountains to the north, and the vast Tijeras Arroyo to the south.

  “So, you won’t tell me how many girls you’ve brought up here? Not even a ballpark number?”

  He laughs again, a bit embarrassed. “You’re impossible. A few, okay? A few.”

  “Fine, I’ll settle with ‘a few.’” I smile, glancing briefly in his direction. He looks sheepish. “What?”

  “Since we are on the subject, I have to come clean about something. I should have told you sooner, and I realize it’s pretty shitty of me.”

  “Oh?” I wonder what that’s about. I shrug. “Come on, tell me.”

  “You know the place you’re renting, right? Do you remember how Lupe said it used to be a storage room? I might have brought a couple of girls to…you know, fool around there.”

  I snort. “In a dusty storage room? Esteban!”

  “It wasn’t that dirty…you know how it is, when you’re a horny teenager and you don’t have your driver’s license yet. Your options are limited.”

  “No, I don’t know how that is. I lost my virginity when I was seventeen and my boyfriend was only a few months older than me.”

  “I was fifteen.”

  “Fifteen? With whom?”

  “She was older than me, and a friend of Lupe’s.”

  “Oh my God. Young Esteban Garcia, the heartbreaker.”

  “She was the one who actually broke my heart. Dumped me for an older dude. We also had to keep our relationship secret because of Lupe. She never would have approved.”

  “Yeah, I can imagine.” I can picture a younger, even feistier teenage Lupe completely losing her shit at the news that her younger brother is fucking her friend in the family store storage room. “So, how many girls have you fucked in there…before me?” He winces at my bluntness, but I shrug. It isn’t that big a deal, although I find it funny that he’s kept it from me.

  “Just…two.”

  I approach an intersection, stopping at the stop sign. He looks like he’s holding back, so I offer some encouragement.

  “You can tell me anything, Esteban. I know we’ve only known each other a few months, but I want you to be able to tell me anything.”

  His eyes widen as if I just struck him, and he stares at me for a while.

  I make it across the intersection and keep my eyes on the road, but I sense his gaze on me. A few seconds later, when I turn to him, he’s smiling at me and his eyes are a bit glossy.

  “What is it? Did I say something wrong?” He shakes his head and smiles. I look around. “Where am I supposed to go next?”

  “Turn left. There should be a parking lot coming up.”

  We reach the deserted parking lot and I put the truck in park. I sigh as I watch the gigantic orange sun starting to drop from the horizon. It takes my breath away. It looks like a scene out of a western movie, when the hero has just faced and survived the most dangerous mission of his life, but usually in this kind of movie the ending is bittersweet. Lives have been lost, he has to bid goodbye to the woman he can’t marry because he can’t offer her the security and the life she needs, and then he mounts his horse, ready for his next adventure.

  The sun is setting, another day is over, and the date of my divorce hearing is nearing. Yet, it’s not completely bittersweet. I’m hopeful. I start pondering, albeit with a heart full of butterflies, if this is the place for me. I like my life here, and I hate the thought of saying goodbye to Esteban. But I know that I shouldn’t uproot my life just because of a man…even if it’s a man I’m more than crazy about. I love him, and I know he loves me. Would it be really stupid to follow my heart?

  I lace my fingers with Esteban’s. “Thank you for taking me here.”

  “Technically, you took us.”

  “Thank you for coming along?”

  “Of course,” he says, kissing my hand.

  We’re quiet for a while, and I wrap his arm around me, scooting closer to him, leaning my head on his shoulder as the sun becomes smaller and smaller until it’s a small orange slice and the sky starts changing color.

  “Ines?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “About the apartment…”

  “What about it?” I ask, straightening in the truck seat.

  “There’s something else I wanted to say. I’ve…fucked two girls in there before.” His voice is almost a whisper and fuck me if it doesn’t sound sexy when he says fucked. “But I only made love to one,” he says, eyes dark and wide, fixed on mine, lips full, slightly parted. I reach, and my thumb strokes his bottom lip.

  “I love you too, Esteban. So much,” I tell him before I mold my lips to his and capture his tongue in my mouth, surrendering to the spark of pure, unadulterated lust.

  The need for him overtakes my body like a rush, and in a matter of seconds I’m straddling him, thankful I decided to wear a skirt. His hands roam up my thighs and land on my ass, pressing me against him while mine travel from his face, down his chest, to his belt buckle. I fumble with it, and he helps me, lifting his hips to push his jeans down.

  He reaches for a condom in the pocket of his jeans, and when he rolls it on, I take it in my hand and stroke it as he breathes in and out slowly. I meet his lust-filled eyes as I’m touching him, watching his feral, sexy-as-sin, turned-on expression before I guide it inside of me.

  I start moving on top of him as the sky outside darkens, and soon I’m completely lost to the feel of him when we’re close like this, still half clothed, crazy for each other just as we have been since day one. His fingers travel under my tee to touch my breast and when he lifts it up and takes one of my breasts out, wrapping his mouth around a nipple, I’m frantic for him, moving faster up and down his length. As our movements increase in speed and my breath becomes shallow, I pull at the hair on his neck, cupping his jaw with my other hand and he looks at me, deep and hungry, even though he’s inside of me.

