by Olivia Jake
When Kara came over, before Alex could run through all the various feedings and information Kara demanded, “Ok, let’s see them!”
“Kara, you’re acting like a teenager! Flowers are over there, and gimme a sec and I’ll pull the shoot up on the computer.” Alex brought her laptop over and started scrolling through the photos, pausing when Kara would squeal with delight “Oh my God, he is SOOOOO gorgeous!” which she said so many times, Alex lost count.
CHAPTER 6
Alex loved the looks she got when she and Jesús were in public together. Actually, sometimes it pissed her off, but mostly, people’s reactions amused her. She could tell all of the calculations people were making when they tried to figure out their relationship. It was obvious they weren’t related, so that was out. Alex was 15 years older than Jesús, though she could probably pass for only half that. But she was white, tall, slim and carried herself like a model after all the years watching them pose. She also had a very welcoming smile that disarmed people and put them at ease. Jesús was Latino, full sleeves of tattoos, buzz cut hair, and wore what looked like a permanent scowl on his face. Alex knew the gentle heart that was on the inside, but from the outside, he looked like he could be a gang member.
So walking through the airport together and gauging people’s reactions was a nice distraction from the actual flight. Alex giggled to herself at some of the looks they got. She could only imagine the stories people concocted in their minds. Working in an industry where image is everything, Alex knew better than anyone, that what’s on the outside definitely doesn’t always match the inside. Beyond the amusement, she was happy Jesús was there with her. His strong silence comforted her. In very different ways, they made each other feel safe.
As they sat in the boarding area waiting, the sociological observations got even better when Marco arrived. Alex could see that there were a lot of fans who were whispering and pointing as he walked through the terminal. She was surprised that he travelled alone. No manager, no publicist, no ‘person’ attached to him. It was nice and refreshing, but left him vulnerable to people walking up to him and asking for his autograph. When he saw Alex he broke into a huge grin, walked straight up to her and held out his arms, looking genuinely happy to see her, “Alexandra.” He said as he pulled her into a big, long hug. When he finally released her he looked into her eyes for a moment and Alex could feel the hug deep down in her body. She knew she was bright red. She also knew that people were taking pictures with their phones. She tried to pull away and he scowled, “You are not happy to see me, Corazon?”
“Marco, it’s not that. People are taking our picture. We’re going to end up in the National Enquirer!” Alex exclaimed in a hushed whisper. Marco got a mischievous smile and raised his eyebrows as if to say,’so?’. Alex continued whispering, “That’s how rumors get started!” to which Marco finally released her, only because he got a big laugh out of that. Finally, he looked down at Jesús, who hadn’t bothered standing up. They both acknowledged each other with barely an eyebrow raise and a head nod.
Marco was the bigger person and said simply, “Jesús.”
Jesús replied, “Marco” which surprised Alex that he said anything at all. Oh boy, this was going to be a long trip.
When they all boarded into first class, Alex sat in the aisle seat next to Jesús. Marco was across the way, but apparently had booked both seats so that no one would sit next to him. Alex couldn’t really blame him. Flying to Ecuador was a long time to sit next to a potentially pesky fan or fawning woman.
While it was small planes that really got to Alex, flying of any kind, given what happened to her parents, freaked her out. So, when the plane started taxiing, Alex gripped Jesús’ hand and held it tight. She closed her eyes and held on until they were at their cruising altitude. When she opened her eyes, she first smiled at Jesús, who returned her smile. It was such a rarity to see his face relax, it made Alex melt with pride and warmth when he smiled at her. He so rarely let his guard down, she knew she earned his trust. “You ok, Alex?” he asked softly. She nodded and leaned up to kiss his cheek gently which she knew embarrassed him, but she loved this kid so much. He looked down and smiled. Then Alex looked across the way to Marco whose eyes she had felt on her. Sure enough, he was watching this entire exchange. Was that a look of jealousy?
“Alexandra, come sit here for a bit. Let me tell you about my family you’re going to meet.” Marco gestured to the empty aisle seat next to him. Then his mouth turned upwards into a little smirk as he continued, “You seemed so interested in talking about my grandmother, I thought now might be a good time to tell you all about her” he winked.
