Star Bright (13 page)

He leaned closer, a wide
grin on his face, “Are you asking me out?” He felt disturbed when
her face faded out again. He leaned back and picked up his fork,
“because my manhood would really be in jeopardy if you made the
first move.” He put some mashed potatoes in his mouth.

Maria laughed, “Oh
please! Times have changed, and that notion is very ancient.” she
took the napkin and wiped the sauce from Elizabeth’s hands and
face, and then she raised the glass of water to her tiny lips. She
smiled, watching her tiny lips sip in the water.

“
Times may
have changed, but some things should stay the same.” he watched
Paula and Elizabeth under his eyelashes. He didn’t want Paula to
retreat to her shell that she constantly seeks refuge in, but he
was pleased that it had been easy for him to pull her out of
it.

“
While you
still live under that rock, women ask men out, and they even
propose marriage. There is nothing left exclusive to men
anymore.”

“
Tradition
cast aside all in the name of equality between men and women.” he
lamented jokingly as he picked up Michael’s and Julie’s empty
plates and placed them in the middle of the table.

“
You are such
a chauvinist, is your male ego that big? That’s probably why your
wife left you.” Maria wished she could take the last words back
immediately, she saw the change in his expression. His fingers
tightened around his fork, his jaw tightened, a rage quietly
simmering inside him. It scared her to the point she held Elizabeth
closer to her.

“
Mama what’s
wrong?” Michael asked concerned. He stood up and went to her, he
had been distracted by his conversation with Julie and hadn’t
noticed the change in Dave, but he noticed the change in his
mother. No matter what he was up to, he always had a keen eye on
his mother.

Dave looked up
and met her scared eyes, and Miguel’s guarding stance next to her,
but what unsettled him more was the grip she had on
Elizabeth.
She looks scared of me?
Dave wondered as he watched the fear dance on her
face. But he hadn’t done a thing, he hadn’t even responded to her
accusation, was it his reaction that scared her?

Maria forced a smile,
pulling her eyes away from Dave and settling them on Michael. She
felt like she could breathe, now that his expression had smoothed
over, but she was still nervous, “Nothing, help me take the plates
to the kitchen and you guys should wash your hands. Julie lets go.”
she stood up with Elizabeth still held tightly against her and she
rushed into the kitchen, praying not to trip over her trembling
feet.

Dave stood up to go after
her, but he was stopped by Todd’s annoying smiling face, “What do
you want?” he asked bleakly, staring after Paula.

“
Do you want
to give your wife ammunition to sue for more money? What are you
doing here with that waitress, having lunch like some big happy
family?”

“
What do you
want Todd?”

Todd shrunk at his harsh
gaze, “Your divorce is in, and you’ll be a free man in three
weeks.”

“
Is that all?”
He asked impatiently. He wanted to go talk to Paula, he didn’t like
the fact she seemed scared of him. He wondered what happened to
her, to make her so nervy.

“
No. I need
your help with a case.”

Dave laughed, irate, he
had to do everything, and yet they still hadn’t given him the
promotion he asked for, “It’s my day off and I’m busy.”

“
The client is
going to sue us if you don’t fix this.” Todd begged.

“
Why do I
always have to fix all your messes? Can’t you do one thing right?”
He barked.

“
Dad said if
you fix this, you get the promotion.” Todd added quickly, taking a
few steps away from Dave. He knew Dave wouldn’t take the request
kindly, but he didn’t expect him to lose his temper over
it.

Dave stared at him,
quietly counting to ten to reel in his anger. He wanted the
promotion and the man was handing it to him, “How did you know I
was here?”

“
I saw your
car, and Leo said you were here.”

Dave sauntered past him,
“Let’s go.”

“
What about
Elizabeth?” Todd asked, following him to the door.

“
She’s safe
with Paula.” Dave said softly. He knew his daughter would be
happier and safer with Paula. He saw how protective of her she got
a few minutes ago. Whatever demons that were haunting her, it made
her protective instincts over the children acute.

Maria listened to the
conversation behind the kitchen door. She was glad he was gone, it
did save her the agony of trying to figure out an explanation for
her petrified reaction, and she was happy that he trusted her with
his daughter. She wondered if he had figured her out in the few
minutes they had spent together, because she had, at least she
thought she had, she has been wrong before.