  “I’m yours, Esteban. I’m yours,” I murmur, and I kiss him.

  “Yes, you are. You’re mine,” he replies in low growl, digging his fingers deeper into my flesh, bringing me closer to him. I kiss him over and over, slow and tenderly, frantic and passionately, and when I reach the brink of pleasure I muffle my moans biting his cotton-clad shoulder. He climaxes a few seconds later, his body trembling under mine, his arms tightly wrapped around me.

  For the next few minutes, I do nothing but listen to his breathing slowing down.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Esteban, you need to tell her. She’s leaving at the end of this week. I mean, she has the right to know, don’t you think?” Lupe argues.

  “I know, I know, I should have told her already.”

  “Told me what?” I ask as I enter the store. Both of them stare at me, eyes wide, mouth agape. A laugh escapes me, mostly out of surprise. What are they talking about?

  “I know you guys were talking about me, but…would you like a minute? Should I leave and come back later? Should I worry?” I ask, frowning.

  “No. No you shouldn’t worry,” Esteban says firmly. “But there is something you should know.”

  Lupe stares at me with an expression that’s a mix of consternation and worry.

  My stomach flips, be
cause I can’t imagine what it is that Esteban hasn’t told me. Maybe I don’t know him as well as I think I do after all, and maybe Dolores was right to warn me…maybe he’s been playing games this entire time. What if he’s not completely done with Reagan after all these years? What if there’s someone else I don’t know about?

  “Is there someone else?” I ask him as my heart sinks in the pit of my stomach, my voice just a whisper.

  “What?”

  “Is there someone else, Esteban?” I yell, frustrated.

  “No, Ines! Of course not!”

  “Okay, you two need to get out of here. Go to the back or go upstairs. I’m sorry but I can’t have a scene in the store. Tell her the truth, once and for all, Esteban. It’s not as bad as it looks, Ines, I promise,” she reassures me, giving me a quick hug.

  Esteban and I walk out of the store, but I’m suddenly wary of him.

  “Should we sit down over here?” he asks. He doesn’t want to go upstairs? Is he breaking up with me?

  “Sure,” I reply. We sit next to each other on the same bench we sat on when I first got here. In three days, I fly out to California. By next Monday, I should be a divorced woman.

  He takes a deep breath and seems about to say something, but then he shuts his mouth again.

  “Esteban,” I tell him as calmly as I can muster, “if you’re going to break up with me, please hurry. Just say what you need to and put me out of my misery already!”

  “What? No, it’s not like that at all. You might be the one who’s going to run for the hills after this.”

  “Oh, this again. Whatever it is, can you please get it over with? The suspense is pissing me off.” He smiles at me, his eyes sweet, and then he clears his throat.

  “This is a story that I’ve been waiting to tell you for a long time. I know you’re worried…but it’s nothing like what you might think…”

  “Okay…” I reply, even more confused.

  “You remember Reagan,” he starts, and I already don’t like where this is going.

  “Yes, and you know I wasn’t really impressed with her.” He snickers, and I shrug. “She’s just not a nice person.” I let out a breath, suddenly worried. What does Reagan have to do with anything? Is he having doubts about us? Does he want to get back together with gothic Barbie?

  “Are you sure this isn’t about the two of you getting back together? You two had a long history…”

  “No, it’s not like that at all, but she’s part of the story I need to tell you. Ever since we were in school, she’s always been into esoterism and whatnot. She never missed a chance to mess with Ouija boards, or whatever she could get her hands on. She had a wild side…” He trails off and I raise my eyebrows and sigh loudly. Jealousy stabs me right in my gut, even though I know I shouldn’t react like this. He has a past, just like I do. Esteban responds with a shy glance. “I’m sorry, I swear I’m trying to get to the point. Reagan loved tarot readings and was trying to learn how to read cards herself. News spread around town that a new tarot reader from New Orleans had opened a place on Central Avenue, and whoever went there raved about her. So, Reagan being Reagan, she went there as soon as she could, and a few weeks later she convinced me to go to a reading with her. I was indifferent to the whole thing and didn’t really believe in any of it at the time. I’m still firmly of the opinion that you shouldn’t meddle with your future. It’s not for you to mess with, just like the past, just like ghosts. You should just focus on living your life, work into building the future you wish for and be happy with the fortune you’re given.”

  Frowning, I narrow my eyes at him, almost surprised by his speech, even though I still don’t understand what it has to do with me, or us.

  “I agree with you, but I’m afraid I still don’t understand…”

  “I promise I’m getting there. Reagan wanted me to get a reading, but I was…skeptical at best. Besides, it seemed that every story I’d read that centered around a prophecy, about interpreting the future, always seemed to end badly. Think about it…from Greek mythology to stories like Harry Potter, humans—or wizards, in J.K. Rowling’s case—always seem to end up misinterpreting things. I didn’t want to know about my future. In the end, I still went along with it because…well, you’ve met Reagan. You can understand when I say she’s very persistent.”

