Page 49 of Amor in the 305

I lift my head and he’s no longer standing on the other side of the bike but to my right. “Yeah?”

He takes the helmet from my hands, hangs it from the handlebars, and pulls me into his arms then kisses me softly before locking gazes. “Te amo.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Amaury

After leaving the lighthouse, Sol asked me to drop her at home. We were both wet and cold. When we pulled up in front of her building, she was quick to dismount from the back of the bike and say goodbye. When I invited her to Alain and Rubi’s for dinner because Rubi madetamales, she dismissed the invitation and told me she was going to shower, and she needed to finish a work project she was working on. I wonder if it’s just an excuse because after I told her I loved her, her gaze dropped to the floor and her body stiffened before she wiggled herself out of my embrace. After, Sol was quiet the rest of the time we were together. Her radiant smile gone; her eyes serious.

Sol is reticent with her emotions, and I can’t figure out why. We’ve been dating for four months and she’s still holding back. Is it possible it’s too soon? That she doesn’t love me back? That she doesn’t want to continue this relationship and is keeping her heart locked up? I hope not because what I feel for this woman I’ve never felt before. I’m usually good at reading people but Sol is a mystery to me.

Before I know it, I find myself at Alain’s house. I thought about staying home but need some company tonight after the day I’ve had. Otherwise, I’ll drive myself crazy thinking about Sol and all the things I don’t understand about her.

“¿Y la jeva?” asks Alain, as I’m strolling into the yard.

“Good to see you too,mi hermano,” I respond. I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and sit, guzzling it in one sitting. It’s a good thing I don’t drink, otherwise today would be one of the days I drank a lot!

“She’s not coming?” inquires Rubi. She pulls twotamalesfrom the large pot on the stove and places them on a dish for me.

“No,está trabajando, or so she says,” I tell her.

“You look likese te murió el perro. What happened?” asks Rubi, pointing out how miserable I look while she places the dish in front of me.

Rubi is like my sister. We’ve known each other since we were kids in Cuba. She’s petite and blonde, with big brown eyes and pouty lips. Her and Alain dated as teens and broke up then Alain came to the United States. They each got married, had kids with their spouses, and divorced. After divorcing they got back in touch and Alain brought Rubi from Cuba with her two daughters and they’ve been together ever since. Alain never forgot about her, always talked about how he missed her and how they’re soul mates. They’re meant to be. They finish each other’s sentences and adore one another. It’s the kind of relationship I crave. A relationship I hope to have with Soledad, if she’ll have me.

My shoulder lifts as I sit back in my chair. “Today we went toEl Faritoand before we left, I told her I loved her. After I said itno dijo nada. She asked to go home and said she had to finish some work.”

“That’s why you’re like this?” she asks, her hands flailing around as she speaks. “Amaury,esa chicais super into you. When we were at the Varela concert, she talked about youtoda la noche. You don’t see how she looks at you?”

“¿Tú crees?” I ask, not sure I believe what Rubi is telling me. I reach for the bottle of tabasco on the table to add some to mytamales.

Tamales cubanosare one of the foods I love most to eat. They’re made with ground corn and the filling changes depending on who makes them. Rubi adds pork along with red peppers. Then she stuffs the corn husks and ties them shut before boiling them. She’s a pro and they’re delicious! Alain invites me over when she makes them because she makes enough for the entire crew. My father used to make them in Cuba, except ours never had meat since we didn’t have access to meat. He’d stuff them with different vegetables he could find.

“I don’t think. I know!” she exclaims. “Afterel concierto, I told Alain you two would be married someday.”

“It’s true,” Alain chimes in. “And you knowque Rubi es bruja.” He chuckles when he calls Rubi a witch. Rubi has the uncanny ability to predict what’s going to happen in any situation and with any person. It’s incredible how accurate she is. She’s known as thebrujaof our circle of friends.

“Bueno, I hope you’re right this time too. Becauseesa chica me tiene loco. I think about her day and night and want to be with her all the time. I’m not because I no want to scare her away. She’ssiempre entre el sí y el no,” I say, explaining that Sol’s always teetering between yes and no.

“Invite her tola Fiesta de los Municipios. It’s next week.” The Fiesta is a yearly party held at a large hall where people from my neighborhood in Cuba get together to eat, drink, dance, and reminisce. It started several years ago with just our neighborhood, and it’s grown. Now it’s not only our neighborhood but a few surrounding ones too. There are other parties held around Miami for different areas of Cuba. We go nearly every year because it’s the one place you can count on seeing old friends from Cuba.

“Me gusta la idea,” I tell her, liking the idea of inviting Sol to join me. When I see her again, I will invite her, especially since she’ll get to dress up and I want to see her wearing one of those dresses that accentuates all her curves.

When I finished eating, I sat to play a few rounds of dominoes with Alain, Rubi, and Roberto before heading home again. As I’m driving across the causeway, I decide to drive by Sol’s house. I can’t stop thinking about what Rubi told me and Sol is at the forefront of my thoughts. I missed her tonight, especially when around all my friends. She belongs there with me, enjoying the regular day to day stuff of being in a relationship. I want that with her. I want everything with her. When I pull up outside of her building, I can see the lights in her apartment are off. I glance at the clock on the radio, and it reads 22:07. It’s only ten o’clock but during the week she goes to bed early so it’s probably too late to call her and I don’t want to wake her. I wish I had a key; I’d enter quietly, slip into bed, sidle up to her, and wrap her in my arms.

I catch a glimpse of movement to my left, across the street from Sol’s building. There’s a dark-haired guy sitting on the wall of the apartment building. He’s wearing jeans and a light jacket, although it’s not jacket weather. Not a face I recognize since coming around here. Not that I should recognize everyone but since visiting Sol’s I’ve been paying attention to the people who come and go from this neighborhood. She’s a woman living by herself and although it’s relatively safe around here, I worry about her. I decide against waking Sol and put the Tahoe in drive, driving off. I glance in my side view mirror and the guy is still sitting along the wall, staring in the direction of Sol’s building.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Soledad

One week later

I’m working on translating documents for an attorney client who needs these contracts translated from Spanish to English. I’ve been deciphering them for the past week because the copies I was given are not very legible and I’ve been struggling through this project. Thankfully, I still have two weeks to meet my deadline. Glad I got an early start. My phone notifies me of an incoming text message and it’s Amaury and I smile at the thought of him. He must know I need a break from work, and I miss him. More than I care to admit.

Amaury:Cafecitolater?

We’ve barely seen each other since the day we rode his motorcycle to the lighthouse, which makes things a little weird because he told me he loved me and I’ve not responded to him, nor have we discussed it. I know it’s my fear spilling over from Carmine and how it all went down with him. I can hear Melida’s voice in my head, reminding me to not punish Amaury for Carmine’s sins. I’ve been keeping myself busy with work and making excuses to delay the inevitable.

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