Unsuitable Obsession - Part One (7 page)

Eduardo removed himself from the line of groomsmen
and rushed to one of the back rooms of the church. Five minutes
later, he rushed back with the ring in his hand. “It’s here,” he
stated, brushing a chestnut wave back into place.

Amber sighed with relief; Victor smiled, in fact,
the whole congregation beamed. What relaxation and then they were
married, a simple kiss finalized her entrance and she was finally a
Sanchez. After eleven months of courtship, five months of being
engaged, she was finally married into a big amazing family.

The reception was nearly a blur. They rented out an
American Legion banquet hall and the facility was filled to
capacity. She’d never seen so many people in one place nor
introduced to so many relatives, more so than on Eduardo’s welcome
home barbeque. And there were (and she’s not kidding) around five
hundred guests in attendance. Could they really afford this
wedding? No fretting, Victor kept reassuring her, his parents were
paying for everything and that made Amber more relaxed. There were
homemade appetizers—Mexican food, of course—and an endless amount
of alcohol. Booze everywhere and in everyone’s hands. Children
freely occupied the dance floor, his or her chance of grabbing
everyone’s attention. It was cute, fun, then the respected elderly
entered the dance floor and the room was hushed as they twirled
around and did the samba to cheers and whistles galore.

The cake, the food, was absolutely impeccable. Sam
stayed for the whole event, and Amber was grateful for it. Amber
hadn’t seen her father in over a year and he didn’t disappoint her
in her time of triumph. Amber loved all the attention the guests
gave to her that evening and she felt like royalty, receiving
glowing compliments of how lovely she looked. She felt extra
special that night and floated on air, until…

“Amber...walk me over to your brother-in-law,” Molly
expressed, grabbing her sister. “I don’t want to make a fool of
myself going up to him alone.”

Amber held back, “Oh Mol, he’s not your type.”

“He’s a babe, that’s my type,” Molly giggled,
pulling her sister towards him again.

Amber’s heart began to beat faster. She didn’t want
to talk to her brother-in-law right then and there and was still
upset at him for blemishing her perfect wedding day—disturbed by
him period. “Oh Mol, I don’t want to talk to him right now.”

“Oh com’on, please, I’d do it for you,” Molly
complained, pulling her sister’s arm practically out of its
socket.

“Wait—wait, don’t rush me. Let me pick up my dress
for crying out loud,” Amber pleaded, feeling her shoes beginning to
yank at the extensive fabric.

Amber had been the one to coordinate the eveningwear
for the nuptials. Victor, bless his heart, wanted nothing to do
with such intricate decisions as picking out bridesmaid dresses or
groomsmen tuxedos. Amber (who was never into dressing up herself)
had the girls wear long taffeta blushing pink gowns, with matching
shoes and a corsage of the pinkest roses on their wrists, while the
boys wore baby blue jackets, matching polyester slacks with frosted
patent leather shoes.
Cobalt and rose
, Amber wanted
immediately,
the vision of country flowers across a meadow, how
romantic.
And hell, it was the 80’s…

Although the wedding party looked either too gaunt
in their skirts or bulging at the waistline in their tuxedos,
Eduardo had been “Tony Manero” come to life and wore his like a
clone to John Travolta in
Saturday Night Fever
. Holding up
the wall, his jacket was removed exposing only his vest; his legs,
casually crossed out in front of him watched the girls approach as
they progressively reached his locale. He stopped sipping his
Budweiser for the moment and first glared at Amber.

Oh and Amber couldn’t believe it! On all the days,
he made her
blush
, cheeks so hot; she swore that everyone
could see the redness on her face. “Eduardo,” she managed to get
out, “Since you didn’t come to the rehearsals, I wanted to
introduce my older sister Molly, Molly this is my brother-in-law,
Eduardo Sanchez.”

Eduardo greeted Molly and shook her hand and held
it. “We’ve met already.”

“When?” Molly asked breathless, staring into his
green eyes.

“Before the ceremony, remember?” Eduardo pronounced,
toying with her.

“I-I,” Molly retorted, trying to recall last
speaking with him.

“You know, when I told you how nice you looked.”

