Page 12 of After the Fire
I walked the opposite way than I intended with the sole purpose of avoiding him and his stupid, blinding smile. He was so annoying, always had been.
“Victoria! Hey! Wait up!” he shouted as he ran to me. Even though I was ignoring him and didn’t stop walking, I could hear his steps grow closer and closer. “Where are you going?”
“What have I ever done to deserve this, Santiago? Stop following me.” I rolled my eyes. I felt like a rebellious teenager when talking to him. Attitude for days. “I’m just getting some food.”
“You do realize that the only restaurants that are open right now in town are in the opposite direction?” he said, his mouth lifting a millimeter on one side, almost like he was trying to hold in his smile. “I can walk with you if you want.”
“I’m sorry, did I not make myself clear? I don’t need a babysitter.” He let out a deep laugh that made every single one of my cells vibrate. “I have enough to deal with, and I don’t want any more annoyance, thank you very much.”
“Always so grumpy, Victoria.” He added while turning around, “Well, I need to grab some lunch so I’ll go ahead and walk in the correct direction, and you are free to join me if you want to. But only if it’s nottooannoying for you.”
“I just…” This man. “Fine. Whatever. Separate tables. I brought my book with me.”
“Are you reading the same book as the other night?” He waited for me to catch up and matched my stride as we walked in the direction of the little corner café across from the community center.
“None of your business.” Maybe I was being a little rude.Tone it down, Victoria. He’s been nothing but nice to you since you’ve arrived. Might as well agree to some small talk on your way to lunch.I sighed. “It’s a new novel that I was saving for my trip. It’s a fictionalized version of a real story that happened in a small town many years ago, detectives and crime and whatever.” I cringed a little at my word vomit. “Anyway, nice day today.”
Yes, change the topic to the weather. Smart.
“Do you have any plans today? Have you been doing some exploring? There’s a really nice hiking trail that starts over at that corner of the town square and makes a loop around town and brings you right back,” he added, pointing in the direction of the trailhead. It felt almost like this was a practiced speech for the guests at his family’s hotel. I didn’t know how to take the recommendation, so I nodded, focusing my gaze ahead. “Or the creek bed is also nice this time of year because the water is still a little warm from the summer and the tide is low.”
“Hmm, that sounds nice.” There, I could do this. I could be cordial. He was just being nice to me, like he would any hotel guest, right? “Perhaps later.”
We kept walking in companionable silence towards the café. The same one where he found me bawling my eyes out after my immense failure. If I were him, I would be embarrassed of being seen walking with the likes of me.
He walked ahead a step or two and opened the door to the restaurant, and that stopped me in my tracks. Manuel was a nice guy, so, so charming that he even had Susana enamored, who looked over at him with heart eyes every time he spoke. But one thing he wasn’t was attentive. He never opened doors for me, and he couldn’t even recall minor details like how I took my coffee, despite the fact that he would see me prepare it every single morning, including weekends.
“Care to join me for lunch?” Santiago asked, immediately bringing me back to the real world. “No pressure though. I can already see a few people I know that I could join.”
“Please join them. Don’t miss out on catching up with your friends on my account. Like I said, I have my book,” I responded, tapping lightly on the hardcover of the mystery novel I was reading. “I’m fine.”
Santiago shrugged and waited for me to walk in. The place was really charming—it reminded me of the little corner cafés I’d frequented on my trips to Europe with Susana. There was a small marble table by the window, with direct visibility to the trailhead Santiago had mentioned earlier. I walked over and gave Santiago a small wave that he didn’t even notice because he was already absorbed in conversation with someone sitting by the door. His laughter was everywhere, and his eyes gleamed with mirth. And he wasradiant.I didn’t think I would ever use such an expression to describe anyone, let alone this man who IthoughtI hated with all my might.
Ugh.
In the few moments it had taken me to walk over to my table, pick up the menu, and gather my thoughts, Santiago had sat down and was already eating a salad. When I said this man was everywhere, I meant it. He was—literally—everywhere.
* * *
“I see that you’ve decided to listen to me. That’s a first,” he said as he took a seat next to me on the bench.
“For the love of god, don’t you have better things to do?” I looked at the sky—which had slowly started to fill up with white and gray clouds—trying to see if maybe this would help me get rid of him.
“As a matter of fact, I do. This is it,” he replied, waggling his eyebrows.
We were at a small clearing called Eagle’s Nest. After lunch and going over every word of the exchange I’d had with Santiago earlier for what seemed an unhealthy amount of time, I decided to accept his tour guide recommendation and head to the trail. I walked for about forty-five minutes and at that point, the trail split in two and a sign pointed towards this place, which dead-ended on a bench that overlooked the creek below. The clearing was small, fitting maybe a handful of people at a time, and the bench was old and worn. The initialsRASwere carved on the back, and the spot was overgrown with native plants. At a distance, I could see the neighboring town, with houses built on the mountain slope, surrounded by lush trees that were slowly changing their leaves.
“When I’m in town, I come and sit here to gather my thoughts,” he said casually, like we were the best of friends. “I made a habit out of it when I was a teenager, and it stuck. It’s my favorite place in all of Tres Fuegos, and it brings back so many memories. I can’t quit it,” he added with a small laugh.
“It’s so quiet here,” I said without looking at him. I opened my mouth to say something else but decided against it. We weren’t friends. Santiago didn’t need to hear about my problems at all. I creased my forehead and looked down. A worn trail could be seen carved on the side of the hill, leading to the riverbed below.
“You can say it, you know. I won’t judge.”
“It’s nothing. I just… I see why you like it here.”
There was a silence that followed the conversation, but it didn’t feel uncomfortable. I could hear insects buzzing around us. The wind picked up speed, and my hair blew in every direction.
“My grandmother used to tell me about the man who put this bench here. He had moved to Tres Fuegos with basically the clothes off his back and always kept to himself. He was a serious man, apparently. And just as fast as he showed up, he was gone. He died in a fire in the home he was renting right next to my grandparents.”
