Stay a Little Longer

by Dawn Lanuza

  So Elan hauled himself back to San Juan. This time, he wouldn’t just hear her name in conversations. She would be there.

  The ball was his first San Juan party. Juliana told him to wear a suit, which he thought was strange in such an easygoing place. But Kip explained that was how people partied in San Juan. Good thing his boss, Pascual, knew where he could rent a suit and sent him there in time for the trip.

  He rented a black suit that fit him perfectly. That’s one less thing to worry about, he thought, and now he only needed to worry about what he would say when he met Caty again.

  Elan wanted to come up with something clever, but she was the clever one, and he only fed off what she handed him. Days after their time together, Elan realized he was still thinking about Caty simply because he had never met anyone like her.

  She was different and intriguing, and he beat himself up for the impression he must have made on her. His sensible self tried to compensate, convinced that if they had gone too far that night, then what? Where would they go from there?

  He had to convince himself that choosing not to have sex that night actually gave him a chance to be more than just a one-time thing.

  The Coronados’ party was at Casa Isabella, and he checked himself into one of the hotel’s eleven rooms. It was a small hotel, because no one ever went to San Juan. If one did, there was usually a family or a friend who offered a place to stay.

  Elan had once crashed in Kip’s apartment, but he quickly realized he got in the way of Jules coming over for the night, so he never did it again. He had been a loyal patron of Casa Isabella, with its old-time Spanish Colonial-era styled rooms, floor-to-ceiling curtains, and ghost stories from the cleaning ladies. He hadn’t seen any ghosts, but it did get eerily quiet.

  “Mr. Aguirre, back again for the ball, I assume?” Celia, the receptionist, great-granddaughter of the Isabella of the Casa, welcomed him as soon as he arrived.

  He smiled. “Yes. Am I the only one staying here tonight?”

  “We’re fully booked; good thing you made your reservations early.”

  The ball was just about to start, and he only needed a few minutes to change into his suit, splash some water on his face, and talk himself into doing what he had been planning.

  Tonight, he wasn’t just going to attend this party.

  He was going to talk to Caty, make sure she remembered him, find a way to somehow redeem himself for making her feel unwanted that night, and end this night without any regrets.

  That was a tall order, but it was the plan. He had been making it since the day she flew out.

  It would have been easier if she’d just left Otto. Why hadn’t she? Caty shook her head. Don’t ask that question. She sighed and glared at the woman wearing a green dress. She really should hate Madeline, but the girl knew how to pick a dress. She also knew how to style herself. Her hair was in a neat bun to accentuate her long neck, and she looked effortless—Grace Kelly–esque, classic, and divine.

  There was no point in hating Madeline. Caty was just like her.

  Hating Otto? Well, that was different. She glanced again at the couple and cursed. That man could wear a suit. He’d always had a wonderful gait. Despite the rumors that he’d been sick over Christmas, Otto still looked better than anyone else at the party. He radiated confidence, and he knew how to give it and take it away from anyone around him.

  “Don’t stare,” Caty heard her brother say. He was sitting next to her watching the parade of people coming in.

  She laughed and insisted, “I wasn’t. I was just looking.”

  Juliana was tending to her parents as part of her maid of honor duties and had left them both sitting at their table.

  “Whatever happened to that guy you were dating in Toronto?” Kip asked.

  A wrinkle formed on her forehead. “Who, Sean? I don’t know. I guess we stopped dating.”

  “Why? I liked him.”

  “Then you date him.” She stuck out her tongue at him.

  Kip sighed. “You can do so much better than Otto.”

  “Why, ’cause he’s way older than me?”

  “No.” Kip ran a hand over his mouth. “One, he’s married. And now that you’ve mentioned that, yeah. We’ve known him since we were kids. It’s creepy.”

  “He was just friends with Dad; he’s not the same age!” He was fifteen years older than her. She wasn’t dating her grandpa.

  Kip shook his head but didn’t say anything more.

  Caty rolled her eyes and explained, “Whatever. He is married, and I wasn’t even staring. I was just checking. I didn’t think he’d be here; they said he was sick or something?”

  Kip nodded. “We didn’t know how serious it was. Madeline was trying to be mum about it. But yeah, he hadn’t been at any town events for a while.”

  She pursed her lips, annoyed that for once, the town’s chitchat didn’t help her out. She wanted to know more. Should she be worried about him? But that wasn’t her job anymore—was it ever?

  “Anyway, I want to see you happy.”

  “I am happy,” Caty snapped.

  Kip glanced at her, and she rewarded him with a sheepish smile. His look told her that he doubted it, so she had to steer it back to him.

  “Are you happy, here?” she asked.

  His eyes went back to the room, and his face beamed, “Yes.”

  She followed the direction of his gaze and found Juliana talking to some people as she made her way back to her parents’ table. Caty snickered and shook her head, “I’ve never seen you this dopey. It’s disgusting.”

  “But it doesn’t feel like that at all.”

  Caty cringed. “Oh God, you’re gonna talk about it. I saw you kiss a girl once, and I was really traumatized. I’m gonna go through that again if you start talking like this.”

