Chapter 27
Elena couldn’t believe it was Friday again.
She’d found the book Marco wanted, had gone to the collector to find it despite her better judgment. Now it was sitting on her desk, on top of boxes of her things, taunting her with the reminder that fake relationship or not, she’d probably never see Marco again.
Elena looked at the boxes. She didn’t remember packing them, most of them anyways. They were stacked all over her room, pieces of her childhood in this small apartment, happy memories she’d only relive in her mind. Everything she hadn’t wanted to change was gone. Bee’s was gone. Will was gone. Her dad wasn’t gone, but he had a lot to deal with. She helped where she could, but that didn’t mean he would suddenly let her help with everything overnight.
Elena preferred this way of coping to his locking himself in his room for days, and he’d called Dr. Patel. It wasn’t a major change, but it was a step forward.
She missed Will. She hated that she missed him, that her dad kept asking when he’d come over for dinner. Especially now that their days at Bee’s were numbered. They’d be out of there by New Years.
Elena sat at the edge of her bed. She hugged her legs, sitting in the silence until a knock jolted her up. It was probably her dad with more boxes.
“Come in,” she said.
The door opened, and Will stood there. His blond hair wasn’t gelled down, and he smelled like coffee and sweat.
“Did you run here?”
Will coughed. “Maybe.” He pointed to a stack of boxes. “You’re packing. Why you didn’t tell me?”
Elena said nothing, because she didn’t have an answer, not one that wouldn’t hurt him.
Will looked around, catching his breath. “I know you’re mad, but this is something you should’ve told me about. Can I sit?”
She managed a nod.
“You’ve been doing a great job of avoiding me at school.” Will clasped his hands together. “And then Laura wanted to know if everything was okay, that you’d quit out of nowhere. That’s why I ran here. I thought something happened. But I guess you’re still mad.”
“It’s not that I’m mad,” Elena said. In reality, she’d stopped being mad a long time ago. “I just feel like I don’t know you. You hurt Mia because you didn’t want to lose me. And I know you’re smart enough to know, to have known that you would. But you did it anyways. And you did it to Cecilia too.” Elena sighed. “I know I told you I’d be there, that I was your friend, but saying it and doing it are so different. It feels like I don’t know this version of you.”
Will said nothing. He sighed and put his head in his hands, breathing softly.
“I know,” he said. “There’s no excuse, even if I did try to excuse it. Mia didn’t deserve what I did, or Cecilia, or the other girls I dated through high school. It makes me a terrible person, I know that.” He breathed out. “But I don’t want to lose you either. And I know I can’t fix it, and things can’t go back to the way they were, but it’s so sudden. I have no one to talk to or spend Friday nights with. It sucks. Because I know I did this to myself.”
Elena watched him, trying to understand this version of Will, the human one, not the boy in her head. She scooted over and pressed a hand to his back. “I’m sorry.”
“What?” He lifted his head up. “Why are you apologizing?”
“Because I should’ve told you, about quitting Melo’s at least, and the move. Ignoring you for a few days was okay, but to do it for this long wasn’t right. And yes, what you did was pretty terrible but, we all do selfish things. I mean it this time, I’m going to try and be here for you.”
“I’m here for you,” Will said. “I can help with the move or whatever you need. If there’s a chance Bee’s can stay open, I can work for free until college. Whatever you need, tell me.”
Elena saw the desperation in Will’s eyes and drew closer to him. She pressed a hand to his cheek and then hugged him without waiting for him to hug her back. He did eventually, drawing her in closer until Elena thought that if she’d felt the same way about him as she had before, she would have kissed him. Nothing was stopping her, only the fact she didn’t want to confuse Will into thinking she wanted anything more than friendship from him.
She gently pulled away.
“I’m going somewhere right now, but stay here. When I get back, how about I show you where our new apartment is? Maybe you can help me pick out some colors for the wall, or redesign our movie night space.”
“Is it okay if I nap while you’re gone?”
