A haunting past

13.1 Francesco De la Cruz

Spring 1997, De la Cruz residence

Francesco was surprised to see Rosa sitting in the kitchen. He thought she wanted to visit some friends tonight.

"Hey! What you're doing here?", he asked her.

He sat down next to her. She looked like something was bothering her.

He waited for her to talk.

"Why haven't you been honest with me?", she finally asked after a while.

"What?", he hadn't expected that.

And for a second he tried to remember everything he had not told her.

There were quite a few things, but nothing of it had anything to do with her. And he never had lied to her, when she wanted to know something.

Unless she found out...

"Blues in May!", she shot out.

He was even more confused now, but couldn't help feeling relieved. At least she still didn't know about...

Francesco had tried to never think about it again. It was too... painful.

"That song is about that girl which was here last summer! MAE!", she continued.

"You think I wouldn't figure that out?"

How the fuck she got that idea now?

He asked her, but with nicer words.

"I know your inspiration was someone in Paris! And you wrote the song just after you met her here again!"

Not true, he had it already done for a while before that.

"And even the name fits! Blues in May?!", she kept going on.

For some reason he had to think about Mai Tais now. Did all women have a tendency for stupid word puns?

"Wow... I told you it was someone from back then, but it's not her!", he said, when he finally found his composure back.

"What bugs you so much about it anyway? Paris is long time gone." he asked.

"It's not when she lives here!", Rosa got even more mad now. "And you even got the nerve to invite her last year to your birthday party!"

That hadn't been a good idea, he knew. But he never had talked to her again since then.

She couldn't stop herself now. "You're seeing her!"

"What the...", Francesco didn't know what to say.

Was she seriously implying he continuously cheated on her?!

Lately she had started to be more and more curious what he did on his tours besides the concerts. Now he understood.

And it made him really angry.

"Really... I didn't even see her since that party! She's just someone from my past, okay?", he yelled at her.

"I just... I just don't know what to think... you're gone so much..." she sobbed.

Oh no. Please don't cry now.

He couldn't see her crying.

"There's nothing you have to worry about!", he said softly. "I made you a promise, almost two years ago in that church. And I always kept it, and always will."

He wasn't so sure if the ...thing counted as cheating, though.

But it didn't happen by his intention, and he wanted to make sure it could never happen again.

So he let that pass.

She still didn't look convinced.

"Please stop crying, Rosa... I love you, okay?"

"...Okay...", she finally sobbed.