Love Undefeated (Unexpected #5)

by Anne Leigh

  Nelson whisper-talked, “Don’t forget the safety issues.”

  “Oh yes, there are safety issues that have to be taken into consideration too. For the workers that is.” It was only the first browse of the project, but Nelson and I had seen enough to warrant a meeting with the construction company.

  “I see,” Stephanie said, her breath in a huff, she must be going up an incline. “How long have they been in business?”

  This was the first time we’re dealing with Redford Company, so I had to do some researching on my own. “Two years.”

  Nelson signaled a thumbs-up. He and I…we clicked. As work partners and now friends. I’d definitely miss him when he got promoted, which would most likely be soon.

  “They’re babies,” Stephanie stated. “They probably don’t know what it’s like to work in a bigger pond. Now they’re trying to swim in the ocean.”

  Redford started in San Jose. A small homebuilding company with the goals of designing energy efficient homes in underutilized areas.

  I sipped my old tea, yuck times two, before saying, “Yes, they’re young, but they have the right idea. With the right help they could become a big business here in the Bay Area, maybe even in all of the West Coast.”

  “With great potential,” Stephanie surmised. Our company’s motto.

  I finished with, “Comes a chunk of great responsibility.”

  “Let me know if you need anything,” she said. I heard the lowering of the music coming from the treadmill.

  “I will. Thanks, Stephanie,” I responded, ending the phone call.

  Nelson harrumphed as soon as I placed the receiver on the base.

  “She’s great, Nelson.” I smiled and looked over at my office guest who was busy making my office his own break room.

  In the beginning, Nelson called her The Demon Boss Who Wore Gucci. It was definitely a rip-off from that movie with Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep, but Stephanie did have her Miranda Priestly moments. It was the way she walked and held her head, like it was on an immovable swivel. And each time she’d raised her brow during a team meeting, Nelson confessed that liquid from his bladder might have escaped. He also added that he had a very small bladder to which he later attributed as the cause of his regression.

  He’s always been a little scared of her. I was intimated by her and her achievements, one of which being the youngest successful female who ran her own company on the West Coast. A company that’s been on Business World’s top ten most innovative companies list.

  “Yeah, she is,” Nelson hesitantly agreed. “Can we break for real now?”

  My stomach made a noise, “Okay. Late lunch?”

  “More like early dinner,” he laughed. There was this easy camaraderie between us. Effortless. Drama-free. What friendships should be.

  I grabbed my purse that was resting on the side of my desk and stood up for the first time after sitting for hours, with the occasional leg stretches.

  Nelson led the way to open the door and before we walked to the elevator, he said, softly, “Devon’s a good man, Nales. You’ve gotta let him know where he stands with you.”

  I agreed with a nod and a small smile.

  “A guy like him can’t be in the friends-only zone with you,” he advised. “Not with the way he stares at you.”

  My ears flushed at the truth he was serving me. As much as I wanted to deny it, Nelson was right.

  “How does he look at me?” I giggled this time. I wanted him to quote Bieber again just to lighten the load on my shoulders. I already knew that I had to say something to both Devon and Xavier. I couldn’t have one with the other. It was unfair to them. I wouldn’t want to cause a rift between them. Even though they were frat brothers and whatever loyalty they had wasn’t of blood, they were still people. Guys who had feelings. Great guys who would demand fair treatment. And rightly so.

  Nelson fixed his tie and ran his hands over his hair as I punched the elevator button for the lobby.

  He briefly glanced at me and grinned. “He looks at you like you’re a Thousand Wishes on a Beautiful Day.”

  Nope, no Bieber. Still on a B & B product binge.

  I laughed as Mary, one of the clerks on our floor, signaled for us to hold the door. “Oh, Nelson, you are Pure Paradise, my Paris Amour.”

  Little did he know, in high school, I was a Bath and Body connoisseur because my third job, after part-timing for the Pretzel Place and Shoe Time, was rearranging the shelves of that scent-filled store.