She could feel Jesús stiffen and grip her hand tighter. She looked at Jesús and said, “It’s ok, Jesús. I’m ok.” He nodded once and let go of her hand. She knew he wasn’t pleased, but let go none-the-less. She appreciated how protective he was of her, but this little tug of war between him and Marco was something else. Jesús had never seen Alex with a man and she knew that his behavior was a mix of concern and jealousy. He was still very young and immature when it came to relationships. So that, coupled with the fact that Alex was his world, not that he’d ever admit that, but she saved him from becoming what most people thought he already was. It wasn’t just that she introduced him to a life beyond what his family could offer him. It was that she was the first person who truly showed interest in him. To everyone else, including his parents, he was a burden or a lost cause or just no one who warranted any time or interest. But Alex made him feel like a person, a human being. So no matter what, he was not going to let anyone hurt her.
Alex unbuckled her seat belt, crossed the aisle, and sat down in the chair next to Marco. As she fastened her new seatbelt, she looked over at Jesús who was now looking out the window. She felt badly, like he thought she was choosing Marco over him. She shook her head and resolved to have a talk with him later.
As she turned to Marco, he looked serious and asked, “He is more than an assistant to you, yes?” Alex smiled and nodded.
“Yes, he’s like family.” Alex said softly.
Marco looked relieved, “So, there’s nothing, uh, romantic between the two of you?” Alex laughed, rolled her eyes and shook her head no. “Bueno.” he said seeming satisfied and grabbed Alex’s hand. Alex looked at him with surprise, her eyebrows shooting up. Before she could say anything Marco said, “What? If there’s nothing romantic, then he shouldn’t mind.”
“And that’s all you’re concerned about? Jesús minding?” Alex challenged. Marco’s brow scrunched up.
“Is there someone else?” he asked. Alex again rolled her eyes and laughed an exasperated laugh.
“Not that it’s any of your business, Marco, but no, there’s no one else.” And before Alex could continue he smiled and started rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. Not that it didn’t feel good or send shivers throughout her body, Alex continued, “But just because there’s no one else does not mean you should be caressing my hand, Marco.” She tried to add some indignation, but damn, it felt so nice.
“Por que, Corazon?” He seemed genuinely perplexed. Alex tossed her head back and laughed again thinking, this was going to be a long, long trip for so many reasons.
“Porque, Marco, we’re not on our way to a romantic vacation, we’re on our way to do a photoshoot. I’m your photographer and you’re my subject. That’s why!” Alex said in a hushed voice, not wanting Jesús to hear this conversation. Apparently, Marco thought that was hysterical as he threw his head back and laughed so loud that Jesús shot them a look. “What’s so funny?” Alex was getting a little annoyed.
“Oh, Alexandra, you are, como se dice? Refreshing?” Alex shot him a look which just made him chuckle even more, “Don’t take this the wrong way, Corazon, but most of the women I’ve met in Los Angeles, they, uh,” and in an instant he went from laughing to looking down fumbling for words. Alex had an idea of what he was about to say, but she wasn’t going to make this any easier for h
im. No, she wanted him to squirm a little bit. She sat there, eyebrows raised, waiting for his explanation, but he chickened out. He took her hand, still in his, lifted it to his lips, kissed it and said, “My family’s going to love you, Alexandra. Especially mi abuela!” He chuckled again, but it was obviously an inside joke. Alex just shook her head and thought this was as good an opening as any to change directions.
“Speaking of your abuela, Marco. Tell me about her. And tell me about your family and your favorite places at home, where you’re thinking you might want to shoot. You were a tour guide, right?” He smiled and nodded. “Perfect!”
“And now I’m your, as you say, ‘subject’,” he winked. Alex liked how playful he was. He didn’t take himself too seriously and he made her laugh.
“Well, yes, but not in the royal way.” She laughed wondering if he got the joke.
“No eres mi reina?” Apparently, he did get the joke. “You’re not going to make demands of my loyal service as your subject?” he suggestively joked.
