Chapter 7 #3
She sat down on one of the benches under one of the orange trees lining the piazza.
Breathing in, she closed her eyes, thinking of her mom.
Pamela had been the alpha and omega of family to her, aside from a grandmother whom she knew only briefly before she passed away too.
They were two peas in a pod, their own fierce battalion, a mini team of major leaguers.
No matter what happened, each pulled her weight to help the other shine.
If Pam had to work late, Lora stopped to buy groceries on the way home from school and left a plate of whatever dinner she’d cobbled together in the fridge for her mother.
When Lora needed a dress for homecoming, Pam took double shifts and added a morning job cleaning boats down in Jupiter.
There was no room for anyone else. Pam didn’t date much, and the rare time that Ivo came up in conversation, she would tell Lora that things hadn’t worked out.
They were too far apart, she’d said, and not every man was meant to have a family.
She didn’t exactly say that he was a bad guy—she implied that he wasn’t the guy.
Pam was enough to fill in for whatever Lora could have been missing.
In fact, Lora never thought she missed anyone—grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins—because how could she?
What did she know about family meals at holidays, birthday cards with cash tucked inside from ancient aunts, running through sprinklers with a bunch of cousins at a barbecue?
You couldn’t miss what you never had. But this was evidence that she did have it. She just hadn’t been aware until now.
“Hey, Mami, I was hoping I’d catch you.” Vilmari marched over, still wearing a Lululemon athleisure set, her hair pulled into a ponytail through a pink New York Yankees baseball cap.
“I thought you were with Nico.”
“I was. Listen, I have a slight issue,” she said, sitting next to Lora on the bench.
“The president of Mexico has finally confirmed when she will make her official visit to the UN. While she’s in New York, she’s doing a press conference with a select group of journalists and guess what! I’m a select journalist!”
“That’s amazing! I’m so happy for you! When is it happening?”
“Thank you! Well, that’s the slight issue,” Vilmari said, sitting on the bench next to Lora. “It’s happening Thursday.”
“This Thursday? Today is Tuesday.”
“I know I was supposed to be here for another week, but you know that this means everything to me,” Vilmari said.
“And the weird thing is, I’m having a great time here!
And this has been a little challenging, but the food is fantastic and everyone is so nice.
Plus, Nico is honestly the sexiest man I’ve been in the same room with in about a decade, and, well—I really wanted to be here for you.
But will you forgive me if I leave tomorrow morning?
” she asked, drawing her eyebrows up as far as they could go.
“Of course I will.” Lora smiled, pulling Vilmari into a hug. “I’m not upset! But I would be if you missed this chance!”
“Oh my god, thank you,” Vilmari said, hugging her back. “I was so worried you would think I was abandoning you.”
“Never.”
“I can help you with the document search this afternoon, though! And I know we have to turn the rental car in, but we can extend it if you want to. I just have to switch my flight and I’ll be free for the rest of the night!”
“Well, it turns out that’s unnecessary,” Lora said with a grin. She slid the folder out of her bag and opened it to reveal the birth certificate.
“No way!”
“Yes!”
“Ah! ?Qué alivio! That’s great news too! Now you can really get things going!”
“I know! It’s finally happening!” Lora smiled but felt something heavy settle down in her chest like a stone sinking to the bottom of a pool.
She’d be here alone now, trying to make this work.
All that was left was her family, but there was no one here for her but ghosts.
She looked down, feeling tears well. “I had grandparents.”
“Oh.” Vilmari grabbed her hand and began rubbing the back of it.
“I’m OK,” Lora said quickly. She smiled and squeezed her hand, determined to show Vilmari that she was going to be fine. And she would be. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it. How silly of me. Of course Ivo had parents. I should have expected it.”
“I don’t think you could have expected any of this. It’s OK to feel emotional!”
“I don’t know why I am like this lately. It’s not me.”
“You know something?” She brushed Lora’s bangs out of her eyes.
“It’s OK not to know. Sometimes it’s good to not have expectations, because the second you do, the world has a way of showing you it’s a waste of time.
Believe me and the money I’ve spent on a pico laser to remove ‘Enrique Forever’ from my right butt cheek. ”
“That’s an excellent point.” Lora laughed as she wiped under her eyes. “It’s a good thing no one is going to see your ass for a while.”
“Oh, it’s no problem. I just have to stay on my back,” she said, giggling.
“I’m so proud of you. You’re brilliant and accomplished and also a total fox, let’s be real.
And you are going to be all of those amazing things no matter where you go or what you do.
I know that this postdoc is so important to you, so I want you to have it.
But on the off chance—and I mean off off chance—that Zurich can’t happen or something goes sideways, you can come back to New York and we will figure it out. You hear me?”
Lora nodded. “I hear you,” she said, but knew that if she ended up back in New York, it would be because she failed somewhere along the way. And even if she had no expectations, there was nothing in her that was ready for defeat.