Center Courtship (25 page)

“I
am
into you,” he kissed me again. “I am
extremely
into you. I have never been so relieved to hear someone say what you just said. I was worried for all my thinking about you, you might not be thinking about me.”

“I'll admit, at first I wasn't. But slowly, over this past week you've been entering my thoughts more and more.”

“If we're going to do this, I only want one thing. You. I want the real you. I want the Mae who dropped a paper bag full of stuff at my feet because she was being the best aunt in the world. I want the Mae who goes to a cemetery to eat lunch and makes up stories about a family of people she's never met. This is a façade,” he pointed to me and to himself. “Do you think I'm comfortable in a suit and tie? I'd rather be in basketball shorts and a t-shirt. I've learned since the minute you beat me at Mario Kart that I wanted to be whatever I was right then and there, with
you
. I want nothing from you, but friendship, companionship and whatever else we might find along the way. I want you to know you can trust me. You've been treated like crap, Mae. I'm going to treat you like you deserve and never once will I say it's because you owe me, it will always be because I've earned the honor of being with you.”

By now, tears were cascading down my face. I reached to the shelf nearby and grabbed a tissue, but before I could wipe the tears away, Elsu was clearing my face with his thumbs. I shook my head. “I don't know what to say to that, but I know I liked it.”

Elsu laughed. “Good, because I'm glad I said it.” He kissed my forehead again. “I really should go, Millard has probably fallen asleep.”

“Ok, tell him to wake up because he's got to get you home safe and sound,” I smiled and reached up on my tip toes and gave him a kiss on his lips. “By the way, I kissed you because I wanted to, not because I thought you wanted me to.”

“Sometimes, those two things may overlap,” he smiled again and stepped into the hallway. “I'll talk to you soon, sleep well, Sweet Mae.”

I waved to him and watched him walk down the hall toward the elevator. I looked at Arnold's door and saw it shut slowly. I wondered how long that dirty old man had been listening. I turned and went back into my apartment wearing a permanent smile on my face. I rushed to my bedroom window where I could see the carports and watched Elsu get in his Escalade and pull away. I felt like a teenager, but I didn't care. Sometimes, feeling young was the best feeling in the world.

I got to work early Friday. For someone who got so little sleep, I was wide awake, chipper even and raring to go at five. I stopped at Aaron's sculpture and took some pictures with my phone. It was perfect! The day was perfect. Life seemed perfect.

I got to my office and got my daily paperwork done quicker than usual. I straightened the front office, cleaned the bathrooms, walked around the warehouse, checked the tools in the shop and checked on the new cars that were in the showroom. “Damn,” I said as I stepped into the showroom.

The guys had just pulled the cars in, not putting them in their spots or anything that slightly resembled a neat order after the dinner. I had assigned each car owner a password to the keypad at the door, allowing them access whenever they needed. It also gave me data on who had been there. That, along with the video cameras that were set up inside, I felt comfortable with the arrangement. It took me some time, but I was able to back them all out and re-park them where they belonged. I even cleaned them out of any trash I found. Casper's Corvette was not there, but I didn't care. I wasn't going to let a single thought of him ruin my good mood.

I was ‘in a relationship'. That's what Elsu called it. I hadn't been in one of those since the hell that was Bart which had ended over five years ago. He wanted to take it slow. He wanted to be sweet, honest and he wanted to be friends. I didn't have many of those. Was I ready for this? Could I do this? I didn't know
how
to do this. It wasn't something I had much practice at. Maybe I was stupid for thinking this was going to work, stupid for expecting anything from someone so important. I wasn't the kind of woman who dated someone like him.
Stop it, Mae. Give it a chance before you tear it apart.

Once I returned to the office, I looked out the front window just in time to see an Escalade pull into the parking lot. I went to the front door and opened it to find Elsu stepping out of the back of the car. “Can I talk to you?” he asked, he seemed upset. My heart sunk, I knew my morning was going way too well.

“Umm, sure.” I led him into my office. “Do you want me to shut the door? People will be coming in soon.”

