XCVIII
XCVIII
"I never really asked where you were from. Are you Spanish by any chance?" He was removing the tux jacket.
I had successfully gotten rid of the accent. Almost, until I was on my period, I slipped up here and there. Especially when I spoke too fast or gave long speeches. And during that time Mariana would coach me back into hiding my accent. Help me out whenever I slipped up. This is what happens when you relied on someone a little too much, now see where it has gotten me. I relied on Mariana hiding my own accent that I couldn't even hide it on my own any more.
"There's a lot we don't know about each other." I say quickly.
"You're right. How about we close that gap between us tonight." He opened his MacBook.
Thinking fast I say,
"Is that alright? After all once we stop having sex we will forget about each other." I borrowed Cam's line. Even if it hurt me to say.
"Who says we were going to forget about each other?"
I don't look at him, I just slip into the bathroom. I don't have an answer for him. Plus, we were reaching scary territories here, muddy territories. I didn't want to dig up memories that I wanted to stay buried forever. But if we were sharing things about each other, I would get to know about the rings on his fingers. Ones that I noticed he never took off, not even when we showered together. Or went to bed together. They must have history. Maybe they were gifts from his first ever girlfriend. Or his mom.
Was that information worth exchanging mine for? I weigh them. One, telling him might change how he saw me, I might no longer be the Lisa Porter he had come to know and wanted to kiss and touch all the time. He might start seeing me as something else. Which I don't want. Two, I want to know how important those rings were to him, I did want to be certain he wasn't so hung up on a distant first love that he wore trinkets she got for him years after.
I had pruny fingers by the time I fix the tampon. I had stayed under the shower contemplating my next move for so long my fingers shrunk.
"Finally, I almost thought you crossed into another dimension." He kissed my forehead. I couldn't help the smile that spread on my face. I was a goner for him by this time. I was long gone.
"You missed me that much?"
He pouts, he looked so cute with his red mouth sticking out like that.
"You don't even know the half of it."
I chuckle before standing on my toes to kiss his forehead.
"Is it bad that I want that every time?"
I laugh a little but I don't tell him that I wanted him to look at me every second, kiss me every two minutes, touch me every time.
"I submitted the resumé, you are officially in the race. And between you and me, you're the only one in the race."
"What do you mean?"
"The rest of them don't even stand a chance. I saw the file on your flash drive. It was really good. I was greatly impressed. And I say this from an objective point of view. You were made for job."
I blush red. That was the best compliment someone had ever given me, and it wasn't because of my looks, or something sex related. It was because I was more than my looks. If I was falling for him before, now I was crashing at his feet.
"You really think so?"
"I know the job is yours, you just need to focus on getting it."
That brought tears to my eyes. I hug him.
"Whoa." He says as he hugs me back.
"Thank you so much."
"I didn't do anything, you should thank yourself, your own hard work and perseverance has brought you thus far, I only made a way for you."
"You don't know what that means for me, an illegal immigrant with no educational background, no connections and what not." I tell him honestly.
"So you're really Spanish?"
I nod against him.
"Well Lisa, you like every other person out there deserves an equal chance to show the world what they are made of. Doesn't really matter if they are illegal immigrants with no educational background."
I raise my head to look at him, there was nothing wrong with this man, he was perfection all round truly.
"Is your real name Lisa?"
"I'm genuinely curious, I want to know if I have been moaning someone else's name."
I laugh a little.
"Yeah, my mom gave me Lisa because she wanted me to grow up and mix well among everybody else. She didn't want my name to get me singled out. My father didn't like it though. He wanted us to keep our heritage."
"You did mix up well, I haven't heard a trace of Spanish until today."
I snort.
"I can't help it once I'm on my period."
He laughs a little. As we collapse on the bed. We laid there, side by side, our arms entangled with each other.
"Where's your mom now? Does she know all her efforts goes to waste once a month?"
I laugh a little.
"I'm sure she knows. She's looking down at me from heaven, so she should know. Right?"
He smiled at me.
"Yeah she should. How did she die?"
"Cancer.. she didn't say until it was too late, I was pretty much a child then, two years old, no knowledge of what was happening. Only that she was here today, gone the next."
His eyes soften. But I smile at him. I didn't know her well enough to miss her, so he shouldn't feel pity for me.
"My biological mother died too. I don't know how it happened. But my dad just told me she died, probably at the age of two or something. I can't remember. I only ever saw her pictures."
I look at him. He was wearing a strange expression. I could never tell that he bore such heavy burden on him. We hugged each other tightly. Taking solace in the fact that we were each other's person. We had gone through similar ordeals, losing someone before we even got to meet them. Even if he got adopted, he never got to feel the love his own mother would have showered him. Thus we understood each other.
We were each other's safe space.
"Luciana Carmen De Léon.. that's my real full name."
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