36. Marisol
Marisol
T here was a delicious ache between her thighs after a full day of sex. When they weren’t cuddling or watching a movie, they were finding new ways to draw out pleasure. Naturally, Cisco excelled in every way. If she hadn’t been in love before, yesterday cemented her feelings for him.
He had come clean about his past. A past he was unjustly accused of and worked his ass off to break free from.
She had never had anyone betray her in the way his roommate betrayed him—though, arguably, her mother was just as bad.
Still, she knew what it was like to be perceived as something you weren’t.
She couldn’t imagine the darkness Cisco had to face.
But he did face it and came out stronger on the other side.
It was inspiring because it made Marisol feel she was capable of that too.
If it were up to her, she’d stay in bed all day.
But earlier this morning, she got a text from Stella asking if she and the others could come over to finalize the plans for the fundraiser.
After everything that happened these last few days, the pet fundraiser was the furthest thing from her mind.
But it was quickly approaching, and she wanted to make it a successful event for the shelter.
With so much still left to plan, she would need every spare second to pull this off.
When she told Cisco, he said he needed to go into work today to make up for the clients he had to cancel. He promised to come back after work, though, and confirmed he’d tattoo at the fundraiser. After a quick shower and breakfast, Cisco left Marisol to get her house ready for her visitors.
This would be the first time she was hosting friends at her house.
It both excited her and made her want to throw up.
If she had more notice, she would have hired someone to make them snacks, but all she had was a random assortment of cheeses and nuts, so that would have to do.
She put out a charcuterie board, bottled water, and wine with glasses on her coffee table in the living room.
Just in time too, because there was a loud knock at the door. Snowball, who had been playing with a stuffed mouse toy, looked up as if asking, “Are you going to get that?” With one final look around her house, she took a deep breath and went to answer the door.
Stella was the first person she saw, offering her a big smile.
In her arms was a casserole dish with what appeared to be spinach artichoke dip.
Next to her was her husband, Blaine, holding a bag of tortilla chips.
“Hi! Thank you so much for letting us crash your house today,” Stella said, moving to give Marisol a one-handed hug, carefully balancing the dip between them.
“I’m happy to.” She surprised herself because she actually meant it. She really liked Stella and the other volunteers.
Antonio and Paul hugged her next, both carrying packages of cookies. “This condo is insane. In a good way.” Antonio looked around with wide eyes. “I need a tour ASAP.”
“Careful. If he loves the house too much, he’s going to move in with you,” Paul whispered conspiratorially. His gaze lingered around the room, falling on Snowball, still playing with her toy. “In the meantime, I’m going to stare at your cat until she loves me.”
Izzy was the last to enter. She was in another fantastical, pale-yellow dress that reminded her of a summer fairy, with her hair braided down her back. “Marisol, I’m so happy to see you again.” The woman leaned in for a hug. “You have a beautiful home.”
“Thank you.” Marisol’s cheeks hurt from smiling. If this was the price for friendship, it was one she was happy to pay. “Please come in. I have some finger foods out to graze on. Can I get you something to drink?”
“A water, beautiful. Thank you.” Izzy rubbed her shoulder and made her way inside.
The others had already made themselves at home by gathering around the coffee table.
Someone had found—or brought—paper plates and started to pass them out.
Blaine started scooping spinach artichoke dip on everyone’s plates.
Paul called for Antonio, who was missing.
A moment later, Antonio popped out from the hallway, holding a sequined dress he must have dug up from the bowels of Marisol’s closet.
“Please tell me you didn’t just break into Marisol’s closet and steal her dress,” Paul groaned.
“Okay, I didn’t do that,” Antonio said, ignoring his partner as he looked at Marisol. “This is fucking stunning. Please tell me you wore it out to a club and brought home a silver fox.”
“Antonio,” the others chastised in unison, doing nothing to rein Antonio in. She had a feeling Antonio did this often .
“I’ve never been to a club,” Marisol admitted. “But I did wear it once at a mixer. Does that count? And I didn’t take home a silver fox, but I was given wine.”
