Chapter 12 – Buying stuff.
1949 Words
.Meredith.
“Oh god mom!!” Melissa comes down the stairs and she has horror all over her face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask worriedly. This face is not good.
“Sofia just messaged me, she doesn’t know what to do. Her father wants to come with us.”
I start laughing and Melissa nudges me, “Mom!! Her father wants to come with us!” she shouts again.
“Just tell Sofia I spoke to her father. She can just tell him honestly what she wants.” I tell her.
“You spoke to Mr. Lamberti?” she asks with wide eyes. I nod.
“Yes, at the soccer practice last week. I asked him somewhere this week if he knew if he was going with us, but he told me he hadn’t talked it over with Sofia yet.” I answer Melissa. Her fingers fly across the phone. It takes a moment and then she looks up again.
“Okay, they’ll meet us at the mall.”
“Good. Well help with packing, because we have to take everyone to sports first and then drop off this bag at Grandpa and Grandma. They will pick everyone up, so we can have a nice day and not have to pay attention to the time.” I tell her
Melissa puts her phone away and helps prepare the snacks for after all the girls exercise.
It was actually Maxwell’s weekend, but he also found it difficult when Melissa wasn’t there and neither was Miles. So he’ll take the kids next weekend. And from then on we just go back and forth.
So this weekend he said he wasn’t coming to Cliffs either, but if the kids wanted to call him, they could. I suggested it, but no one wanted to call.
Miles left this morning. He signed himself up for a sports program with the NFL team here in Cliffs when we moved here. Every Saturday and Sunday he attends a kind of mini-training camp there to get better.
It costs a lot of money, but it pays off. He’s better and growing faster and more disciplined than ever. Everything benefits from it. The club has said he can keep coming as long as his grades at school don’t suffer. 98% attendance for classes at school, grades must be a B or higher, and no notes from his teachers. Miles has never been more focused. Maybe even his salvation since the divorce in the middle of his teenage years.
Mallory didn’t have a ballet scheduled for this week, so she’s going with us. She has a week in between before she starts a new kind of class. In addition to doing regular ballet, she will also learn to dance on pointe shoes from next week. The previous classes of Jazz-ballet have just stopped. So we asked for time off for regular ballet, so she could relax for a weekend.
“Girls we’re going!” I shout at the bottom of the stairs and fifteen minutes later everyone is on the bus. We take Madison to the swimming lessons, Megan to tennis, Marley to soccer and we drop off the bag at Grandpa and Grandma’s.
Then we drive to the shopping center.
“There they are.” Melissa points to the entrance and indeed there they are. Just like last week, he is wearing jeans and a shirt that is way too tight for him. For someone who pretends not to see the women looking, he always manages to put something on that makes us women have to look.
Melissa and Sofia hug each other and Sofia, as sweet as she is, also hugs Mallory and asks about her ballet. Then she hugs me, as always, but I don’t know why I expected it to be any different today. I hug her too, as I always do.
“I understood that you had already spoken to my father.” She speaks softly and I nod. I can tell she’s nervous.
“Yes, and we’ve agreed that I’ll only go along for the dress and then I’ll wait somewhere for you to finish,” Lucio tells us, he puts his hand on her shoulder and brings her closer to him.
I nod as he puts an arm around Sofia, Sofia’s cheeks turn fiery red and she tries to leave.
“Let’s go.” I’m the first to walk in. Soon Melissa, Sofia, and Mallory are walking ahead of us.
“They know exactly where to go.” Lucio laughs and I do my best not to melt at that laugh.
“They know that for sure,” I answer.
.
.
“I think my dad likes your mom.”
I look up and see that Sofia is also looking at me with a slanted eye. She knows I’m around her, but she’s talking to Melissa.
“Why do you think that?” asks Melissa.
“He did his hair this morning and I mean really looked and looked longer than three seconds. He put on perfume, he didn’t even put on perfume for my mother, only on special occasions.”
Melissa looks at me. She knows I’m listening. She doesn’t say anything about it.
Is he that kind of guy? Who doesn’t really want to make an effort?
“Maybe your dad is having a good day and this is that special occasion. How many times can he pick out a prom dress with his daughter?” I ask.
“No, I really think he likes you,” Sofia answers and she shrugs.
“I think so too Mom.” Answers Melissa. I look at her.
“He’s looking at you all the time.” Mallory links her arm to mine.
