Chapter 43 - Mary
Mary
“Where do you want this one?”
I lift the unmarked box in Carmen’s direction, and she frowns slightly. She has been meticulous with jotting down what goes where, so it comes as a bit of a surprise that this one doesn’t have any writing on it. As soon as she spots the all-white box, she blushes and yanks it from my hands.
“I’ll take that.”
My eyebrows shoot up, but Cat just smirks from the other side of the room.
“The sex toys, huh?”
Carmen blushes even harder and marches out of the room, the box pressed tightly against her chest. I laugh and shake my head at my girlfriend, who grins deviously at me.
“What?” she asks, quasi-nonchalant.
“You know what,” I murmur as I cross the room and wrap my arms around her waist.
She cups my cheek, trails her fingertips along the back of my neck, and then pulls me in for a deep, slow kiss.
“Do I now?”
“Mm-hmm,” I hum against her lips, and she lets out a huffed laugh.
“Yeah, I suppose I do…”
“Get a freaking room,” Carmen grumbles as she walks out of the bedroom, her face now set like thunder.
“Ay, Carmelita,” Cat coos, “don’t get shy on us now.”
I chuckle again and playfully shove her shoulder.
“Stop it, baby. She is stressed enough already.”
“Am not!”
Cat and I both turn back to Carmen, our faces pulled into amused grins.
“Not really,” she relents. “It’s just… it’s...”
“It’s a lot,” I finish for her, and she nods.
I let go of Cat and put my hand on Carmen’s shoulder. Her face crumbles, and she bites her bottom lip. She shakes her head, trying to blink away the tears that are now brimming in her eyes.
“I know it’s stupid. I want this, I am so happy, I am…” The words tumble out of her.
Cat grows quiet and steps closer, too. She puts her hand on Carmen’s other shoulder.
“Hermana, you can be happy and still be overwhelmed. You are here in a new apartment that you are going to share with your novia, and that’s also a new experience. Of course, it is a lot.”
“I just love her so much, Cat.”
“We know. That is why you are feeling so much right now. The stakes are high.”
“What if she gets tired of me? You know I am a lot. What if she hates that I’m so energetic in the morning—”
Cat lets out a soft groan, and Carmen rolls her eyes, instantly pulling away from us.
“Perdóname,” Cat says quickly and tightens her grip. “Listen, Car, there will be things you run into that you don’t like. Maybe she hangs the toilet paper the wrong way, or she clips her toenails in bed—”
“Ew,” Carmen and I gasp at the same time, and she chuckles.
“All I’m saying is that you will figure it out. You will talk about it, and you’ll find a rhythm that suits you both.”
“Is that what you two did?”
She looks at me hopefully, and I shrug.
“I guess so, now that we are looking back on it. Cat hates it when I forget to take breaks when I’m writing, so I had to set alarms to calm her nervous system.”
Carmen huffs.
“That’s so you. Cat’s right, though.”
“Hmm, I am. Just as Mary was right that I needed to tell her when a shift was rough.”
“Duh, you didn’t? Cat, how is she supposed to know?”
“Right?” I exclaim, and Carmen nods hard.
Cat rolls her eyes, but she smiles. She squeezes Carmen’s shoulder and gives her a brief wink just as the door swings open and laughter fills the hallway. Carmen quickly wipes at her eyes and gives us a toothy grin as we continue unpacking the boxes in front of us.
“But how did you get licensed here, then? That must have been a whole hassle.” Isa’s eyes are trained on Celeste while she takes a big bite out of her slice of pizza.
“Well, I was lucky enough to be part of an exchange program between the EANS and AANS, and then I did part of my fellowship here. That was my way in. It set me back two years, but it was nothing too bad in the grand scheme of things.”
“Did you always plan to work in the States?”
Celeste smirks and shakes her head.
“No. If it weren’t for Riley…”
“You moved for Riley?” Carmen gasps and instantly gets shoved by Isa.
“Is that so hard to believe?” Riley snaps back, but her eyes crinkle with amusement.
“No, no… I mean, it is just a big decision.”
“Well, Carmen.” Celeste smiles slowly as she bores her eyes into Carmen’s brown ones. “If you know, you know. Doubt has no role. If it pops up, show it the door. Otherwise, it will just whisper falsehoods into your ear.”
“Falsehoods?”
Carmen has never sounded so small before, and Isa cocks her head. There is a glint of worry in her eyes. She stretches her fingers, and Carmen seamlessly interlaces them without thinking, making her visibly relax.
“Yes,” Riley replies before Celeste can, blissfully unaware of the little moment that is taking place. “When Celeste and I first met, I was scared to be myself around her. People knew me for being funny and upbeat all the time.” She smiles.
Carmen winces a little but nods regardless.
“But Celeste saw right through that, didn’t you, babe?”
“Hm, nobody is happy all the time.”
“That’s what you said.” Riley grins and places a kiss at the corner of her wife’s mouth. “That, and that I shouldn’t worry that you would disappear if you saw the real me.”
“And I didn’t. I like the real you.”
Celeste wraps her arms possessively around Riley’s waist and pulls her a little closer, a gesture that we haven’t really seen yet.
I smirk when Cat copies the mood by putting her hand against the back of my neck, and I lean into the touch, too.
Carmen just nods and puts her head on Isa’s shoulder.
Isa places a soft kiss against her temple and whispers something softly into her ear. Carmen flushes and nods.
“If you don’t mind, we are really tired from the past few days and we’d like to unwind for the day,” Isa says, and we all grin.
