Welcome to La Hotel Familia Ch. 07

This is a work of fiction.

*

Maria just stared at the man with distaste.

Maria, in her simple brown floral patterned dress, black hair sparkling in the light of the day, stood with a two foot long, one inch thick iron rod in her hand and faced down the imposing man standing in front of her.

The man was a full seven feet tall, with broad shoulders and hands that looked as if they could crush boulders. His face was extraordinarily plain, with shaggy blonde hair and a light growth of a beard. But his eyes, they were sharp, an ice blue with a stare that could drill holes in solid stone. His muscles were hard as iron and they showed on his hairy forearms and chest; he was wearing a plain gray t-shirt with jeans and workers boots. If one glanced at him on the street one would believe he was a construction worker or a tradesman of some sort. But if you were near enough to his presence, one could feel something different about him.

"You realize this is the way it has been and will continue to be so long as I am the Father" The man said staring at Maria with a look of anger on his face.

Maria stood her ground, she stared right back at him with her own anger building.

"You are the Father, but I am the Mother, I will decide what is best for my children, not you, you forsake them long ago when you withdrew to experiment ..." Maria said the last word in contempt.

The man stood looking at her, the fury plain on his face, the desert sun blazing down on them both, but neither feeling it.

"You. Will. Obey. Me. Wife." The man said pronouncing each word in a hiss.

Maria smiled and retorted "Try to enforce your will... Husband."

Pronouncing the last word with mockery was almost too much for the man to bear, his jaw clenched and fire blazed in his eyes as he took a step forward, flexing his hands and breathing hard.

Maria just stood there, confident in her own strength.

The man suddenly launched himself at Maria with a speed that was inhuman, faster than a bolt of lightning he was there, standing at the spot Maria had just occupied, but his hands closed on air instead of her throat.

Turning just in time he managed to see the iron rod connect with his jaw.

***

Betty had just finished with her paperwork on a new research company Maria had acquired when she felt the earthquake.

There was no warning, no slight tremble that told of the main event to come, just a hard solid shaking of the earth. She briefly considered running outside to see if her children were ok but decided against it, Davey and the Twins were smart; they would take shelter.

Being 9 months pregnant her body could not move as fast as she would like but she got under the desk as fast as she could and prayed the twins and her son were safe.

The building shook for a full minute before all finally fell silent.

Betty slowly got up to her feet and looked around. The room looked as if nothing had touched it; the paintings on the walls were still hanging straight, the sculptures were all still perched on their pedestals as if nothing had happened.

Well this is strange Betty thought. But then again everything about this place is strange Betty thought laughing.

Betty had on a maternity dress, the hem coming to her mid-thighs showing cute her bronzed legs with strapped on sandals. She briefly smoothed her dress out as she looked over the room to see if anything was broken.

Just then Maria walked through the door and saw Betty looking over everything and smiled.

"Everything is fine Betty; just a little shake is all." Maria said.

Betty jumped at hearing Maria and turned to look at her.

Maria's hair was slightly disheveled and her dress was ripped at the hem a bit, as if she had snagged it on a nail.

"Are you alright Maria?" Betty said, concern in her voice as she noticed the appearance of Maria.

Maria just kept smiling and said "Oh I'm fine, my ex-husband stopped by for a moment, we had a nice chat."

"Someday you'll have to tell me of this ex of yours, you hardly ever speak of him" Betty said smiling and sitting back down at the desk and putting the paperwork into the folder for Maria to look over.

"Yes I suppose you should know, he does come around every now and then to trouble me, he just can't seem to grasp the fact that this world is..." Maria trailed off, staring at nothing.

"This world is what?" Betty said setting the folder down and looking at Maria.

Maria shook herself and looked at Betty, her smile getting wider "Oh it's of no consequence right now, at any rate he'll be gone for a while. When we have these talks he usually skulks off until he hears of something else I did that angers him."

Betty just smiled back and sighed "Ok mystery woman keep your secrets." Sticking her tongue out at Maria made her laugh.

