Page 103 of Guava Flavored Lies

CHAPTER41

Instead of usingher Jeep as a battering ram to muscle her way into a parking spot, Sylvie let an old woman have the space while she waited for another one.

She’d made her rounds in record time and was a solid hour ahead of schedule. It was like the horrific Miami traffic had benevolently conspired to help her with her quest. All she had to do was check on the flagship Hialeah store before she could get to Lauren in Little Havana.

Sylvie picked up her phone while she waited for a parking spot. She’d tried to play it cool, but the six hours she’d spent apart from Lauren were torture.

Sylvie: Is he there yet?

Lauren: Is a contractor early? I think you know the answer to that.

Sylvie: What do you want for lunch?

Lauren: Anything

Sylvie: How many people are over there?

Lauren: 3

Lauren: Hey

Sylvie: What?

Lauren: I miss you.

The heat rushing over Sylvie’s body had nothing to do with the mid-morning summer sun blasting her in the face.

Her thumbs hovered over the screen, but her racing heart was scrambling the message from her brain. She didn’t know how to respond. The confession was so big it didn’t seem possible that it fit in three little syllables.

Was it strange that they’d already shared every possible physical intimacy, but Sylvie was panicking over something so relatively small? That Sylvie had nearly admitted to feeling some pretty big feelings for her that morning. Feelings that echoed in her mind with a capital L. But, Lauren’s admission felt like it had broken new ground.

Lauren: No pressure to say it back. I just wanted you to know. Also, FYI I’m not a big fan of pickles.

She feared Lauren’s retreat. That she would interpret her silence as rejection. Or as if the feeling wasn’t reciprocated.

Sylvie: Obviously, I miss you. Why else would I be speeding through traffic trying to get back to you???

Lauren: Don’t speed! That’s precious cargo you’ve got.

Sylvie grinned at the guy signaling that he was leaving a space at the end of the lot. He was an easy place to put all the giddy joy bouncing around inside her like kangaroos high on pixie sticks.

As she backed into an empty spot, Sylvie’s body buzzed. Weightlessly, she floated by Berta’s Unisex, her feet barely touching the searing asphalt. She flashed a smile at the old man smoking a cigar outside the botanica and held open the door to the bakery for a woman and her toddler.

“Buenos dias familia!” She greeted the crowd waiting for their turn to be served. “That bread smells amazing today, verdad?” She put her hand gently on an elderly woman’s back as she strode by her.

Sylvie moved around the counter like a ballerina practicing her most graceful moves. “Hi Madrina.”

Regina, her blonde hair piled on top of her head, looked up from where she was filling a large, white box with baked goods. “Well, someone feels good after being rescued from a tree yesterday, eh?”

Reclined against the corridor wall leading to the tiny office, Sylvie waited for her godmother to finish helping a customer. When she was done, Regina greeted her with a kiss and followed her to the office.

“Bueno, tell me.” Regina plopped onto the seat across from Sylvie’s chair in the cramped office/closet. “What did your mother freak out about first?”

Sylvie winced. “It wasn’t pretty. She’s so upset about Abuelo.”

“And how do you feel?” Regina crossed her arms over her form-fitting King of Pastries t-shirt.

“I don’t know. I mean at first I was crushed, obviously. But now. . .” Sylvie tipped back in the office chair, crossing one leg over the other when she remembered her shredded underwear probably still sitting on Lauren’s bedroom floor. She shifted her weight to quell her body’s aching response to the memory.

---