“Yeah, but not because I don't want them to see this,” he kissed me full on the lips.

I was relieved that he wasn't there to break up already. “I guess they'll find out eventually,” I said as I moved the boxes out of the way and closed the door behind us. I sat down at my desk and Elsu sat at one of the chairs across from me. “What's up?”

“Well, I need a place to stay.”

“What?”

“Remember when I told Casper to get his shit last night?”

I nodded.

Elsu took his phone out of his pocket and quickly handed it to me with a picture on the screen. It was dark, there were red lights illuminating the black night sky. I started to scroll through and quickly figured out that his place had been burned. I covered my mouth with my hand. “Oh my God, no! Your uncle! Magdalena!”

“Both safe, everyone is safe. Uncle Richard is staying with Magdalena in a hotel right now.” He took his phone back and slipped it into his pocket. “I got a phone call on our way back home and by the time we got there it was basically gone. It's a loss, Mae.” He shook his head.

I stood and walked to the other side of my desk and sat in the chair next to him. “I'm sorry, Elsu. This is all my fault.”

His head snapped up. “
Never
say that again! This is Casper's fault. The cops have him in for questioning. It's starting to show up online and the news crews were there when I left. I just had to get out of there.”

I didn't know what to do or how to comfort him. I grabbed his humongous hand and stroked his knuckles. It then struck me as to why he may have come to me. I grabbed my phone and called Max.

“Mae?”

“Max, do you have any vacancies at the apartment?” Elsu's face changed to that of disbelief. I covered my phone to keep Max from hearing me. “They're not all as small as mine,” I said.

“Yes, there are 3 empties right now. I just listed them on Tuesday. Why?”

“I have a friend who needs a place to stay,” I said.

“I need to run a background check, I can't take just anyone in. I can fax you the form,” he said with his businessman voice.

“Max, it's Elsu Benjamin. I think he's good for the rent.”

There was a long pause on the line. “Ok, I'll text you with which ones are empty. I can't recall the exact unit numbers offhand. They're all move-in ready and lightly furnished. I got them all cleaned out the weekend before last.”

“Thanks, I have the keys in my apartment, I'll take him by to look once you text me.”

“Mae, is this safe?” His voice was full of worry. I quickly regretted putting the phone on speaker.

“Why wouldn't it be?”

“I don't know. Just making sure you're ok with it.”

“Max, I'm fine. He needs a place, you have a place. Just friends helping each other out.”

“I need him to sign a year lease.”

“What's the penalty for leaving early?” asked Elsu.

“You pay for the rest of the lease,” said Max.

“That's fine,” said Elsu. “I'm going to start looking for a new house down here, but I need a place to call home when I'm in town in the meantime.”

“Ok, buddy. Mae can take you by. Just let me know which one you want. Mae, I'll text you as soon as I figure out which ones are empty.”

“Thanks big brother. You're the best!” I hung up and looked at Elsu.

“You didn't have to do that. I was going to ask you if you had any suggestions for hotels around town. But an actual apartment sounds nice. Plus, I'll know the neighbors are friendly.”

I laughed. “Well, I know two are friendly. But there's a bitch who lives in 3A. I wouldn't mess with her.”

Elsu smiled and stood up. “We do have to talk about something else, but it can wait. Can we do lunch? I have a lot of press things to do this morning but I should be able to get a break.”

“I can do lunch.”

“I'll call when I'm on my way.” He leaned down again and gave me a kiss. This one had more passion. I felt his tongue at my lips, but I didn't open. I wasn't ready for what would happen when I did. I shyly pulled back. “Slow.”

“Slow.” He smiled at me and we turned to open the door to see Bonnie, Steve, Greg, Aaron, my mom and Christopher and Candice staring at us. “Shit.”

We stepped out into the reception area and I looked at the shocked faces. “What's with the crowd?” I asked, trying to diffuse the fact that they all just witnessed one of our first kisses.

Everyone began talking at once and I started to panic a little inside. “STOP!” I yelled. “One at a time!”

