Alejandro by Renee LaRuse Read Free Book Online Page A

of a castrato.”
    “I hadn’t thought of that. Thanks for giving me another thing to worry about.”
    “Sorry, sorry. I’ll shut up now.” Carmen shoved a whole garlic bread knot into her mouth.
     “Chipmunk,” Veronica teased.
    “Don rorry Wemomika. Ibwuh be awight.”    
     
    ***

The digital world really took all the drama out of reading time. Analog clocks were solemn, blank faces that ticked and tocked on, second after second, with hands twitching ever closer to some dreaded hour. Digital clocks were faceless, silent, and unforgiving. In the blink of an eye, without warning, the numbers changed.     
    Veronica steepled her hands under her chin as she sat on her couch, watching a rerun on the muted TV and obsessively glancing at the time on the cable box. 10:28 PM. Her elbows were slowly slipping off of her knees, finding little traction on the silky fabric of her pink pajama pants. She sat in silence watching the time. What if he turns out to be really cool to talk to but I can’t hold his interest with my conversation? What if there are a dozen awkward silences? What if he’s actually a redneck Neo-Nazi from Kentucky playing a trick on me for race-mixing? In an instant the clock read 10:29. The orb of anxiety in her chest tingled and pulsed. Why am I so nervous?!  
    The vibrating of her cell phone buzzed against the glass tabletop of the coffee table before her. Startled, she jumped up from the couch, then grabbed the phone from the table. Her thrilled heart chilled when she read the screen.
    Quincy.
    Don’t let him ruin your night. Remember? Yes, she remembered how Quincy had argued with her, ducking and dodging responsibility for the demise of their relationship, but what if this time there was an emergency? Maybe something happened to his mom or to him. Her thumb began to sway in the direction of the glowing green answer icon, the sound of Keyshia Cole crooning a scolding love song from the speaker of her phone barely keeping her at bay.
    Wait. If it’s important, he’ll leave a message.
    She returned the phone to the coffee table and sat down on the couch again. The phone stopped ringing. Soon after, her phone chimed, alerting her that there was a message. She listened to Quincy’s recorded voice.
    “Veronica, this isn’t cool for me to be livin’ under my mother’s roof again. When are you going to stop playing this game and let me come back home? I had planned a cookout for this weekend at our house. Am I supposed to just tell my boys and my family that it’s canceled because of you? We need to have a real discussion about this. Call me back.”         
    “Wow,” Veronica said, shaking her head, upset that he had no intentions to try to make it up to her for what he’d done. He wanted her to pretend his cheating never happened and wasn’t still happening. And she wanted to, because she loved him. But she couldn’t lie down in the name of love and let him walk all over her again. Veronica was tired of being that woman. The next guy she would allow herself to be in a relationship with would have to knock it out of the park in order for her to hand her heart to him. He would have to be impeccable. Jaw-dropping. Instead of them shaking their heads in disappointment, her friends would be wagging their tongues out of jealousy. She giggled at the thought.
    Bzzz!
    A second later her heart was racing and the cell phone was back in the palm of her hand. She didn’t recognize the number but she knew it was him. “Be cool. Be cool.” Veronica took a deep breath, put on a smile, and answered the phone. “Hello?”
    “Hey, Veronica. Guess who?”
    From her scalp down to her toes, his deep sensual voice warmed her, like drinking from a mug of the richest hot cocoa laced with a dash of cayenne pepper and spiked with Puerto Rican dark rum. Oh damn I’m in trouble. The way he said my name with that accent...Berrroneeka. “Um...Heyyy. Hi. Alejandro? I’m surprised you called. How are