The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas (the mitten read aloud TXT) 📗

or having clear skin. But, God, I knew that was what everybody else would be doing.

I shook my head, trying to vanish those thoughts out of my mind but only accomplishing to make it worse with the way my head kept spinning. My body was screaming at me for something, anything that would appease the hollowness in my stomach.

Water. That would help.

Grabbing my phone and slipping my badge on the pocket of my camel slacks, I stood on weaker legs than I would have liked and made my way out of the office. There was one of those water dispensers down the corridor. Three more missed calls from my sister. With the time difference, she’d be asleep by now.

Lina: Lo siento, bridezilla. *crazy face emoji*

I typed, and the text blurred for a second. I stopped walking, trying to get my eyes to focus back on the screen.

Lina: Hablamos mañana, vale?

I continued, but the characters in the screen started dancing. My fingers lost all certainty, vacillating over the keyboard of the device. My sight doubled and then blurred, not managing to pinpoint with clarity the words I thought I was typing as they appeared on the text bubble.

A shaky breath left my lips as I attempted to hit Send.

Water. That’s what I need.

My head lifted off my phone, and my legs resumed again, taking me a few feet down the corridor. I knew that the water dispenser was right there, probably about five or six steps ahead of me. But white spots scattered across my vision, and everything blinked out for a second. White. Then, the fluorescent-illuminated corridor came back, narrowing, tunneling away.

“Whoa,” I heard myself murmur.

I was completely unaware of the fact that my legs had kept moving forward until I had to balance myself with a hand on the wall.

“Oh mierda.” I stumbled.

My eyelids fluttered closed, and I could feel how all the blood in my face rushed down, leaving me woozy and unbalanced. I willed my eyes to open back up. But all I saw was white. A white and misty blanket that covered everything in front of me. Although perhaps, it was the wall. I couldn’t be sure.

I … I messed up. Big time. Eight thirty. No one around. That kept echoing in my head as I tried to account for the signs that indicated I was going down. And I … dammit. I couldn’t remember. Couldn’t … think. My skin felt cold and clammy, and I just wanted to close my eyes and rest. I was vaguely recalling that being a bad idea when my limbs started giving out.

Then, I was lying down.

Good. That’s good. I’ll rest, and then I’ll be better. I toppled to the side. It’s cold, but it’ll … get … better.

“Catalina.” A voice seeped through the haze. It was deep. Urgent.

My lips were cool and felt detached from my body, so I didn’t answer.

“Fuck.” That voice again. Then, something warm fell on my forehead. “Jesus, fuck. Catalina.”

I messed up. I … knew. I had done something wrong, and I wanted to admit it out loud to whoever was there, but all I accomplished was a mumble that didn’t really sound like … anything.

“Hey.” That voice softened, no longer sounding angry.

And I … I was so tired.

“Open those big brown eyes.”

That warm pressure I felt on my forehead moved down my face, spreading across my cheek. It felt good against my cool and damp skin, so I leaned on it.

“Open them for me. Please, Catalina.”

My eyelids fluttered open for an instant, finding two blue spots that made me think of the ocean. I felt a sigh escape my mouth, that hollow and void sensation receding for an instant.

“There you are.” I heard the voice again. Even softer now. Relieved.

As I blinked slowly, my vision started to return in flashes. Deep blue eyes. Hair as dark as black ink. The hard line of a jaw.

“Lina?”

Lina.

There was something funny about that voice calling my name. The one everyone called me.

No, not everyone.

I blinked some more, but before my eyes could focus on a fixed point, I was lifted in the air. The movement was slow, so gentle, that I barely noticed it at first, but then we started moving. And after a few seconds, the motion was enough to send my head spinning again.

“Mi cabeza,” I said under my breath.

“I’m sorry.” I felt the words rumbling against my side, becoming aware of how my cheek was resting against something hot and hard. Something with a heartbeat. A chest. “Just stay with me, okay?”

Okay, I’ll stay. And I burrowed into the chest, ready to lose myself to the exhaustion rocking my body.

“Eyes open, please.”

Somehow, I complied. I let them fall on a shoulder that looked terribly familiar as we moved. And gradually, my vision eventually cleared. My head, no longer whirling, locked back on my shoulders. The sweat on my skin cooled down.

My eyes roamed around as recollection of what had happened spilled down my mind. I fainted, for not eating enough. Like a total dumbass. Sighing, I looked up, my gaze zeroing in on a chin that stretched into a jaw that was topped by lips that were pressed tightly.

“Aaron,” I whispered.

Blue eyes met mine for an instant. “Hold on. Almost there.”

I was in Aaron’s arms. His left arm around my legs, hand spreading on my thigh. His right one around my back, his long fingers splayed across my hip. Before I could delve into that or on the comforting and amazing warmth emanating off him and into my skin, he was putting me down.

Confused, I looked around me. My gaze stumbled upon that horrible, disturbing framed piece of art of a kid with huge eyes. I had always hated it, and I knew exactly where it belonged. We could only be in Jeff’s office. He was the only person I knew personally who didn’t find that frightening.

My ass settled on a plush surface, and my back followed, resting on something that felt a lot