Bonnie looked at me and sat down, apparently she was going to tell me that I had visitors. I looked at Greg and Steve. “Three of the mechanics called off. I think they got sloshed last night,” said Steve.

“Why do you think I'm wearing my coveralls?” I asked. “I knew having a late night on a Thursday was going to be a bad idea. I'm working in the shop today.”

“By the way, Mae,” said Elsu as he looked at me. “I never thought I'd say this to anyone, but you make coveralls look mighty fine.”

I blushed at the compliment, especially since I knew it was a lie and it was in front of my mom and the Wonder Twins. Greg and Steve went back to the shop after their question was addressed. I then looked at Aaron.

“Hey sweetie, how are you?” I walked out and he gave me a quick hug.

“I'm awesome, Mae. I have two things, then I'll leave you alone. But you have a LOT of filling-in to do.” He pointed his head towards Elsu, who was still standing behind the counter.

“I promise,” I said with a smile. “What's up?”

“The Independent is doing an article on my piece at the arena and I made mention of the piece I put outside. The photographer would like to come and take pictures of it with you and me for the paper.” He paused and looked at my coveralls. “Today.”

“TODAY?” I asked. I'm not a vain person, but my coveralls are the least attractive things I own. “In this?” I cried.

“What time are they coming?” asked Elsu.

“Eleven thirty. Mae, I'm so sorry. I think you look fine. You look like you work here.”

“Shut up, I know I look like hell. UGH.”

“Don't worry, I'll make sure she looks good,” said my mom from behind me, putting her hands on my arms. I wiggled out of her grasp and rolled my eyes.

“I'll figure something out, if not, maybe they can just quote me or something.”

“Thank you, Mae! The other thing is I wanted to drop off these tickets you asked for. I forgot to leave them the other day.” He pulled a stack of tickets out of his satchel.

“OH! Thank you! I completely forgot. I guess the guys who aren't here are going to regret not coming in now, aren't they?” I laughed at Bonnie who smiled devilishly.

“That's all I had. I'll see you later!”

I finally turned and faced my mom. I then looked at Elsu who seemed to be getting antsy. He probably really did have somewhere to be at a specific time. “Elsu, I would like for you to meet my mom, Gwen, my sister, Candice and my brother Christopher.” I pointed to each of them in turn.

“Elsu, it is so nice to finally meet you,” said my mom as she went to him and grabbed his hand that was still hanging at his side and shook it. “You must meet my daughter, Candice. Isn't she a delight?” She grabbed Candice and pushed her towards Elsu.

He smiled strangely and looked to me instead of at Candice. Everything I'd said about them was being made true before his eyes. “Your daughter,
Mae
, is a delight. I've enjoyed getting to know her very much. Mae, I need to go. I'm sorry. I owe you. Are you going to be ok?”

“Yes, I'll be fine. I'll see you at lunch time.” He gave me a hug and kissed me on my forehead.

He glared at my mom one more time and then left.

“What do you want, mom?” I asked as soon as Elsu was out of earshot.

“Can we go to your office?” she asked me.

I didn't reply and headed to my glass room, they followed me. I propped my door open again, I didn't want to be trapped with them. Christopher went straight to my chair and propped his feet up on my desk. I glared at him and he just smirked at me. So much for brotherly love.

“I got a phone call this morning from a…what was his name, Christopher?”

“Carl,” he said shortly.

“Carl Wickman?” she said as she started digging through her purse for a sticky note.

“Wickerman?” I asked.

“Yes, Wickerman. Do you know him, Mae?”

“Unfortunately,” I said.

“Well, he told me you were pestering the team and he wanted to know if I knew how to get you to stop hanging on the players.”

“Hanging on the players? Seriously?”

“Yes Mae,” she said.

“What did he want?”

“He said you had taken revenge out on…What is that one guy's name?” she asked again as she looked at her notes.

“Casper, mother,” sighed Candice.

“Revenge? On Casper?” I nearly laughed.

“He said you had made up a story about him attacking you at the party last night and then went to Elsu's to burn the house down.”