  His laugh was so loud that it even startled poor Mary, who must’ve thought Nelson and I had taken a whiff of a euphoric-inducing drug before we got into the elevator.

  “Gruezi.” My mom’s greeting never failed to make me smile.

  “Hello, mom,” I said while switching to the right lane.

  “Are you driving, ttal?” My mom could easily switch from Swiss German to Korean without any difficulty. Grossvati Florian, my dear gramps, met Halmeoni Elaine in his early 20s when he was an interpreter at the South Korean embassy in Berne. Their love story spanned cultural and linguistic differences. Halmeoni barely spoke English or Swiss German so Gramps learned Korean. When my mom was eight years old, Gran passed away from pneumonia. Gramps couldn’t stand to be without her and needed to change his environment, so when the U.S. embassy offered to move his family, my mom, her brothers, Uncle Sean, and Uncle Pierre, he didn’t hesitate and he never looked back.

  I knew a bit of both cultures and learned both languages from my mom. Dad, a third generation American Indian, didn’t speak any other languages other than English. If he did, then I’d be quadrilingual.

  When people ask me what I was, I tell them I’m American.

  It really depended on who was asking. Some people are just plain rude and ask, “What are you?” Once I said, “I’m human.”

  I’d been called exotic many times before. I understood that when people couldn’t describe what you were, they often used that term. What’s exotic anyways? Something unusual? Out of the ordinary? I guessed that’s what happened when two people from different parts of the world fell in love. I didn’t see what the big deal was, but some people become extremely fascinated with how I looked that at times it could be uncomfortable when they outright stared at me, trying to figure out what I was.

  I honked at the Honda Civic in front of me; the driver was driving twenty under the speed limit. At this rate, I’d be extremely late for the couples massage that Xavier had scheduled for us.

  “Sorry, mom, this guy in front of me’s driving too freakin’ slow,” I replied. I’d been too preoccupied with work that I forgot to return her call two days ago. I wasn’t usually this bad of a daughter, but time just got away.

  “Nalee, did I teach you to curse?” Her tone scolding, I could just picture her knitted eyebrows and her face in a frown. Growing up, my sister and I didn’t get into a lot of trouble. We were good kids. We didn’t go out late to party. Nor did we sneak boys into our rooms. What sent us to the doghouse was cussing. My sister Geniah taught me at a young age that one way to relieve stress was to cuss the hell out of it. Since she was six years older than me, I’d followed her advice for which our mom was not too happy about. We were grounded and promised to not say any more bad words; but it was really hard to make good on that promise when the world was full of idiots.

  “No, mom. I’m sorry again. It’s just that I’m running late…” I couldn’t send a text to Xavier since I was driving. He’ll probably worry, but I’d be at Aquos in less than fifteen minutes.

  “Where are you off to? It’s almost nine o’clock. You shouldn’t be out this late.” No matter how old I got, I’d always be her baby and she would always be concerned for me. That’s what moms did.

  “Mom…it’s still early. How’s dad?” Changing the subject always worked.

  “Your dad’s snoring in front of the TV. CNN must’ve bored him.” Dad loved to watch the news before sleeping. “He’s good. He’s been walking more and cutting back on the red mea
t. The article your sister sent must’ve scared him.”

  My sister was a cardiologist at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands. She decided to stay there after being accepted for medical residency. Funny how fast four years can zoom by. It seemed like it was only yesterday when she was graduating from medical school.

  “Good. He really needs to watch his diet.” My dad was born and bred on corn, potatoes, and beef. A year and a half ago, he was diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension and my sister went nuts-o on him. She’d warned him many, many times throughout the years about his diet but he never listened. It was only until his primary doctor advised him to make lifestyle changes that got the ball rolling on his healthier habits.

  “How are you? How’s the new position going?” Mom stayed up until ten, then it was lights out.