Molly’s round eyes caught Amber by surprise. “Oh
stop it,” she regrouped, slapping Eduardo playfully on the
shoulder. “That comment was for all the girls, not just for
me.”

Amber rolled her eyes at that obvious display of
flirtation.

Eduardo gave Molly one of his penetrating smiles.
The one he reserved for his female prospects. That half-smirk
tossed in with a quick lift of the jaw that always seemed to make
the girls fancy him.

Amber and Molly noted it—the enticement worked.
Molly unquestionably wanted him while Amber was uncertain; she was
downright enthralled by him. No, it wasn’t all of a sudden; it was
something she’s always felt, but ran away from. She was intensely
fascinated by him and couldn’t understand why. Amber lifted up her
dress and strolled away. She just got married to his brother for
crissakes! What the hell was she doing being
fascinated-drawn-enchanted by that man?

“Amber,” Eduardo called her back.

Amber quickly turned around. “What?” She asked,
dropping her dress to the floor. She noticed her sister still in
awe of him and he ignored Molly—she was acting like a stupid little
schoolgirl twirling her hair.

He paced away from Molly for the moment and
concentrated on Amber. “I want to apologize for misplacing the ring
during the ceremony,” Eduardo quietly mouthed. What the hell was he
feeling now? His heart was beginning to pound—felt his throat close
up. Good God, he forgot what he was going to say next?

“It’s over, let’s just forget about it,” Amber
managed to assert.

“My brother has good taste,” Eduardo expressed,
disgusted with himself for presenting that double-edge entendre. He
elevated the beer bottle up to his mouth, took a long sip. Good God
he could use another beer.

Now why does he make drinking look so erotic as
well? Amber’s expression goes clean. “What?”

Good God Eduardo
get it under control!
He quickly noted her questionable manner and related, “Your
ring.”

Amber remained intently looking at him.
Who does
he think he is flirting with me on this day? What an asshole! God,
he’s so conceited! He can have every fricken’ girl here if he
wanted too, including my sister, but he still thinks he can get the
bride? Yah, right!

Molly stood back and watched her sister with her new
brother-in-law and couldn’t help but notice the tension between the
two. She thought it was extremely odd how both their bodies seem to
gravitate back and forth towards one another while they spoke and
it was strange. But she would never admit to that, she had too much
pride in her own appearance to think that Eduardo would be
interested in her little sister. “It is a nice ring Amber,” she
chimed in joining the circle.

Amber broke away from Eduardo’s gaze for a moment
and tried to focus on her sister. “Yah Victor wanted diamonds, but
I said no,” she cackled. “What girl doesn’t want diamonds?”

Molly laughed along with her and Amber’s smile
collapsed within settling on her brother-in-law’s face. His
expression was grave.
Good Lord, what’s wrong with this guy?
Amber noticed he looked pissed off now…What the hell was wrong with
him?!

Eduardo drank the last swig of his beer and focused
on his mother approaching wanting to dance. Good God, thank you for
the rescue!

“Eduardo—mehiò, come dance with your Mama,” Rosalba
asked, grabbing his arm.

Amber was suddenly left with a perplexing question.
She didn’t quite know what the doubt was, but she felt something
went terribly wrong. She looked at her sister and Molly seemed to
notice it as well. Amber’s eyes filled with water instantly.

“Amber?”

Amber hiked up her dress and ran away from her
sister at that moment, down the hallway and towards the ladies
room. She was cornered by one of Victor’s Aunts, Tiá Lorena.

“Oh mehiá, you look absolutely beautiful, like a
princess! Victor must be so proud! Rosalba and Fabrizio couldn’t be
happier!”

Amber stared at Tiá Lorena for a moment. With her
lavender polyester chiffon dress, high heels and Jackie O hair-do,
she was a sight. “Thank you,” she managed to say. But Amber was
still in a daze.

“I’m gonna go find that husband of yours, swing him
around on the dance floor for awhile, do you mind?” Tiá Lorena
asked jovial.

Amber smiled, spun back into consciousness. “Mind?
Will you? I’ve been dancing with him all night; my feet are
beginning to hurt,” she laughed, jiggling her feet around in her
shoes.

