Page 60 of Electric Blue Love
A murmur of groans were the only responses from beside me. I interjected, hoping to ease some of the heat it looked like they were about to take. “What kind of jobs are you looking for?”
Leo shrugged. “Mom thinks we need a summer job to keep us busy.”
“You do,” she stated sternly. “and it’ll look good on your college applications next year, too.”
“My company is looking for interns. It’s mostly cold calling and data entry, but the company is great, and the office is down near Bryant Park.” I gave a small shrug to let them know I wouldn’t be offended if they weren’t interested.
“That’s really nice of you,” Bianca’s mom said and gave the boys a pointed stare.
Bianca raised her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes slightly. “Yes, it is nice of you.”
The boys murmured some mild interest in the idea and I opened my wallet and gave them my card with instructions to email me their resumes if they were interested, if not, no big deal.
I insisted on paying, which appeared to cause some annoyance to Mr. Winters, but it felt like the least I could do. Bianca’s mom returned with my card and a receipt and handed it to me with an embarrassed smile. “I get a discount for family.”
I smiled and nodded as I slipped the card back into my wallet. I scribbled out my signature after providing what I hoped was a generous tip without coming across as outrageous.
“It was real nice to meet you Court,” Bianca’s mother said as we all stood from the table to leave.
“You too, Mrs. Winters.”
“We’ll hope to see more of you when Bianca moves back,” her father surprised me by saying.
I swallowed a lump in my throat. “I’d like that.”
As the odd man out, I shuffled awkwardly toward the door. I flipped my hand up in a small wave and met Bianca’s piercing blues. “See ya later?”
She nodded. “I’ll walk with you.”
When we were outside, she linked her arm with mine. “Thank you for coming. I’m sorry if –”
“No, don’t be sorry.” I turned to face her. “Don’t be sorry about them. Ever.”
We continued walking a slow pace to the curb, stopping when we were at the corner. I wanted to ask about her mother, about Todd, about everything – I’d let too many opportunities go by without letting her in and now I wanted to open her wide and spill every detail no matter how small and insignificant to her. None of it was insignificant to me.
“Your mom –” I stopped, not sure how to ask, but she understood.
“She has Parkinson’s disease. She was diagnosed about four years ago, but it’s progressing faster now. We’re not sure how much longer she’ll be able to work or…” her voice trailed off.
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged, and my emotions moved up and down like her shoulders. What would it be like to have an amazing family and watch the people you love crumble before you? I didn’t know, but I could see it took a toll on my 8B.
“They liked you,” she said and brushed her windblown hair out of her face.
“I liked them, too,” I admitted.
“Bianca, we’re leaving,” Donnie called from down the sidewalk and she turned and held up a finger that she’d be there in one minute before turning back to me.
“I gotta go, but I’ll talk to you later?”
“Yeah. You’ve got my number.” I cringed at the way it sounded.
I’d come here to make sure we were on the same page. That page being that I wanted to repeat the last couple days over and over. I’d come here to tell her our story was just starting and to slam shut the chapters of Todd for good. But I didn’t know how to get all that out standing on the curb while her family watched on and waited impatiently for her to join them.
I leaned forward, planted a kiss on her temple and gave her side a squeeze. As I did, I inhaled her scent and had to resist the urge to wrap my arms around her and kiss her the way I wanted to. The way I’d come here to do.
“Later, 8B.”