Elena nodded.
She wanted to tell him about her recent breakup, but knew now wasn’t the time. She patted Will’s shoulder and then got up, pulling on her boots as she headed out to the living room which was full of boxes now. She realized they didn’t have anywhere to put a Christmas tree.
It didn’t matter. Right now, there was one person Elena wanted to talk to.
Elena grabbed her thickest jacket and ran to the outside staircase. If she hurried now, she’d make it to Dulce Street before the afternoon crowd gathered. She rushed across the street, passing the bigger stores tourists liked to visit, and then passing Melo’s. She stopped.
She caught a glimpse of a familiar outline. Marco was giving a customer his order. She watched him for a moment, suddenly getting the urge to go inside and tell him he had no right to end things between them. Elena wanted him to know she’d wanted him to stop her as she walked off, not let her go. There were a lot of things she wanted to tell Marco Silva, but she decided against it.
Instead she turned her gaze away and continued her walk to Dulce Street. When she got there, instead of seeing, Mia studying at the table, she spotted Ms. Ortega laughing behind the counter. Mia was nowhere in sight. The customer took his bag and then gave Ms. Ortega a huge smile, a smile Elena hadn’t seen in years.
Andres paid for his things and then continued a conversation with Leticia Ortega. That wasn’t the strange part, Ms. Ortega had been a family friend for years; she’d worked at Dulce Street since Elena could remember. It was the way her dad was looking at Ms. Ortega, like the way Elena knew she stared at Will. She took a step back. She was obviously reading into things too much. And at least her dad was smiling.
She stepped away. Mia wasn’t here. That conversation would have to wait for another day. Elena turned and went back to her apartment, ready to hang out with Will again, and, maybe, get close to how it had been before.
_________
Marco washed the last dish.
He set it aside and relaxed, taking in the fact that this was his last shift at Melo’s. He’d already confirmed it with his dad. Since he’d stayed out of trouble (Abby apparently never told his dad about the rear ending incident and blamed the injuries on a fall) and hadn’t verbally attacked his stepmom in more than a month, he’d learned his lesson.
Marco kept the water running, letting the steam from it rise to his face. He breathed in the soapy smell of it and then shut it off. He didn’t like Friday afternoon shifts, especially when it came to closing. Melo’s stayed opened until eleven on Fridays, an extra hour over their normal time. Marco took his apron off, and made his way out of the kitchen, telling himself he wouldn’t miss this place. They’d barely given him any training and customers always acted like they had important places to go.
He walked on, stopping near a wall decorated with photos of the exterior of Melo’s through the years. It had gone from a one-story store to taking up almost a whole street corner in the San Mateo district, and from there had spread all over the country. Marco looked at the picture of his young vovô, standing in front of their second location, at the pictures of employees from all around the world. There was one of their first location in Brazil, in his vovô’s childhood town. He smiled, forgetting then that this was his last shift.
This was his family’s doing, his grandfather’s creation come to life. It was his dad’s doing too, as much as he hated to admit it. It was his late grandmother’s wor
k, maybe not so much his own mother’s work, but there were pieces of everyone. And in the future other people would join the Melo’s family. One day Lucas would be in charge of that.
“Your brother had this same moment, but on his first shift.”
Marco turned. Laura smiled at him, like this wasn’t their first non-employee to manager interaction.
“I forget sometimes,” Marco said. “A lot of work went to get here.”
Laura nodded. “Well, I know we didn’t really get to know each other this last month, but for as short as it was, I think the other employees enjoyed working with you.” Marco figured this was something she said to everyone, mostly because the only other employee he’d interacted with was Elena.
“I guess Elena will have to train someone new,” he said.
Laura’s expression changed. “Elena quit last week,” she said. “You didn’t know?”
“Uh.” Marco remembered that they weren’t officially over yet. Well, maybe they were. He wasn’t sure. He just didn’t want Laura to start gossip or anything. “I forgot,” he said. “I’m so used to her working here.”
