“Are you sure?” Mom asked, sputtering out a chuckle. “You look a little mad at that poor piece of sugar cookie dough you’re pounding into the table.” She slid into the seat next to me. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I held in a groan. I hated being this transparent to both my mother and my father. Dad had more backstory as to why I might be annoyed, but Mom always saw right through me. The only time I sort of fooled her was when she was too busy working multiple jobs to notice when I was pretending.
“I’m okay, Mom. I just thought since I was ahead on billing and missed these monsters, I’d spend the afternoon with you guys. I thought you’d be happy to see me or something.”
My mother’s eyes narrowed at me before she tilted her head.
“Baby, I’m always happy to see you, and I’m glad you took a break today. But while I don’t doubt you miss us, you look a little distracted.”
Not checking my vibrating phone was almost making my eye twitch. I had a good idea of who was blowing it up, and I didn’t want to deal with it right now.
“Just tired, Mom. And now I’m here, taking a break and enjoying all the holiday fun with you.” I sank my hands into more dough, resisting the temptation to reach into my bag and check if I was right.
Not counting this morning, I hadn’t seen Anthony since I left his apartment late on Friday night in an Uber and it was his weekend to work at the tattoo shop, but we’d spoken all day and almost all night long since.
Then I went to work on Monday morning and found out we were back to square one.
After I helped Mom clean up the mess, I decided to torture myself and peek at my phone.
Anthony:Josh said you were gone for the day, so I’m guessing you’re pretty pissed at me since I had no idea until I went looking for you.
Anthony:I know you said Josh wouldn’t care, but I need this job. I can’t fully explain why, but I can’t take any risks.
Anthony:I don’t want to hide us, either. We’ll tell him soon but I’d rather us tell him before he sees, even though you said he probably knows already. I owe him that.
Anthony:Come on, sweetheart. Don’t be like this. Talk to me.
Anthony:Friday night was incredible. All of it. I thought about you all weekend and couldn’t wait until Monday morning. I’m sorry you thought I was ashamed of you, but please know it’s the complete opposite. I’m waiting for you to realize you’re wasting your time and move on with some NYU bigshot and forget I ever existed.
Victoria:I’d never do that. Trust me, I spent all day trying to lose myself in sugar cookies and forget you existed and, spoiler alert, it didn’t work.
Anthony:I knew that would make you answer.
I rested my elbows on my knees and dropped my head into my hands. Why was he so afraid of my father knowing? He’d made that comment before about how he owed my father for giving him a job, but on more than one occasion I’d heard Dad and Lou say that Anthony was the most talented mechanic they’d ever seen at Falco’s. He put in the longest hours and sometimes he had to be pushed to take a break. Why was he so afraid of losing his job? He could work as a mechanic anywhere.
I trudged to my room, pulled out an old Wonder Woman comic and started to flip through the pages, searching for the comfort it always gave me when I was lost.
Howie had called me a superhero, but I was a hero without a clue.
14
Anthony
I yawned into my arm,exhausted from a long and pathetic night of checking my phone for anymore texts from Victoria. I’d already fucked up with her and had no idea how to make things right.
She wasn’t coming in until after ten, but I’d left a pumpkin spice latte peace offering on her desk. I couldn’t believe she thought I was ashamed of her when I was so damn in love with her I couldn’t see straight. The feeling of being on borrowed and limited time with her hadn’t ceased, but I wanted her anyway. Enough to almost forget the truth I needed to tell her before she found out another way.
I poured my frustration into one of the bikes that we needed to finish by Christmas when I heard a loud whistle behind me.
“Baby Falco isallgrown up!” I heard one of the guys whisper.
Victoria sauntered into the garage in a green sweater and short leather skirt showing off her perfect legs as they poured into knee-high boots. I gawked at her the same way as the other mechanics working beside me. Her chestnut hair cascaded down her back in waves, bouncing on her shoulders when she shook her head.
“Geez, you guys have seen a woman before, haven’t you?”
“You don’t usually…look like that.” Mike, one of the younger guys, commented with his jaw still slack. I white-knuckled the wrench in my hands, wanting to yell at all of them to take their eyes off of my girl, but she barely looked me in the eye.
“There’s a holiday party at school I’m heading to after work, and I thought I’d step it up from jeans and comic book T-shirts. The first pick up is already here. I told them to wait at the back entrance for the paperwork.” She made her way back to the office, the heels of her boots clicking into the distance at her departure.