“I’m going to try this one on.” Sofia’s holding up some small bras.
“Can I have this Mom?” asks Melissa and I nod.
“When can I buy these?” asks Mallory. I look at my pretty daughter.
“Just be patient, if you grow a little more you need them,” I answer her.
“You can look for something there?” I ask, pointing to a section where they have tops that she wears now. She lets go of me and happily hops to that part. My girls are growing up.
I ignore the burning sensation in my stomach and the faster beating of my heart. He’s not interested.
“Are you okay girls?” I ask when I get to the fitting rooms and sit there on one of the chairs. I pull out my phone and see some messages, from my mom that she’s picked up Marley and Megan, and my dad telling me that he and Madison are staying in the pool a little longer.
One of Lucio, asks if the girls and I want something to eat because then he sits down at one of the restaurants in the mall and asks if everything works out.
But the message that immediately puts me back on the ground is the message from Miles.
Miles: Mom, Dad just told me he doesn’t want to pay for my college if I don’t choose his first choice.
Me: Don’t worry sweetie. We’re talking tonight. I’m shopping with Mellissa and Mallory now.
Maxwell has mentioned it a few times before. He wants Miles to follow in his footsteps and possibly this will push Miles in the direction he wants.
“Ladies, Lucio asks if you’re hungry, then he’ll find a restaurant,” I shout. Sofia is the first to open the curtain and has her clothes back on.
“I like something to eat,” Sofia starts. “If you don’t mind coming along?” she asks and Melissa comes out of the locker room.
“No, but don’t you think it’s weird?” she asks Sofia, shaking her head.
I call for Mallory and we go to the cash register.
“My dad says he pays for everything, but I think it’s weird.” Sofia smiles, and I shake my head.
“No, sweetie. That’s very nice of your father, but I pay for this myself.” I pat her on the arm and she nods.
“We’ll let him pay for the food.” She laughs.
I pay for our things and Melissa and Mallory both hold their own bags.
We look for Lucio. Sofia finds him first and the two discuss something. We sit at a table and I end up next to Lucio.
Melissa and Sofia both giggle. Lucio doesn’t seem to notice it, but I shake my head.
“I’m going to get the menus.” He gets up and walks away.
“Ladies, behave,” I warn them.
“Can we walk around while we wait?” asks Melissa. I look at the clock. We don’t have to go home yet. I nod.
“No crazy stuff huh,” I warn both my daughters. Both nodded.
“Here we go.” Lucio comes back and hands out a menu to everyone to see what we want to eat.
We order our food and the girls talk about the dresses and all the other things they have arranged for their prom.
The girls want to take another tour of the mall and leave me with Lucio. I had suggested going along, but the girls insisted that I stay put. The looks in the girls’ eyes don’t bode well, but I decide to stay put.
“Um, Meredith, I might have to apologize,” Lucio begins. I turn my chair towards him.
“Your apologies? For what?”
He scratches his head and leans across the table again. “I told Sofia to pay, and also for you, for everything you do. To thank you, but Sofia told me it was weird.” He shakes his head. “I didn’t think much of it, but when she came back she told me I was actually offering to buy you underwear and I see that’s weird. And a line I shouldn’t cross”
I start laughing. “I didn’t even think about it that way Lucio. I just thought I didn’t want anyone else to pay for clothes for my daughters or me.”
“Did you buy something too?” he asks and when our eyes find each other he scrambles back.
“Sorry, that’s not my business.” He starts laughing and shakes his head. “Sorry, normally I’m not that uncomfortable. I think.” He runs a hand through his long hair and I laugh.
“What?” he asks.
“Sofia told me that you had made an effort for your hair, now you have put your hand through it so many times that it can no longer be seen.” I laugh. Hair that I would love to run my hands through. But I don’t. But oh man, he’s not just very manly, he’s outright hot.
He shakes his head. “Did she tell you that?”
“Yes, that and more, but importantly, she liked that you did your best to look good to go out with her,” I tell him. I’m not going to tell him what she thinks the reason is.
“Did she tell you that?” he asks again and I nod.
“What if she’s not the reason I made that effort?” he asks and my heart beats in my throat, my eyes won’t let go of his eyes. My mouth gets dry and I can barely swallow.
“What?” I whisper.
“What if she’s not the reason I made that effort?” he repeats.
- Writer