“Yeah,” Laura said. “I think the move will keep her busy.”
“The move?” Marco needed to stop asking questions that a boyfriend would know about his girlfriend. Yes, they would be broken up in the eye of the public soon, but he didn’t need to start the news. In fact, it would be better if no one found out about it. He paused. “Oh, you mean the move move. Yeah, she’s been packing up a lot of boxes.”
Laura nodded. “She was a good employee. It’s a shame they’re closing Bee’s down. I thought they’d at least relocate, but I guess not. If you see her today, let her know we’ll miss her. I mean I told Will to tell her, but it doesn’t hurt to repeat it.” She gave Marco a nod. “I guess you’ll be moving to corporate now, huh?”
“Not for the foreseeable future,” Marco said. He crumpled the apron as Laura walked off. Then he changed back into his normal school uniform, before tossing his Melo’s uniform aside.
Elena was leaving. She’d quit and now apparently her family’s bookshop would be gone too. He wondered why she hadn’t told him. Then he remembered he’d basically told her they’d never work, and that it was better to cut off their feelings for each other then and there.
She had to be sad about this. Marco found himself walking in the direction of the bookshop as he left Melo’s. He didn’t even think about putting on a jacket. He just walked until Bee’s came into sight.
The lights were off in the shop. The closed sign covered the door.
What was he doing? He stopped himself. There was no point to this. None.
“Marco?”
Marco turned.
It was Elena. She had her hair hidden under a beanie and the other half under the neckline of her coat. She looked beautiful. It was his first thought. Why was that his first thought?
“Hey,” he said. “I was uh, getting off my last shift.” He pointed to the bookshop. “Laura said you’re moving.”
Elena nodded. “I am. We are. Everything kind of happened out of nowhere. So, I didn’t get a chance to tell you.”
“You didn’t need to,” Marco said. “We’re not really dating.”
A long silence followed.
Elena looked at the bookstore than back at him. “I found it,” she said.
“What?”
“The book you wanted for your grandfather. You paid for it. Remember I told you I had a collector who said he might have it? He did. I saw the picture of your grandmother, the one you said he was looking for. You have her smile. And your grandfather looked like a replica of Lucas.”
“You really found it?” Marco asked. He’d forgotten all about the book.
Elena nodded. “It was one of the few pictures in the edition. Do you want it? She looked around. “Unless Greg is waiting for you. I can give it to Lucas when he stops by.”
“Why would my brother stop by?”
“He wanted to buy some of our first editions of the Tales of Primavera book series. I have his number, from when we talked while you were at the hospital. Anyways, he found out we were closing and asked if we had any. He’s stopping by after our Christmas sale to help pack a few things up.”
Marco sighed. Why was his brother helping Elena? Lucas needed to stay out of things. He could pick up the book for himself.
“I can pick it up.”
“Do you want to get it now? I’m headed to Bee’s. My dad and Will are dropping off some books at a buyer’s house.”
Marco looked at Bee’s. He should have said no, that he’d come by later, or better yet, give it to Lucas. Instead he nodded and followed Elena as she led him down the street.
Chapter 28
Elena grabbed the book from her room, tucking it under her arm as she met Marco out in her living room.
She’d wanted to tell him to stay downstairs, but he’d followed her upstairs, looking at her as she paused on the stairs, his eyes passive and patient.
“Here,” Elena said. She handed Marco the book. “The spine’s not in pristine condition, but the picture is pretty much intact.”
Marco grabbed one end of the book. Elena held on to the other, neither one of them letting go of it right away.
She looked up at him.
“Do you want something to drink? We don’t have much, but I think there’s orange juice and we might have some soda from when we ordered pizza.”
Marco stared at her, down at the book, to the edge where her hand was, then back up at Elena again. “I… sure.”
She let go of the book and quickly fled to the kitchen, saying, “Take a seat at the table. I’ll get you a cup. Oh, the picture’s on page sixty-two, if you want to look at it.” She heard Marco pull a chair out and then the flipping of pages as he searched for his grandfather’s picture.