"Well I am going to change, but before I go, how are the new employees working out?" Maria asked sitting on the edge of the desk and placing her hand on Betty's.

"Oh they are wonderful!" Betty said taking Maria's hand in hers.

"Bill is just a wiz with design and construction and Sue and Terri are great with numbers, it's like the perfect start up for a construction company. Bill could design and build anything and his mother and aunt can run the numbers for costs!" Betty said grinning while placing her hand on Maria's thigh.

Maria sighed happily and said. "Well I am certainly happy to hear they are adjusting well, those old rooms did need some remodeling something terrible, and the books are looking better thanks to Terri and Susan." Maria now placed one of her hands on Betty's.

"Unfortunately I need to rest a bit, when my ex shows up it's always a tiring experience." Maria said sadly removing her hand from Betty's and getting to her feet.

Betty stood and hugged the other woman, arms encircling the smaller woman whom she owed so much of her happiness to.

Breaking the embrace Maria smiled at Betty one last time and walked through the door to one of the other rooms and closed it behind her.

Betty sighed and thought. One day she is going to have to explain all this to me.

Shaking herself a bit she decided to go to the kitchen to see if the Twins and her son were ok, something told her she was just being silly, of course they were ok, but the mother part of her was something that wouldn't be denied when it came to her children.

***

Davey had just sat down to eat when the shaking started. Dropping his fork on the table he jumped up and rushed into the kitchen to find the twins, to his relief they were already under one of the tables when he entered. With the pots and pans making a hell of a racket he got down on hands and knees and crawled under with them while waiting for the shaking to stop. Not saying anything, they probably wouldn't have heard each other over the racket that was going on, Davey wrapped his arms around Shana and Julie to wait out the quake.

After about a minute the shaking stopped, the pots and pans stopped banging together and the three slowly crawled out of their little shelter beneath the table and stood.

Shanna and Julie both rubbed their arms and looked around while Davey went over to look out the window.

"Anything damaged out there Davey? Any of the trees fall?" Shana asked.

"I don't see anything; I'll have to go check the units one by one though to make sure nothing is damaged, the main building had a lot of supplies stacked up due to the remodeling. Floor tiles, bathroom tiles, and such. I bet half of those are broken now." He said frowning slightly.

"Oh shit, what about Mom?" Julie asked clutching her belly and thinking of her mother who was also nine months pregnant like herself and her sister.

Davey and Shana both looked at her and they all three rushed out to go see if their mother was ok.

***

Maria slowly walked down a corridor in her home. A long wide hallway with high twelve foot ceilings, the ceiling and walls were all rose-colored marble with arches every twenty feet. The arches depicted humans, in various situations. Some had them fighting each other while their women and children wept, others showed them planting and growing crops with festivals and gatherings, and still others with people intertwined to show the art of love-making. The walls had paintings and tapestries hung sporadically down the hallway, various depictions of people doing the most ordinary of things, a farmer with his plow and oxen, a woman dancing to the clapping of her community, a young man standing on a mountain top staring down into a valley.

Seeing this last painting Maria stopped to stare at it. The young man was facing away so as she could not see his face, but it was so detailed in other ways that she almost believe it was a photograph and not a work of art. Running her fingers softly along the canvas she felt her heart lurch and she felt a longing come into her being.

"Come home soon my love, come home soon" She whispered to herself.

Wiping away a small tear from her eye Maria took a breath and resumed her walk down the hallway.

Reaching the double doors at the end she pushed on them slightly and they swung open to a chamber that was all white and was lit by softly slowing lamps in the corners. It was a simple room, made from white marble with a high twenty foot domed ceiling. The only thing breaking the continuous white was a large mahogany bed, with red silk sheets and numerous pillows it created an emperors image of luxury.

Maria removed her clothes and shoes placing them neatly on the floor beside the bed and lay across it on her back. Slowly running her hands over her body she stretched luxuriously and felt her tired muscles ache at the exertion she had expended this day.

