Unsuitable Obsession - Part One Read online

  “My poor baby,” he cajoled, kissing her forehead, “You are tired aren’t you?”

  Amber closed her eyes, “Yes, I am,” she confessed. “Was all day, in fact. It was a long day.”

  “I know. And my brother coming with his fiancée didn’t help things much.”

  Amber straightened up. “What…Fiancée? When did this happen? Didn’t we just meet her today?”

  Victor laughed and enclosed Amber’s body. Arms still wrapped around her shoulders, he let out, “Yah—I know, but later on, after everyone stopped drooling all over her, Eduardo told Papa, and Papa told me. Eduardo asked me to be his Best Man, I said yes.”

  Amber tried to free herself away from Victor’s clutch. “Unreal. Here it took me five months in order for your family to warm up to me and all she had to do was bat her cat eyes and she’s a Sanchez.”

  Victor continued to beam. “Amber, are you jealous of Leticia? Mama loves you, you know that.”

  “Yah, she loves me, she has too; I’ve been married to her little boy for ten years now, she’s obligated to love me.” Amber didn’t quite know where her little tantrum came from, but there it was, out in the open.

  Victor nodded his head, “Amber, my family loves you. Don’t you ever think differently?”

  Amber wasn’t quite sure anymore, after that horrible display of worship, she now believed that Leticia had been chosen for sainthood. “Uggh...I’m tired—I’m going to sleep!” She exasperated, rolling her body over to her side of the bed.

  Victor followed her lead, curled up next to her and playfully laid his face down between Amber’s face and neck. “Wanna make love?”

  Nine

  You Can Count On Me

  Two weeks later, things began to get quite hectic. Rosalba and all the Aunts were busy planning the wedding of the century. Leticia’s parents would pay for the wedding, but Eduardo insisted to pay for the reception. Eduardo was doing well at the law firm and wanted to shower his family in sophistication. Eduardo and Leticia decided to rush the event for the following month. I guess she can’t wait till the wedding night, Amber thought jokingly.

  Amber, Leticia, Rosalba, Tiá’s Gemma, Sonya and Lorena all gathered around the bulky dining room table, forming an assembly line, putting little almonds into lace sacks that were tied up at the top with a white ribbon. The perfect little party favor for the perfect little wedding.

  “Qué significa usted?” Asked Tiá Gemma to Leticia.

  “What do I mean?” Leticia answered in English so that Amber could be involved in the conversation. “Father Rodriguez is taking a vacation the week of the wedding; he won’t be able to do the ceremony.”

  “Las vacaciones? Un santo varón lejos de Dios? What kind of priest takes a vacation from God?”

  Amber just caught the end of that conversation, having been totally immersed in her production and began to laugh along with the other ladies at the table.

  “What will be served at the reception Leticia, have you made your selections yet?” Tiá Lorena asked, plopping in almonds without even looking.

  Leticia smiled, hesitated for a long moment, then looked at Tiá Lorena and said, “Veal.”

  “Qué veal?” Tiá Lorena asked Tiá Sonya.

  “Vaca de bebé.”

  “Aaah, pobrecito,” Tiá Lorena said suddenly feeling sorry for the baby calves.

  Amber knew some words in Spanish by now (being around the relatives for ten years) and felt badly herself about the baby calves too and decided she wasn’t going to eat the veal at the reception and would opt towards the fish.

  “Have you seen Leticia?”

  Rosalba let go her attention from the almonds and looked up at Eduardo. Looking around the table first, she said, “She was just here mehiò, maybe she went outside to get more ribbon from the car?”

  “Maybe,” Eduardo questioned, looking around the room. “Amber, can I talk to you for a moment?”

  Amber looked up at him scared, all of a sudden she was pinpointed from the others—delivered—her head on a silver platter and sacrificed for idle gossip within the female group. “Um,” she let go, looking around at the aunt’s, they all look her way and stop, halted abruptly from their production line. Amber placed down her ribbons and got up from the table and gazed back at everyone one last time. They don’t pay any attention to the two of them now and she walked away.

  Eduardo guided Amber outside and into a corner, but not completely away from viewing distance of his father, brother and uncles playing horseshoes. “Amber, I want to tell you something you can’t tell my mother or my aunts, OK?”

