The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
AFFLICTION
BY TROG |
CHAPTER
11 |
CHAPTER 11
Todd walked into the Palace bar and scanned the restaurant...but he didn’t see her. He had gone by the hospital but Tea had already left. Walking to the bar he took a stool and motioned to the bartender .
“The usual, Mr. Manning?”
“Yeah.”
Antonio Vega took a swallow of his beer before turning around and noticing Todd right beside him. They acknowledged each other with a nod, but said nothing. Antonio watched with great amusement as the bartender placed three ice-cubes in a tall glass and filled it to the top with milk. Todd held up his glass to Antonio.
“Cheers,” said Todd, taking a short swallow and grimacing.
“I hear it does a body good,” said Antonio, taking another drink from his bottle.
Todd noticed that Antonio was not in uniform, but wearing a navy suit and light blue shirt, open at the neck with a gold crucifix on a chain just visible, glowing against his dark chest hair.
“All dressed up and nowhere to go, Antonio? Or did you get lucky tonight?”
“Well, as a matter of fact, I’m having dinner with a really lovely lady.”
“Hey, you want to borrow a few bucks? This place can get pretty expensive...and on a cop’s salary, well, you might have to go on the take or something to impress a woman.”
Antonio laughed. Todd Manning was one of those people he could never get. Being a cop, living on the right side of the law, he’d had many run-ins with Todd who had no respect for the law and broke it as often as he could get away with it, but he had always been intrigued by him on some level. Perhaps because being a Latino from Angel Square in this town, he knew what it was like to be looked down upon, to always be an outsider, and he kind of admired the way Todd Manning thumbed his nose at Llanview’s finest citizens.
“Hey...how’s...uh..your...Carlotta?” asked Todd, not looking at Antonio.
Antonio stared at him in disbelief. His inquiry probably had more to do with Tea than his mother, but he was strangely moved by Todd’s human side...a side rarely seen.
“She’s holding her own...came through the surgery okay. Now she’s going to require some therapy...and hopefully, she’ll be okay. Thanks for asking, man.”
Todd looked over at Antonio who’s eyes were misty as he looked at his beer. What he knew of the Vegas was their close family ties. Carlotta was a lioness when it came to loving and protecting her sons and they seemed very devoted to her...he noticed that every time they were together. He envied it. A mother’s love was something he only tasted briefly and something he’d never know.
“Listen...if you need some help...doctors and stuff...I’ve got nothing but money,” Todd said, suddenly without thinking.
Antonio stared at him in disbelief.
“No...my mother has plenty of insurance...but...why would you even make that kind of offer to me? We’re not family...or friends?”
Todd stared at him with embarrassment. He was really thinking about Tea when he made that offer and now he just looked ridiculous. Turning away from Antonio, he took a quick gulp of his milk.
“Forget it! Just doing my bit to help the needy! Tax right-off and all that.”
An awkwardness fell between them as they sipped their drinks in silence.
“Hi.”
Antonio and Todd both turned around to see Tea standing there in a red dress. Tea smiled at Antonio when she suddenly became aware of Todd standing there beside him and she became serious.
“Todd,” she said quietly.
His eyes traveled slowly up her dress till they reached her face which looked pale and exquisite with her hair pinned up, falling softly around her cheeks. A string of claret garnets circled her slender neck. The seconds ticked away as they continued to stare into each other’s eyes, unaware of everything but each other and Antonio became acutely aware of the dangerous situation that was playing out in front of him, feeling like an intruder in their very intimate world. Their eyes were locked on one another’s as Antonio looked from one to the other.
“Hi, Tea,” Antonio said rather loudly, trying to break Todd’s hold on her.
Tea looked at Antonio than down at the floor, avoiding Todd’s eyes.
“Tea and I are having dinner, Todd...so if you’ll excuse us,” said Antonio as he put an arm around Tea and whisked her away into the dining room.
Todd watched Antonio’s hand slide around Tea’s waist and he had a sudden urge to kill him. His stomach churned and twisted with rage as that same dark force invaded him, the one that had caused him to almost kill a man who had dared to touch her two years ago. Now it was Antonio pulling her away from him...keeping them apart...protecting her from her dark, tormented lover. Her devil. Him.
Todd looked down at his stomach, feeling the heralding pain, the shouts and stabbings of the battle that raged inside him, but this time he refused to heed their warning. He pounded his fist on the counter of the bar and his bartender came waltzing over.
“Give me a scotch...three rocks,” he said, as he turned around to watch her.
**********
As Antonio and Tea sat, they sipped their red wine quietly, until he finally broke the silence.
“Would you mind telling me what that was, mi amiga?”
