People Change

Amaya

I lay in bed, the flat champagne in my hands, straining my ears so hard, I thought they might burst as I tried to make out the conversation happening in the courtyard below me. I knew it was useless, that I couldn’t hear a thing, but I wanted to know what his nonna was saying to him. It would have been comical that the tiny little woman was coming to tell off her fully-grown grandson if it hadn’t meant that everyone in that family would know about our fake wedding.

The thought of them knowing the truth at last made my stomach hurt. But maybe it was for the best? The truth had come out in all sorts of ways these last few days, and perhaps peeling it open like this was the only way any of us could move forward.

I placed the champagne on the bedside table and stared at the ceiling. The last thing I had expected when I came home from work was to find Kristo with flowers and champagne, suggesting we spend the evening together on the balcony. He could be romantic, sure, but he usuall