  My heart is racing, and my cheeks are flushed. I’m confused and still don’t understand what this has to do with me to begin with. I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. If it’s something I shouldn’t worry about, he would have told me already, wouldn’t he? I exhale and tell myself to wait for him to finish his story.

  “A lot of things that the fortune teller read in my tarot cards turned out to be true. Most of them were about my professional life, about finding my path in life, but she also warned me about being on the lookout for my grandma. She insisted I make sure to tell her to go to the doctor. A few weeks later, we found out that my abuela had a nasty tumor, but we were able to move quickly and buy her some time. Then, when Reagan pressed the fortune teller about our future together, she told us we weren’t going to be happy. Our relationship was going to be long but with many painful breakups. The fortune teller then turned to me to tell me I wasn’t destined to be with Reagan for the rest of my life, but that I wasn’t going to meet my true love for a very long time. She told me that even though I was in love right then, I shouldn’t think I’d found the one because it wasn’t going to happen until I became a grown man. She said that while my sister was going to marry and have kids rather young, that wasn’t in the cards for me.”

  I frown, because none of this makes any sense…yet.

  “Reagan was pissed. I’d never seen her so mad...not until she came after you on my birthday. At the time, we were young and crazy in love. We didn’t think there could ever be another person we’d spend our life with. We thought we were the endgame. She was pissed off about what the fortune teller said and started yelling at the poor woman, but the fortune teller wasn’t having it. She told Regan to get lost and never come back. I was about to follow her, but the fortune teller stopped me. She told me to sit down, and so I did. She pointed at The Lovers card in front of her and told me that I would meet my soulmate one day, but that I would have to be patient. I remember every detail of that day so…vividly. She took my hands in hers and examined both of my palms. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was silent for what felt like an eternity, and I was utterly confused. When she finally spoke, she almost startled me. ‘Ines,’ she said. ‘Ines is the name of your soulmate. Ines is the name of the woman you’re destined to be with.’”

  I choke on a breath, and start coughing. Esteban starts patting me on the back.

  “Yeah, I know. Trust me.”

  “You’re kidding me, right?”

  “I swear to God.”

  “This sounds…”

  “Stupid? Impossible? Unbelievable?” he asks, worried.

  I frown, considering my choice of words as I take in his worried gaze.

  “A little far-fetched?”

  “I know. I know I struggled with what she told me for a very long time. I can see that if you don’t believe in readings, or in esoterism, which at the time I didn’t, either. But in the years that followed, every single thing she’d told me during the reading became true.”

  “I’m not sure I really understand, Esteban. Are you trying to say that all this time you’ve been waiting for me? This is wilder than any ghost story, and we’ve heard some crazy ones…” God, I’m aware I sound like a bitch, but my brain is in complete upheaval, like it’s refusing to believe this story, or even comprehend it. This is not possible. These kinds of things don’t happen in life, right? How could a human being have any idea what another person’s future will be like? Esteban always made fun of ghost stories and has struck me as a pragmatic person, but now he’s telling me that a fortune teller told him I was his true soulmate? I’ve always been someone who wanted to believe in signs, but now tha
t I find myself facing something so monumental, I don’t know how to react.

  “More or less. To be honest, I had lost all hope I’d find you someday.”

  His words warm my heart, and the rush of heat runs through my veins, igniting my body. I feel so conflicted. I don’t want to hurt Esteban’s feelings, but I also need to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground. This is wilder than any ghost stories I heard since I started living here.

  “You’ve been looking for me? This whole time?”

  “I tried, but strangely enough, I’ve never met an Ines before you.”

  “Are you telling me that your whole life you’ve never met someone with my name? This is New Mexico. It’s not like there’s a shortage of people with Hispanic names, after all.”

  “The women I met with a name like yours were named Inez, not Ines. Before I left the fortune teller that day, she said to me I had to wait for an Ines, who’d come from far away.” He stares at me, a look full of love mixed with the worry I’ll slip away at any moment.

  He takes one of my hands in his and the air leaves my lungs. Confusion takes over, and I can’t breathe. There’s a knot in the pit of my stomach and I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel. I don’t know how I feel right now. I’m…confused? Yes. Terrified? Maybe.

  “I know this is hard for you to believe, but I knew there was something about you the night we met, even before I learned your name. Even when I looked at you from afar, you took my breath away.”

  I start laughing nervously. Fitting, I think, since right now I’m the one who can’t breathe. He frowns, and the worried expression in his eyes sobers me immediately.

  “I’m sorry, Esteban. I feel a little out of breath myself,” I explain. I look into his eyes, trying to come to terms with everything he’s said. The strange need that I had to be around him since the beginning. Most of the time I’ve lived here I’ve done nothing but obsess about Esteban in a way that I didn’t understand, in a way that wasn’t like me. I couldn’t make sense of it. Instead of reassuring me, his explanation frightens me. He’s right about one thing. People should never meddle with predicting the future. Why do I feel like our connection is less special now that I know the truth? I worry he pursued me just because of what he’d been told years ago by a shady fortune teller, and not because he really likes me.