From May to December 5

by Lauren Trevino

  “Shit,” the woman said, running a hand through her shoulder length hair. “You’re not here on holiday. That’s how you got in here. You must be Payton.”

  Payton’s grip on the knife tightened as she took a step back. “Alright, what’s going on here? How do you know my name?” Payton asked, her voice trembling as she spoke.

  “Sorry,” the woman said, her hands up in mock surrender. “Sorry. I’m probably not making much sense. I know your father. I come in here every week and freshen up the place. Just open a few windows and bring any letters up from downstairs and leave them here. I live across the hall,” she said, motioning behind her. “Are you okay?”

  Payton lowered the knife again, leaving it on the coffee table as she sunk into the white couch. She tugged at her robe, making sure it hadn’t slipped open, and crossed one leg over the other.

  “Is Luke okay? This is probably the longest he’s gone without coming here, even for a few days.”

  “What’s your name?” Payton asked, looking up at her.

  “Jackie. Willis.”

  “And you live across the hall?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. I bought it seven years ago, but I’ve only recently decided to live here full time. I had that in common with Luke. We’d joke about all the things we loved about London, but yet we kept coming back here, and we were always reluctant to leave.”

  “When was the last time he was here?”

  Jackie’s hands moved to her waist. “It was around this time last year. Sometime in November, anyway. I remember he said that he was looking forward to spending Christmas with you in London. That’s how I knew your name,” she said, giving her a weak smile. “Well, he always talks about you, and I’ve seen a few photos over the years. He keeps a photo of you in his wallet. It just didn’t click right away.”

  “Do you want to sit down?” Payton asked as she stood up, pacing the floor.

  “Uh...”

  “That didn’t happen,” Payton said, wiping her hand across her face. “Christmas, I mean. He um... He passed away a year ago. November fifth.”

  Jackie looked like she’d been slapped across the face. Her mouth was open, but no words were coming out. “Sorry, what did you just say?”

  “He died. He had a heart attack,” Payton said, studying Jackie as she almost staggered over to the couch. She sunk into the cushions, her legs incredibly tanned against the white sofa. She was wearing black shorts and a gray tank top, and Payton wondered if she should go sit beside her, comfort her. Jackie’s head was in her hands.

  “I’m so sorry,” Jackie said, looking up at her with tear-filled eyes.

  Payton nodded, not knowing what else to say. “Can I get you a drink? I’m not sure what’s here. Wine probably.”

  “Anything. Thanks.”

  Payton padded into the kitchen, bringing the knife with her. She wasn’t one for drinking at eleven o’clock in the morning, but this was one of those moments where it actually seemed like the sensible thing to do. She slid the knife back into the wooden block on her way over to the wine rack on the far side of the kitchen counter. She had three bottles of red to choose from, and she went with a Rioja. She uncorked it and took two glasses down from the white cabinets above her.

  “I’m really sorry that no one told you,” Payton said as she came into the living room and sat down beside Jackie. She poured them each a generous glass. “And I probably could have done a better job of breaking the news to you,” she said, handing Jackie a glass.

  She shook her head, wiping away a tear that had trickled down her cheek. “There’s no easy way to tell someone news like that. I’m just in shock,” Jackie said, taking a drink. “He couldn’t have been more than fifty.”

  “He was forty-five.”

  “Fucking hell. I’m so sorry,” Jackie said, her hand on Payton’s knee, but it was gone again a second later. “You must have been close.”

  Payton nodded. “Hmmm. We were. It’s still sinking in, even now, a year later. We’ve always gone months without seeing each other, so I just find it hard to believe that I’m not between visits right now, that I won’t be seeing him, that I didn’t come here to see him.” Payton blinked back her own tears.

  “Why did you come here? If you don’t mind me asking,” Jackie added.

