Page 15 of Guarded

I watch as she chugs a green juice, and I wince. She had a weird devotion to kale.

“Where are you headed today?” I ask, making general conversation.

Her free time is none of my business. So why do I grind my jaw at the thought of everyone seeing her in this tight dress? I’ve already accidentally spilled bleach on her other revealing outfits.

“Um. Probably to my grandfather’s and some errands,” she says, looking away.

Guapo is snug tight into a sling around the front of her body. My man is out here, keeping her chest covered from prying eyes. Team work. I scratch his head in appreciation.

“Probably to your grandfathers?”

She prefers to spend her Saturdays over there. Like me, she doesn’t like to be alone. But ‘the errands’ part of her story throws me off. Ariella hates errands. I know because I’m usually the one doing them for her.

“Yup. Just have to get, um, feminine things.” She says.

“Nice try, Manikà. You just had your feminine time.” I narrow my eyes on her widening ones. She quickly fixes her fallen expression.

“Yes, and I need to replace the toiletries and things I used immediately.”Right.

“What does Manikà mean?” she asks, pausing before grabbing her purse.

“Doll. And you didn’t answer the question, what errands?” I move closer to her, and she swallows.

Usually, this type of bratty behavior with other women would bore me. The problem is I can’t compare Ariella to other women. She is my client not the women I fuck. I have to tolerate her defiance to some extent.

“Calm down, Valiente. I’m not doing anything illegal. I’ll see you later.” She pursues her lips and walks out the door.

I roll my eyes at the new nickname she attached to me. Valiente was a character in the Loteria game Tala and I would play as kids.

When Evangeline was acting for our father, she taught us the game and the funny rhymes she made up for each card. My father would laugh, and her eyes would light up. I feel a pangin my chest at the memory—the same familiar pang I get when I think of Tala. Today, I will finally be able to see my sister again.

__

I’m sitting outside the club smoking a cigarette when my phone vibrates in my pocket. There are at least a dozen messages from Ariella.

11:52 AM

Ariella

Did you take your vitamins?

Yes Manikà.

Since Ariella and I started our truce, she has fed me vitamins every morning and taken it upon herself to be my personal dietitian.

I got tired of men watching her workout from the bench, so I joined her. It turns out I was way more out of shape than I expected. I could barely keep up with her on the treadmill. Thanks to genetics, I was naturally thin, and manual labor kept me toned, but my endurance was nowhere near what she was capable of.

11:53 AM

Ariella

Did you drink the smoothie I left you?

No, I poured that shit down the drain.

I ignore the majority of the messages and scroll to the last one.

12:14 PM

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