Chapter 11: Homecoming
1517 Words
After Graduation
Home.
The word felt wrong.
Reina stared out the taxi window as familiar New York scenery rolled past.
Whenever she thought about New York, certain memories always surfaced first.
Her father.
La Paloma.
And the stranger she never got to thank.
The memories had followed her all the way to Spain.
Now they were waiting for her here too.
Nearly five years.
That was how long it had been since she arrived in Madrid carrying little more than a suitcase and a broken heart.
Now she was coming back.
Her graduation ceremony had been only two days earlier.
Brittany's family had filled an entire row.
Sofia had watched through a livestream from California.
Carlos had sent flowers.
He hadn't come.
The flowers had been beautiful.
They hadn't felt the same.
The knot in her stomach tightened.
Beside her, her phone buzzed.
Brittany.
A smile immediately tugged at her lips.
Brittany: Have you arrived yet?
Reina: Almost.
The reply came seconds later.
Brittany: Remember what I said.
Reina already knew.
Reina: Which part?
Brittany: All of it.
Reina laughed softly.
The driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror.
It was the first time she had laughed since leaving Madrid.
Brittany: Call me if they annoy you.
Reina: They haven't even seen me yet.
Brittany: Exactly.
Reina shook her head.
Only Brittany could make her feel better while insulting Carlos at the same time.
Another message arrived.
Brittany: Also don't become American.
Reina: I literally am American.
Brittany: Don't become MORE American.
A laugh escaped her.
The taxi slowed.
The familiar gates appeared.
The Hernandez estate.
The mansion looked exactly the same.
Large.
Perfect.
Cold.
The gates opened.
The taxi rolled up the circular driveway.
Her smile faded.
Reality returned.
The driver unloaded her luggage.
After paying him, Reina stood alone at the front door.
Nobody came outside.
Nobody greeted her.
Nobody looked happy to see her.
For several moments she simply stood there.
Then she sighed.
Some things never changed.
The front door opened easily.
The house was quiet.
A maid she didn't recognize approached.
"Mr. Hernandez asked me to tell you your room is ready."
That was all.
No welcome home.
No how was your flight.
Just information.
Reina thanked her anyway.
The woman nodded and walked away.
Looking at the six suitcases surrounding her, Reina groaned.
It took nearly twenty minutes to drag everything upstairs.
By the time she finished, sweat dampened the back of her shirt.
Her room looked exactly as she remembered.
The same furniture.
The same desk.
The same bookshelf.
For a moment she stood silently in the doorway.
Carlos had kept it.
All these years later, he had kept it.
The realization surprised her.
He wasn't warm.
He wasn't affectionate.
But he had never gotten rid of her room.
Somehow that mattered.
The house felt different.
Quieter.
During holiday visits there had almost always been an argument somewhere.
Usually between Carlos and Jimena.
The silence felt unfamiliar.
Almost unsettling.
Jimena was three years older than Reina.
At twenty, she should have been entering her senior year of college.
Instead, she'd taken a year off after finishing her junior year—a decision Carlos still treated like a personal failure.
He'd expected more.
Jimena rarely spoke about it.
Whenever Reina visited from Spain, the subject usually ended with Carlos criticizing wasted opportunities and Jimena leaving the room before the argument could get any worse.
She wasn't sure whether she missed Jimena or simply wasn't used to her absence.
After unpacking the essentials and taking a shower, exhaustion finally caught up to her.
She lay down intending to rest for a few minutes.
The next thing she knew—
BANG.
BANG.
BANG.
Reina jolted upright.
For one terrifying second she had no idea where she was.
The pounding continued.
She stumbled to the door and opened it.
The maid stood there looking annoyed.
"I've been knocking for several minutes."
"I'm sorry."
"Mr. Hernandez asked me to wake you. Dinner is ready."
The woman turned and walked away.
"Nice to see you too," Reina muttered.
A few minutes later she entered the dining room.
Carlos was already seated.
He looked up briefly.
"Welcome back."
The words sounded more like a business greeting than a family one.
"Thank you."
Dinner began.
The silence felt familiar.
Uncomfortable.
Finally Carlos set down his fork.
"You'll need something part-time once classes begin."
Reina looked up.
There it was.
The real reason for dinner.
"I know."
"You'll have expenses."