  “Whom did you see me with?”

  “I forgot her name. You were thirteen. I wanted to scratch my eyes out.”

  Kip grinned. “Ah, Lauren. Great. You saw my first kiss.”

  “It wasn’t great. I hope you’ve improved. Otherwise, it’s my obligation as Juliana’s best friend to tell her to get a better boyfriend.”

  Kip laughed but let it slide. He cleared his throat and asked, “Is Mom okay?”

  “Yeah.” She looked around to check where their mother was. She had been mingling with guests, sitting with her friends instead of her kids. “Why?”

  Kip pointed over at their mother, talking to a man.

  “Oh,” Caty’s smile widened. Since their father’s death, their mother hadn’t entertained a lot of suitors, and they were always on the lookout to see how she was doing. Not that they were looking for a new dad—God, no—they just wanted to make sure their mother wasn’t hesitating to start something new because of them. “That’s new.”

  He nodded, taking a drink of water. “Do you even know who he is?”

  “Why are you asking me? You live here. Maybe they’re just talking.”

  “Yeah. I’m gonna stop watching now.” He pushed his chair back, “Are you gonna be okay here?”

  “Yeah.” She nodded. “Please. I’m not four. Go.”

  Kip leaned in to kiss her cheek and advised, “Stop staring too.”

  She snorted, “I honestly didn’t see them ’til you pointed them out.”

  “Not Mom. I meant the other couple. Your dress looks better when it’s walking around, mingling, having fun, and not stalking other people.”

  She shooed him. “Go away.”

  “I’m serious. I want you happy.”

  She watched him walk away and approach Juliana. Her eyes darted back to Otto and Madeline’s table, and she felt her face fall.

  How did she picture this night again? She’d wanted to enter the room, focus on Otto, and see that look on his face, the one he used to give her all the time, as if
she was the most delightful thing in the room.

  Today he hadn’t even spared her a glance. It was like she wasn’t even there. And she knew she was hard to ignore. She’d made it a point to be seen; she even looked like a goddamned trophy!

  Yet in every way, she still felt like a loser.

  six

  “You made it.”

  Elan turned and found Kip, one of the two people he knew in San Juan. Elan was hanging out next to the speakers, basically hiding until he found his friends. Or until they found him.

  “I told you I’d come.”

  “Aren’t you deaf by now? That can’t be good for your eardrums.”

  Elan laughed and took a couple of steps away from the speakers. “Where’s Jules?”

  “Maid of honor duties.” He turned and pointed. Elan focused on the girl in the red dress and nodded.

  “Did the Coronados see you yet?” Kip asked.

  “Yes, after I checked in.”

  They remained like that for a second, two men standing side by side, watching the crowd. Kip drew in a breath. “So my sister’s at that table.”

  “Is she?”

  Kip smirked. “Hell, I saw you looking over at our table a couple of times. You are not subtle at all.”

  “She didn’t seem to notice.”

  “Well that’s because she’s . . . preoccupied at the moment.”

  “Is she okay?”

  Kip sighed. “She will be. She always picks herself up when she’s down.”

  That made Elan smile.

  “Sometimes she needs a little boost, though.” He threw Elan a glance.

  Elan took a step forward and asked, “Is this all right with you?”

  “Why are you asking me? She’s the one you should be asking first. Then you can check with me.”

  Elan grinned. It made sense. He hadn’t been sure about Kip when they first met, but the guy really grew on him. Elan considered him a good friend, sensible, and at times wiser than he was himself. It was in Kip’s nature to push people to do their best.

  “All right, then I’ll go ahead and find out the answer.” Elan turned around and headed for Caty’s table.

  He was hoping for a more natural approach, but he realized that he should do just the opposite this time. He’d met Caty by accident the first time, so he should meet her tonight simply because he sought her out. He wanted to do it that way, and he was going to stick to the plan.

  Before Elan could approach the table, Caty’s eyes wandered, and she noticed him. For a second, she didn’t seem to recognize him, but he saw her eyes widen in recognition before she pursed her lips.

  It was exactly how he pictured she’d react.

  She kept her mouth pursed, as if deciding whether or not to acknowledge him. The former won, and her face broke into a smile. Relief washed over him.

  He walked over and sat in the chair next to hers.

  “What, are you still here?” she retorted.

  He paused, then said, “The party’s barely started.”

  “Still following Juliana around?”

  Ah, that argument. Elan smiled at how they were picking up where they left off. As if no days passed in between and they were still continuing the conversation they’d been having.

  “I am not following her around. I’m being her friend.”

  Caty straightened her back. She looked off into the distance, and he tried to follow her gaze but couldn’t be sure what she was looking at. So he said, “You look great.”

  “I’ve heard that one before. What else you got for me?” she answered, looking back at him for only a second.

  “I see you haven’t changed.”

  Caty turned to him, chin dropping coyly to her shoulder as she pouted. “They say you shouldn’t fix what’s not broken.”

