More Than Once by Dominique Wolf

CHAPTER 33:

T

he earliest flight I could get was tomorrow morning so I was stuck in London by myself until then. I lay in the bed in my hotel room, staring up at the blank ceiling. The last few days had been a rush of emotions and I was starting to physically feel how drained I truly was. Everything with Giovanni's parents happened, I met his brother, my dad had a heart attack, rushed over here to London then he had to rush back because of Penelope's early labour - it was a lot to take in and I was trying to wrap my brain around it all. The anxiety I was holding onto because of my father started to subside, he was going to be fine now and that was what was most important. A part of me was surprised at his understanding of my choice to leave but when it came to the three of them, he had always been the more open-minded one. Unlike my mother who was stubbornly set in her ways. A lingering sadness always hovered around me whenever I thought of my mother. When I first met Reyna's family, that was when I started to question the dynamic of my own. I watched how warm and loving they were to one another and it really highlighted the fact that I would never have that. I couldn't connect with my mother on an emotional level and now there were wounds that we wouldn't be able to heal.

I pushed that out of my mind and rolled over, reaching for my cellphone on the bedside table. I unlocked it and dialed Giovanni's number. It had been a few hours since I heard from him and I was worried about Penelope. The phone rang and rang but no answer. He must have been preoccupied with things at the hospital but I was so nervous to know more that I dialed his number again. On the third ring, he picked up.

“Hello?” His voice carried a hint of annoyance in it.

I was surprised by the tone of his greeting, “Giovanni?”

“Isabella, sorry about that,” he murmured. “I didn't realize it was you.”

What, no caller ID?

“That's okay. I just wanted to see if you had any updates.”

I could hear a muffled voice on the other end. Definitely a female voice but I couldn't work out who it was.

“Espere, por favor,” he snapped at the person before returning to the call. “Sorry, no - no updates yet.”

The voice murmured something in Spanish again. She was too distant for me to pick up on anything that was being said.

“Who's that with you?” I asked, an uneasy feeling settling over me.

“What?” He asked but then continued, “No one - don't worry. Listen, can I call you back later?”

“Giovanni, what's going on?”

“Nothing, Izzy, please, I'm just worried about the baby okay?” His tone softened, “I have to go now.”

“Okay, I lo-,” I started to say but before I could get the words out, he disconnected the call.

What the fuck?

I tossed my phone to the other side of the bed in frustration. What the hell was all that about? I understand that emotions can be high in a situation like that but he didn't have to respond like that. And who was he with? Why couldn't he tell me? I knew it was a female - that much was clear but who? His mom? Penelope's family? A nurse for crying out loud? Why say it's no one?

Isabella, stop!

The hovering insecurities that remained in the back of my mind started to push their way through. I knew I had to trust him - I did trust him but right now, I had an uneasy feeling about what just happened. It was obviously someone he didn't want to tell me about.

Or it really was no one of importance?

But then he could have just said that right? And he snapped at them in a way that made it seem like they were familiar with each other. He doesn't just snap at anyone. So who was it? I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. I didn't want to second guess him, I knew I had to trust him.

“Fuck it.” I said, exasperated as I pushed myself out of bed.

This overthinking wasn't going to help. I needed a distraction because I couldn't stay trapped in my head for the next 12 hours. I grabbed the remaining snacks that we had and reached for the remote. I settled back into bed and turned the TV on. I wasn't going to dwell on that interaction. He was clearly just in a highly-emotional situation and I had to be more understanding of that.

You tell yourself that.

The voice at the back of my head was becoming a real bitch so I muted her as best as I could and found a mind-numbing movie to distract me. I just needed to get through these next few hours and I'd be back in Barcelona in no time.

Everything would be okay.