“Wine is probably better than a man.” He shrugged. “Anyway, it’s gorgeous, and I think we need to go partying in it. You have a man, right?”
“She does, remember?” Stella piped up. “And he’s hot.”
“It’s true. You should see his pictures,” Blaine said.
“He has a public Facebook and Instagram, so that makes it not creepy,” Stella said, earning a nod of agreement from Izzy.
“Wait, I want to see this hot boyfriend,” Antonio said. “Someone show me this hot boyfriend. Paul, did you know she has a hot boyfriend?”
“Babe, how the fuck would I know she has a hot boyfriend?” Paul deadpanned. “Marisol is hot, so I guess it makes sense she has a hot boyfriend.”
“Anyway,” Izzy said before Antonio or anyone else could respond. “Maybe let’s not talk about Marisol’s hot boyfriend, and let’s talk about the fundraiser coming up in a few short weeks. You know, the whole reason we are here.”
Despite the chaos, Marisol found she loved it.
She loved their big personalities and the fact that they genuinely seemed interested in her and her life.
She made a mental note to make an effort to see them more outside the animal shelter and fundraising efforts.
She took a seat in her oversized chair. Snowball immediately jumped up to rest on her lap, so she began to scratch her between her ears.
Antonio disappeared again but came out moments later to sit next to Paul. Blaine was in the other oversized chair with Stella cuddled up against him. Izzy sat on the floor, next to the fireplace, despite there being more room on the couch.
“Don’t forget to get some food, Marisol,” Izzy said. “The spinach dip is the only thing Blaine knows how to make, but it’s damn good.”
“Oh, yeah, you have to try it,” Antonio agreed. “I’ll make you a plate.”
Before she had the chance to answer, Antonio snatched her plate before loading it up with food and handing it back to her. She had to admit it smelled good, and her first bite confirmed it was just as good as it smelled. She didn’t even like spinach much, but it was so creamy and delicious.
“So,” she said between bites, “I have some vendors I’m reaching out to soon. The only thing is that they will need to set up the night before so the day of the fundraiser, they’ll be ready to go.”
“Not a problem,” Stella said. “I can close the shelter early that day for the vendors to set up outside. At the very least, I can mark off some of the parking lot for them.”
“And I can be there to direct them where they need to go as long as we have an idea,” Blaine says.
Marisol nodded. She had a rough sketch of where everything could go, and it would be finalized once she got confirmation from the vendors, but Stella and the others knew the layout best. Reaching for the phone and remote, she turned the TV on and displayed her photos on the screen, opening up the sketch she made.
“Fancy,” she heard Paul murmur appreciatively.
The TV showed a rough sketch of the parking lot and the shelter.
Each area was mapped out and labeled. “Here’s what I think I’ll be able to get us,” she said as a sliver of self-doubt wormed its way through her.
What if it wasn’t enough? What if they didn’t like it?
Those thoughts only threatened to silence her, so she did her best to push them aside.
“Cisco has agreed to offer a variety of tattoos. All proceeds will go to the shelter. I put him toward the back because I see his booth being popular. That way people will have to walk through everything else before they find him. Might inspire them to try other booths.”
“So smart.” Stella nodded. “Think he’ll tattoo me?”
“I don’t see why not.” Marisol smiled. “He’s only offering a select number of designs, though.”
“Doesn’t matter. I just love tattoos.” She shrugged.
“We also have my dad’s booth,” Marisol went on. With everything that transpired, she hoped her father was still good on his word. She hadn’t heard otherwise. “He’s offering a variety of wines at a discounted price.
“I have a few others lined up for adults. Candles. Kitchen stuff. And a booth for personalized cups. Some pet-friendly booths too, as well as boutique pet supplies. I think they’ll agree to go fifty-fifty on proceeds,” Marisol said. “But let’s talk about what we have set up for kids.”
Surprisingly, she had many contacts for kids and knew several she could definitely count on.
She met a face painter through a friend of a friend and remembered they also owned an inflatable company.