  “I’m trying to make a decision, about what I want to do with my life. My mother fully expects me to put my law degree to good use and work at her firm. I’ve been putting it off since I graduated, because I know that’s not what I want, but the problem is, I don’t really have an alternative. I should probably go with the steady, reliable paycheck back in New York, but I don’t know. I thought coming here would give me some closure, and that maybe, by the end of it, I might have a better idea of what I want to do with my life.”

  Jackie took another drink and left her glass on the coffee table. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver key. “I’ll give you this. No more breaking and entering.”

  Payton gave her a lopsided smile. “Thank you. For helping my dad and looking after this place when he was gone.”

  Jackie nodded. “And if you need anything while you’re here, I’m just across the hall.”

  “Thanks. You said that you recently decided to live here full time?”

  “Yeah. I just sold my flat in London, which made the decision pretty final, but it was something I’d been leaning towards for the last few years. I love it here. The weather, the people, the lifestyle. All of it. I thought your father would make the switch, too, but he always said that he’d wait until he retired to do it, that things were too hectic in London to leave.”

  Payton sipped on her wine. “I’ve only been here a few hours, and I already feel like my decision is an easy one,” she said with a sigh.

  “Life is short and all that?” Jackie asked. “It’s something we hear all the time, but it’s not until you lose someone close to you that it really hits home.”

  “Yeah,” Payton said in just above a whisper. “I don’t think I’m going to be a lawyer... Do you want to sit outside? On the balcony? I’ll just go get changed into some actual clothes.”

  “Sure. Take your time.”

  Chapter Four

  Jackie stood outside on the balcony, taking in the view of the ocean that was identical to her own, but it somehow looked different this morning. Everything did. She still couldn’t believe that Luke was dead.

  It was a good thing she hadn’t planned on going into work today. Usually, it took her ten minutes to come into this apartment and make sure everything was okay, but she’d already been here for nearly an hour. She had nowhere else to be today, another good thing, considering that she was already feeling tipsy, and it wasn’t even noon.

  “Sorry,” Payton said, stepping outside with her glass in one hand and the rest of the bottle of wine in the other. She was dressed in dark wash skinny jeans and a white tank top, her blond hair fully dry now, falling a few inches below her shoulders. “I don’t normally drink at this hour, just in case you were wondering.”

  “For the record, I don’t either.”

  Payton topped up her glass and hovered over Jackie’s.

  “Go on,” Jackie said, and Payton filled her glass.

  “I didn’t do this the first time around,” Payton said as she pulled out one of the white folding chairs and took a seat.

  “Drown your sorrows?” Jackie guessed, taking a seat.

  “I don’t know why I didn’t, because right now, I can see the appeal.”

  “Maybe not so much tomorrow.”

  “And I’ll worry about that tomorrow,” Payton said, clinking her glass off Jackie’s. “But seriously, I’m sorry. Of course, my dad had friends here, and I’m sorry that you had to find out this way, a year later. I should have come out here sooner.”

  “You’re here now,” Jackie said, already thinking about all the people she needed to tell. “I’ll make sure his friends find out.”

  “Why couldn’t he be normal and have a
Facebook account?” Payton asked, bringing her glass to her lips.

  “Probably because he spends... Spent,” Jackie said, clearing her throat, “All of his time crafting Facebook ads. He knew that having an account meant handing over a treasure trove of information.”

  “Ah. You got the lecture, too.”

  Jackie smiled. “Yes. Didn’t everybody?”

  “And do you still have an account?”

  Jackie nodded. “I don’t use it much, but I’m on there all the time for my business.”

  “Oh?”

  “It’s a tapas restaurant. Just around the corner, near the marina.”

  “Not Sun and Sand?”

  “That’s it.”

  “Dad raved about that place,” Payton said with a grin.

  “He was a regular. You know, I’m surprised we haven’t met already,” Jackie said, returning her smile. “He never brought you?”

  “No. He actually liked cooking for me here, or we usually went off to Cordoba or Granada, always somewhere new. He could have worked for the Spanish tourist office. Each time I came over, he had another town or city he wanted to show me.”

