by Marisa Logan
“Did you eat all of that today?” Arjun asked when Chleo opened the door for him.
“So what if I did?” Chleo said. Her voice was jokingly defensive. She wanted to see if he was going to say anything about her weight. She was beautiful and chubby to complement that her best friend was tall and thinner. She and Jessica used to be the same height and weight when they were in high school. Now the only thing that was similar about them was wild curly hair, though Jessica’s was much shorter, and she had bigger curls.
“I guess I’m a bit disappointed you didn’t let me know so that I could get one of my own,” Arjun said. He always had the perfect answer for things. He never made Chleo feel anything less than wonderful, and he never saw her weight as a negative thing. She was happy and active and her health wasn’t being affected by her weight. She came from a long line of chubby women, and she knew that it was hereditary.
Arjun stepped toward Chleo after he shut and locked the front door behind him.
“May I?” he asked. He didn’t want to overstep any boundaries in case Chleo was still upset with him. She nodded and he gave her a warm kiss on the cheek. Chleo’s heart danced against her rib cage, and she could feel goosebumps forming on her skin.
“Hello Luna,” Arjun waved down at Luna. She blinked once and then strolled away and into Chleo’s bedroom. She wasn’t in the mood for sweetness and cuddling.
“My mother was beginning to drive me up the wall,” Arjun said when they got into the living room. He sat down on the couch, and Chleo curled up beside him and snuggled in close.
“Where did you say you were running off to?” she asked.
“I told her I was meeting someone, and she does this eyebrow raise thing that’s like accusing you. It’s like a spell. She expects me to tell her everything. I’m her youngest and the only unmarried one, and with the hair, she’s pretty convinced that I’m gay.”
Chleo couldn’t help but laugh at that. Arjun’s mother sounded like quite a few parents she knew from her mother’s home country of Jamaica. Chleo hadn’t dared tell her mother about the times she explored her sexuality during and after college.
“You laugh, but it just troubles me. I don’t want to force her on you. She means well, I guess. She just can’t mind her business,” Arjun said wrapping an arm around Chleo.
“She actually sounds a lot like my mom. She always seems to know everybody’s business and is always checking in more for her sake of finding things out than your sake of seeing if you’re ok,” Chleo said.
“Our moms would be friends then.”
“Maybe. But I know my mom would like you. Especially because she knows about you, and knows how you make me feel.”
“And how do I make you feel?” Arjun whispered. He gently raised her chin with one of his fingers. He didn’t look at her though; he was seeing her through his touch. She closed her eyes and smiled at the way her body was leaned up against him and the way his fingers caressed her cheek. He was always so gentle with her, just as he was gentle with the animals at his clinic.
“Like that…” Chleo whispered back.
“Does this mean you’re not upset with me anymore?”
“I was never actually upset with you. I was upset about the situation and a bit disappointed,” Chleo said. She normally wouldn’t have admitted her feelings right away, but she liked that they had always been honest with one another.
Arjun sat up a bit in the couch so that Chleo’s head was no longer snuggled up against his shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him. He was looking down at her with his dark brooding eyes. His hair was covering some of his face, but he had pulled the rest of it back in a messy bun.
“Talk to me,” he said simply. The way he was looking at her made Chleo nervous. It was like he was trying to figure out her thoughts just by the way his eyes were fixated on her. She took in a deep breath and exhaled while she closed her eyes again for a minute. She needed to collect her thoughts. There were so many things on her mind, but she could only think to say one thing:
“Are you ashamed of me?”
Arjun was quiet for a very long time, but he was bold enough to keep his eyes on her. He didn’t look away or sigh or get exasperated by the question. His focus moved between her eyes and her lips and he turned to hold her face with one hand.
“There is nothing about you that I am ashamed of.”
His voice was low and steady. He wanted to be as reassuring as he possibly could be.
“I’m just not sure how to tell my mother about you. It always took me a long time, no matter who it is that I’m dating. I always wanted to be sure about the person, and I know that I’m sure about you…”
“You’re sure?” Chleo breathed. Her eyes were still closed, and now her stomachs were in knots.
