My Mother's Boyfriend

19- Robotic

Alejandro

Planning parties isn’t something I would usually do, but I believe I’ve done a decent job by giving orders to others. Maya is happy—finally. Perhaps I shall read something a bit less depressing from her diary tomorrow.

Today has been a rushed affair, but a wonderful one. She adored her presents—mostly jewellery—but she enjoyed having her brother here the most. I reckon I did well in the ‘making my wife happy’ department.

“You know, Mum and everyone is curious about something,” I say to Maya as we stand side by side near the entrance of the back lawn where the ‘party’ is taking place, observing our guests’ movements. It’s nearly eight o'clock in the evening, and I catch Maya’s first yawn of the night. I tried to strike up a conversation that might hint at my plans for tonight, as she seemed a bit oblivious in that regard.

Her automatic movements seem to have subsided for now, and she is actually engaging with everyone. I even introduced her to some family friends who had missed the wedding and had given me a hard time with it. Every one of them had their eyes fixed on her stomach, as if expecting to see a bump.

After all, it was what they believed to be the sole reason for a shotgun marriage. Pregnancy.

“A baby?” she chortled, and I almost choked on my wine. Mama was not concerned about that. She did question about our honeymoon and why we were not having one. I did tell her that we did not need one, but she kept insisting. Then she proceeded to ask me if we were even performing upstairs. By ’performing’, I knew mama meant bedroom activities between husband and wife. My cheeks heated up by then, but I was not even given the time to be embarrassed because she continued by saying that she knew something was wrong because ’we do not have a blushing bride’.

That was true. Maya never blushed or smiled when she saw me. She did not have a reason to. We were platonic, but nobody else knew that.

I figured I could have told Maya this- minus some bits, and that would have somehow led to the topic of kissing her. Possibly.

How very wrong I had been.

“What? Everyone thinks that I am,” she said it so casually. As I said before, Maya is intelligent. She adapts easily. I remember how scared Tami had been when people asked her that and then when she found out she actually was and was almost four months by then.

But Maya was like a sponge. She absorbed everything. And not the annoying one that Angelo watches with Alessandra, who lives under the sea, either. Ah, curse it. Now my niece has me thinking of fictional characters, in serious thoughts.

“Forget them, Maya, I’ll never do that to you.”

“You won’t?” she blows out a heavy breath and takes a step back to fix her brown gaze on me and I turn to her just as she leans onto the undecorated wall. It is the one and only wall that is left void of decorations for the DJ set up was here earlier, and he had his own reasons for wanting a ‘ribbon-free-zone’, as he put it.

He had just left and one of my uncles was now playing blues music.

Folding my arms- attempting to anyway. I straighten them back out when I see that I am still holding a wine glass. “Nah, I won’t knock you up- unless you want me to, I mean.”

What the fcuk? Why would I even say that when I was still trying to convince myself to kiss her?

“Why would I want you to knock me up?” Her tone was as if she was bored and not high as I knew she was. She’s had almost four glasses since her brother left and one when he was there, while we ate.

“No- I didn’t mean-” Breaking off what I was saying when I understood that I was making a mess out of what I wanted to say, I raised my empty glass to show her, before walking back to the bar.

Fcuk.

Signalling two more wines at the man dressed in a black tux uniform there, I turned back to where I left Maya. She is speaking to Gregory. One hell of an accountant while my father was alive but now retired and considered a close friend of the family.

Gregory is a handsome man in his forties, and I study his structure while they speak, I must admit that I do not feel one bit masculine-

“Hey bestie,” I hear from the right side of me. It’s my sister. Everyone slowly parting and going to bed- mama, Tami- taking my niece with her, while Angelo is still there. Aunt Patty, thankfully-

“It’s so strange to me that you insisted on such a fast wedding, you know,” Gabriella drawls on as she would normally do when she thinks she is the smartest person in the room. “Everyone thought, hey Ale is so in love, you know. He seems impatient.” She snickers then drops heavily on her forearms onto the bar counter and goes on talking. “But look at you,” her voice is heavy, and a bit slurred now. “Your woman is there and flirting with Gregory and look at you-”

Seeing ‘my woman’ as my sister put it speaking to another male, does not bother me. But now, I do know that I have been somewhat lacking. I am supposed to put on a show tonight. It’s my wife’s birthday celebration and I am not behaving as a husband should. I think I have been treating her as one would a friend. I did not hold her hand or show the slightest bit of affection towards her except for us cutting the cake and feeding each other a piece.