“We’ll be out of your hair,” I hum and move to stand.
“No, no, you don’t have to lea—” Carmen starts, but Riley cuts her off.
“Yeah, we do. Not everyone has the luxury of sleeping in tomorrow.”
Carmen doesn’t fight it, the energy in her sputtering out.
She is drained. For the past few days, she has worked only double shifts so that she could have a long moving weekend with Isa.
They spent the whole day cleaning and painting yesterday, meaning they had to miss my reading, and then started moving their stuff at six this morning.
Now she just looks like she is about to cry or crash, and neither is a good option.
I kiss Isa and Carmen on the cheek and slide into the coat Cat is holding open for me. Her fingers brush my shoulder before they find my hand. I glance at Carmen one more time and wish I could cradle her until she falls asleep. The rest will make her feel better. I know it will.
Isa catches my eye, smiles softly at me, and nods.
She’ll be okay. It will all be okay. She has Isa to look after her now, who does so with the care and patience that Carmen deserves.
I smile back at her, feeling her warmth was over me.
She might be quiet, but she holds us all in a way that no one else can, in a way that is both tender and caring.
Her love for is palpable, shown in actions rather than words.
And I am grateful that she is part of my family now.
***
06:04 a.m. – The Sixers - Carmen
OH EM GEE!!! I’m sorry to wake you this early… but have y’all seen this?
06:05 a.m. – The Sixers - Carmen
Sent a video
06:05 a.m. – The Sixers - Riley
Is that Bobby Blackwood?
06:06 a.m. – The Sixers - Carmen
YESSSSS!!!!
06:09 a.m. – The Sixers - Riley
HOLY SHIT!! HOLY SHIT!! HOLY SHIT!!
06:09 a.m. – The Sixers - Riley
We just watched it. This is amazing! @Mary have you seen it?
06:15 a.m. – The Sixers – Cat
Mary’s still asleep.
06:15 a.m. – The Sixers – Isa
You might want to wake her up for this.
06:15 a.m. – The Sixers – Carmen
Wake her! Trust me!
06:15 a.m. – The Sixers – Riley
I think she’d want to see this.
I groan groggily when Cat shows me the messages, and I rub the sleep from my eyes. It isn’t even six thirty, and she kept me up well into the night, but somehow the Sixers convinced her that my rest is less important than this video. I frown and look up at her, but she just shrugs.
“I haven’t seen it yet.”
“Ugh, so you don’t even know if it is wo—”
I freeze as she turns the phone toward me again, the video pulled up.
“Isn’t that the kid from the bookstore?” she asks before she bites down on her lip.
I nod and grab the phone from her with trembling fingers. On the screen is the goth kid with a big wall of books behind him. The video was posted late last night but already has over nine thousand likes and six hundred comments.
“It is,” I reply, a little stunned. “But how would they know? They weren’t…”
“Let’s see, amor.”
Cat presses play before I can object, before I can turn this into something big or scramble back and say it’s probably nothing.
She slides next to me under the covers as she holds out the device so we can both see it.
I curl up against her automatically, and her free arm comes around me to pull me into her as the boy starts talking.
“Hi, fam, another day, another blessing. Today, I was invited to a book reading by an unknown-to-me author. Their contact at the publishing house knows me very well, and she said this was definitely one to keep an eye on. And let me tell you guys… she was right! Just watch this.”
I suck in a sharp breath as my image appears on the screen.
I am reading the part where Paidi is all alone, and her three guides come to speak to her as spirits for the first time.
It is only a few sentences, but he happened to pick out the strongest ones.
The hair on my neck prickles, and my mouth drops open.
“This is only a small bit, but, guys, she freaking slam dunked that reading. Let me tell you… this author… she is so bright, so honest, so sincere. I haven’t seen anything like that in a long time.
So, let me tell you what my friend told me…
Mary van Achthoven—sorry if I said your name wrong, babes—is an author you want to keep your eye on. ”
He grins as he looks directly at the camera, almost as if he knew I would see it. And again, I feel that connection, that intensity. He did see me.
“And even better, fam… her book Child of Snow comes out this fall, and you can pre-order it now. Just click the link below or check my bio. And just to be clear, I have not been paid or rewarded in any way, shape, or form for creating this video. Everything I said reflects my personal opinion. Mary, we’ll talk soon. ”
He winks and salutes.
“Bobby Blackwood out.”
Cat and I sit in silence for a while as the screen goes black. Then she slowly turns toward me and lets out a soft huff.
“Well… that’s… something.”
Right on cue, her phone chimes, and I instantly reach for mine when I see the incoming message.
06:28 a.m. – The Sixers – Carmen
Did she see!?
The screen flickers on, and my eyes go even wider. My palms instantly become so sweaty that the phone nearly drops from my hands. Cat raises a questioning eyebrow, and I turn the screen toward her.
1,459 new followers
2,100 new comments
591 new shares
389 new message requests
The air around me feels thin, and I grasp at the sheets while I try to catch a full breath. Catherine immediately pulls me against her chest and puts the phone out of reach. Her arms come around me, and she presses her lips against my temple.
“Slow down, baby,” she hums against my skin. “You got this. They’re just numbers, and you are no longer doing this alone. We’ll get out of bed. You’ll take a shower while I make coffee and breakfast, and then we’ll call your agent.”
She kisses me again and then squeezes me a little.
“Oh, Maria… it’s starting, amor. Este es tu momento.”