Page 7 of His Forever

Mentally thinking of what he had going, he remembered it was Carlos’ week to take the late shift and he said, “That would work. Do you have anything after that?”

“Mmm, no, you would be my last one.”

“Would you like to have dinner with me?”

“Uh…well…um…”

He stopped her, thinking incorrectly that she didn’t want to be with someone like him, a manual worker. “It’s okay, forget I asked,” he told her.

“No! I mean, I just don’t want you to think badly of me,” she finally said.

“Why would I do that?”

“I literally just broke off my engagement less than two days ago is why!”

“So? You’re single then, correct?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s correct, but wouldn’t it be too sudden?”

“Not for me. You’re single, I’m single. It’s not as if I’m asking you to marry me or anything,” he told her.Yethis subconscious whispered.

She started giggling. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Then yes, I’d like to go to dinner with you.”

“Do you want to talk about it? I’ve been told I’m a good listener.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Why did you leave?”

She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. “Um, well, the short story is I had finished school and we had moved in together with the understanding that we would wait for…uh…you know…until we got married, which he said he was fine to do. I went over to my best friend’s yesterday morning because I wanted to go over some final wedding details and when I called her at work, they said she was home sick, and when I got there, I saw his car there. He had said he was on going on a business trip so he shouldn’t have been at her house. Anyhow, I saw themtogetherthrough the window and before they saw me, I left, cleaned out the bank account of what I had put into the wedding plus a little bit more, then had Paulie and Gray come and get the stuff that was mine, and left. He’s been blowing up my phone but I haven’t talked to him other than to send a text back.”

He didn’t say anything for a minute, processing all she had said. His first thought was“what an ass”and then his second thought was“well, she’s here now and single so that’s good for me”. He finally said, “I’m sorry you found out something like that in that manner. It sounds like you may have dodged a bullet, though.”

“Yeah, beginning to think I did. I know I’m going to have to answer my phone at some point, but I just don’t have it in me to do that just yet. I know he’s pissed because of what I took, but you know what? I had paid foreverythingwith the understanding he was going to pay half, so I just took a little more than my half back. I mean, I’m still out money! My aunt and Paulie are going to call and cancel everything. He can have her. I just…I don’t understand. Why couldn’t he have waited?”

He couldn’t answer that one because he knew he would wait until forever if that’s what it took for her. So, he reached his hand over and placed it on hers, giving it a squeeze. When he didn’t let go, she intertwined her fingers with his and squeezed back. He marveled at how soft her hands were and realized it was likely because of all the oil she used during her massages. “Sorry my hands are so rough,” he said.

“What? No, they’re fine,” she told him. She could feel the strength in his grip and the calloused skin told her what kind of work ethic he had. “Do you…do you have problems with them chapping in the winter?”

He glanced at her, shocked. “Sometimes, yeah, why?”

“I know of a cream you can get that if you use it at night it should help. It’s because of the stuff you use to clean your hands, it strips them of the natural oils.”

“Really? I may need to invest in some.”

“No need. I have some and will use it on your hands Friday if you’d like,” she told him.

As they walked through Walmart together, each with their own cart, he found himself thinking about hownormalit felt, walking and talking with a beautiful girl about everything and anything. She asked about her car, finally, and he had to tell her that she needed a new engine. He saw her cringe at that news, then watched as she squared her shoulders and asked him how much it would be to replace. When he told her, she nodded her head and gave him the verbal go-ahead. Halfway through the store, she looked at him and said, “Oh! I forgot but I need to go to the bedding section and at least get sheets for the new bed! Pillows too so you can have yours back.”

“If you need to wait to return the pillows, mi siempre hermosa, it’s okay. I have plenty. One of my sisters decorated my house and each bed in every room has at least six.”

“Six?”

“Yeah, she likes a lot of pillows and so she put each bedroom together with her comfort in mind.”

At that she started giggling again. He struck her as a bachelor through and through and the thought that each of his bedrooms was outfitted with six pillows had her in hysterics. When she finally caught her breath again she asked, “Did she put out those decorative ones too?”

He gave her a look before he started laughing and said, “Yes! I have pillowseverywhere. I should have said no, but if left to my own devices, I would have had a bed, a big television and a recliner.”

---