  Amber was taken-back; he was going to ask her to keep a secret? Oh God, what was she doing! Here he is, probably completely utterly in love with Leticia, and here I am some fool of a girl with a stupid little high school crush on his ass! Shake out of it Amber! Erase him from your head! “OK,” she let go.

  “Leticia’s pregnant and I want you to see how she is. I think she’s locked herself in the bathroom. She’s been throwing up since last week. Can you go see if she’s OK?” Eduardo was clearly upset, open honest eyes staring straight into Amber’s.

  Amber was astonished. How high was that pedestal again? “And you want me to keep this a secret?” She quipped, “From Victor even?” She bit down on her lower lip for no apparent reason.

  Eduardo looked down at her lips—lost for a moment in thought. “Yes. I know it sounds silly, but she doesn’t want my parents to know just yet.”

  Amber grabbed his arm. “Don’t worry Eduardo I’ll keep your little secret,” she exchanged, walking away.

  Eduardo grabbed her back—an impromptu hand holding sent chills up his spine and he tried hastily to shake off the goose bumps. “Thanks Amber, I knew I could count on you.”

  Amber let out a deep breath as she walked away from him. Good Lord! Why did he grab her back? Amber walked past the women still making the party favors and straight toward the bathroom down the hall.

  Amber knocked on the door softly. Quietly, she asked, “Leticia? Leticia it’s Amber—you OK?” A few moments pass and there was no sound coming from behind the door. Amber goes to see if the door was unlocked, it wasn’t. “Leticia?” Suddenly, an awful gagging sound was heard from behind the door. Amber knew that sound; either Leticia had a bad eating disorder or she was definitely pregnant. Amber voted for the eating disorder, but no such luck. “Leticia, can you let me in?”

  The door slowly unlocked. Amber gazed behind her and didn’t see anyone paying any attention to her way in and went into the bathroom.

  Inside, Leticia was crotched down over the toilet bowl sacrificing a gift to the porcelain Gods. Oh my, Amber thought, oh how the mighty have fallen…if Rosalba could see you now.

  “You OK?” Amber knelt down to her and rubbed her back. Amber knew it wouldn’t help her stomach feel any better, but it would help Leticia’s inner strength.

  “Oh Amber, please don’t tell anyone, please don’t tell anyone,” Leticia uttered, terrified. She stood up and hugged Amber tightly. “I’m going to have a baby, and I have to get married before I show. Oh God,” she cried, letting go of Amber now. “What have I done?”

  Amber noticed the mascara running down her cheeks, she resembled a morbid clown. She goes for a tissue and freely wiped Leticia’s face as if it were her own. “Don’t cry Leticia, I’m not going to say anything, we’re friends, right? Friends don’t rat on other friends.”

  Leticia smiled, grabbed Amber again, “Oh Amber, you truly are an angel. Eddie always praises you.”

  HE DOES? “Oh Leticia, you don’t have to go that far, I know Eduardo only tolerates me,” Amber expressed, fishing for some more compliments; she wanted to pry into their little shrouded world.

  Leticia shook her head in contrast. “Oh no, Eddie say’s you’re the best, the best thing that ever happened to Victor and the family.”

  HUH? Amber couldn’t believe it, the best thing? She thought Leticia had been the best thing. “I wouldn’t go that far,
” she laughed.

  Leticia looked at herself in the mirror. “All my life I was brought up with certain morals, certain standards that I had to live by. I was supposed to be a virgin, remain a virgin until I got married. But it’s so hard, so difficult to be involved with someone like Eddie and remain true to the church.”

  Amber was enthralled; she wouldn’t have believed it if she could have written it herself. The confession Leticia was about to unfold, a nasty little confidence.

  “I’m twenty-three Amber. Twenty-three and expected to be a virgin,” Leticia continued with a short laugh. She pulled out a paper cup from the dispenser on the wall and filled it with water. Opened up one of the drawers, spotted the tube of toothpaste, grabbed it, opened up the cap, squished some paste onto her finger and applied the gel to her teeth.

  “I was sixteen,” Amber offered freely, trying to make Leticia feel better, but making herself feel worse.

  “Yes, so were all my friends. They all lost their virginities to their boyfriends in high school, and me, well; I was hanging on for the prince on the white horse,” Leticia laughed again, still rubbing her teeth with toothpaste.

