Unsuitable Obsession - Part One (14 page)

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.

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.

Eduardo brought her body in closer and glared down
at her; Amber’s eyes were still shut. Her purple eye shadow
glimmered in the twinkling chandeliers up above them. Her hair done
up in a French twist, her lipstick matched her dress, that pink,
subtle shade that enhanced her beauty. She was quite striking in
iridescent lighting—and with the alcohol damning his reason, his
resistance came undone and his prurient nature took control.
“What’s it like to kiss you?” Eduardo whispered into her ear.

Amber immediately opened up her eyes, broke apart
from him and pushed his body away. It was bizarre, an abnormal
scene in the middle of leisurely dancing couples. She glared into
his eyes; his look was pure but impassioned. She was at a loss for
words.
He just got married for crying out loud! What the hell
was he doing flirting with me like that? He’s drunk Amber, probably
doesn’t even know what the hell he just said. Good Lord, why
doesn’t he just take that coat off already? His tie is practically
falling off! Isn’t he sweaty in this hot crowded space? Good Lord,
where’s Victor? Where the hell is Victor!

Amber searched around her, no husband in sight. She
walked slowly backwards searching for her husband. Her constant
fantasizing about Eduardo was doing her in, wishing that her life
were different, had taken another path, another road. They had both
chosen law to pursue: him, an attorney, her, a Legal Assistant.
They both had a lot in common and they constantly talked about the
law and the cases that they were involved in. Oh how did it get so
fanatical?

Amber found her husband finally–Victor with his Tió
Lamberto. The extreme one, who, at sixty-two still smoked weed.

“Can we go home now?”

Awakening

Amber was preoccupied that Easter, absentminded and
worried. Two things crammed her brain that holiday; the situation
at work and her brother-in-law’s troubled question.

Should she sue?

What was it like to kiss her?

One of the attorney’s at her firm was upsetting her.
The pressure so great, Amber was even contemplating on quitting.
But she couldn’t, they needed two incomes in order to survive, pay
the mortgage and the car payments, Adrian’s tuition, health
insurance, utilities, the list went on forever and ever. Money was
tight in the firm and since Amber was the last one hired, she was
oftentimes unpaid for months at a time, only to receive a portion
of what’s owed to her. She knew she had a potential lawsuit, but
how could she afford an attorney when she hadn’t any capital? And
then there’s the likelihood of getting fired. Oh, it was an endless
mind battle within, if it weren’t for Victor and his unsteady
position with the city utilities department (and government budget
cuts), she would have no reservations about suing.

And then there’s that ridiculous seed her
brother-in-law planted inside her head. What was it like to kiss
her? Why on earth would he ask such a question? Boy, he must have
been really drunk to be so bold. Or was he normally that forward?
Of course he was,
Amber realized, remembering that day when
he leaned in towards that blonde and stole a kiss. She had to stop
thinking about him so much, every time she was near him, she wished
his lips were pressed against hers too.

Unenthusiastically, Amber walked around aimlessly
watching the children search for Easter eggs. Adrian, who was five
that year, was amongst the youngsters on the annual Family egg
hunt. Amber was nearly five months pregnant, but barely showing.
Her figure, still curvy, just her breasts enlarged. Just what she
needed, to bring more attention to her already large breasts?

The children all carried their baskets and searched
high and low for all the colored eggs. Victor and some of his
cousins were in charge of hiding all the eggs and made sure they
were hard to recover. How awful of them. How’s a two year-old
supposed to find an Easter egg on top of the roof?

Feeling even more listless than before, Amber
couldn’t help but look for her brother-in-law, he was somewhere in
the backyard, but seemed to disappear. Leticia was laughing with
Tiá Jemma in the corner, but she didn’t see Eduardo any-where. Then
all of a sudden, Amber felt her heart begin to pound. She didn’t
even have to turn around; she knew that he was in close proximity.
Trying not to make it look so obvious, Amber languidly turned her
head and was astonished to find her brother-in-law secretly showing
her son locations of nearby buried Easter eggs.

“Eduardo!”

He stiffened up, he was caught. “What?”

“That’s cheating...what are you doing? He’s supposed
to look for that himself.”

“Yah, but my brother’s skillful at hiding eggs, the
poor kid only found one, thought I’d help him out.”

Amber tsked at him, “You are so bad.”

“I know,” Eduardo agreed, winking and bringing his
finger up to his lips, shushing Amber to secrecy.

Amber’s heart began to flutter again; it was so hard
to deny what she felt for him. She tried to disguise her
enthrallment though and walked away from him, not even turning her
head in the slightest and tried to calm herself down and gazed
directly in front of her and headed towards the kitchen.

Amber found Rosalba and her sister-in-law, Tiá Sonya
washing dishes in the kitchen.

“I can help,” Amber suddenly pronounced, hoping for
the preoccupation.

Rosalba looked over at her daughter-in-law, such a
sweetheart. Así que dulce una chica. “Si—yes, my sister wants to
show me something in the bedroom, can you take over for a few
minutes?”

Amber’s eyes grow wide, “Of course Mama, you don’t
even have to ask.”

After the two sisters left, Amber grabbed the dish
scrubber and began to rinse the food off the plates. She was left
alone now and welcomed the solitude. Washing dishes wasn’t a chore
at the moment, it was a blessing and she started thinking about the
little girl she was about to give birth to. Last week she and
Victor found out the baby’s sex through an ultra-sound. They were
hoping for a girl, and their wishes came true. Needless to say,
Victor was elated and drove the family to the paint store to buy
pink paint and now bedroom number three looks like a Pepto-Bismol
nightmare. Later that night, while skimming through a list of
girl’s names, Amber felt Victor’s possessiveness for the very first
time. Arguing about names for crying out loud! He wanted to take
control over his daughter’s name? Amber liked
“Valentine”
,
while Victor chose
“Kristina.”
After a long drawn out
discussion and the possibility of Sanchez war, they came to an
understanding;
“Valentina Marie”
would be their unborn
daughter’s name.