“Marco!” Alex huffed as she laughed.
“What, Corazon? You know, if you were my queen and I were your subject, you could order me to do lo que quieres. And I would have to obey. It would be my duty.” Then he batted his eyelashes, “And my honor.”
“Dios mio, Marco, seriously! You’re incorrigible!”
“I’m told it’s part of my charm.” He winked. And Alex just laughed again. She wasn’t worried about the shoot. She knew with him as her subject she was going to get great material. She, momentarily, wasn’t even worried about the short flight on the small plane. Right now, her worry was how she was going to resist Marco’s many, many charms.
CHAPTER 7
Marco did a good job keeping Alex entertained on the plane ride to Ecuador. He told her all about his family. It was no wonder he was so good with women, he was raised around a huge extended family of them. He was the only boy among three sisters, and his father died when Marco was very young.
When they landed in Ecuador, all the fun was gone. The realization that Alex was going to be getting on a small plane hit her, and it hit her hard. As they sat in the waiting area she started having a panic attack, or at least what she assumed was a panic attack since she’d never felt anything like this before. It started when they announced boarding for their flight. Suddenly, her heart was pounding and she broke out in a cold sweat. She knew that all the blood had drained from her face and thought she was going to be sick.
Jesús was busy getting all their bags when he looked back and suddenly saw Alex close to passing out. Marco was talking with some locals, signing autographs so he didn’t see Jesús holding Alex up. “Bathroom, Jesús” was all she could manage. And he was already leading her that way. He took her into the women’s room, neither of them caring that he was in there, pushing past women giving him dirty looks saying “hey, you can’t be in here” they made it to a stall, he threw the door open and then held her waist and made sure her ponytail was out of the way as she threw up violently over and over until finally, there was nothing left but wretching dry heaves. Through it all, Jesús held her calmly, silently. Panting, she finally nodded and he helped her up, still holding onto her. When she was standing up right, he leaned down to grab some toilet paper, turned her around and wiped her mouth. Her face was still white as a sheet and covered with perspiration.
They stood in the stall for a minute as Alex continued panting. Once Jesús was sure that Alex wasn’t going to throw up again he asked, “Can you make it to the sink, Alex?” his voice afraid. Alex never heard Jesús afraid, ever. She nodded and he walked her slowly to the sink, not for a minute letting go until they got there. “Ok, put your hands on the sink.” He told her and she did. He turned on the water and cupped some in his hands and held it to her for her to drink. It was the most tender, beautiful thing. She could only imagine what it looked like, his tattooed arms offering water in his hands to this gringa. But she couldn’t have cared less. After a couple mouthfuls, she finally nodded and he turned off the water. “Stay there, don’t move.” He told her as he went to grab some paper towels, came back and started patting her face dry.
At this point, Marco came running in, panic on his face, “Alexandra, are you ok? What’s wrong?”
“I’ve got this, Marco.” Jesús spit out through gritted teeth, moving so he was giving Marco his back.
“Alexandra?” Marco said and Alex weakly looked up and said, “I’ll be ok, I just need a minute Marco. We’ll be out soon.” Effectively dismissing him. He stood there for a moment longer, looking at her ashen face, then up to Jesús then back to Alex. But it was clear there was nothing he could do, so after he opened, then closed his mouth, he just sighed as he turned and left.
Jesús grabbed Alex’s shoulders, squaring her to him, and looked deep into her eyes. Alex knew that all Jesús cared about was her. He couldn’t care less about the trip or the shoot or any of it. He had never before seen Alex be anything but strong and she knew that seeing her like this scared him, and also heightened his need to protect her, “Alex, it’s your call. You don’t have to get on that plane. You don’t have to do this.”
Alex took a deep breath, “Yes, I do.” And reached up on her tip toes to give him a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, Jesús. I’m not sure what I would do without you.”
He smiled down at her, “Back at ya.”
“Ok, come on, let’s go, before we miss the flight.” She said, leading him out of the women’s room, earning more stares when they got out. Marco was waiting patiently as they heard the final boarding call announcement he asked,
“Alexandra?”
