Chapter 243: _ HER
The evening air was cool, almost brittle as I drove through the streets of Santa Leticia, my hands gripping the steering wheel with quite a lot of force.
I hadn’t even realized how tightly I was holding it until my knuckles started aching. The city lights flickered on like scattered stars, throwing their artificial glow onto the cracked pavement. A faint breeze blew through the open window, but it couldn’t calm the storm inside me.
I glanced at the clock: 6:45 PM. The day had dragged on, consumed with everything that Rosa had thrown at me, and now it was time to visit María José.
I could already hear her laughter in my mind. I could feel the warmth of her presence, that soothing, innocent aura that had made all the chaos in my life feel like it was just a background noise. A distraction. She was my focus now.
I had originally planned to pick up a few gifts for her; flowers, a new phone because how could an eighteen-year-old lack one? And maybe something cute. I had even considered going by one of those overpriced stores that sold everything with a ridiculous price tag for the sake of it, but I was running out of time. It was already late, and I didn’t want to show up with nothing but a haggard look on my face.
Tomorrow. I’ll get them tomorrow. But for now, I’d go to her, and that would be enough.
But as I continued driving, I spotted something that made me change course—something that tugged at me, tugged at that part of me that wanted to do everything right for her.
A small flower stand, the kind you’d expect to see in a corner of a forgotten street, where the roses and daisies seemed to laugh with the wind. It was a modest stand, with a few vases lining the cart. A tiny girl with messy braids stood behind the counter, arranging the flowers like she had all the time in the world.
Without thinking, I pulled over.
"Excuse me," I called as I rolled down the window. "How much for the roses?"
The girl looked up, her eyes bright but a little cautious. She smiled, revealing a single missing tooth. "Roses? Twenty for the big ones, fifteen for the small."