And the rain will wash our problems away

“Rain’s really coming down hard huh?” And it has. It has been raining for a little over two weeks now. But the thunderstorms are nice white noise to fall asleep to. While everyone else in Itzel's family has been having trouble sleeping, Itzel has had no trouble falling asleep. The thunder or lightning are not what wake her up. Her dreams had been filled with memories of Peter.  

“Yeah, it doesn’t look like the gathering won't happen then” she tries her best to sound disappointed, but her sister can easily see through her.  

“Really?” Itzel does not have to turn around to know her sister is her judgmental pose, eyebrow raised, arms crossed and all.  

“What? I am just making an observation; I doubt anyone would want to spend the day getting soaked” Which is true but-  

“That is not the excuse you’re using to get out of this” God Damit, Itzel turns in time to see her sister walks away from the living room. She scrambles up from the couch and follows her sister into the kitchen.  

“Oh, come in Julie, I more than likely won’t be the only one-”  

“Ditching?”  

“I wouldn’t call it ditching.” Itzel rolls her eyes, pulling up a chair while Natalie rummages through the kitchen cabinet.  

“Considering our family is the one hosting the event I would say it counts as ditching. Come on, you know we’re supposed to show up and mingle in these kind of events” Natalie reminds her younger sister as if it’s something that hasn’t been ingrained in both their heads. Inheriting the family business and keeping a good relationship with their parents business partners, on top of their kids.  

“Okay but-“ 

“But nothing, I warned you and you didn’t want to listen. Look, I get that you were just doing as dad suggested, but forming a relationship-” 

“How many times do I have to tell you guys were just friends?” Honestly having the same conversation with her family gets old real quick.  

“A friendship is a relationship stupid. If you form a personal relationship with these people it’ll only get messier. They’re going to be involved in your life for ever or until one of you guys quit and give up your position.” Natalie has her back faced towards Itzel as she washes the rice. Taking in a deep breath, she lets her shoulder drop. Already Itzel knows where this conversation is headed.  

“Do you, regret it? Was it worth having your baby sister to deal with the consequences because you couldn’t keep it professional?” As soon as the words leave her mouth the tension in the room thickens and Natalie drops the rice in the sink but refuses to turn around, she can feel the tears building up. Tears of anger but tears regardless  

“You do not even know what you’re talking about. You know what? Fine don’t show up. God you’re such a brat” Natalie waves her hands in the air as she walks away from her sister, abandoning the rice. Itzel glares as her sister storms out of their shared apartment.  

Itzel does not usually mind going to events, she is a very sociable person and gets along well with her parents' business partners and their kids. And that is the problem she is having. Natalie was not the only one who had warned her about getting attached to her peers. Involving personal feelings, platonic or not, with business never ends well for anyone. Especially one party, the unlucky bastard that ends up being collateral. In this scenario, Itzel is the collateral.  

Her parents run a manufacturing company for action figures, one of their biggest clients, the reason they have the reputation they do, is all thanks to the Johnsons. The Johnsons provide product to nig name companies to sell the figures her parents company produces. The only reason they have products to make is because they are supplied with materials thanks to the Johnsons connections. Her family is the odd one out. Itzel's parents did not get to go to an Ivy League, did not grow up as wealthy as their business partners.  

But life is a funny thing, her dad was always making friends with the people who would walk into his parents' shop. It just so happens he knew exactly what to say to Mr. Johnson and gained his trust unknowingly to invest in her father's dreams. Mr. Johnson had kept his wealth, conections and company a secret for a long time until he deemed Itzel's father worthy of having a shot in the cutthroat business of action figures. Production is important but not as important as having big-name vendors buying from you or having a good reliable source to provide you with the best materials at the best price. You can really find anyone to step up to the plate and help produce little plastic toys for men who claim they would never play with dolls. That is how Itzel’s father was able to make a name for himself, he was the lucky somebody who stumbled onto the plate.  

