Mauricio drank his way into the night and got up as the thunder struck several times. He smiled. A sad smile that could turn most hearts. He set the empty glass down and started his way up the stairs into the room opposite to Ryan's. This was the place he had slept several times in the past when he needed guy time with Ryan and Jorge was unavailable.
He stopped on the landing between the two rooms and thought, "Would she go to such lengths just to avoid me? No, I don't think so …."
After Ryan and Flora had left him, he had analyzed his suspicions and various scenarios in his head, but none made sense. His inner battle had been inconclusive and he was back at the same place he had been when he had arrived at Ryan's place: uncertain and devastated.
Just as he turned to leave, in the brief silence from the storm when no thunderous sound was heard, he heard the unmistaken sound from Flora, "…. Oohhhhh nnnngggggg, R-yan,"