Turning over she got beneath the sheets as the lights slowly dimmed and all went dark. She slowly drifted to sleep, her breathing even and slow, she dreamed a small dream, of when her heart would come back to her.

***

This just what we need thought Teresa Gibbons while looking down at the hole punctured in her back tire on her jeep.

Teresa was a mature woman of 38 years, she was black, her breasts size was considerable, 38DD's, her skin the color of a dark bronze, just a shade away from being darkish brown. Her hair was wavy and long, going down to the small of her back creating a dark wave down the white t-shirt she wore. Her jeans were faded and slightly scruffy, with small tears here and there giving a look as if she were the rocker type.

Her boyfriend Mark was just walking around to her side to examine the tire when she looked up and saw him frowning at the tire.

Mark was younger, almost 15 years her junior, he was white, had a very heavy build with a body-builders physique and brown hair cut close to the scalp. Teresa had teased him once why not just go completely bald and be done with it, he had replied that he liked the feeling when she caressed his face and scalp with the stubble on it. He was wearing a navy blue t-shirt and jeans with work-man boots.

Taking a look at the tire he saw the puncture in the sidewall.

"Damn babe, what did we hit?" Mark asked while looking back down the highway to see if he could see what it was.

"Damned if I know baby, I didn't see anything back there in the road, I just don't understand it." Teresa replied.

Walking back down the road a little ways Mark looked into the distance, but could see nothing but the heat waves coming off the blistering hot asphalt.

Shaking his head he walked back to the jeep and started getting the spare and jack out of the back.

Setting the jack in place he started to work on getting it set before taking the lug-nuts loose.

"How long do you think it will take Mark?" She asked.

"Won't take long, 30 minutes or so, then we'll be back on the road." Mark said.

Teresa just smiled at watching him work, the muscles in his hairy forearms straining slightly as he worked on the tire.

She started day-dreaming and remembered what all her friends had said, that the young white man was just out for a thrill when she had revealed who she was dating. But she didn't listen to them, she rarely did, she didn't see anything wrong with dating a white guy, although she did give allowances for who this young man actually was.

When Teresa had been 19 and just starting college back in Wisconsin she had baby-sit a lot to help her pay for school, and just so happens, Mark was one of the kids she baby-sit for. He had been adorable so she didn't ever mind when his parents would ask her to sit for them, always so nice and polite, never gave her any trouble or did anything nasty to terrorize the babysitter like some of her wards did. He always just a good kid.

She still remembers the day she went to his home to inform his parents that she was graduating and wouldn't be available anymore, on hearing that Mark had teared up and hugged her tightly at the door. At the time Teresa had cried a little, and kissed him good-bye. His mother had hugged her and told her to call her if she ever needed anything; his father had done the same, telling her she had been a godsend the past few years. Teresa got one last hug from Mark and before letting him go for the last time Mark told her one last thing.

"I love you" He whispered and then he ran upstairs.

Teresa watched him go feeling her heart break and with a last good-bye she left, tears silently running down her face.

As the years went by she worked as a network specialist with a small tech firm, she was confident of her job and her company. She invested in them, continuously buying stock when it was available. But she always thought of Mark and what he had said to her when she left that day. The only person to have really told her that and meant it in her entire life other than her parents. She had dated of course and some were guys who said things like that just to get her in bed. But she knew, who meant it and who didn't, and none of the guys she dated ever did.

When asked by her parents when she was going to give them grandchildren she just shrugged and said she hadn't found the right man. Her mother was adamant that if she continued looking for the perfect man she would die old and alone, her father just agreed with her mother, saying she needed to settle down with someone. To all of this Teresa had listened patiently through the years and always agreed with them, but for some reason she never could take the step to allow any man into her life that would give her parents what they wanted.

Teresa wasn't cold; she was a very sweet woman, good-natured and kind to all. But she just never felt like the men she dated were the 'one' so to speak. She had actually dated some very nice men and even a couple of them were the type she looked for in a man, kind to people, not conceited, humble, and decent looking. She didn't care about money, she knew that just takes time as long as they did what they love doing, eventually she knew they would be successful. But for some reason she just didn't feel anything for them, just didn't feel the spark.