The Johnsons have a son, Peter, the same age as Itzel. Both being curious children and relentless, the two quickly became friends at one of their parents’ social gatherings. The other kids were a bit more stuck up or shy, always refusing to join in whatever adventure Itzel and Peter would find themselves in.  

As they both grew older their relationship grew stronger, but it was also delicate. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson had noticed how close their kid became to Itzel and had thought they should do their best to preserve it. To make it a little more permanent, to secure and lock each other in to one another. That was the back-up plan at least. Natalie had been a few years older when she started dating the older Johnsons kid, Mike. Natalie and Mike had once been engaged, in love and ready to merge their lives and their parents' businesses. The wedding was a couple of months before the cheating scandals started rising. Tension grew, the fights became more frequent and, on a few occasions, violent. No one bats an eye when the guy slaps his fiancé, but let the fiancé scratch the man, and you have the messiest breakup. It was explosive, and the Johnsons were quick to jump behind their eldest and defend Mike against any accusations because as far as they were concerned there was no evidence to prove Mike had ever laid a hand on Natalie.  

The breakup along with the domestic abuse charges were enough to cut ties with both companies. The Johnson’s wanting nothing to do with the family of a domestic abuser (according to them) and Itzel's family felt the same way. Itzel and Peter had never paid any close attention to their siblings' relationship or messy breakup, being too engrossed with their newfound freedom in college. It was then that an arranged marriage between Itzel and Peter could be the perfect cover story for the Johnson’s discovery about Natalies origins. Their parents would relinquish half of their company over, and with the marriage be permanently bound to produce more product for a cheaper price.  

Natalie had always suspected there was something wrong with her, she did not feel like she belonged. According to the Johnsons she did not. Natalie was the “product” of her mother's previous mistake. There was already too much invested in Natalie to kick her to the curb but because of her father's agreement to pass down the company to his blood like everyone else, they were in a tight spot.  

Using their other children as a backup plan seemed logical, just because Natalie and Mike fell out of love did not mean Itzel and Peter could not fall in love. Except they could not.  

Peter, being nosey as ever, easily found out about their parents' plans as well as Natalie not being blood-related to Itzel. Of course, Peter had felt it was up to him to find a solution where everyone wins and without having to break Itzel’s heart.  

But he did anyway.  

Itzel had been dating a girl she met in college for a few years, but she had yet to come out to her parents. And of course, the day she decides to come out and introduce her girlfriend, Peter makes a scene confessing his love for Itzel. Leaving Itzel flustered, embarrassed, angry and single. Not to mention now everyone had decided she was in love with Peter as well. A promise ring being forced on her finger. 

Itzel is left feeling confused and angry because she cannot imagine a reason for what happened. Not to mention getting shoved deeper in the closet.  

The next day the storm does not stop but the engagement party is still happening in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Not that she is planning to show up or confront Peter anytime soon.  

So why is it when she walked into her living room there he was, like he had any right to be in her apartment.  

“Look I need you to-” 

“To what Peter? You knew what was going to happen, how much I loved Anna, all this and decided to ruin all that. Not to mention now our friendship is ruined because”  

“It doesn’t have to be” Peter is quick to interject.  

“Yes, yes, it is because you’re in love with-” 

“But I’m not” and really what is the right way to explain all this? 

“So, you, you did all this, you lied for what? For what Peter, I don’t get it. What did I ever do to you to make you hate me this much?” The tears were already flowing down her face and Peter was quick to pull Itzel into a hug and soothe her.  

It took twenty minutes for Itzel to calm down and another forty minutes to explain everything. Peter is just grateful Itzel was so willing to listen and to his surprise, understand.  

“I just don’t get it” he spoke too soon. “Why not tell me? Why not? Do you know we could have found a way around this? Write up a contact, an NDA to find a way to legally bind us without causing this big of a mess?” And yeah, Itzel did have a point. Looking up, Peter finds the perfect distraction.  

“Hey, looked it stopped raining”