The Telenovela: #1 33 Dinners

Reina’s cousin Stephanie was talking the entire hour drive as she drove Reina to Reys apartment. It was getting dark, Reina looked over at Stephanie while she was talking and thought about how pretty she was with the sunset reflecting off her diamond earrings it gave her cousins brown eyes a honey colored depth that Reina never noticed before.

Stephanie’s perfectly manicured stiletto nails painted in cheetah print where moving around frantically. Each time she was making her point Stephanie would tap the steering wheel with her long nails to make a slight drumming sound. Reina knew Stephanie’s every word was coming from their Grandmother. She knew that their Gram’s had told Stephanie to say these things to convince her not to go. This time Reina didn’t listen to a word She said.

Stephanie: Why does he want to meet at his apartment and not in public?

Stephanie: This isn’t like you Reina, why are you putting our family at risk?

Stephanie: You have other options who are ready to pay the Mahr to marry you, and you know that our family needs this right now.

Stephanie: What if he is a complete psycho?

Riena knew that Rey didn’t believe she was coming tonight and she didn’t blame him. He had asked her out 34 times and 33 of those times she had canceled because she listened to Stephanie. As they turned the corner of his street Reina’s head was spinning and her heart began to pound so intensely she barely heard her cousin say she would pick her up in a few hours.

What if she was making a terrible decision in meeting Rey. Her Gram’s and her cousin could be right maybe he was a psycho. Reina took a deep breath, she had experience with a few psycho’s in her family, her Gram’s was one of them and she knew that Rey was alot of things but he wasn’t a psycho.

What really scared Reina was, what if he was just what she thought he was. A man who wasn’t perfect but he was talented, funny, had a good heart and beautiful. Reina knew that Rey already had this way of pulling her in towards him. What would she do if he was everything she felt that he was?

Reina rationalized with herself that there was no harm in meeting someone one time. She could easily excuse herself and leave if she felt something was wrong. It was innocent Reina told herself she was sure that she would find something wrong with him right away. Some red flag would appear during their conversation and she could say that she tried but he just wasn’t her style.

Her cousin left and Reina started walking to Reys apartment building. The street was silent and her black suide ankle boots echoed click clack as she made her way. Her heart was beating so fast and that she thought she might actually faint. Reina thought she would take a quick walk around the block to compose herself or maybe run away. Until she heard Rey yell her name from his third floor apartment window.

Rey was smoking a cigerette waiting by the window wondering if Reina would actually show up this time. He had no idea why he had given her so many chances, he just knew that she had this hold on him that he had never felt before. Then he saw her, her hair was bouncing as she walked. She was on the opposite side of the street and it looked as if she was walking right by his building. Before he knew what he was doing he called out to her.

Rey; “Reina I’m here come up”

Reina heard his familiar voice and looked up, she could see his silhouette from the third floor window and she felt her anxiety hit her like a sledge hammer. As she crossed the street to his building she was gripped with fear and her hands began to shake.

Rey buzzed her in and Reina tried to pull herself together before she made her way up the stairs to meet him. She tucked in her beige tank top embroidered with black flowers into her cream colored Gucci pants and tried wiping the sweat from her forehead and chest. It was the beginning of November and she was so nervous she was hot. Reina tried to smooth down her long curly hair and applied some lip gloss. This was the moment of truth Reina thought to herself.

As she took the stairs and approached the third floor there was Rey. Her first impression of him was he looked like a beautiful pirate. He had on a wool hat with a full beard. He was dressed much more casually then Reina was with his black loose fitting knit pants with a grey cotton button up shirt that was un-buttoned at the top just enouph so Reina could see the hair on his chest.

They greeted each other with a hug and both of their hearts were beating out of their chests. Rey pulled out the seat for Reina to sit at his table and poured a glass of wine for both of them. While he began prepare the meal they sipped their wine and Rey started talking with this deep voice that felt so familiar to her.

As Rey was talking about his life Reina was looking at him, studying him and when their eyes met she swore she could see into his soul. What she saw was a beautiful diamond in the rough not a psycho. She could tell he was a little nervous too and Reina thought it was adorable, even though he didn’t let it outwardly show. He spoke of things that Reina didn’t dare let herself even think about like living your own life, travel and freedom.

Rey continued to talk and they drank some more wine. Reina was quiet and only gave a few responses. Rey wasn’t used to this at all. He found himself wondering if something was wrong with Reina. There she was finally sitting at his table listening to him and looking at him with her big blue green eyes and he could tell she was out of her element. Rey wondered what she was thinking.

Rey was loud everything about him was loud, his opinions, his voice and Reina could hear his heartbeat just sitting next to him, it too was loud. Rey was the exact opposite of Reina from the outside looking in, but she could feel that they had much more in common then they both knew. There it was again this feeling like she was being pulled to him.

Rey just couldn’t shake this feeling that in some way he understood her. He didn’t understand why he felt he needed to protect her and from what or who? She didn’t appear to be in danger but he wouldn’t know because she barely spoke. Rey wasn’t equipped to think about Reina’s situation, how could he have ever imagined? He had his own hands full dealing with his own life.

As they finished dinner Rey got bold and kissed Reina. She was both shocked and relieved because she had wanted to kiss him all night. Reina’s cheeks were flushed as their lips pressed together she could feel their heart beats beat together as if they had become combined as one. Reina took a step back looking into Rey’s eyes she could see he wanted more than just a kiss but he was holding back.

Reina was shy but she had a boldness to her and she pressed her body against his and kissed him again. They were caught up in the heat of the moment and even though a part of her knew that she should pull herself away and go home, Reina began to undress herself in front of Rey.

Rey couldn’t believe it, in a flash he had removed all his clothes and lead Reina to his bedroom. Rey began in earnest to help Reina remove the rest of her clothes. As he lay Riena on his bed he thought this is what a woman should look like. As they finished they lay close breathing each other in and still looking into each others eyes. They were in disbelief of what they both felt.

At this moment Reina’s cell phone began to ring it was Stephanie. Reality began to hit Reina like a ton of bricks. She kissed Rey and told him she had to go home to her family. Rey pleaded with her to stay but Reina knew that this was impossible. Reina told Rey her family was strict and one day she would explain everything to him, but she knew she wasn’t brave enouph today.

Rey watched Reina get dressed and he wondered if he would ever see her again. He wanted her to stay with him and hold her but he did not want to push her , he got the sense that she needed to tell him something. Everything about her was a mystery that he felt he had to know.

As she got dressed and took one last look at Rey in disbelief of what she was feeling. She wondered if she would ever see him again. It was impossible not to mention irrational to feel this way about him she thought as she headed to her cousins car and back to the life she was longing to escape.