“Yeah,” Arjun said. He made a noise that sounded a bit like a sigh and a laugh. It made Chleo warm all over, and her stomach fluttered even more just by hearing his voice. “Chleo, if I don’t love you now, I know that I will soon.”
Chleo’s eyes fluttered open to match the fluttering of her insides. She searched his face and brushed a bit of his hair away so she could see him more clearly. Now was when he was trying to look away. He was very clearly nervous now, and it didn’t seem like an easy thing for him to say.
“Did…did you just say you love me?” Chleo asked. She couldn’t help but have a goofy grin on her face. It was adorable to see him so shy now, and since he wasn’t the romantic type, it was even better to see him this way.
“I mean, I feel like I’ve loved you for a long time, I just didn’t know how to say it.”
That made Chleo straighten up on her couch.
“I’ve been wanting to tell you too. I was just worried that I was moving too fast, or that you may not feel the same way,” Chleo said. She still wasn’t used to being vulnerable, but the words came easily to her. Being with Arjun was the easiest kind of love that she had ever felt, and it made her heart almost fly out of her knowing that he felt the same way about her as she did about him.
“We were both feeling the same thing and worried about the same thing,” Arjun said. It still fascinated both of them just how in sync they were.
“We fit,” Chleo said and giggled. She was on cloud 9. She was sure about him too, and she couldn’t believe that it took a debate about Arjun’s mother that brought them to this point. She almost completely forgot about his mother; she was too busy feeling excited that this gorgeous man cared about her as much as she cared about him.
“I suppose we do,” Arjun laughed. He still seemed a bit shy, but he looked so happy.
“I also suppose I need to stop being worried about my mother and introduce her to the lady in my life.”
“I’m looking forward to it. I hope we get along.”
“I’m sure you will. You’re very easy to love,” Arjun flashed her a smile and she almost melted.
“So are you,” she purred. Arjun bit his bottom lip.
“Do you still want to go on an adventure tonight?” he asked. That caught Chleo off guard. She had to be mindful that sappy romance wasn’t his thing. His romance was being close to her and enjoying each other’s company by learning and making each other laugh. “I thought we could live up to our Bonnie and Clyde personas and swindle some wealthy hotel owner into giving us a room for the night.”
Chleo laughed out loud and Arjun held her face and kissed her dimples.
“I have a better idea,” she offered after he kissed her. She stood up from the couch and extended a hand for him to take. His fingers intertwined with hers and she heaved him up from the couch. She put her hands up as if to tell him to stay.
“I need you to close your eyes and count to one hundred…”
Arjun closed his eyes and started to count aloud.
“Slowly,” Chleo said. Her voice was a little above a whisper. She moved away from him, walking backwards so she could watch him count. She slipped into her bedroom and shut the door. Arjun had gotten to twenty one when she
started to light candles around her room. She looked into the full length mirror in her room and cursed silently. She wished she hadn’t been wearing ‘I’m-not-going-out-tonight’ sweatpants. She tore off her clothes and rummaged in her closet for something a little more inviting.
“82, 83, 84,” Arjun’s voice had grown louder. He was giving her a heads up that he was almost finished counting. Chleo kicked her sweatpants under her bed and put on baby blue silk negligee with matching shorts. She opened the door of her bedroom and stood in the door frame seductively.
“97, 98, 99, 100,” Arjun said. “Can I open my eyes now?”
Chleo thought about it for a moment, and then giggled.
“Yes you may,” she said in a sing song way. Her voice was as silky as her negligee. Arjun cracked open one eye, as if to check and see if it was safe. He focused his gaze on her for a second and then opened the other eye.
“Wow,” he breathed when he looked at her. He ran his hands over his bangs and rested his hand on the top of his head. “Baby, you’re gorgeous.”