  Jackie nodded. “And I’ve been coming and going a lot in the last few years. We probably just missed each other.”

  “Probably.”

  Jackie glanced over at Payton, trying to remember if Luke ever mentioned how old she was. If he was only forty-five, she couldn’t be more than twenty-five or twenty-six. She didn’t know what Payton’s mother was like, but she could see the similarities between father and daughter. They had the same olive skin that tanned so easily, and a lot of their mannerisms were the same.

  “We’re going to be pissed before lunch,” Payton said, swirling the ruby colored wine in her glass. “Sod it,” she muttered before taking another drink.

  Jackie started laughing. Add that to the list of similarities.

  “What’s so funny?” Payton asked, turning to face her, looking at Jackie as if she’d completely lost her mind.

  “I thought you were a New Yorker.”

  “I am.”

  “And when you’re drunk the Londoner comes out?” Jackie asked with a smirk.

  “Ugh,” Payton said with a half-smile. “I have heard that before. I didn’t know it was a rule though.”

  “You sound just like Luke,” Jackie said, shaking her head.

  “Maybe, it’s your accent rubbing off on me.”

  “Maybe,” Jackie said, blinking back tears again. She kept forgetting that Luke was gone, and when it hit her, it was like being told for the first time again and again. She took a drink to swallow down the lump in her throat.

  “So,” Payton said, draping her arm across the back of her chair as she angled her body towards Jackie. “What did you leave behind in London?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Payton shrugged. “You said you went back and forth, that you had a flat there. Are all of your family still there?”

  Jackie took another drink. “Just a sister. My parents are gone. What about you? Do you have family to consider when you’re trying to figure out what to do with the rest of your life?”

  Payton scoffed. “I am one hundred percent not factoring my mother into this decision, but that’s it. I’m an only child. My mother’s family are spread out in different states, and all of my dad’s family are in England. My grandmother still lives in London, but I haven’t seen her since the funeral. I don’t know. I think she might be homophobic, and I know age isn’t an excuse, but she’s eight-two, and to be honest, I don’t really care.”

  Jackie tried to focus on the words coming out of Payton’s mouth, but she got sidetracked when she heard Payton say the word ‘homophobic.’ Did that mean...? Wouldn’t Luke have mentioned that his daughter was gay? Wait, why would he have? Just because Jackie was out, didn’t mean that Luke would have said something.

  “Jackie?”

  “Hmmm...?” Jackie’s eyes locked onto Payton’s, her blue eyes narrowing as she shielded her eyes from the sun.

  “I said, I’m going to get a pair of shades. Do you want one?”

  “Sure. Yeah. Thanks,” Jackie said, her hands wrapped around her glass as she leaned forward, resting her arms on the table so that the sun wasn’t on her face.

  Payton was back a minute later, handing Jackie a pair of aviator sunglasses as she slid on her own. “Much better,” Payton said as she got comfortable again.

  “Thanks,” Jackie said, putting her own on, hoping that she didn’t look ridiculous. She loved the look of aviators, but she never thought she could pull them off.

  “So, to answer your question, I’m not factoring in anyone else. I’m making this decision based on me. I can go back to New York and do something else. I can stay in London or here, and I know, I probably sound like an entitled snob, but I do realize how fortunate I am to have those kinds of options.”

  “Did you get along with Angela?” Jackie asked, taking another sip of wine.

  Payton stared at her for a second. “Sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “I keep forgetting that you knew my dad and, of course, you knew my step-mother. Yeah. I did actually. My mother hates her, but I think it’s just a reaction. Angela is younger and so much more fun than my mother ever was, but I know she doesn’t really care. My mother stopped loving my dad years ago. She’s the one who wanted a divorce.”

  “How old were you?” Jackie asked, hoping she wasn’t being too curious.

  “Fourteen.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah. It’s hard to remember things being normal, but all of my memories are ‘before the divorce’ and ‘after the divorce.’ Normal and chaos, but they were both happier after they separated, and I got to visit my dad in London every summer and come here with him, so it wasn’t all bad.”