When her company's stock had shot through the roof she made the decision to sell most of her shares and retire at the age of 37, she being young and wealthy decided it was time to put more effort into doing the things she wanted to do. She loved her job, but she also loved music and travel, it was the love of those two things that eventually brought Mark back to her. Or rather, her to him.

She had gone to an alternative rock concert back in Des Moines after visiting the parents and between all the screaming young fans, pot smokers yelling, beered up college students having a good time, one young man caught her attention.

He was standing at the concession stand talking to a guy that had a security shirt on, chatting away like they were old friends. Teresa had gone over to buy a beer and was politely making her way through the crowd when she saw him.

It was one of those moments when time kind of stands still, she knew him, not who he was, or his name, but she knew his face, and her heart smiled, for the first time in her life she felt something warm and wonderful throb in her chest.

Mark had looked up smiling at something the guard had told him and caught her looking at him, and froze.

Teresa felt her heart flutter some more as she pushed her way through the crowd as she saw the young man start towards her.

Reaching him, she reached up to his face and gently ran her hand down the side of his cheek.

"I know you" Teresa said mouthing the words and speaking softly hoping he could understand the movement of her lips.

Mark had just stood there, she could see amazement, hope, love, everything go across his face in a flash.

Shaking his head and breaking the spell he sheepishly smiled at her, took her hand and lead her towards the guard and asked him if there was a sound-proofed room he could use for a minute somewhere. The guard just smiled and gave Mark a key to one of the equipment rooms behind him.

Teresa allowed herself to be lead inside and as soon as the door shut she grabbed Marks face and kissed him, long and hard. Her lips and his, melding together like they had always been meant to, as if she had lived her whole life just to have this moment in time.

Breaking away breathless Teresa just stared at him.

"Who are you?" Teresa asked.

"I'm the one that loves you and I have for many years..." Mark replied smiling and touching her faced softly, tenderly.

"My name is Mark" He said.

Instantly her face underwent a drastic change, everything from joy to sadness to exultation. She had found her baby!

"Mark! God please don't let this be a dream, oh god please no..." Teresa said with tears in her eyes.

"It's not Teresa, I'm the same young man you used to baby-sit, the same young man that fell in love with you all those years ago, the same one that told you I love you before you had to leave." Mark said gently wiping away her tears.

Teresa felt her heart about to burst with joy at finding him, the one person she had hoped desperately to see again through the years and to find him now, and a gorgeous young man to boot, was over-whelming.

Marked started to take her lips in his again but she held him back a moment, just barely as her body and mind was wanting it as badly as his, but her moral thought was trying to make her see a different light.

"Wait Mark, please wait..." Teresa gasped out, holding him back.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"As much as I want this, I am a lot older than you" She bit her lip to keep from crying.

"I'm not worried about that, I love you and no one else." He said firmly.

"But how! We haven't seen each other for at least 14 or 15 years, how could you love me when I've been out of your life so long?" She asked slightly bewildered at what was coming out of her mouth, but she had to be sure.

"Because for all these years I never met a woman that could hold a candle to you, you were the most beautiful and smart woman I had ever met, no one else could come close." Mark said as he caressed her face.

"I know you liked the mystery novels where the good-guy always wins, I know you like swing dancing even though I wasn't big enough at the time to follow through the steps you showed me, I know you loved history and how the world works. I know you liked nature and how the sun sets in the hills behind your house where you grew up. I know you loved me when I was little as if I were your own. I know you Teresa; I've always known you..." Mark said his voice falling to a whisper.

Teresa just looked at him a moment, with the beat of music going in the background and noise of the crowd muffled by the walls she still felt as if she and him were the only two people in the world at that moment. She felt all the years of loneliness fall away as she reached around to grasp the back of his neck and pull his face towards her own.