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“What was that?” I asked.
“Lunch. Salmon and a shrimp cocktail with grilled vegetables.”
“Anything to drink?”
“Sweet tea?”
“He might have to make it fresh. It’ll come up hot,” I said.
“Ew. No, thanks. Um… what about limeade, then?”
“‘Atta, girl. Yes, I’m ready to give our order,” I said into the phone.
I rattled off our order, then tacked on a couple of desserts to the end of it all. I watched Andrea slide off her bed and start gathering up her things, her eyes searching for her suitcase. I scanned her room before my eyes fell upon it in the corner, so I snapped my fingers to get her attention. I pointed and she smiled, then she gave me the cutest little thumbs up I’d ever seen in my life.
It felt easy being around her.
I set the phone down into its cradle while Andrea continued to pack. I knew I needed to. But I didn’t want to leave her presence. So, I picked up the remote, settled myself onto her bed, and began flipping through the channels on the television.
“I don’t think I’ve ever watched television in Las Vegas,” I said.
“Welcome to vacationing with me,” Andrea said.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I don’t go on vacations because I don’t see the point in doing them by myself when the youth center needs me. But, I’m the kind of person that would rent out a hotel like this that has all of the things I’d need and then just stay in it.”
“You’d like the mountains then.”
“Oh, I love the mountains. Especially during the fall, when the leaves are changing colors? One day, I’d love to take a vacation there. Get a cabin. Stock it up with food to cook. Maybe have a hot tub on the deck out back that overlooks a mountain range that’s changing colors. Oh, it would be a dream. I could live in a place like that.”
“Why don’t you, then?” I asked
“The kids need me, and I enjoy what I do with the youth center. It’s hard at times. Especially the budgeting. But, I couldn't even consider leaving them for something like that.”
“What do you mean, especially the budgeting?”
I watched her jam all of her things into her suitcase before she sat down and sighed.
“Sometimes, I have to take chunks out of my own paycheck to make sure we make ends meet.”
“How often have you had to do that?” I asked.
“Twice already this year? I’m looking at about a five-thousand-dollar deficit I’ll have to even out by the end of the year.”
“Five-thousand-dollars? How do you live in Charleston if your paycheck is going to something like that?”
“I make it work. Sometimes I get my groceries from the dollar store. I eat a lot of pasta dishes. I slowly renovated an old, rundown apartment to fit my needs. Doesn’t eat up my paycheck in rent and all I have to do it keep it from rotting away.”
“Andrea, that isn’t safe. You at least need a decent place to stay.”
“I mean, when I can afford it, I’ll find it. I stay with Jessica and her roommate, Bianca, from time to time. You know, when it gets rough. But it’s what I do for the kids and I love it. I wouldn't have it any other way, Everett.”
Her eyes connected with mine and I felt my heart seize in my chest. She was remarkable. There were no words to describe how selfless and genuine and incredible this woman was. I took a second to drink her in. To take in all of the glory and the strength and the beauty that was Andrea Faith.
In another world—in another scenario other than this one—I would have considered marrying a woman like her.
“Everett?” she asked.