  “You probably grew up fast,” Jackie said, suddenly feeling the effects of the alcohol. She’d almost slurred those words.

  “Maybe... It wasn’t as traumatic as I’m making it out to be. I had a good childhood. I traveled. I went to a great school. I’m not complaining.”

  “Is there anything from that childhood that might give you a hint about what you might want to do? Something you were good at?” Jackie asked, knowing that she’d be unable to filter her words from this point on. She was definitely drunk. She should have had breakfast this morning.

  Payton sighed. “I don’t know. Everything was about my grades and getting into law school. I loved art. I was always drawing or painting, but I don’t think it’s something I could do full time.”

  “You never thought about following in your dad’s footsteps?”

  “And open a digital marketing agency?” Payton asked, bringing her glass to her lips, her eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t know. I never really thought about it.” She laughed softly. “It was weird. Having a father who was on SnapChat before you were. I did learn a lot from him. Yeah,” Payton said with a nod. “It’s an option.”

  Jackie cradled her glass. She was going to pay for this tomorrow. Maybe even this afternoon. She’d have to have a siesta.

  “Well,” Payton said, putting her empty glass down on the table and stretching her arms over her head. “This is not how I thought today would go.”

  “And it’s only noon,” Jackie said with a smile as she finished her wine. “I should go.” Her hands were on her bare thighs, and she pushed herself up, holding on to the edge of the table to keep her balance, just in case. She didn’t trust herself right now. Two glasses of wine on an empty stomach so early in the day was not something she was used to. “Let’s not do this again,” Jackie said with a laugh as she followed Payton back inside the apartment and to the door.

  “Maybe at a more civilized hour.” Payton held the door open for her, leaning against it, her cheeks slightly flushed.

  “Agreed. I am just across the hall though, if you need anything. Don’t be shy,” Jackie said as she left, her hand in her pocket as she fished out her keys, and of course, she dropped them. Great
.

  “I’ll just wait here,” Payton said, and Jackie could hear the smile in her voice. “In case you need any help.”

  Jackie scooped up her keys and flashed her a smile before turning the key in the lock and opening her apartment door. “Everything is just tickety-boo,” she said with a wink, knowing Payton would appreciate the phrase. It was one Luke used often.

  “Alright,” Payton said, giving her a wave. “Be safe. No driving.”

  “Definitely not.” Jackie gave her a salute, cursing herself as soon as she’d closed her door. “Well, she probably thinks I’m a total dork,” Jackie said to herself with a sigh, throwing her keys onto the wooden tray that was on a narrow table inside the door.

  Again, the news of Luke’s death hit her like a sucker punch to the stomach as she went into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and took out a bottle of water. She had to tell Oliver, but it could wait a few more hours. She needed to eat something first and sober up a bit before she even thought about leaving her apartment.

  She went out on the balcony with a slice of tortilla that she’d made yesterday, not trusting herself to actually chop or cook anything in the state she was in. She sat down, enjoying her Spanish omelet with a glass of orange juice. She’d be fine in an hour.

  Jackie smiled to herself. Payton was a lot like her father. They had that same charisma, that same smile.

  She’d done her best not to stare when Payton had been in her robe, and it was easier than it should have been. The knife had distracted her and then there was the news of Luke’s passing.

  What a morning.

  Chapter Five

  As tempted as Payton was to open another bottle of wine yesterday, she didn’t, opting for some lunch and a lazy day of unpacking instead. Today was her first day out and about in Benalmadena. The sun glistened off the ocean as she strolled along the promenade, happy to be in shorts and a tank top in November when it was snowing back in New York.

  Booking a one-way ticket was as frightening as it was exciting. She’d never had this much unstructured time with no commitments, no responsibilities. Even after her father’s death, she’d kept working at the coffee shop around the corner from her apartment. Now, she had no job. Only free time. She just had to figure out where her life was going. No pressure.