The False Affair

You’re coming back?” Lara Martinez let out a long heartfelt sigh, dividing looks between the boarding pass in her hand and the large digital clock in front of her. Of course, she was coming back. Her mother gave her no choice but to pack her things into a box and get on the next flight back to San Luis. Hell, the woman even sent a plane ticket. How could she refuse it? Deciding to not let the thought of Veronica Flores Martinez bother her, she squared her shoulders and smiled. It was just San Luis. The City she had grown up in. The City she, once upon a time, loved. How bad could it be?Enthusiastically this time, she answered, “Yes, Rosa. I am coming back. As a matter of fact, I am at the airport. And. . .”“AMERICAN AIRLINE 324 TO SAN LUIS, MEXICO. ALL PASSENGERS PROCEED TO THE BOARDING STATION NOW. I REPEAT, AMERICA AIRLINE 324 TO SAN LUIS, MEXICO. ALL PASSENGERS PLEASE PROCEED TO THE BOARDING STATION NOW.”“And that, Rosa, is my cue to exit,” Lara continued, lifting herself from

“What did you say?”Were her ears deceiving her? Oh, her ears were definitely deceiving her. Fiancé?No way. She wasn’t thinking about marriage. Even if she was, she assumed it would be with somebody she knows and loves. And she hasn’t been lucky in the love department so any romantic entanglements were off the charts. That said, how could she possibly have a fiancé when she wasn’t ready to get married? Who the hell was Tristan Aguilar? So many questions were spamming through her head. She even had Alma read out the content of the card three more times to be certain it was what she heard that was indeed written.Cool as a cucumber, Veronica waved off Alma who hurried out of the room, not before laying the flowers in the arms of Lara who wanted nothing more than to toss them in the trash can. It seemed like her mother had finally found her words as she spoke in that annoyingly commanding and condescending tone that made Lara want to disown her.“Larissa,” she started. “You’re twenty-se

Lara twisted the car keys for the umpteenth time still nothing happened. The car didn’t start, or even attempt to start. It just kept raising her hopes every time it made that kick-starting sound, and shattering that hope when it eventually didn’t budge. In undiluted frustration, anger included, she pounded at the innocent steering wheel till she felt some sort of satisfaction seep in. Yes, you may have guessed right.Two days later she was still fuming. Especially as this so-called ‘Tristan Aguilar’ had returned the bouquet of flowers with yet another note saying: SO . . . WHAT TIME SHOULD I PICK YOU UP FOR DINNER?She hadn’t met him but she already hated him. Not only did he have zero respect for the laws of courtship and marriage, she perceived him to be hubristic.Who the hell did he think he was?Was she supposed to fall on her feet and rain appreciations all over him because he had agreed to marry her? Someone had to let him know that the world does not revolve around his spoile