“You should see me without this on,” Chleo laughed. She beckoned him with one finger and he moved slowly over to her, his eyes floated to different parts of Chleo’s body. She was unusually calm, and when he was close enough to her she grabbed ahold of his shirt and pulled him closer to her for a kiss.
“Wow,” he said again when he came up for air. Chleo wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he wrapped his arms around her waist and she stepped clumsily back into her bedroom, and shut the door behind them.
Chapter 6
“How is it that you look so bright and chipper in this weather? You almost look happier every day,” Petey said when Chleo stepped into Any Blooming Thing the next morning. He was in his signature all black with a white cotton scarf wrapped around his neck. Chleo was wearing a yellow jacket and a deep plum skirt with a black and white checked blouse.
“I’m definitely happier today than I was yesterday,” Chleo said. Jessica stepped out of the back room when she heard the jingling of the front door.
“I thought you were a customer,” Jessica grumbled.
“Nope. Just late,” Chleo said. She was practically grinning from ear to ear.
“You’re beginning to look and sound like Jessica,” Petey said. He had a disgusted look on his face. “Are you in love or something?”
“As a matter of fact, I am,” Chleo replied. Petey tried to stifle a smile, but he couldn’t help it. He was going to remind Chleo forever that it was because of his little kitten that she was so happy now.
“There’s something else,” Jessica said. She eyed Chleo and crossed her arms over her chest. Petey looked completely confused, but folded his arms across his chest too.
Chleo looked around obliviously, but the front door jingled, and she was ever so grateful that it did.
“Hi! Welcome to Any Blooming Thing, can I help you?” Chleo said in her cheeriest voice. Petey and Jessica shuffled behind the front desk, watching and waiting.
“Just lookin’ around thanks,” it was short man with glasses. He seemed a little nervous, and Chleo was sure she knew him from somewhere.
“That’s the guy with the science teacher,” Jessica grabbed Chleo’s arm and yanked her across the counter to let her know. “He came here ages ago looking for flowers for his pink haired art teacher girlfriend.”
Chleo remembered. She always thought he was awkward and would head to the backroom when he came. One day when Jessica had stayed home sick, he came into the store with his girlfriend, a tall and thin black woman with pink streaks in her almost straight hair.
“I’m proposing to my girlfriend,” he said just then, grinning up at Jessica. He must have remembered her as the one who helped him, even though her hair was straight and black at the time. He sounded more confident than the last time he was there. That was almost 3 years ago.
“The same one with the pink hair?” Jessica asked. She sounded like she genuinely cared.
“The same one. Only, her hair isn’t pink anymore. It’s shaved at the sides, kind of like his, but the rest of it is long and back to its natural dark brown. She’s a wild one,” the man said. He laughed and pushed his glasses up on his nose.
“Congratulations,” Chleo, Jessica, and Petey all said in unison.
“I wanted to do something really special. I want petals of her favorite flower all scattered to ask her if she’d marry me. We’re supposed to be going away for the weekend, and that’s when I want to propose,” the science teacher said. Petey made an aww sound.
“That is really sweet. Were stargazers her favorite?” Jessica asked from memory. The man smiled at that.
“No actually. Stargazers are my favorite. Because of her. Well, because of you really. Her favorites are verbenas. I won’t be able to take them now. I just wanted to know if you had enough purple ones.”
“We have a lot. And we can have them delivered to you too if you’d like,” Chleo offered. The science teacher nodded.
“That would be really nice,” he thanked her. He left his address and number with Petey and Jessica let him know that she would take care of the delivery and the arrangements for an extra bouquet for his future fiancé to be able to have and hold.
“Ughhhh,” Petey half groaned and half shrieked after the science teacher left the store.
“What’s the matter with you?” Chleo asked.
“The world is falling in love and I’m just living in it,” Petey wailed.
“What happened to that guy Joel you were seeing?” Jessica asked. She pat Petey’s back as he rested his hands on the counter and plopped his head on top.
“We’ve only been seeing each other for a week and a half.”
“That’s something! You usually find some random flaw about them and would have dumped him by now,” Chleo said, finding the positives.
