Page 75 of Opened Up

He hadn’t seen that she was fading slowly in this cave of a house. What else had he missed? He walked over to her and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m sorry, Mamá. Sorry I didn’t think to do this sooner.”

“Now, now, none of that. You have taken very good care of me and this house. And be honest, there’s no way you ever pictured this room looking like this. You see four sturdy walls and windows that keep out the wind. And for that I am truly grateful. Just as I am grateful to Sofia for lending her vision to us for a little while. Oh, and this couch!” And she was off, investigating the other details she had yet to coo over.

Adrian walked through to the kitchen and found two letters and a bottle of wine on the table. He ran the one with his name on it through his fingers while he remembered the last time Sofia had brought a bottle of wine to his house. What had she written? Would she laugh and tease? Or flirt and tempt him to take her back? Would she apologize for not supporting him and ask for a second chance? After all, redoing his living room was a pretty big olive branch… Unable to take the suspense anymore, he tore open the letter.

Adrian-

Here are the receipts.

I hope she likes it.

-S

That was it?His annoyance rose. Not even a “How are you”? Or an “I’m sorry”? He looked at the receipts she’d so helpfully provided and saw that she had indeed kept it under his budget. She also hadn’t charged a dime for her services or labor. She’d truly done this out of the goodness of her heart because she’d told his mother she would. No self-interest. No profit. This image of Sofia clashed with the one he’d constructed in his mind of her scheming to scuttle his proposal. Which was the real Sofia?

He brought the letter with his mom’s name on it to her in the living room, and she squealed a little as she opened it. When he tried to read it over her shoulder, she tucked the paper against her chest and shooed him away. He only caught a glimpse, but it was enough to see line after line of Sofia’s flowing script.

“If you are so anxious to hear what she says, why haven’t you brought her back over to the house? Why isn’t she here today?”

“We kind of broke up.” Had they ever really been together?

“How do youkind ofbreak up? You said something stupid, didn’t you?”

“No! She sided against me when I brought my proposal to Dom.”

“What exactly did she say?”

“Dom said she couldn’t see how it would work.” His mother gave him that look she’d always given him when he’d said something dumb. It was just as effective at hunching his shoulders now as it had been at fifteen. “What?”

“I didn’t ask what Dom said. I asked what Sofia said.”

“She wouldn’t give me a straight answer. She just kept asking questions and shooting it down. What about Enzo and Frankie? What about her? Who would be the boss of who?”

Graciela sat in her chair and shook her head at him. Adrian perched on the armrest next to her, resenting the comfort Sofia had dropped into his life and then taken away.

“What? What is that look for?”

“Ay, mijo, she asked logical questions about how this deal would work, which I assume you couldn’t answer.”

“She didn’t give me a chance to figure out the answers.”

“If you didn’t know the answers, your proposal wasn’t very strong, was it? Don’t interrupt.” He clamped his mouth closed, the counterpoint dying on his tongue as his mother continued to school him. “She asked me hundreds of questions about the living room and how I use it. I hadn’t ever thought of the answers to most of them before. But she took those answers and gave me an amazing space in return.” She reached both hands up to hold his face and tilted it so he would have to look into her eyes. It was the same thing she had done to him when he was a little boy and she wanted him to pay attention. “She asked you smart questions, and you decided she didn’t support you? She shook her head and patted his cheek, clearly conveying her disappointment in his logic. “What is wrong with questions? Is she supposed to read your mind?”

Adrian felt like he’d just been smacked in the face with a shovel. True, Dom had been the one to say no, but Sofia hadn’t argued. She’d thrown more questions at him. He’d thought she would be on his side, but she’d only added fuel to Frankie’s fire. True, they were the same questions he’d been trying to get Dom to answer for months now. Had she really just been trying to gather information, not shooting his plans down? Damn it. In light of what his mother said, he realized it was true. Sofia’s questions were often abrupt and rapid-fire, but he couldn’t say they were unreasonable. As he’d seen over and over when she was on the phone with a new supplier or subcontractor, her questions often got them exactly what they needed.

He’d thought they were building toward a future, but when she’d asked questions about what that future would look like, he’d felt attacked and bailed. Had he really expected her to behave differently, to change her personality, just for him? He really was an idiot. His heart clenched at the thought that he’d spent over a month angry with her for his own stupidity.

She didn’t owe him an apology. She didn’t owe him anything. He’d let his pride and temper get in the way of his logic, and he’d blown his chance with her for good. With no chance at winning the girl, and even less at winning the company, he needed to figure out a new plan. Whether that meant accepting his lot at Valenti Brothers or working for someone else, he couldn’t say. He’d signed those damn contracts, so he was locked into the show for at least a season, but he needed to get his head on straight so that he was ready when the next opportunity presented itself. He’d spoken to a few companies based up in Oakland that seemed promising, even if he’d be starting at a lower level and working his way up again. If they called, he’d seriously consider leaving, because it would hurt too much to stay. For now, he’d stay and support the show. It was the least he could do to make amends. She deserved to see her dreams succeed.

When the dust settled, his reputation would get him through the door somewhere else. It would mean moving his mother from her home, but that might be for the best anyway. He’d have to figure out what this all meant to his crew, too. Their livelihoods were tied to his own, and he hated letting them down. He hadn’t honestly thought about what would happen if Dom said no. Dread and disappointment roiled in his gut.

But if he left, Sofia wouldn’t be the boss’s daughter anymore.

That silver lining popped into his head and stopped his anxiety cold. After everything that had happened, after all that had been said, he still wanted her. He spent embarrassingly large portions of his day wondering where she was and what she was doing, wishing he was still welcome to be by her side. He kept a running list of things he wanted to tell her, if only he was speaking to her. Maybe leaving Valenti Brothers wasn’t such a bad thing. Maybe he could have it all. Maybe, like this living room, his dream wasn’t broken, but it could be better. He’d have to think on that.

“Adrian.” His mother snapped her fingers in front of his face.

“What?”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com