She nodded.
"I've already started looking."
"Good."
That was it.
No lecture.
No speech.
Just Carlos.
Practical as always.
Reina pushed food around her plate.
"I thought I'd have a little more time."
Carlos raised an eyebrow.
"For what?"
"To figure things out."
"You'll figure them out."
The words weren't particularly comforting.
Yet somehow they felt like the closest thing to encouragement she was going to get.
Carlos took another bite of his dinner.
"The house is here if you need it."
Reina blinked.
The statement surprised her.
Not because of what he said.
Because of how he said it.
Matter-of-fact.
As if it were obvious.
As if there had never been another option.
"Thank you."
Carlos nodded once.
The conversation moved on.
By the time Reina escaped back to her room, she felt emotionally exhausted.
She changed into pajamas and sat cross-legged on her bed.
The room was dark except for the glow of her phone.
A notification appeared.
Sofia.
Sofia: Survived?
A smile immediately appeared.
Reina: Barely.
Sofia: That bad?
Reina considered how to answer.
Reina: They haven't changed.
Sofia: Sorry.
A moment later another message arrived.
Sofia: Want me to fly to New York and fight them?
Reina laughed.
Reina: Tempting.
Sofia: Say the word.
For several minutes they exchanged messages.
Nothing important.
Everything important.
The way they always had.
Another notification appeared.
Brittany.
Brittany: Are you crying?
Reina stared at the screen.
Then typed:
Reina: No.
Brittany: Liar.
Reina laughed again.
The exact same word Sofia had used years ago when she arrived in Madrid.
Somehow both of them always knew.
Her chest tightened.
Not with sadness.
With gratitude.
Madrid was gone.
The future was uncertain.
New York still didn't feel like home.
But she wasn't alone anymore.
Not really.
She had Sofia.
She had Brittany.
And for the first time in a very long time, that felt like enough.
Reina set her phone aside and walked toward the window.
The lights of Scarsdale glowed in the distance.
Tomorrow she would start looking for work.
Tomorrow she would begin classes at NYU—the first real step toward becoming the architect she wanted to be.
Tomorrow she would begin building a life of her own.
For the first time, there would be no boarding school schedule.
No teachers watching over her.
No Brittany in the room next door.
No safety net.
Just her.
Her eyes drifted toward the desk.
A stack of papers sat beside her luggage.
University forms.
Financial aid documents.
Job listings Ross had emailed earlier that afternoon.
Reina walked over and picked up the stack.
Most of the listings blurred together.
Retail.
Reception work.
Administrative assistants.
The kinds of jobs students took because they needed money more than they needed excitement.
She flipped through them absentmindedly.
Then paused.
One listing caught her attention.
La Paloma Hotel.
Reina stared at the page.
For a moment, she was twelve again.
Standing in the hotel lobby beside her father.
Watching crystal chandeliers sparkle overhead.
Listening to Uncle Carlos laugh with Vidal.
Feeling small and overwhelmed by a world that seemed impossibly glamorous.
A small smile appeared.
That had been one of the last truly happy days before everything changed.
Her gaze lingered on the listing.
La Paloma.
The name felt familiar.
Comforting.
Her gaze dropped to the bottom of the listing.
The hotel's executive team was listed beneath the company information.
Vincent Leone.
David Leone.
Her eyes lingered on the second name.
David.
The memory returned immediately.
The hotel lobby.
The frightened elderly woman.
The young manager who had treated her with patience and kindness.
A small smile tugged at her lips.
She wondered what he looked like now.
Whether he was still the same person.
Whether he would even remember her.
Probably not.
Still, a tiny part of her hoped she might see him again.
The possibility shouldn't have mattered.
It did.
Not because she expected anything.
She didn't.
But some childhood memories were difficult to let go of.
La Paloma suddenly felt a little less like a job listing and a little more like a connection to a happier time.
Reina rolled her eyes at herself.
Ridiculous.
She hadn't thought about David in years.
Not really.
The man probably didn't even remember she existed.
She set the listing aside.
Tomorrow she needed a job.
Nothing else.
Reina turned off the lamp and climbed into bed.
Outside, the city continued moving.
Inside, sleep slowly claimed her.
She thought she was choosing a place to work.
She had no idea she was choosing the place where the next chapter of her life would begin.
- Writer
