Sixty Days (2 page)

“Oh, nonsense,
” Mama says at the same time Lola says, “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure Miguel will be glad to help you.”

I w
ould have been lying if I said that my heart didn’t skip a beat, or two, or two thousand. Seriously, I was on the verge of a tachycardia attack. I was so nervous that I had suddenly lost my appetite and a sense of who I was. I wanted to see him, I wanted to see if he was still the guy I remembered him being. I wanted to see for myself if those rumors where true.  A really big part of me also wanted to show him how much I had changed, show him that I wasn’t that little girl anymore.

“Miguel, mijo, come help this poor girl
with her things. She has been driving for hours and doesn’t deserve to lift another finger,” Lola calls for him to help.

“Oh,
Lola that really isn’t necessary. I’m fine, really. Plus, I’m sure he’s busy.” I tell her, waving my hand to dismissively.

“Nonsense, mi niña, Miguel will be
glad to help. Besides, I’m sure he could use a break from all that studying he’s been doing,” Mama says while walking us to the living room.

I was about to ask Mama and Lola about the whole studying thing wh
en he came through the dining room door. “Who needs…” he starts, his eyes connecting with mine, “…my help?” he finishes, exhaling with a small smile.

It seemed like time stood still. It was as if we were the only
in the room and it scared the crap out of me.

“Little T, is that you?” he finally asks
, breaking the painfully long and awkward silence between us.

“In the flesh,
” I say, letting out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I bite my lower lip in an attempt to stop myself from grinning.

Way to keep it cool, Lai! I think to myself. Shee
sh! Get your act together!

“
Isn’t she pretty, Mickey? Our little Laylah is all grown up,” Lola says, pulling me in for a side hug.

“She is, always ha
s been,” he mutters under his breath, smiling at his mom. “So…ummm…you wanted help getting your things?” he awkwardly asks.

I blush, “W
ell, not really. Your mom and Mama sort of insisted. But, I don’t want to be a burden, I can do it myself and you can go back to your work.”

“Trust me
, you’re not a burden,” he mutters again. This boy really needs some lesson on muttering to himself if he doesn’t want everyone to hear what he’s saying. “Don’t be crazy, I’m glad to help. I need a break anyway.  You can come with if you want,” he says before walking outside. I look over at Mama and Lola and find them looking at me like a couple of school girls. I can’t help but roll my eyes at them.

“Don’t roll your eyes at us unless yo
u want que un juey te los pique,” Mama says scowling and pointing her finger at me. I laugh and head outside.

As soon as
I get outside, I let out a deep breath. There he was near the jeep, waiting. “Ummm…. It’s locked,” he says pointing to the car as I walk towards him.

“Oh! R
ight, yeah. I totally forgot I locked it,” I tell him feeling completely embarrassed. I give him a weak smile, looking up at him. Our eyes meet and time stops. In this moment there is only us, nothing else exists.

He chuckles and shakes his head
, breaking our connection “So…” He points to the car once again.

“Oh
, God, right.” I blush and hit the unlock button on the key fob. We both head to the car to get the things out of the trunk and back seats of the jeep. For the first couple of minutes, we work in awkward silence. We drop the bags near the stairs since I still have no clue were the heck I’m going to be sleeping.

“Mama tells me
that you decided to quit school,” he says, breaking the silence, as we head back to the car to collect more bags.

“Yeah…” I say with a
sigh.

“Mind if I ask
why?” he asks, stopping near the car.

I smile and look at him. “Business school just isn’t my thing
, it’s my dad’s. I have other hopes and dreams and business ain’t it,” I reply.

“You are just
like you’re brother in that way,” he chuckles.

“Huh, I
guess I am,” I tell him as I shake my head and turn toward the car.

“Why do I feel
like there is more to the story?” He gently grips my forearm, pulling me back toward him and meets my gaze.

I sigh once again and head to the trunk
of the jeep where I take a seat. He joins me a moment later. I stare out at the empty road for a few moments, gathering my strength. “It was hell for me,” I confess. I turn toward him before continuing.

“The pressure from the college and my parents
was too much. On top of that, I had no one there; no friends, no family…nothing. I started failing classes. I stopped eating. Being able to sleep became harder and harder each day.  I called Mama about a year ago and she told me to get some help. So, I did. The psychologist said I suffered from anxiety and that if I continued on without learning to control it, it would eventually evolve into depression. I worked really hard to get better. I joined a gym, started doing yoga, but it still didn’t help. I wasn’t getting better.

“I’m a fucking outcast. I’
ve never had friends to make me feel worth it or distract me from it, and my family is hundreds of miles away. So, I told myself that the only way to make myself better is by doing something I love and risking the chance of disappointing my parents,” I finish, no longer able to hold the tears back.

“Laylah…” he starts to say. He grips my chin and tilts my face up so I’m looking into his eyes. In this moment, I can see something in his eyes. Something that looks a lot like love, or is it pity?

“Oh, God! I can’t believe I just said that. I— I have to go, this was a mistake,” I tell him as I dry my stupid tears and run inside the house. He calls after me, but I just continue on. I’d rather walk away than have him feel sorry for me.

The
following weeks were full of complete awkwardness. I tried to evade him every chance I got, but he tried harder and harder to speak to me each time I did so. He just wouldn’t give up and I wouldn’t let him in, I couldn’t. If I did, I would get my heart broken, like my dad had once said.

But boy was I wrong. This guy turned out to be the best thing to ever happen.
That much I now know.