“Don’t think I haven’t forgotten about you, ma’am,” Jessica wagged an accusing finger at Chleo. “I recognize that cheeriness.”
Petey made another attempt at a groan before Jessica spoke up again.
“You had sex!” Jessica pointed. Petey’s head shot up from the counter as if someone had jabbed him. His eyes squinted, and he looked back and forth from Jessica to Chleo.
“Maybe I did,” Chleo said. She wiggled her body a little and grinned. Petey put a hand on his chest, recoiled, and made a dramatic gasp.
“Am I seriously the only lone wolf in here?”
“You have Joel!” Chleo and Jessica said at the same time.
“I thought we were in this together Chleo.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Chleo said, “but…I’m meeting Arjun’s mom later today for dinner. She still doesn’t exactly know about me. Arjun just told her that a guest would be joining them, and I’m supposed to head over to his place at 7.”
“That sounds so legit! I’m happy for you,” Jessica said. Petey whelped in the background, but they ignored him.
“I’m happy for everyone too,” Chleo said. Petey wretched. He was trying so hard to get their attention. “I’m even happy for Petey and Joel, who I’m sure make a beautiful couple, and I can’t wait to meet him.”
Petey perked up and smiled.
“Thanks Chleo. I’m so glad you noticed that I needed someone to console me.”
“How could I have ignored the calls of a banshee?” Chleo scoffed.
Petey recoiled again and frowned.
“Don’t forget that I’m the sole reason for your happiness,” Petey hissed and adjusted the scarf around his neck.
“How can I forget? You remind me…every day…”
Chapter 7
Chleo didn’t know what to expect that evening. Arjun had barely given her any details. She didn’t know how she should dress, or if she needed to bring anything. Arjun didn’t even tell her where they were going out for dinner. She decided to look presentable but not over the top, and she brought home a small bouquet of multicolored flowers.
It wa
s 6:51 when her cab pulled up in front of Arjun’s apartment. She was in a long black dress with a loose fitting belt and nice gold sandals to match a gold head band that looked like something from an old Greek epic. Her hair was wild and curly around her head and shoulders and she covered herself up with a dark jacket. She told herself it was because it was getting cold, but she knew it was also because she wanted to appear presentable to his mother. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was still very nervous. She hadn’t met a lot of the parents of her exes, and since Arjun was the most important person in her life, she didn’t want to mess it up or embarrass him…or worse, embarrass herself.
“Hey. I’m here,” Chleo said to the small camera at the entrance. She heard a buzz and a click and she opened the door and stepped inside. Arjun lived on the third floor, and she hurried onto the elevator so that she could see him and finally meet his mother.
Chleo knocked on the door and adjusted her jacket. She knew she looked great, but she wished there was a mirror or a window close by for her to be able to give herself another quick once over.
The door opened a crack and a short woman [even shorter than Chleo herself] peered through the open crack. She squinted her eye as she looked Chleo up and down. Then she opened the door and turned around.
“Arjun! Your friend is here!” the short woman called. She was plump and wearing a white cotton blouse and faded blue jeans. Her hair was wrapped in a bun, with a few tufts at the front revealing some grey and white strands, and right above her eyebrows directly in the center of her head was a bindi.
This must be Arjun’s mother, thought Chleo. She had a very thick Indian accent, and she paid Chleo no mind after that quick look before opening the door. She had waddled back into the kitchen, where Chleo could smell something amazing cooking.
“Are you going to just stand there at the door?” Arjun’s mother called from inside the kitchen. There was no way she could see Chleo, but that was just how mothers were. “Come in, you’re letting in all the cold.”
Chleo stepped into the apartment and locked the door behind her. She was too nervous to move anywhere until she saw Arjun. Arjun’s mother called for him once again, but this time she spoke in Hindi. He replied in Hindi too and appeared from his bedroom. He was wearing a cotton shirt and jeans as well. His hair was damp and he was using a towel to wipe away any excess water that could be dripping from it.