Alex nodded to Marco. He went to the side that Jesús wasn’t on so that he could hold her other arm. The three of them walked together as far as they could until they left the terminal and went out onto the tarmac where they had to go one by one up the little stairs, Alex first, followed by Jesús and then Marco. When they got to the top, Alex swayed a bit, but Jesús was right there behind her. He put his hands on her hips and whispered in her ear, “I’ve got you Alex. I’m right here.” She just nodded, took another deep breath and ducked her head to go inside.
It was a 16-passenger plane, 8 rows of one seat on either side of the aisle. Alex took the first available seat, Jesús sat next to her and Marco sat behind her. She was still white as a sheet and started breathing heavily. Jesús immediately pulled out the paper bag that was in front of her and handed it to her to breath into, which she did and it started to calm her down. Marco still didn’t know what the problem was, but one thing was clear, Alex was not doing well. Marco got out of his seat and crouched down in front of her looking up at her with his beautiful crystal blue eyes. He put his hands on her knees as she still was breathing into the bag. “Corazon, I don’t know what’s wrong, but if you’re not well we can wait until you are. We can get another flight. You’re scaring me, and I’m worried about you.”
Alex’s breathing slowed down and she shook her head no. She didn’t want to take the bag away from her mouth afraid she might puke right onto Marco, or afraid that without the bag she might start hyperventilating again. “No, you don’t want to get on another flight.” She nodded yes. “Wait, yes? You do want to get on another flight?” And at this, Alex actually laughed.
She took the bag away and said quickly, “No, I don’t want to get on another flight. I can’t talk now or I might puke on you.” His eyes got wide when she said this and he instinctively moved back a bit, which again, made her chuckle into her paper bag.
“Ok, no talking. You just hold onto your bag there. We’ll stay on this flight and then we’ll talk when we land, ok, Corazon?” She nodded yes, and he could see that her eyes were smiling, which made him smile. He got up, leaned over and put a kiss on her forehead, then smoothed her hair back. Once he was back in his seat he reached and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Then the co-pilot closed the door, took his seat and within minutes, they were off.
Alex breathed into the b
ag the entire hour and a half flight. She didn’t know why, but it comforted her. It was also both comforting and somewhat unnerving that Jesús stared at her the entire flight, like he was expecting her to suddenly combust or something. And Marco would stroke her arm every few minutes. So between the bag, Jesús and Marco, oh and the plane not crashing, Alex made it. When they deplaned, she walked very carefully down the stairs. She made it a few steps on the tarmac and then sank to her knees, her legs actually giving out under her, and sobbed. Jesús was quickly by her side, rubbing her back. Marco wanted to do the same, but there was no room for him, and the truth was, Jesús was like family. Marco only knew her a few days and still had no idea what this was all about. When she finally was cried out she got up and tried to wipe her tears and nose with her arms.
Alex looked at Marco knowing she owed him some sort of explanation, “Marco, I am not a crazy woman and I’m not sick. If you take us to the nearest bar and get me whatever it is they drink here, I will tell you what all of this is about, and hopefully get a little bit drunk.”
“Muy bien, Corazon. I didn’t think you were crazy. And I’m glad you’re not sick. Now, let’s get you drunk. And maybe you too Jesús! Maybe if we get drunk together, you’ll stop looking like you want to kill me.” Marco paused, “Yes, that look right there. Then again, if we get drunk, you may actually kill me.” That made Jesús smile. “Ok, let’s go take our chances! Oh, and welcome to the Galapagos Islands!”
CHAPTER 8
They loaded all of their equipment and bags into a rented SUV and Marco got into the driver’s seat. “You’re driving?” Alex asked. She already knew that, like with the shoot at his house, Marco didn’t want anyone more than necessary at his family’s home. She admired that he seemed to want to keep his private life private, or at least as normal as possible. Which meant no manager, stylist, or any handler of any kind. Alex had agreed that so long as the wardrobe they had agreed upon was there, and without really needing any type of makeup, they could easily get by being a very lean team. Any retouching could be done in post. But based on what God had given this man, he wouldn’t need much.