Tea looked up at him, her dazzling eyes, shaded with guilt.
“What?”
Antonio smiled.
“What? That look between you and Todd Manning! Tea, I’m not blind.”
“Look, you know Todd and I have a history...we were married twice...remember?”
“Well...what I just saw didn’t look like history to me.”
“I’m married, Antonio. Todd’s with Blair. We’re through...and I don’t want to talk about this, okay?” she said taking another sip of wine and looking very emotional, her eyes filling with tears.
Antonio reached across the table and took her hand.
“Hey...hey. Come on, I didn’t mean to upset you. We’re friends right....you can talk to me.”
“No...I can’t talk to you. I can’t talk to anyone about Todd without receiving the accompanying lecture of what a monster he is...and what the hell is wrong with me...and how he’ll only hurt me again...and I just don‘t want to hear it.” she said, wiping her eyes.
Antonio watched her. Tea was a strong and intelligent woman, steely and self-possessed, but right now she seemed as fragile as a porcelain doll seated across from him, ready to shatter. He didn’t know this side of her and her vulnerability stunned him. She was hurting.
“Tea...we go back a long way. You can talk to me...about Todd....about anything. I won’t judge you...and I promise no lectures.”
Tea smiled up at him and took his hand affectionately.
“Tonio...sometimes...I think I just don’t know how to be happy. I should be happy...I have a great life...a beautiful home, a dream husband. What’s wrong with me?”
“Maybe...you have a great life...just not the life you want...or the man you want.”
Tea stared at Antonio than turned her sad gaze toward the bar where Todd was sitting, quietly watching her.
“I can’t have what I want.”
Antonio looked over to the bar and noticed Todd, his eyes fixed on Tea. He sat back.
“When did all this happen, Tea? This thing between you and Todd. I mean I thought you married him for his money.”
Tea sat back, smiled and shook her head.
“I don’t know, Tonio. One day I woke up and found myself in love with Todd Manning...and I can’t seem to get over it...even now,” she said, her voice filled with pain.
“Well, from the looks of him...I’d say he can’t seem to get over it either. Is that how it is with you two?”
“It doesn’t matter how we feel...we’re married to other people now. We have other responsibilities. It’s over,” she said mournfully as she played with her napkin. “Besides, it doesn’t hurt so bad when I’m home. In a few weeks I won’t see him anymore...and things will go back to the way they were.”
“Tea, how do you expect a marriage to work when you marry one man to forget another?”
“I care deeply for Aaron...he’s so good to me. He can give me a good life.”
Antonio shook his head.
“Since you came back, mija, I’ve noticed a change in you. There’s something missing from you...a fire...a spirit...I don’t know. A good life can never be a substitute for love. You can’t cheat your heart with a lovely home and a handsome man, Tea.”
Tea turned her face from him not wanting to accept the truth in his words.
“I’m not cheating my heart...I...love...Aaron.”
“I love my mother, Tea...and I love my brother...but when I’m lying in bed at night, lonely and naked, that’s not who I wish was lying next to me.”
Tea laughed a little, nodded her head and reached over for his hand.
“You’re a good friend, Tonio.”
“Hey, you’re not the only one who’s ever had her heart torn in two, you know.”
“I know. It’s just...I’ve never loved anybody like that before...the way I loved Todd. I never knew it was possible to feel that close to someone...and now...it’s like a part of me is missing, like someone reached inside of me and yanked something out...and I just can’t seem to function in the same way. When is the pain going to stop, Tonio? When am I ever going to stop...wanting him?” she said, as a single tear ran down her face and she quickly wiped it away.
“I don’t know, mija, but someone very wise once said, when you stop wanting...you stop living.”
Tea looked up at him with confusion.
“What are you telling me, Tonio...to be with Todd?”
“No...what I’m telling you is don’t settle for a life you don’t really want because you can’t have the life you do want.”
Tea took a deep breath and looked over at Todd, feeling his eyes on her.
“Aaron wants to have a baby...and I don’t know what to do.”
“Well, I think you’d better decide whether you want to stay married before you bring a child into it. Don’t you?”
Tea nodded silently.
“Now, how about we order some dinner before I starve to death.”
They both laughed as Todd watched them. Her laughter floated across the room to him making him reel with longing and regret, recalling when that laughter belonged to him, not to Antonio or whoever else was in her presence. He wanted that laughter back in his life. His world had been all about darkness before Tea brought warmth and light into it, she was Persephone to his Pluto and he needed her to bring him back from this cold, lifeless underworld he’d been residing in since the day she left him.
to be continued...
2001 Copyright by Trog
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