I wake up to a knock on my door. I look out the peephole and see Thalia standing outside in a fuzzy black robe and the most hideous monster-looking slippers I’ve ever seen.
I open the door and stare at her hideous looking slippers.
“Hey. I just wanted to say thanks for last night. Sorry I was so drunk.”
I nod and go to shut the door, but she’s already coming through it.
“You know we don’t have to be the Shining twins or anything, but I would like to be civil and understand each other at some point. Especially if we have to work together. We’re going to need to trust each other,” she rambles on, then stops as she looks around my apartment.
“Wow. I can’t believe how spotless this place is. There’s barely any décor. Where are your pictures?” she wonders out loud before looking at me. “Oh, right… prison. Sorry.”
We look at each other and I can’t help but laugh.
“Where did you get those hideous slippers?” I ask, and she rolls her eyes.
“Come on, Frankenstein, Olivia will cook us a top-notch breakfast, and I can tell you all my fashion secrets.” She links her arm in mine and drags me out the door to her penthouse.
Within minutes, I have been introduced to Lucia and Luca. Lucia gives me an entire tour of their playroom and every toy in it. Olivia welcomes me with a simple hug. I like the way she invites me in but doesn’t force the whole “long lost family” member thing on me or look at me with pity the way I sometimes catch Patricio and Enrique doing.
She makes us Chilaquiles, eggs, and homemade beans. Thalia has brought out a ton of family albums and is showing me a funny picture of a time she convinced Olivia to dress up with her for Halloween. Thalia is dressed as Nacho Libre and Olvia glares from under a nun costume.
“?Pendeja!” Olivia huffs, and I start laughing.
“Don’t let her convince you to dress up with her, Adrian. She always gets the spotlight, and you end up looking like an idiot. Always.”
Thalia has moved on to show me her social media so I can see more pictures of her Halloween costumes.
“Omg! We should make you an Instagram!”
“Osiel already made me one.”
“Osiel is a pendejo,” she huffs. “Let me see what kind of profile he gave you. What’s your username?”
“I don’t know. I just gave him my phone, and he set it up.” I omit the part about how I only agreed to it so I could stalk Mireya and didn’t pay much attention to anything else.
“Let me see.” She grabs my phone, and I watch as she opens the app, then rolls her eyes as she shows me my profile.
“Your username is BigDickAdrian?” Olivia starts laughing from the kitchen where she is cleaning up.
“Fuck,” I say as I run a hand over my face. “Please help me change that.” She laughs, then continues to do something on my phone, when she stops to look up at me. At first, I think she’s going to ask about all the porn stars Osiel followed, but when she holds up my phone, it is on the Instagram search page with Mireya’s profile as the first suggestion.
“Were you Instagram stalking my best friend?” Her eyes narrow on me. I’m going to punch Osiel for not mentioning search histories in his stalking course.
“I like the word ‘investigate’ better, but I also learned a long time ago not to speak without a lawyer present.” Her brow arches.
“So, you do know her, then? You know her name is not Mariah.” I let out a small laugh. I got the idea after I heard a customer call her that, and it was too amusing to watch her not correct them. I could not pass up the opportunity to mess with her head.
“She hasn’t told me anything about you. Just that you grew up together. I had a feeling it was something more, though. Call it… sibling intuition.”
“I was her boyfriend before Bryan,” I admit, and only because I figure I can use this to my advantage and see what information I can get out of Thalia. Judging by the look of disgust on her face at my mention of Bryan, she has a lot more to say.
“Bryan was a real piece of shit. I never knew him when they were together, but when I did meet Mireya, she was still pretty fucked up from the whole thing.”
“Fucked up, how?”
“Well, I think long term it created a bunch of insecurities. He broke up with her for—” she stops, realizing something. “Oh, my god. You were the ex who dated Diana!”
“What about Diana?”
“So, get this. Bryan and Mireya had made plans to go to prom together, and when he didn’t show up, she decided to go, anyway, but when she got there, he was with Diana.”
Interesting. That made sense, considering she was the prime witness in the defense’s case against me. Diana was likely his accomplice.
Thalia notices my silence, but doesn’t push, as if she knows my revenge plot already. She leans forward and holds her head up with her palm.
“You know they are having an engagement party here, at the hotel? It’s next month, but I bet we can lure Bryan here sooner.” That familiar crazy look on her face matches the one on mine. She is stirring up her own revenge plan. We might be more alike than I thought.
A fter breakfast, I make my way to the front desk to see what needs to be done for the day. Enrique fired Don Mario for drinking on the job again. He was trying to hand out pajaretes for breakfast when one of the maids snitched on him. At least he was thoughtful enough to share the drink with others. He was from a small ranch town in Mexico, where the drink was more common. It was a strong mix of coffee, chocolate milk, and vodka. I would have taken one if I were down there. Who am I to refuse the hospitality of my elders? This would be the third time Enrique tried firing him this week. He’ll be back tomorrow.
Thalia had worked on narrowing the addresses Patricio gave me down to one, where she suspected my mother was located. I had a few days off before we planned to raid the place.
I am working on changing out lights in the main lobby when I see a familiar face walking in. Constance Torres, Mireya’s mother. The bitch never liked me, and I never liked her either. She would often come by when my mom was home, inviting her for nightly walks, but she always came off as fake. She’s dressed like she’s been invited to the royal palace, and I watch as she walks up to the reception desk. She must be looking for Mireya, who even I know doesn’t work Fridays. Investigating, not stalking . She is about to turn and leave when she recognizes me descending the ladder.
“Adriano?” she says as she walks toward me. She has on a fake smile to match her fake designer heels. “Adriano. Mijo. ?Como estas?”
As much as I want to ignore her, I also know the game I need to play. Consuelo may know where my mom is, as most of the neighbors have confirmed the last time they saw her, she was getting into Constance’s car .
“I’m good, Mrs. Torres. How are you?” Enrique and Patricio are coming in from a meeting they left to when they spot me talking with her.
“Constance,” Patricio says as he approaches us. He greets her with a hug and kiss to the cheek. She stands there for a second, waiting for Enrique to do the same, but he just stands there, looking at her with disgust written all over his face. If she notices, she acts unbothered as she turns to Patricio.
“Adrian used to live in my neighborhood. Well, before he went to jail for drug charges.” Patricio smiles, unphased by her attempts to insult me.
“Oh, but don’t you worry, he is such a nice kid, and I’m sure he learned his lesson.” Before I can even reply, Enrique’s tongue is armed and ready.
"I'll have you know, Con-stan-ce," he says, drawing her name out to three syllables, "that Adrian is our nephew. An heir to the luxuries of Calavera Hotels." He opens his arms to the lobby, waiting to see her reaction. She looks unamused by this news, but not at all surprised. Interesting. Maybe my mother had confided in her about my biological father.
Constance makes up some excuse about a high society brunch before leaving. Patricio sighs as he looks to Enrique. “Do you have to be such an asshole all the time? ”
“With her, yes. She is a snake wearing fake Gucci heels. She only came here so she could harass Mireya into giving her a Seafood Buffet pass.” He rolls his eyes as he walks toward the office.
“Your Tio Enrique, the diva of Calavera Hotel,” Patricio says with a chuckle and follows behind him. But Enrique is on to something, and while I thought I could do this job alone, I may need to bring Thalia in on my revenge plan and get what information I can out of her about Constance Torres.