She knew she could get him to agree to donate a few inflatables for the kids to play on.
Marisol showed them where they were on the map, double-checking with everyone that there would be enough space.
“And, finally, I’ll arrange a few food trucks. They’ll agree, but I know they’ll ask for a sixty-forty split. So we’d get forty percent of the proceeds, which is still not bad,” she said.
Paul nodded. “That’s not bad at all. Especially since we aren’t paying a damn thing. Honestly, Marisol, this is pretty amazing.”
“I agree with Paul. You totally killed this.” Antonio reached over to pat her leg. “You’re amazing.” He winked .
Marisol felt her cheeks flush, touched by his words.
“It all looks amazing,” Izzy agreed. “But what do you guys think about having a fenced-off area in the middle with some of our dogs out for people to view? We can offer discounted adoption fees and potentially find homes for our dogs.”
“What about our cats?” Stella asked. “I guess we could do another fenced-off area. Have one of us or another volunteer man it. This would give our animals visibility,” she said, thinking out loud.
“Do you think we will have room to do that, Marisol?” Blaine asked.
All eyes turned to her. A few months ago, she wouldn’t have loved the pressure of people relying on her, but now she saw it as trust and a gift. That was something she could appreciate.
“We do have some room in the middle for that. I think it’s smart to show off the pets people could adopt. It’s the perfect opportunity,” Marisol agreed. She made an X on the picture where she thought it could go. “How do you all feel about putting it here? It’s pretty much dead center.”
“I think that’s wonderful,” Stella said, her voice heavy with…emotion? When Stella met Marisol’s gaze, she could see the tears filling her eyes. “Nothing like this has ever been done here before. This is going to help out the shelter so much. I—we—can’t thank you enough. This is amazing.”
Marisol had done a lot of crying over the last few days, and apparently that was her new normal. Her own eyes grew misty, and before she knew it, she was crying alongside Stella.
“Come here.” Stella got off the chair and came over to embrace Marisol tightly.
Another set of arms wrapped around them, and Marisol looked up to see Izzy joining in on the hug, soon followed by Antonio. “This is so cute, I could throw up.” He smiled.
“And now it’s ruined,” Izzy said, playfully shoving Antonio off.
Stella hugged Marisol for another few seconds before finally letting her go. She wiped her eyes as she headed back over to perch on her husband’s lap. “I guess we should discuss who will be willing to help guide us on setup.”
“I’m in,” Blaine said immediately.
“I’ll most likely be working a shift, but I think Paul can help,” Antonio said. Paul nodded in agreement.
“I can also help. It would be nice to have more manpower though,” Izzy said, pausing. Then, as if the thought just occurred to her, she turned to Marisol. “Do you think Cisco could help? And if anyone else knows any other muscles, that will be helpful.”
“I can ask.” Marisol didn’t know his schedule but definitely would find out.
“My sister could also help,” Antonio said. “She’s usually free.”
“Good. I think that’s all we’ll need. Marisol, you’ll be there to lead the setup?” Stella asked.
“Of course. I planned on being there all day,” she said.
“If this is a success, which I think it will be, we will definitely ask you to do it every year.” Izzy giggled. “Is it weird that I’m so excited for this?”
“Not at all! I’m pumped. It’s going to be so fun.” Antonio beamed. “This will be so good for the shelter, and if this goes well, we can make it an even bigger ordeal next year.”
“I say we celebrate,” Paul pushed himself forward on the couch to reach for the wine, “and toast to this.” He began to pour glasses of wine, handing them out to everyone .
“To us, but specifically Marisol, for putting this all together,” Stella said, raising her glass.
“Oh, you don’t have to?—”
She was immediately cut off by everyone clinking glasses and toasting. “To Marisol!” they said in unison.
It was a beautiful and humbling experience to watch friendships blossom for her. The very first friendships she cultivated herself.
She never thought she’d experience these feelings. Pride. Friendship. Love. It all made her feel like every hard decision she made over the past few years was worth it.
That she was worth it.