  And she thought Eduardo was a prince? Amber laughed at the thought of it. “Yah, well, we all have needs. And, well, sometimes we can’t wait.” Amber didn’t know what the heck she was saying, but it sounded good.

  “Eddie loves me,” Leticia lied. “Loves me so much, he said he couldn’t wait till our wedding night.”

  Amber’s eyes bugged out, unbelievable. Couldn’t wait, my ass…He was just horny as hell. What’s wrong with that guy, spoiling her virginity? Taking away something so precious to her, something she probably denied to boyfriends, probably fighting them off with her bare hands, one by one. Oh God, there’s a weird thought… “Victor said he does, very much,” she ended up saying.

  “I know he does,” Leticia tried to persuade herself, letting go a weak smile; “I just wished we would have waited.”

  Amber stroked her hair, “Some men are very passionate,” she voiced thinking of Eduardo as she said it. Her brother-in-law with his sensuous eyes—electrifying contact—she could only imagine how he was in bed.

  “He’s...really dynamic,” Leticia expressed. “Not like demanding or anything like that, but very passionate.”

  Amber’s jaw almost dropped. Yep, she knew it! This was just too much...just too much to absorb. Here was Leticia, offering free tidbits on their private moments together, clandestine lovemaking, sex with each other. “Really?” She asked frankly intrigued.

  They both sat down on the edge of the tub and Leticia suddenly brought her hand up to her mouth, intensified for an instant trying to hold back barf and Amber rubbed her back again. “He’s quite, large, so to say. I mean, I have nothing to compare it to, but he made me bleed so much our first night together.”

  Amber bit her lower lip, large? Did she just say LARGE? Unreal, the thoughts she had towards him lately, dreaming of him, thinking of him, and now knowing that he was large. “Everyone bleeds their first time.”

  “No, I don’t think so, not this much. I had to go to the hospital afterwards,” Leticia expressed, covering her mouth up again. “They had to sew me up.”

  HUH? Amber was now absolutely, positively dumbfounded. “Wow that must have been really painful.”

  “We’ve only done it once after that; I’m scared to, actually,” Leticia uttered, her eyes locking with Amber’s. Woman to woman, female to female, hazel eyes looking into green.

  Amber just shook her head. “Scared?”

  “Yah, if it wasn’t for the baby, I don’t think Eddie would want to be with me,” Leticia cried again.

  Amber suddenly felt incredibly bad about herself, about her selfishness and her self-seeking attitude towards this woman who was going to be her sister-in-law. She pulled Leticia’s body close to hers and hugged her gently. “I know he loves you Leticia and I know he’s probably ecstatic about the baby. I’ve seen Eduardo with Adrian and he’s really quite gentle with kids; he’s probably just nervous, all men get nervous about becoming a dad for the very first time. This is so exciting; we’re going to have babies together.”

  Leticia wiped away her tears now with her tissue. “After you put it that way, it does make it kind of exciting. Thank you Amber, you can’t imagine how frightened I’ve been these past few weeks, not being able to confide in anyone. I know deep down in my heart that the things that you’ve said are true, sometimes a woman just feels like she has to have them validated.”

  “You’re very welcome,” Amber awarded her, thinking about the last time she heard that same phrase directed at her.

  Ten

  Planting The Seeds

  Well, it was after all, the wedding of the century. Better than hers, she had to admit.

  Leticia’s dress was impeccable. A halter gown made of white satin it exposed her lovely slim shoulders and long arms, a tight form-fitting bodice covered in shimmering crystals enhanced her midriff while a stunning organza floor-length headpiece embraced her head. She even wore lengthy white gloves to give herself a more regal appearance. No one could tell by the dress and no one would ever know that she was with child. Amber would keep their pregnancy concealed, for Eduardo, for bestowing his trust in her, and to Leticia, her new sister-in-law. Leticia, who would have thought? Here was her competition, the girl she wanted to hate, and the girl she must hate in order to continue on with her delusions of her husband.

  Two hundred guests crammed into the elegant dining room of The Verandah Room at The Peninsula in Beverly Hills. The room was showered in gold, elegant draperies, lavished table settings with an abundant array of pink flowers everywhere. Fancy linens and cutlery, china, stemware, heck, even the food was first class: salmon steaks and veal cutlets, Cristal Champagne and chocolate mousse tarts for desert. The Sanchez family were treated like royalty that evening, and gazed upon Eduardo’s generosity as a catalyst for envy.