  “I wasn’t complaining.”

  Elan turned around and squinted to see what she’d been staring at. She couldn’t seem to stop watching whatever it was that had caught her attention a few seconds ago.

  As he scanned the crowd, he thought, Boy, the whole place is filled with people I don’t know. In spite of his recent visits to the town, Elan still felt like a guest. He was an outsider. He now understood that these people knew each other very well. Everyone had a relative here.

  “How are you?”

  “Doing all right, I guess.” His shoulders lifted into a shrug. He stopped midway, but what else could he do? It was already a shrug.

  “I see you haven’t changed.” Caty glanced at him, letting her gaze drop to his feet and slide back up to his face. “But you don’t look so bad yourself, Judy.”

  “Thanks.” For a moment, he thought he’d found someone oddly familiar in the crowd. He tried to remember where he’d seen her but couldn’t place her properly.

  “Got any plans for the night?”

  “Not really,” he answered and did it again. He shrugged. Elan bowed his head and peeked at her to see her reaction.

  She was smiling but still not fully looking at him. He couldn’t tell if that smile was for him or somebody else. He felt slightly annoyed, but more at himself. He took a deep breath and waited, counting before leaning his arm on the table and drawing closer to her. He blocked her view and caught her eye.

  Caty’s eyes widened, and Elan felt her gaze swipe across his lips before looking him squarely in the eyes.

  “Hi,” he greeted.

  Her face softened as she offered him a smile. “You wanna do something else tonight?”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. Something fun. I’m already bored.”

  “Like sneak out?”

  Caty’s eyes narrowed. “I like where you’re going with this. Then do what?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “We can drive by the beach. You have a car, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you think we can steal some liquor here?”

  Elan’s snorted. “Or we can buy it, you know. We’re allowed to do that now.”

  Caty sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Oh, that’s right. I almost forgot. You’re not the fun one.”

  He opened his mouth to protest, but obviously she was not done.

  “I guess I’ve forgotten most of what happened that night,” she said, looking away. “Seeing that it was horrible.”

  Elan laughed. “It wasn’t that bad.”

  Caty winced. “Are you serious? Are you listening to yourself? No man could think that was good.”

  He knew exactly what she meant. Of course it wasn’t good. That was his fault. “I didn’t say it was.”

  “But you said it wasn’t that bad.”

  Elan tilted his head, the edge of his lips curling. “Fine. Let me redeem myself then.”

  She gave him a patronizing smile, but then realization settled on her face. Caty cleared her throat and reached out to his tie, her fingers fumbling at it. “Do you mean it?”

  He blinked and felt the tug of her hand. He’d thought about this moment. He’d pictured it in his head several times a day since they met. There were different scenarios. In his head, she still looked the same: radiant skin and jet-black, shoulder-length hair with bangs resting on her forehead . . .

  But he hadn’t pictured her as she was now. It was as if she’d leaped out of Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, for fuck’s sake, with her nude-gold dress and red hair. Her lips were not the shade of scarlet he remembered; the color was something deeper and earthy, like terra-cotta. It made him wonder if kissing her would still feel and taste the same. If he thought she looked beautiful the first time they met, he simply was gobsmacked seeing her tonight. It felt like somebody had just hit him in the head; she was obviously way out of his league.

  Caty let go of his tie, and he felt as if he was falling backward. She flashed a sm
ile, and he silently cursed the gods for making him feel unprepared again. “Do you mean to say that if I ask you to do something for me, you’d do it, without any questions?”

  “You want me to steal liquor.”

  “God, no,” she exclaimed. “I’m not gonna ask you to do anything illegal.”

  He gave her a look, and she returned it, as if challenging him on who could play tougher.

  “I just need you to act.”

  He panicked. Was there supposed to be some kind of show at this party that he didn’t know about? Wasn’t it just dinner and drinks and dancing?

  “Just say yes.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Elan,” she finally said his name, and he liked the way she said it. She remembered. She didn’t dismiss him, after all. “Redeeming yourself, remember?”

  “I was thinking of other ways.”

  She squinted her eyes. “Well, I want it to be this way.”

  Elan didn’t speak. He simply pressed his lips together and smiled.

  Caty sighed again, as if giving up. “Do this for me, please? If you do, all is forgiven. I’ll even let you chase after Juliana all you want.”

  His forehead creased. “I won’t do that.”

  “Please, please, please.”

  “Well,” Elan exhaled, “now that you’ve said the magic word.”

  Caty grinned, lifted her hand, and offered it. He took it and watched their fingers interlace. “All you have to do is pretend you are absolutely, mind-blowingly smitten with me.”

  He leaned forward as if pretending that he couldn’t hear her through the music. His lips almost touched her cheek as he whispered in her ear, “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

  He was doing it, and doing it well too. He swept his arm up and circled her waist as they walked around the room, pausing every time Caty recognized someone. The chats were quick, and he picked up what he could from what she was telling people: what life was like in Toronto, how her mother was doing (even when they already knew, since her mother was in the same room), how her job was going, and a few snide remarks.