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At least now I could openly talk to my friend rather than choosing each word carefully for fear of it getting back to the dean.
“Oh, don’t mind her,” Barbie waved a dismissive hand. “She’s always cranky. I need more details about Teddy.”
“We’re old friends, and that’s all it’ll be. You know how important this job is to me, and I will do nothing to jeopardize that. So dating is off the table.” As soon as those words left my mouth, I regretted them. Spending a little time with Teddy the other day at the coffee shop made me long for male companionship. It’d been some time since I’d dated or had a steady boyfriend.
If I read his body cues right, he didn’t act like a bothersome overprotective brother anymore. The way his eyes roamed my body, and stared into mine, I dared think there might be a connection there, something greater at work between us. The sad thing was, I had to ignore these signs between us. I didn’t want to though, and it was proving my biggest challenge.
“All I’m saying is, your eggs aren’t getting any younger,” Barbie joked, wiggling her eyebrows, and encouraging me to pursue Teddy. Her lips puckered into a kiss before she popped another bite of potato off her fork.
When my phone buzzed with a text, eyeing Mama’s name on the notifications, I groaned. “Looks like I’ll be stopping at the grocery store after work for about twenty items on Mama’s list she forgot.”
“Oh, tell her hi from me. I need to accompany you to one of your Sunday family dinners soon for my food fix.” Barbie and my mother always had a close friendship. I wondered what it’d be like to be friends with Mama instead of a dutiful daughter?
The rest of the day went by in a blur. During class, my eyes kept landing on him as I lectured. There were twenty-nine other students I could have made eye contact with, but no. This wasn’t a good sign of how strong my willpower was.
After class, when I told Teddy I would tutor him, we exchanged phone numbers quickly so we could communicate with the times and locations. Now the bright yellow sticky note with his ten digits scrawled in black ink was like a beacon calling me to reach out and talk to him some more. I placed it just inside of my writing journal to keep it safe.
Why did I choose to put it in there versus my work planner? Or my lesson planning book? Or pretty much anywhere other than the one place that was closest to my heart?
I wanted to make a journal entry for today, anyway. So, I grabbed the journal, chose a purple pen from my writing desk, and curled up under the covers in bed to write.
The things at the forefront of my mind weren’t the normal topics of work and family and the pressures of life. No, for today all those pressures seemed to have disappeared and the only thoughts that poured out of my head and onto the white-lined paper were of Teddy.
Things that we did when we were younger with my brothers, or the way he made me laugh at the coffee shop the other day. I also created a list of all the things I wanted to ask him from the years we were apart, that we didn’t touch on at our brief catch-up coffee time.
I thought I knew Teddy pretty well when we were kids, but who was Theodore Delfino now? He’d lived an entirely different life, all around the world, apart from me. There was so much more to him. I could probably sit and talk with him for a constant year and would still not learn even half of what he’d been through.
My journal fell open as I laid it on my bed, and the page with the bright yellow sticky note beckoned me. Then my eyes drifted to my phone, contemplating whether I should or shouldn’t pick up the phone and contact him. I already knew what the answer was—of course I shouldn’t.
Yet, my hands and fingers held a mind of their own when they tapped his number into the text message screen, adding a brief note of instructions for our tutoring session in the library.
Mia: Reminder—Tutoring tomorrow in the library directly after class.
Teddy: Looking forward to it.
Mia: Really? You actually look forward to studying English?
Not even five seconds after I sent the text, my phone vibrated with an incoming call. My heart jumped. Teddy appeared in large letters flashing on the screen. I hovered my finger another five seconds over the green button before answering the call.
“Hello,” I answered, attempting to hide my excited tone.
“Hey Mia,” he replied, and the timber of his voice was like a warm Sopapilla with honey dripped on it for my soul. “What are you doing tonight?”
I quickly peered around my room to see if I should go with the truth, or make up some story about having a very busy schedule and needing to make sure he was on time tomorrow for tutoring.
“Just sitting in bed, writing a little.” Honesty was the best policy.
“You always were writing stuff down in a journal or reading a book. Hey, did you ever finish and publish the book you were always talking about writing?”
I sunk back into the pillows and covered myself with my fluffy down comforter. “No, unfortunately, I never did. I gave up on the silly dream a while back. It’s a waste of time.”
“Mia,” he coaxed, like he was talking to a skittish animal. “You should never give up on your dreams. Sometimes it may take longer to accomplish, but never give up. Promise me you won’t stop until you publish it.” He was practically begging me, and I didn’t know why it mattered to him so much. “Please, promise, Mia.”
“Okay. I promise.” I heard him sigh, and some rustling around like he was getting comfortable as well. “Enough about me. Tell me something I’ve missed about you over these years.”
“Let’s see. What do you want to know?”
“Since you’ve traveled to every country in the world…Who truly has the best food?”
