Sabrina felt a wave of relief.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked.
“I do appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid that what I'm dealing with is my own burden to bear,” he said, releasing her hands and picking up his coffee. “It's a family issue.”
Sabrina's eyes widened. “I'm happy to listen to whatever is going on. Even if there's nothing I can actually do to help the situation, sometimes it can feel good just to get things off of your chest.”
Marco took a bite of food and a little bit of pow
dered sugar managed to find its way to his chin.
“You have some sugar on your face,” Sabrina said, giggling. “It kind of looks like a white goatee.”
For the first time that morning, Marco smiled. He brought his napkin up and cleaned up his chin.
“Thanks for looking out for me,” he said.
“Any time,” Sabrina replied. “But seriously, Marco. I'm here if you need to chat. I can tell something is eating you up and I'd hate to see you struggling like this for your whole vacation.”
She wasn't sure if she was overstepping the lines again by offering to be a shoulder to cry on, but it was how she felt. She wanted to help him. This Marco, the one sitting across from her, the one with a forlorn and sad look on his face, was not the same Marco she had landed in New York with.
Marco sighed and slowly nodded. “I guess it might feel good to get it off of my chest.”
Sabrina didn't want to push the topic too hard, but she was eager to hear what was going on that had him so upset.
“I'm all ears,” she said.
Marco set his fork down and then drew in a long breath. “I received some news today and I'm not sure how I should feel about it.”
Sabrina leaned in, bringing her elbows to the table. She wanted to give Marco her undivided attention. “What kind of news?”
“I found out this morning that my father will be getting surgery next month,” he said.
“Oh, my gosh, Marco,” she said, reached out to touch his hands. “Tell me what's going on with him.”
“He has cancer,” he said simply.
“I'm sorry, Marco.” She didn't know what else to say.
“I appreciate that. But I've known about his cancer for a while now. He has a tumor in his lung. They discovered it a few months ago, but it wasn't until recently that the doctor's decided on the best plan for treatment. I found out this morning that he's a good candidate for surgery and so he's going to go through with it. It's a good thing in some ways, because it means he might not have to get chemo and radiation. But it also means he's having to go through an extremely invasive surgery. I'm worried about him.”
“I can't imagine,” Sabrina said, rubbing the tops of his hands affectionately. “I wish there was something I could do.”
“Me too,” he said, gazing into her eyes. A flicker of a smile touched his lips. “But getting it off of my chest actually made me feel a tiny bit better.”
“Are you and your dad close?” she asked.
Marco nodded, as a tear slid down his cheek. “Yes. Very close. I look up to him for everything. He's the one person in my life that I know would have my back no matter what.”
“He sounds like a great guy,” Sabrina said, still touching the top of Marco's hands.
Even though the news was terrible, she enjoyed the fact that Marco was opening up to her. His vulnerability made him even more attractive to Sabrina. Marco was man enough to cry.
“My father is an amazing human being,” Marco said, blinking away a few more tears as they filled his eyes. “I pray that everything turns out okay for him.”
Sabrina nodded and then sat back in her chair, breaking her touch from Marco. She wanted to hug him and hold him in his time of need, but was still unsure where the line was with their professional relationship.
“You said his surgery is next month?” Sabrina asked.