There was silence, and then a laugh. Elena turned, leaving the refrigerator open. She hadn’t even asked him what he wanted to drink.
Marco sat at the edge of the table, looking down at the book with a huge smile on his face. “He looks exactly like Lucas.”
Elena found herself wanting to sit beside him, to see his smile up closer, to see the picture, share that moment, but she stayed in her spot.
“Orange juice or soda?” she asked.
“Whatever you’re having.” Marco didn’t move his gaze away from the page. Elena got two glasses and brought the orange juice to the table. She took the seat next to Marco, wondering if it was too close for them to sit now.
He finally looked up. His eyes looked wet. Elena pretended like she hadn’t seen him almost crying and went on to pour the orange juice.
“Thank you,” Marco said, taking the glass. “For this and for the book. I didn’t think anyone would find it especially after we searched Mr. Thomas’s library.” He paused and Elena knew he was remembering the kiss too, well, the kisses.
“So you guys are never going to open Bee’s again?”
Elena shook her head. “I think we’re putting a hold on Bee’s for now. We’d lose money trying to keep it open, a ton of money actually.” She swallowed down this truth. It was bitter and saddening at once.
“Thank you for signing the non-disclosure agreements, by the way.”
Elena nodded. “Your lawyer was quick about it.”
Do you really think things between us wouldn’t work at all? Do you not like me at all? You don’t kiss someone you don’t like for no reason.
Marco pointed at the picture, looking distracted again. “That’s my dad,” he said, pointing to a little boy holding a woman’s hand. He looked like Marco, a grin that said trouble, and eyes that didn’t look right at the camera. The picture wasn’t in color, but Elena could tell he was just as tan as Marco.
“And that’s your grandmother,” Elena said, pointing to the woman.
Marco nodded. “She died a few weeks after the picture was taken.”
“You didn’t mention that,” Elena said. “Was this the last pict
ure of her?”
Marco said nothing. So it was. He brushed his finger against his grandmother’s face.
“My vovô never remarried. He said he’d loved her enough to last a lifetime and that he knew he’d never love anyone else like he loved her.”
“That’s… like a storybook love,” Elena said. She sighed. “My dad says the same thing about my mom. I can’t imagine how your grandfather must have felt when she passed away.”
“It was sudden,” Marco said. “She had epilepsy, and one day he worked late. There was no one there to help her and she died during a seizure. My dad wasn’t there, either. He was with my grandfather, already helping him out with business stuff when he wasn’t even seven yet.” He turned to Elena. Now his eyes were full of tears. “Did your parents really love each other?”
Elena nodded. “They’re their own tragic love story.” Marco leaned into listen. “They were both English majors, my dad was the writer and she was the reader. They met in a poetry class they both hated, because apparently the professor thought they were both terrible poets. Anyways, they fell in love. He wrote a book about how they fell in love, like a fictionalized version, got an agent and a nice book deal their senior year of college. Then my mom found out she was pregnant with me, like a week from the book deal news. They decided to get married, because they knew their families wouldn’t leave them alone otherwise, and then they leased the bookstore.”
“Your mom wanted the bookstore.”
“No,” Elena said. “Well, I’m not sure. My dad got it for her, the empty building at least, then they had to remodel together. And then make an actual business plan. She liked it after, I think.” Elena sighed. This story was getting longer than she wanted it to. “Sometimes I think my mom was more in love with the notion that my dad did this all for her, than she loved him.”
“He was devastated when she died, then.”
Elena nodded, because now she was remembering everything she didn’t want to. “Yeah. He wasn’t the same person. He still isn’t, but it was like living with a zombie back then.” She shook her head. “Sorry, we were talking about your grandparents and I went off about my parents.” She pointed to the photo. “You’re grandfather’ll be happy. Or sad.”
Call It One-Sided Page 19