Tiá Lorena kissed Amber’s cheek and off she went.
Amber watched her as she melted in through the crowd of other
dancers. On the horizon, she spotted Eduardo gyrating to the dance
beat. He was dancing with Molly, hugging her near and moving her
around skillfully. Her older sister was a big flirt, a little too
accommodating sometimes, but Amber knew Molly would make a good
match for her brother-in-law. They had a lot in common. Molly used
to be a song leader, she was very popular; Eduardo and Molly were
used to grabbing all the attention. But the more she watched them
dance, the more Amber became covetous. The panorama made her
freeze, envious for some reason. She was resentful…
why? He’s
nothing, nobody, just my new brother-in-law. I hope he gets
together with my sister; they’d make a good pair. They
would…Really...Then they could get married, we could do things
together, all four of us. That would be fun…It would be wonderful,
great…Fantastic…yep…the four of us…together… the four of us…Dammit!
Then why does that make me so God damn jealous?

Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear?

Anniversaries can be wonderful and romantic, but
when you’re practical and handy like The Family, Rosalba and
Fabrizio decided that for their 26
^th
wedding anniversary
they’d like their immediate family to go away, for the brothers to
get together and spend some quality time.

Fabrizio loved to fish and suggested Cachuma Lake in
the Redwood Mountains just above Santa Barbara, California. Several
hundred campsites quietly located within forest territory, Cachuma
Lake was surrounded by captivating mountains, blue skies, and fresh
air and encompassed campgrounds that accommodated recreational
vehicles and boats. The grounds even had barbecue pits and picnic
tables. Amber loved all the amenities too: hot showers, general
store, coin laundry, swimming pool and miniature golf area. It was
a wide-open territory full of activity. The Family chose a cliff
side campsite overlooking the lake; it was magnificent there with a
serene ridge and plush forest setting as its backdrop, it was the
perfect spot for The Family among woodpeckers galore.

Victor set up their tent first. Amber helped as much
as she could in between feedings because
Adrian Andrew
Sanchez
was born six months prior and Amber was already
hesitant about bringing him outdoors.

Eduardo arrived late and Victor offered to help his
brother set up his tent. Eduardo looked desperately lost hammering
stakes into the ground trying to put his tent together. Amber
couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of him banging his thumb
over and over.

Amber was glad she had Adrian to keep her
preoccupied for once. The hours she used to spend thinking about
her brother-in-law were now spent on Adrian’s immediate needs. She
loved being a mother, never realized how much she wanted to be a
parent and Amber was surprised with the urgency she felt to start a
family. She always felt something was missing between her and
Victor. Their short two-year marriage was monotonous to say the
least and Amber felt misplaced and occasionally unloved. Victor
settled into the husband role immediately, providing for the
couples’ financial needs but Amber always-wanted more. Victor
worked late hours in order to pay for their expenses and Amber
oftentimes felt lonely and forgotten. Amber was beginning to
believe that marriage wasn’t for her and contemplated divorce but
just didn’t want to hurt The Family, and she definitely didn’t want
to be reminded that she could be cut from the same cloth as her
mother. No, she definitely did not want to be like Sheila. Maybe a
family, a child would change things, spark up their romance?
Purchasing every known ovulating device known to mankind, Amber was
on a mission. Seducing Victor the moment he walked in through the
door, springing up on him in the shower, after breakfast, in the
middle of the night, she wanted so much to have that family. She
wanted everything all at once and wasn’t happy until she got the
complete package. After month after month of disappointment and
heartache, she was finally pregnant. In utter disbelief she
couldn’t believe it and ended up staring at the damn blue line on
the pregnancy test for nearly two hours. Amber finally got what she
wanted, but was it enough? She had to take hormones, just as that
doctor suggested. Her pregnancy was anything but effortless: acute
morning sickness, Progesterone suppositories and temperature
monitoring, bed rest. But the end result was magic, and oh how she
loved her little boy! So much responsibility held in such a tiny
little package. Amber cherished every moment she had alone looking
at him, smelling his intoxicating baby essence, so much love
showered over her sweet little present.

* * * * *

The following morning Amber left at dawn to take a
shower before the baby woke up. When she returned, Victor was
waiting for her with fishing gear in one hand and the baby in the
other.