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It was completely amazing.
“Here we are,” Marco said as he pulled into a lot that was about a quarter full. It was still early in the morning. But since it was Sunday, I was certain other customers would be arriving soon.
We walked in, and the hostess seated us at a booth next to the window. The ocean was off in the distance and was completely beautiful. The early morning sun glinted off the white foam. Seagulls swooped for fish. A light breeze wafted through the palm leaves.
We both ordered eggs, toast, and hash browns. Marco got a large orange juice, and I got coffee. We made some small talk, catching up. We talked about the shop and the upcoming deliveries.
“I don’t know if you remember this,” he said, setting down his juice, “but on the first day we worked together at the bookstore, you spotted me a twenty.”
“I do remember.” I smiled. He’d been so adorable. I’d been enamored of him from the very beginning, the instant I’d seen him. It’d felt like the universe had opened up and dropped him into my life.
“It blew me away that you would do that. I’m pretty sure I made some dumb comment about not having enough money to buy a school sweatshirt, but now that I had a job at the bookstore, I could get it at a discount. At the end of our shift, you handed me the money. I tried to give it back to you, but you insisted I keep it. You said you wanted me to be able to wear the sweatshirt to the first football game, which every freshman went to dressed up in school spirit. In that moment, I fell for you.”
You did? freshman me was screaming.
“Those feelings overwhelmed me. They scared the absolute crap out of me. I’d never gone on a date before, and here I was dreaming about being with you.” He grinned. I was mesmerized. “You were completely out of my league. Beautiful, confident, generous, and obviously savvy. For you, it was no big deal to give me your money. For me, it was absolutely everything.” He took a bite of his hash browns, seeming to contemplate what he would say next.
I dipped my toast in an egg yolk, eager to hear whatever it was.
“My parents did the best they could when I was young, but we never had any money to spare. Some months, they barely scraped by, always living paycheck to paycheck. Growing up poor has been a constant driving force in my life. The need to break that cycle and succeed has always been at the forefront of my mind. When your parents each speak in a different accent and constantly struggle to put basic necessities on the table, it sets you apart. My lack of socialization and that feeling of otherness always made me self-conscious. Your act of selflessness triggered me to break out of my box even more. You set me on the path I’m on today, and I’m grateful for it. After that day at the bookstore, I wanted to impress you. I wanted you to like me. Most of all, I wanted to prove to you that I could succeed. That I could be the one who could give you a twenty if you needed it.”
He’d given me so much more. He’d invested in my dream to open a flower shop.
Tears gathered at the corners of my eyes. I’d had no idea that my gift back then had made such an impact. It was a little humbling to know that I’d affected somebody’s life so profoundly. “If I recollect correctly,” I said, “you repaid me at our next shift together. You were also wearing the sweatshirt. You looked cute in it.”
“I sold my sound system to my roommate so I could pay you back immediately.”
I gasped, pressing steepled fingers to my lips. “Oh no! Please tell me that’s not true. That’s not what I wanted at all. You could’ve paid me back at a much later date. I’m so sorry you felt pressure to repay me so quickly.”
“It was my choice.” He grabbed my hand across the table and brought it to his lips, kissing it. My entire body melted. “Like I said, I wanted to impress you. Needed to impress you. I wanted to validate your kindness by wearing the sweatshirt. In my sheltered mind, it was a way to tell you that I could support the woman I cared for. That I had means. And it worked. I missed my sound system, but I learned that I could easily live without it. Your act of kindness changed how I thought about my life at the very core. It shaped me for the better. Please don’t apologize.”
“I feel like I might’ve emasculated you, which was not my intent at all.”
“No. You taught me not to covet unnecessary things, to work hard, to set a goal and meet it. But”—he chuckled—“I continued to be intimidated by you. You were, and still are, so confident and full of life. It’s infectious. I knew you had feelings for me. Your flirting was the highlight of my life. I couldn’t believe you were interested in me. But the young, unseasoned, video-game-coding junkie in me was terrified. The pressure was too intense. So instead of acting on the chemistry between us, I requested to work at a different bookstore on campus, claiming that I couldn’t get to my classes on time. I didn’t know what to do with my feelings back then.” He flashed me a brilliant smile as he took a swig of his juice. “But I do now.”
I was pretty sure the core of my being blushed. “That’s good to know.”
My phone beeped with a text from Poppy.
omg! this place is incredible. i don’t want you to miss out.
A bunch of pictures followed.
I held up my phone so Marco could see.
The house was utterly gorgeous. Exactly how you’d think a megamansion would look. All the furniture was impeccable, the walls decorated in expensive-looking wallpaper, the artwork museum-worthy. I couldn’t imagine what all that cost. It was mind-blowing.
I texted back.
are you caressing the cabinets?
of course. i’m trying to do it on the sly, but i think kelly’s on to me. annabel keeps pulling me away. she’s such a party pooper.
I giggled.
“Poppy’s in her element,” Marco said as he finished the last of his eggs.
“She really is. She’ll remember this day for the rest of her life.”