  Amber grabbed Victor and forced him out onto the dance floor. “Dance with me!” She coerced. “I want to dance,” she let go happily.

  Victor was obliging; he thought Amber looked absolutely amazing in her long flowing pink chiffon bridesmaid dress. “Are you having a good time?” He asked, spinning her body around making the dress spread out like a picturesque pink sphere.

  Amber pulled into Victor close. “I’m having a wonderful time,” she let out, bumping into other guests as she said it. “I’m having the best time!”

  Victor smiled, “Whoa Amber, calm down. I don’t want you to hurt the baby.” But she didn’t. She wanted to let loose and unfasten her inhibitions, her inner Ginger Rodgers with her feet dancing away. Victor continued to chuckle and enjoyed every moment Amber went senseless. The fast song melted into a slow one and Victor pulled his wife into him. “Oh thank God for slow songs.”

  They continued dancing slow, moving awkwardly together in activity when Amber concluded that Victor had no rhythm. Amber then wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck as Victor draped his arms around her waist and they danced together through two slow songs, rocking softly to the unhurried beat.

  Victor eyed Leticia walking alone by herself in the distance and decided he wanted to dance with his new sister-in-law. “Leticia’s free now, I’m gonna ask her to dance.”

  Amber looked over at the Bride, she looked a little gloomy. “OK,” she agreed, walking backwards, bumping into a body.

  When she turned around the Groom took her breath away. Confident black tuxedo, ashen shirt—unbuttoned for some reason—his tie unraveled, dangling around his neck. He came across utterly sexy in his attire. Good Lord, was he even aware of the gapes he was getting while merely standing there?

  “Wanna dance?” Eduardo asked, looking down at her.

  Amber smelled the alcohol on his breath, but didn’t care. She didn’t hesitate; she wanted to grab the opportunity to be in his arms and placed her hand in his. It was warm to the touch, masculine, more so than Victor’s. He placed his hand
on her lower back then swayed her body to the music, and their bodies did sway, and migrated correctly. So much in fact, they had the same pulse, tempo and identical pace.

  Eduardo held her near, got a whiff of her invigorating aroma and Heaven help him, there was no hope for him after that. Visions of her ending up in his bed consumed his every thought.

  “Eduardo.”

  Eduardo blinked back to consciousness. “What?”

  “The wedding went ahead without a hitch,” Amber conveyed, still moving in time with his direction.

  He nodded graciously as other guests stared at them dancing together, they made an ominous pair. He let go a sigh, “Yah, I know.”

  Amber could tell by his guise that he was dejected, but why? This should be the happiest day of his life! “What’s the matter?”

  Eduardo gazed into Amber’s eyes, he was drunk but still had his wits about him and he wanted to devour her. Having her within his arms—Good God—so close to his arousal, intoxicated or not, his salacious nature was going to destroy him. “Nothing...it’s nothing.”

  Amber was aware of two things all at once: how easy it was to read his mind and how wonderfully at ease he was encircling her. “I’ve never been to Beverly Hills; everything here is so…luxurious.”

  “Appearances can be deceiving.”

  “Well, your wedding was beautiful—”

  “Enough about the wedding Amber,” he snapped. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

  Amber closed her mouth. Good Lord! Even inebriated he still harbored a ruling presence. “You don’t have to be so snippy about it.”

  “Sorry...Good God, I’m sorry.”

  At least he apologized—she didn’t think he would. The lights suddenly were dimmed and Amber closed her eyes again, he was in her arms for just a dance and the music was nearly over. She didn’t want to upset him any further and decided not to say anything else. Damn but it was thrilling, exhilarating—to be in his arms! All Amber could think of next were reasons for him not to take his arm away from her waist. She relished in the fact that she found a partner that could actually lead for once. “Careless Whisper” being played by a saxophone was quite romantic, Amber realized and pressed her chest against his once more. It was an idealistic feeling, her body against his...and then she felt it. Eduardo had placed his hand on the small of her back and gently pressed her body up against the obvious swell in his pants. It was done with such finesse if she wasn’t totally aware of his hands already she might have never felt his stimulation. She wondered what it would be like to be in bed with him. His arms holding her close through climax...his electrifying contact on her skin...George Michael music playing in the background.