Only Anthony’s giggle is what must have saved me when everybody laughed at his giggle when his sister bent her head after chewing the cake I had fed her.

“You treated Carmen with more warmth,” my sister is still lecturing me.

“Carmen was my girlfriend-”

“Yeah, for a week, that’s my point. You showed her more-”

“A year, Gabby. And stop, please. Maya is my wife. She deserves respect and not to be flaunted around.” I am quick to defend myself even though she is correct. All my girlfriends I had paraded around with not a care in the world about who was watching or not.

And it did not matter who had been.

But now it did. Everyone needed to believe it was a real marriage. If my mother found out about my plans to divorce, she would hang me herself. Our family, our heritage, did not take too kindly to divorce.

“I respect Maya-”

“Respect nothing,” she mocks me as she takes another glass of Champagne from a passing waitress but does not take a sip. “Eres mi cielo, (you are my heaven) but you treat your wife as if she’s your cousin. I kiss Bari with more passion than you.”

Bari is our dear aunt Ruth’s stepsister’s son, who was also here at the party tonight but had left when Uncle Austin left, earlier. Dear Auntie Ruth had retired with Mama upstairs. Travelling distances always tires her out and as she stayed up for this event, she was already exhausted as it was as stayed over as she usually does in times like this.

Gabriella continued to give me her unwanted advice. “Women love it when their men are attentive to them.” As if I did not know what women liked or wanted. I have had plenty of experience in the wants and needs of the opposite s*x.

The old bartender backs away after pouring my drinks and turns politely to serve another one of my relatives who is also in a near state like my sister. He is just as annoying and loud when he spots me and calls me loudly as if we had not spoken in weeks or years. As if we did not do the meet and greet just two hours before. Thankfully, another relative comes up then and engages him in another conversation.

“When they show that they care- why the fcuk is he touching her?” Gabby points to the man and closes one eye as she takes aim.

Pulling down her hand quickly, hoping nobody saw that I whisper harshly, “Geez, Gabby, lay off and go eat something okay? Pull your fcuking self together.”

“Por qué no te callas?” (why don’t you shut up?)

Gregory is simply shaking Maya’s hand, but a deep frown works its way onto my forehead as I take in my sister’s sour expression when I retrieve the glasses from the counter and turn to head back to Maya. Gregory must have been saying goodbye to her for he took his leave, and then she walked him to the entrance, which is also the garden’s exit near the garden Maya loves to overlook sometimes. Maya does not return to where we were but remains there chatting up another group of my younger relatives around Thomas’ age.

My sister has me feeling uneasy- almost as if she is jealous. But why? Does she have a crush on him- eww no, he’s old.

Gregory and Gabriella? That’s disgusting.

He’s old enough to be our dad. Well, maybe not...if he had us when he was a teenager. I close my eyes and squint a bit to rid that stomach-churning crap out of my head. He worked for our father until his disappearance... is my sister going through a dad crisis?

Father issues much? I shall have to speak with her soberly concerning this very disturbing remark.

Cringing and turning back to give my sister one more unbelieving glance, but she has her eyes on Maya as she walks away from the bar and, hopefully, to get something to eat, I shove the uncomfortable thought to the back of my mind for now.

More important things must occupy there for now. First kiss and all that. Talk about peer pressure. And I would be her first- she would remember me forever. I had so much time to think and set my mind on this and still, it does not settle.

My sister’s words are on my mind about Maya. About women liking displays of affection from their men. I mean I wasn’t Maya’s man- technically I am, but I really am not. But maybe Gabby was onto something. Maybe I should be warmer towards her when in the eyes of others. Heck, even my sister and mother spotted something robotic in our non-existent relationship.

Knowing how to ignite flames in someone is something I do well. I just must now apply it to someone I feel nothing for who has raging hormones all over the place and does not understand why she seems to be attracted to...basically, anyone she considers attractive.

Piece of cake, I can do that.