  “I’m okay. It’s stressful because I have all these new projects, but it’s really fulfilling. I can’t ask for anything more.” I pulled into the parking lot of Aquos and eyed Xavier’s Range Rover. There wasn’t a lot of parking space so it was easy to see his car parked in front of the spa.

  “Are you eating well?” Mom sounded worried. “Are you getting enough sleep? Are you getting enough rest?”

  “Mom…” There was no other person in the world who I’d sound whiney to except for the woman who gave me room in her belly for over nine months.

  “Nalee.” It was her mom voice. Stern. Commanding. No reasoning with. “I don’t care if you’re getting paid twice as you did before.” I wasn’t, I was getting paid more than that. My salary has tripled over the past few months since I made partner and I’d told my mom this, but she never cared about money. “You need to eat good and get rest. You don’t want to have wrinkles in your twenties. That’s just unforgivable.”

  She was in her early fifties, but my friends always mistook her for late thirties. If I were to grow old the way my mom did, I’d be a lucky girl. She had flawless skin. Her hands were like silk even though she worked as an occupational therapist. She took pride in taking care of her body.

  “I know, I’ve just been busy…actually, I’m going to get a massage right now so it will help relax my muscles.” Nelson gave great massages, but Boonsri, my Thai masseuse, held the special power of making my body melt into a puddle of ooey, gooey, muscles completely loosened, free from stress and tension.

  “At this hour? It’s practically midnight? It’s not safe to be out this late.” Moms would always be moms.

  I cut the engine off, pulled the vanity mirror in front of the driver’s side, and checked my face. “I’m with Xavier, Mom.”

  “Oh.” Her voice softened, she’d always liked Xavier. She’d met him a couple of times since we started dating, the first time around. “He’s such a nice guy. Tell him I said ‘hi’.” There weren’t a lot of women who didn’t like Xavier. My mom was one of his biggest fans.

  “I will. Mom, I gotta go.” I missed her. Growing up she wasn’t the most conventional mom. She hardly baked cookies or cooked dinner. Geniah and I thrived on store-bought meals and TV dinners because Mom and Dad worked hard and late into the night. But my sister and I understood that we were loved. Love wasn’t measured by how much time they spent with us. We had revolving babysitters, but Mom would not even step out of the door if Geniah and I had fever. Dad tucked us in every night and read us stories of powerful Native American chiefs. Instead of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, or Goldilocks, my sister and I listened to the tales and legends of Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse.

  “I’ll call you during the weekend,” I said as I got out of the car. I could see Xavier through the glass windows. He was concentrating on his phone, sitting in a slouched position, his lazy pose. As if sensing I’d just arrived, he stood up to his full height.

  There were so many attractive guys in San Francisco, and all over the world. In college my douche of an ex, Jerome, was often voted HOT on that popular college website, ChattyPepper. There could be a hundred handsome guys in the vicinity but even when I was with Jerome, I had always been partial to Xavier.

  I could hear my mom talking on the phone, letting me know what her schedule was, but my eyes were solely focused on the man in front of me who was now reaching for the door to grant me entry into the spa.

  I knew him when he was this crazy college kid, who won and lost a lot of silly bets.

  I liked him when he offered me a taste of his Haupia drink during Sedona and Zander’s engagement trip in Hawaii.

  The lights were dim on the sidewalk that separated the parking lot and Aquos. Our feet met and our bodies hugged. And while I couldn’t fully glimpse at his mesmerizing green eyes, I knew just how much he craved my presence.

  I felt it in his embrace.

  “Nales, I got worried…you weren’t answering your phone.” I heard the concern in his voice.

  Momentarily removing myself from his arms, I spoke on the phone, “I love you, Mom. Tell Daddy I miss him.”

  My mom instructed me to say hello to Xavier again before saying, “I love you, too. I miss you, boopy bear.” Boopy bear was her childhood nickname for me. Goopy bear was my sister.

  In life, we grow out of things. We fall out of relationships. We lose what we hold precious.

  But there are some that remain constant.

