“Look at you waltzing in here rosy with afterglow,” Chloe said in a voice louder than I would’ve liked, wagging her finger at me all sassy-like.
“And now you’re blushing to the roots of your hair,” Laura added with a giggle. “You’re just too much fun to mess with, sweetie pie.”
“Shush,” I admonished them. “What if a customer hears you?”
“Eh, we’re not too busy yet,” Chloe said, not the least bit repentant. “The only ones in here are the Arnolds, and if they knew, they’d just be happy for you.”
The Arnolds were this adorable African American couple who’d been married for about seventy-five thousand years. They had the kind of marriage where he still opened the door for her, and she still gave him a peck on the lips for it every time he did. They were the sweetest people ever and remained outrageously in love even after all their long years together.
I aspired to be just like them.
Marco appeared, then. He’d been held up by a phone call from someone, and his expression seemed a bit put out as he came inside. It reminded me of when he’d first been here and I’d called him Intense Suit Guy. But then, he caught my eye and all that tension disappeared. He smiled at me, his expression full of both warmth and heat, and when he winked at me mischievously before going into his office, I sighed.
My friends sighed with me.
“Damn, wish I could get somebody to stare at me the way that man stares at you,” Laura said, her voice wistful.
“Amen to that,” Chloe agreed, both of them leaning against each other to watch Marco as he vanished from view. “He’s a goner. Head over heels.”
“And so is she,” Laura told Chloe as if I weren’t standing right there next to them.
“That’s a yes on both counts,” I said, needing to share my rapturously good news.
“What?” Chloe’s eyes were enormous. “Did he say it? Those three little words?”
“Uh huh.”
“And you said it back,” Laura concluded.
“Uh huh,” I said again, confirming things
. And then we all three squealed like twelve-year-olds, jumping up and down. The Arnolds glanced over at the commotion we were creating, and I found I didn’t even mind. They were grinning as much as we were anyway.
“Mazel tov, honey,” Chloe told me at the exact same time as Laura said, “Congrats!”
“Think this might be the big O?” Laura went on. My friends and I all used the term “big O” to mean “the One.”
I thought about all the time Marco and I had spent together. About him bringing me soup when he thought I was sick. About how he brought me pleasure twice before seeking any out for himself, one of those times being over there in that very office. About how tender and careful he’d been as he made love to me for the first time.
Then I pictured what a future with him might look like. A wedding with him standing at the end of the aisle. That iconic house with the white picket fence and a cat in the window. A back yard with a puppy running around chasing his own tail. What our kids might look like. What our appearances might be as we sat in a restaurant together like the Arnolds were, old and gray.
“Yeah,” I said, my mind swimming with all those images. “I think he might be.”
The day, like usual when I worked with Marco, flew by. The only problem I had was that it was hard to concentrate on counting bundles of cash when all I could think about was what Marco had done to me the night previous. It wasn’t exactly a horrible problem to have.
That next night after making love again, I set an alarm so I could get up earlier than usual. My mom had a doctor’s appointment I’d promised to take her to, one including another battery of tests for her arthritis. These tests would monitor the progress of her disease and see how her hip replacements were faring.
I hoped that since I’d been able to work on her medical debt a bit, maybe we could set an appointment to get her knee replacements completed, too. With that surgery, her pain would be cut substantially, and she might even be capable of getting up and around more. It’d make a massive improvement in the overall quality of her life. One she so desperately needed.
So that was the plan.
I left Marco in a deep slumber, but not before taking a moment to appreciate the exquisiteness of his naked form from the suite’s bedroom doorway. He’d kicked off the covers during the night, revealing him in all his glory as he lay on his back. Clothed or unclothed, the man was a sight to behold.
I was sorely tempted to crawl back in there with him, but I had to get going. The appointment took much of the day, just like I expected. It was also a case of hurry up and wait. So, by the time I got her out of the taxi and settled again, I was more than ready to leave. My toleration for being at the apartment had diminished a lot since Marco and I had gotten together. I was anxious to be back in his presence.
I had just opened the door to leave when David strode in. It was an awkward moment. My brother and I hadn’t been on speaking terms since our last conversation, the one where he blew up at me for being with Marco.
I’d feared that he might cause trouble for us, but I’d heard nothing from him over the past couple of weeks. Which was how it should be. I’d begun to realize that David had no right to dictate the direction of my life. Marco was right. I was a grown woman who could make my own choices, and I’d chosen to be with the man I loved, no matter what my brother accused him of.