Losing You

keep him close

Delilah

I feel exhausted. I had so many events today, but Bryant really came through and helped me make magic happen for my customers. I had complaints, things went wrong, last minute changes had to be made, but he found solutions to everything, so I wouldn't get more frustrated than I already was.

He reached all the tall places I couldn't reach, he fixed some electrical problems, and he even rocked a frantic mom's baby to sleep. She was trying to prepare for her older son's birthday party, but the baby was really fussy. The mom started to panic, and I think her baby could feel his mother's distress. I am not good with babies and still had so much to do, but Bryant saved the day. The baby only wanted to be with him, and he did a phenomenal job navigating the baby and also helping me set up. I called him the baby whisperer after. He did that like he was a pro. You would think he was a father of 4 or something. The mom was thankful and tipped me extra. I think I am going to ask him to dinner with that extra money. Thank goodness it is over with now.

"Today was so much fun. I'm actually sad it's over now," he says as he parks the trailer in its spot. He turns to me and gives me a sad look that makes me want to fix everything. "What if I invited you to dinner? It's the least I can do since you decided to waste your day helping me, and this way, our day doesn't have to be over just yet," He smiles. "I didn't waste my day, Delilah. I was exactly where I wanted to be, and dinner sounds great. I'm starving," My stomach rumbles at that exact moment, and we both laugh. "We can ride there on my bike," I am shocked to hear him say that. "Oh, are you sure?" I ask, knowing that around here, the only woman a man puts behind him is his old lady, and I just met him. He just gives me this look that makes the butterflies in my stomach flutter. He nods and walks over to his bike.

"Delilah," I hear my mom, and I am surprised that she is here. Bryant turns when she calls my name too. "Hey," I say. "Hello," Bryant says. "Hello," she greets him, then turns to me. "I'm glad to have caught you back so early. I am about to head out to your cousin's birthday party. Go home, shower and meet me there," she says. "Oh, I totally forgot about that. I'm so tired mom, is it okay if I skip it?" I ask her. I feel bad that I'd rather skip the party and go grab dinner with Bryant, but not that bad. My cousin will get over it.

"Delilah, you know that family is always there for each other. I'd prefer you don't skip it," I look over at Bryant. I really don't want to cut our day short. It really is fun spending time with him. There's some kind of crazy energy here that I'd honestly like to keep exploring. I want to keep getting to know this man. Mom looks at us both. "What's going on here?" She points at us. "Bryant helped me with work, and we were going to grab food, since we didn't have time for a break today, then I was going to go home and straight to bed, and he was going to come back here," I say too quickly. She gives me a look, and I am sure she knows I am full of it, but I mean that probably was what was going to happen.

"It can wait. You had already told me you had your cousin's party. I'll text you, and we can grab dinner another day when you aren't so busy." No, that's not what I want though. I don't want mom to get any ideas or insert herself in my business, so I find myself just nodding in agreement. I'm glad he's understanding even though he looks as disappointed as I feel.

Valeria

"Why don't you accompany us to my nephew's party?" I hear myself invite him, without thinking. I don't know if it's the vibe I am getting from these two, or the way they look at each other, but something in me is telling me it's better to keep him close.

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to intrude in family time," he says, but he is smiling so brightly, and my daughter looks happy and relieved. "Nonsense, everyone is invited, come with us. I insist," My daughter wraps her arm around me. "Yeah, come with us," she tells him, and that gets him to agree. "If you two are sure you want me there, then sure, why not? Beats staying here all alone," he says with a cold sadness that makes me shiver. My daughter notices too, because she gently rubs his arm.

"You are now a part of a good club. They take care of each other here, and you won't ever feel alone ever again." She is full of kindness and compassion. Although, the way she looks at him scares me. I know that look too well. All I can do is support whatever this is. I might be wrong, and it's nothing, just two of them beng friendly towards each other. Delilah isn't known for being friendly though. She is more of an anxious person. Since her dad left, it has gotten worse, so seeing her with this guy raises alarm bells for me. I have to talk to someone about this. I am not sure if I am over or under reacting.

I am just not sure if my therapist is the place to go. I would talk to my twin, but Delilah would hate me gossiping about her and family members finding out. I think a therapist is the safest bet for this topic. "Okay mom, I will go home and get ready, and we will meet you there," she tells me. She turns to him, and they begin talking low, so I can't hear them. I guess that is my cue to go. I head to my car and head out to the party.

Delilah

"Let me go grab some clothes and I can get ready in your house," he tells me. I nod, and he is in and out in like 5 minutes. He is carrying a black backpack that he asks me to wear.

"Leave your car here. I'll drop it off to you tonight or tomorrow," We get on his bike and I absolutely love the feeling. I haven't been on the back of a bike in a long time. Dad used to take me riding all the time, but ever since he left, there has been no kind of action there. I went back and forth with the idea of getting my own motorcycle and riding, but I know that mom would have a heart attack, so I decided against it, but this feels great. I didn't realize how much I actually missed it.

"You can shower while I decide what I am going to wear," I tell Bryant. I leave him to do his thing, and so I can figure out my things. Family events are just that, except everyone loves to dress up, so I decided to go with a cute maxi dress. It is tight at the top, then flows out at the bottom. It is cream colored and has red flowers all over it. I pair it with cute brown wedges. I think wedge heels look better with maxi dresses than regular high heels. I lay everything out in my bed and wait for Bryant to finish up. I make us a snack while I wait since neither one of us has eaten today.

He comes out of the restroom already dressed. I try to take him in discreetly. He is fine! "You like what you see?" He wiggles his eyebrows and I can't help but laugh. He caught me. "Here, I made a snack to get us by until we get to the party," I push the platter over to him.

"Wow, this looks amazing, but I don't know how to eat it. This is too fancy for me. Only rich people eat sh1t like this," I stare at him. My mom and I are nowhere near rich. "That is not true. It doesn't cost much to make this. It's more of the presentation that makes it look and feel expensive," he shrugs. "You made this?" I nod and feel proud when I see his expression. "It looks great, just a little overwhelming," I smile. "It's just food. It isn't complicated. Why don't I teach you," I grab a cracker and set up my favorite combination for his first bite. I put it up to his mouth so he could eat it. I watch as his face shows different emotions, but he looks like he likes it.

"This is amazing," I took some time to show him how to eat and pair everything, before I left him to get ready.

I return and find him looking at my family pictures, hanging around the house. I watch him for a moment. He is so tall, and so handsome.

"I'm ready," I say. He turns, and his mouth falls open and his eyes widen. I watch him take me all in and gulp. "I'm so f*cked," he says.