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Mateo grew concerned. His eyes weren’t deceiving him. Chanel’s face was flushed, and her eyelids were low, red-rimmed, and puffy. And although she smiled widely, it never quite made it to her eyes.
He moved his shaky hand to grasp hers. “Something’s going on. Something has changed about you.”
Chanel’s bottom lip was now visibly trembling. It took all her strength to not burst into tears. “It has? What, baby?”
“I don’t know. You seem so sad, Chanel. Has something happened?”
“I’m happy, baby. I’m excited to see you.”
“You don’t seem happy. You seem different,” he continued to probe.
“Different? Please, Mateo, that’s obvious. I am different. Things have changed for the both of us, but I don’t want to keep talking about it.”
“Do you still love me, Chanel?” he asked her.
“I do. You know I do, baby. I love you so much.”
“Just checking. Ya boy can’t be too sure. You come, you don’t come. When you leave I never know if it’s the last time I’ll see you.” Mateo tried to have levity in his voice, but she knew her actions had made him insecure.
Chanel blurted out, “Let’s get married.”
“We will. As soon as I get out of here.”
“Now. Let’s go and get married now. We don’t need a destination wedding. We can go back to our original plan and go to City Hall. Let’s get married before this month ends.”
Mateo’s reaction to her proposal was tentative. “Babe, we can’t. I feel we should wait just a while longer. At least until I’m feeling stronger and can stand before you on my own two feet and not have to be held up.”
“Baby, if I’m going to be your other half, you can lean on me—we’ll lean on each other,” she replied.
“I love you, Chanel. I do. But if you give me a little more time, I’m going to fully recover. I’m gonna walk again on my own—watch and see.”
She managed to smile. “I know you will.”
Mateo became emotional. “Chanel, I’m sorry that I couldn’t do anything to stop what happened to you. I should have been there to protect you—to stop it. But I wasn’t.”
“Mateo, it’s not your fault. I told you so many times already.”
“I should have stopped them.”
“You did your best.”
“No. What they did to you—”
She didn’t want to talk about it. She wanted to forget about it. She was finally starting to feel normal again.
“Please, Mateo, don’t bring it up again! I don’t want to think about it. I told you, let’s forget what happened and move on with our lives. You and I, together, that’s the only thing that matters to me.”
He nodded. “You’re right. We can’t change the past, but we can create our future.”
“Yes. So let’s do that—create a wonderful future together.”
“We will, baby. We will.”
Chanel didn’t want to be trapped in one room with him. She wanted Mateo to get out, and she wanted to try and get her mind off of the thoughts of Pyro sinking deeper inside of her—his muscular body, strong arms, and soft kisses. A light perspiration formed on her upper lip and around her hairline. Soon she felt like she was in a sweatshop. Chanel wheeled Mateo around the facility as he spoke optimistically about their future.
“I can’t wait until our wedding day, Chanel. I can’t wait to finally hold you in my arms all night. I want to watch you sleep peacefully, no fear. I promise I’ll love, honor, cherish, and protect you forever and one day.”
Chanel looked deep into Mateo’s hopeful, love-filled eyes and burst into tears. She sobbed uncontrollably until he was able to get her to calm down.
