Chapter 1

Lula Lopez

I stood calmly by the window, looking out at the scenery around me. The weather was quite refreshing at this time of day, I noted to myself as I gulped down a bottle of water. My day had been progressively getting worse with the increasing workload from different sources. I could honestly use a break right now. I sighed, taking a long look out the window. I wished I could stay here a little while longer, basking in that calm; but I was ready to leave, so I rounded up my work and packed my things.

On a normal day, my assistant would have helped with this menial task, but today I needed some time alone, so I discharged her earlier than normal. She was happy to leave early; I could see her grinning from ear to ear. I wondered why though, cos I didn’t think I overworked her. I let out another sigh. Who knows what anymore these days? You might think you’re being nice and others don’t. At least I had one person who I was sure thought the world of me, my fiancé. I was going to see him today-- We hadn’t seen each other in two weeks now and it felt like forever. Being a celebrity sure has its perks, but one of the drawbacks is not having enough time for personal stuff, such as seeing your fiancé. I let out a sigh as I drove down the busy streets of Mexico. My fiancé’s house was a 3-hour drive from my workplace but I didn’t mind, so long as I ended up seeing him. I turned on the car stereo and it immediately started blasting out his latest single. I sang along as I drove to his place, excitement rising. A beautiful smile graced my lips as I imagined his handsome face and the feel of his cheeks on my fingers; it had been too long since we last saw each other. Honestly, I was a tad bit sad that he also hadn’t made much effort to see me also, but I was more excited than I was sad. Besides, he was as busy as I was, so I could understand.

It was a smooth ride as, thankfully, there was no traffic. The weather had turned a bit chilly though, so I increased the temperature of the car's heater. The sudden sound of my phone ringing startled me and caused me to lose concentration for a second. I quickly turned down the radio as I answered the call.

"Lula, there you are; I’ve been calling you all day." I moved the phone away from my ear to check the caller ID, only to see an unknown number on my screen.

"Hello, who is this?" I asked after putting the phone back to my ears.

"Pardon? You don’t know me? Ah, yes, I changed my number. It’s me, Rebecca Steam; it’s been a minute. How are you doing?" I was quiet for a while, trying to recall the name while staying focused on the road.

No one with that name came to mind, so I decided I would tell whoever Rebecca was to call me at another time. I would hate to lose concentration while driving because I was trying to remember and place the face and name of the person calling. Besides, it could be the wrong number or a scammer.

"Ah, I see. I’ll call you back. Hmm, I’m driving at the moment." I responded, not giving her the chance to respond before hanging up.

It wasn’t long after the call ended that I approached his veranda. I barely managed to contain my excitement; so much so that I almost forgot to lock the car after parking it! Since I had been here before, I pretty much knew my way around the house. I inputted the passcode to his penthouse, took the elevator, and went on my merry way to his apartment. I attempted to open the door with my fingerprint, but it wasn’t responding. I tried it a couple of times, but it still wasn’t working.

I heaved a sigh of frustration as I placed my ear close to the door to listen for any sound from within. I refused to be frustrated by that minor setback. There must have been something wrong with the machine; that was the only acceptable explanation for this. Or could it be that he had erased my security details from the machine? No! That was impossible. How would Carlos Martinez, the popular singer, erase the fingerprint of his soon-to-be wife from the machine? I tried hard to remember if we’d had a misunderstanding the last time we met, but I could only remember how much we had enjoyed each other’s company. There was just no way he could have done such a thing. While I stayed there trying to listen for any sign of movement from within, my phone vibrated, indicating a text from my assistant.

Just as I was about to read the text, I heard a voice. I paused for a moment as I realized that the voice was familiar. That sounded like… Celia?!!! I wasn’t expecting that. What could she be doing here, without my knowledge? Yes, she was my best friend but she wasn’t close friends with Carlos. Were they meeting to plan a surprise for me? I thought excitedly as I leaned even closer to hear what they were saying. The next sentence I heard caused my heart to skip a beat, "Baby, how was it for you?" I heard it loud and clear. How was what? Baby?! What the hell is going on here? Okay, I think I need to calm down, take a deep breath, and listen carefully; I probably didn’t hear her. I encouraged myself with this thought even as I pressed my ears even harder against the door. Now Carlos was speaking, "Ah, you fuck me so good. Way better even," he replied, and my heart went numb.