  Basking in his masculine scent, I stood up on my heels so I could reach his jaw.

  I would always be my mom’s boopy bear.

  I saw the tension leave Xavier’s shoulders as we stepped inside the spa, his left hand never letting go of my right.

  I loved him before my life fell apart.

  Our situation would be completely different had he stood by me through my weakest moment.

  We wouldn’t be in this wishy-washy state wherein he constantly walked on eggshells, feeling scared that I’d turn my tail when the going got tough and the tough got going.

  I turned my body around to face him, my left hand reaching up to cup the side of his jaw.

  “I love you,” he whispered, the green in his eyes more vivid, a stark contrast to the roughness of his cheeks smattered with what would be a full grown beard in a couple of weeks, and the absence of arrogance in his posture just heightening my feelings towards him.

  I answered him with an unwavering voice, “I know.”

  His eyes held the same question he’d been asking me, “Will you love me again?”

  One day I would answer the way I used to.

  But for now…

  With Boonsri in the background welcoming us to Aquos, I shifted my glance to take in the relaxing atmosphere in the lounge with glass cabinets framed in dark brown wood and furnishings designed to create a serene feeling, and felt the weight of today and the added strain of tomorrow leave my body.

  With my shoulders leaning on Xavier, I felt it again.

  This constant, unchanging emotion.

  He would always be mine as much as I was his.

  Planning a birthday party for my girl wasn’t easy.

  She was always busy.

  I was busy.

  Our friends were busy.

  It was way easier to plan things when we were in college.

  Buy drinks, bring plates of chips and salsa, invite our friends over, play some loud music, and call it a party.

  Now coordinating everyone’s schedules was a nightmare. John was available but Dom wasn’t. Z could stop by but only for a few hours. The guys were my main contacts to Nalee’s girlfriends, and I was quite sure the women still harbored some not-so-friendly feelings towards me after I broke Nalee’s heart.

  I couldn’t blame them, but it would be really nice if Tanya would stop glaring at me with pitchforks in her eyes every time I Facetimed with John. Redheads weren’t my cup of tea. I could only imagine what John went through when Tanya got pissed off at him. Yikes! The horror!

  But I really wanted Nalee’s birthday to be extraordinary. Special. One of a kind.

  Throughout the years, after graduation, we’d celeb
rated by going out of the country.

  One year it was Norway. Another was in Mauritius. I took her to places where there was great biodiversity and pristine environmental policies because when your girl is fighting for the earth, the last place she’d want to be in on her special day is an area filled with garbage and tourists.

  This year, I knew I wanted it local or at least a place where we could travel by car because of our hectic schedules.

  Still, it had to be really special because she was worth everything to me.

  Which was why this haughty, middle-aged woman was sitting across the table from me in my office.

  She was San Francisco’s party consultant extraordinaire.

  “Let me repeat this – you want Hello Kitty decorations for this party? And she’s not eight years old? And you want giant balloons and confetti everywhere?” Was that a shriek I heard in her voice? I think she was trying to raise her eyebrows too, but the plastic surgeries she’s had done to her face made her look like a mime, a mime who couldn’t raise her brows, or her lips, or maybe even wiggle her nose.

  Why? Why would women want to do that to themselves? Or men. Just why?

  With all the plastic on her face, she was lucky she lived in San Francisco where the sun’s rays weren’t as intense as say L.A., otherwise she’d melt right there on the sidewalk and people would be wondering why there was a body walking around without a face.

  “I like Hello Kitty.” I shrugged, turning my attention to the portfolio book that she was showing me.

  “But the birthday celebrant’s an adult,” plastic-faced lady reasoned. “The elegance of the place would be lost if we decorated it in pink and white.”

  “Hello Kitty’s also available in black and red.” I’d seen Nalee’s collection. This lady didn’t know what she was talking about. “Just because you decorate it with Hello Kitty doesn’t make the place look cheap. It’s how you arrange the balloons, the flowers, all the decorations that give off the feeling of elegance.”