What I love about him, a
side from the way he treats me, is those beautiful hazel eyes that agree with his tanned skin and his cute, yet, hot dimples that form on his handsome face when he smiles. It gives me hope. Every time I see his gorgeous smile, he brings hope into my life.

On top of everything
else, Mickey is not only my brother’s best friend, he is also Lola’s son, who happens to be Mama’s long time best friend. She’s a few years younger than her, but they’ve been friends ever since Lola’s husband, Felix, and my grandfather went into a business partnership together on a local bodega back in New York. Lola and Mama have been through everything together. I admire Lola for the strong woman she is regardless of everything she’s been through. Mickey is the youngest of three sons. The eldest one died in a drive by shooting back in El Barrio when he was twenty seven. He was my mom’s age at the time. The middle son, Chino, is thirty now and helps take care of the original bodega back in New York along with one of my uncles.

My grandparents moved from Puerto Rico to New York while Mama was pregnant with my mom
. My uncles, Junior and Angel, where twelve and six at the time. By the time my uncle Lucas was born they were building their life in the States and my grandfather had already passed away. This led my Uncle Junior in charge of the family business along with Felix, until he, too, passed away.

Junior was left
alone with the business. Once Angel decided to become involved, things got better. My father, after meeting and marrying my mother joined into the business as well. The bodega has since transformed from the tiny family business into a chain of supermarkets in the main Hispanic states. The original one still remains and is run by family, just as our ancestors had created it.

             
“Mickey?” I call as soon as I get home through the back door.

             
“In the living room, babe,” he calls back. “Hey! I was thinking we should call John this week and set up a meeting with him or maybe just talk to him when we go back there. That is, if we are still sure about this. It’s a big step, kind of overwhelming, don’t ya think?” he says still looking at the TV.

“Yeah…that’s fine. S
ure,” I absentmindedly tell him.             

My behavior catches his attention and
he quickly turns toward me to see what’s up. “What’s wrong? Is it Mama? Is she okay, did she—”

“No, no. Mama is great. She’s more than great, actuall
y. She’s wonderful. She’s a rock,” I interrupt him mid-sentence.

“Okay…so what is it that has my lovely lady in such a mood?” he asks, signaling for me to sit on his lap.

I let out a deep breath. This is home, he is my home, my safe haven and I’m afraid these days to come will destroy it. “The whole family is coming for the holidays,” I whisper.

He kisses my cheek. “We can handle one day with them here. We could tell them, if you’re ready to do so. If not
, we can still wait until you feel comfortable with the idea of telling them.”

“That’s the thing, Mickey. It won’t be just one
day. It will be for sixty days,” I say, feeling exasperated.

“What do you mean?” H
e’s confused now.

“Mama managed to
pull off the whole Puerto Rican style Christmas thing she has always wanted to do. Starting from Thanksgiving ‘til mid-January they will all be staying here,”

“So
, we tell them. I know—”

“We can’t just tell the
m, Miguel,” I yell and stand up. Letting fear control my feelings.

“Then what, Laylah? They
will find out eventually, we have to tell them. We can’t just keep pretending there is nothing between us. It will kill us,” he yells back.

“I though
t you said nothing could kill us,” I say in a small voice, reeling in my frayed emotions.

“
I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Come here,” he says, pointing back to where I was. I reclaim my spot on his lap. He kisses my temple and says, “Nothing can, baby. We’ve been through worse things and we’re still as strong as ever. Talk to me, Lai. No censors, remember? What’s bothering you? What’s circling that pretty little head of yours?”

“I’m afraid
,” I state in a small voice, yet again. I can feel the knot beginning to form in my throat.

“Of what?” he encourages softly, close to my ear.

“I don’t know…that they will take you away from me?” I respond more as a question than a statement.

“That’s impossible. N
ever going to happen. You’re stuck with me. What else?” he asks pulling me closer to him.

“I’m afraid that
somehow I will disappoint them…our relationship is not the only thing I’m keeping from them. No matter how old we are, no matter how sure we are of the decisions we have made in our lives, there is always going to be that part of us that is looking for our parent’s approval. For them to just be proud of us, you know?” I say, turning my head to look him in the eyes. He lowers his forehead to mine and nods. “My dad told me once that I should stay away from you, that the only thing you could ever offer me is a broken heart,” I whisper close to his mouth.

“He couldn’t be any more wrong about me. I would never do that
to you.” he whispers back.

“I know…you’ve done nothing but fix my broke
n heart. You saved me, Mickey. Besides, the man I know and love isn’t capable of fixing that broken heart just so he can then shatter it into tinier pieces. That’s not you, it’s just not who you are. You’ve proven that to me time after time after time.” He places his hand on the nape of my neck and closes the distance between our lips, joining them for a kiss.

“We saved each other,” he breathlessly add
s, momentarily stopping the kiss. It feels like we spend hours kissing, my pulse running wild. Finally breaking apart, we look into each other’s eyes with our foreheads pressed together, a content smile on our faces. He then kisses the tip of my nose and asks, “What’s our plan?”

I laugh
. Letting out a sigh, I answer him, “I don’t know…I seriously don’t know. I mean, my brother is going to kill you, Mickey. When he finds out, he’s going to go ballistic and who knows how my dad is going to react. It’s going to be a double whammy for him. I just— I just don’t know.”

“I get it, I really do. Let’
s just take a few days to think about it before making any decisions, okay?”

             
I nod. “Mama already has a plan laid out for us,” I inform him.

“
Why doesn’t that surprise me at all?” he asks sarcastically.

“Yeah…” I respond. G
etting comfortable in his arms, I tell him Mama’s plan.