Moments after hearing that, I still couldn’t move away from the door; I had no idea that my nightmare had just begun. Nothing could have prepared me for the loud sounds of moaning I began to hear from within. "Mmm, it looks like someone is getting wet all over again," Carlos commented. I heard her panting loudly; she was probably throwing her head back in euphoria as Carlos used his tongue on her pussy. This made her scream in pleasure one more time. At this point, my numbness had begun to morph into smoldering hot anger. I hissed at how loud she was. I could just imagine the smug look of pleasure on her face at that moment because I had had that look on my face not too long ago-- Carlos was that good.

My skin flushed red with anger. Now that explained why I couldn’t gain access to the apartment. He had tampered with it so I wouldn’t be able to walk in on them unannounced. I sighed heavily in frustration, as I fought the tears back. I still struggled to comprehend what was happening right across from me. Where had I gone wrong? Why Celia? Was she simply better than me in bed? And that Celia…. Such a hoe! How dare she come onto my man? My fiance!

I am never going to forgive her for this, no matter how much she begs for mercy. I whipped out my phone, ready to record their conversation. It might not be able to pick every word they say, but at least it could pick a word or two. I had seen this on TV once, which was why I immediately choose that course of action. Carlos would most likely deny it once I confronted him about it if I didn’t have evidence. It was painful to keep listening, but if I wanted him to pay then I needed my evidence to be solid.

I wanted to know how far they were willing to go, and at that moment I heard it loud and clear when Celia asked who Carlos preferred between the two of us. He was quick to say, "Lola is better, but you, my darling Celia, are more seductive. I can’t seem to get enough of your accent." I heard a spanking sound, followed by Celia's giggles in response. Shortly after, I heard them have another passionate make-out session, their huffs, and moans echoing through the door as they trashed around, apparently not able to get enough of each other.

So they were going to get down and dirty, while I stood right there on the other side of the door? I couldn’t believe my ears.

"Spread those legs for me, baby!" I heard Carlos say and I shut my eyes tightly, shaking in anger. I couldn’t help but imagine Celia’s naked body spread across the bed. It was too painful to imagine, and I just wished I didn’t have to listen to this. "Aww, your thrusts are so good! I want it all," Celia moaned as she spoke. I just wish I could stop and turn back now, but I needed to get this recorded. "Fuck me. Your pussy is so tight; you make me want to cum." He said, and I groaned in pain from the other side.

Their endless, loud moans of passionate lovemaking continued. I could hear Celia moan so loudly that if Carlos had had neighbors, they would have been disturbed by the noise. "Fuck! You want it?" Carlos asked as he worked his magic on her, "Yes, baby, give it to me!" Celia cried out in pure bliss, moaning for more.

"Ugh, I’m cumming for you, baby!" I heard Carlos say and it was at that moment I knew I had had enough. I could no longer bear to listen to them. They were having an affair, and I had caught them right in the act with the evidence of recorded audio on my phone— that was enough. With that in mind, I left and headed home immediately.

I had left my car with so much excitement earlier on and I was now returning with so much anger and hurt. Who could have expected such a turn of events? I sure didn’t. Once I got home, I decided to take things one step at a time: first, take a shower and next go to sleep. I succeeded at the first task but when I hit the bed, I couldn’t find sleep. It was only 9 p.m., and because I was usually awake and on my phone at this time playing video games or talking to Carlos, I was finding it difficult to sleep.

My mind kept racing with thoughts, wondering why he and my best friend decided to treat me like this. Had I wronged them in the past so much that they were choosing to take revenge on me like this? Ugh, this was so infuriating! I got out of bed, changed out of my nightgown into a pair of jeans and a hoodie, and picked up my phone and car keys.

Since I couldn’t get any sleep, I could as well go for a spin to clear my head. Once I was properly seated in the car, I went to my recorded audio. I listened to the most recent audio, one of the two of them having sex, Celia, and Carlos, and then sent it to Carlos. After sending it, I informed him that it was over between us and that the wedding had been called off. I blocked him immediately after the message was sent. There was no need for me to have to deal with his false apologies or explanations. I sat in the car all night. I didn’t get a wink of sleep at all.

By 5 a.m. I knew I needed a break; I had spent the whole night in the car listening to sad songs. I picked up my phone and sent a version of the message I had sent to Carlos to my family members, telling them all that transpired. I also put in a call to my agent asking for permission to be away from work for a while; I needed to take time off work starting now. With that concluded, I put my phone back into the charging port in my car, and without a second thought, I got started on a road trip to Texas to clear my head.