He seemed like a kind,
proud, ambitious, and highly principled man. He doesn’t trust
people easily, but he likes to know people who came into his life,
short or long term. What she was sure of was his bad and quick
temper, she knew rage only too well. She hoped he was the one man
in her life that would be like Tom. She was lonely in this big
city, and having a friend didn’t seem so bad, all she hoped was
that he was looking for a friendship, nothing more.

“
Paula,” Maria
turned to Rose’s voice, the owner and manager of the cafe, “Jane
told me about what happened. Why don’t you take the rest of the day
off?” Maria wasn’t sure if Jane’s intentions were sincere or
negatively motivated. “I’m fine.” she pulled Elizabeth higher on
her hip.

“
You haven’t
taken a day off since you started, and you look like you have your
hands full,” she smiled at Elizabeth before she shifted her eyes
back to Maria, “I’m not firing you, I’m just saying take a
break.”

Maria watched her
expression in search of a lie, but Rose looked sincere, “Okay. I’ll
just be across the street at the day care center.”

Rose looked at her
surprised, “Your version of down time is going to a room full of
noisy children?”

“
What can I
say, they have a calming effect on me.”

“
You were born
with the motherly genes in abundance, I, however, just have a
tolerance for kids. See you tomorrow.”

Maria went to the
dressing room to change. She did need a break from her mind more
than her job. She was sure after the day’s scare with Michael, she
wasn’t going to have a full night’s sleep. She better make the most
of the afternoon, and probably go see the shark at work, she was
sure his rep didn’t do him justice. With a temper like his, he was
much worse, or better, depending on how one looked at
it.

Chapter Ten

Maria felt genuinely safe
for the first time sitting in the bright colored room, filled with
all types of toys, and nurses dressed in uniforms. The air was
filled with both, loud cries and joyous screams as kids less than
three feet tall ran around the room. As much as Rose didn’t
understand, being around kids did give her peace. She looked down
at the sleeping child in her arms. Michael and Julie had played
with Elizabeth all afternoon. After Jane picked Julie up, her
little eyes began to flutter close, and her lips parted in a yawn.
She looked so cute and Maria found it amusing how children could
fall asleep anywhere, as long as they were comfortable. But Michael
was different, when he felt sleepy, he would always look for her
and crawl into her lap and sleep there. It always annoyed Ricky, so
whenever he did, she would find a place to hide and just enjoy that
moment holding her sleeping baby, then after a few hours she would
prepare herself for an ultimate beating. It was a small price to
pay for a few perfect moments of peace.

Maria looked around in
search of Michael. She had been so distracted with Elizabeth and
the memories her perfect sleepy face brought, that she had taken
her eyes off him longer than her usual time. She watched Michael’s
every move, she couldn’t afford not to. She panicked when she
couldn’t spot him. She immediately thought of Ricky, and how
possible it was for him to walk out with Michael, Dave had. She
stood up and rushed to the nurses’ station, careful not to wake
Elizabeth, “Excuse me, have you seen my son?” she asked, struggling
to keep her voice steady.

Dave riffled through the
legal documents again wondering how he was going to fix Todd’s mess
this time. It was the worst mistake he’d ever done, and all he
could hope for was that he wouldn’t make worse mistakes in the
future. He tried to think of a number of ways he could fix such a
silly mistake with less liability to the firm and the client. He
glared at Todd across his desk one more time before he went back to
the papers. He was blank, his mind half in it. He was still
thinking of Paula and her petrified face and wondered what exactly
happened to her to make her so...angst-ridden.

He thought she could be
running away from an abusive father, but the fatigue in her face
showed she was much too old to be a teenage mom. An abusive
boyfriend could be a possibility, explaining the scars on her arms
and hands, and the dark small shades on her face that matched those
on the visible parts of her skin. Dave hardly missed
anything.

The thought of someone
hurting her made him angry and all he wanted to do was protect her,
why he felt like this for a woman he’d spent under two hours with,
he completely had no idea.

Todd sat upright, his
lips split in a nervous smile, “So what do you think?”

Dave looked at him, “I
think you should be fired.”

Todd nodded, not at all
surprised by the honest remark. Most people at the firm did think
he should be fired, but they all knew why he wouldn’t be, “Apart
from that.”

Dave leaned back in his
seat and sighed exhaustively, “I can fix it, but not
today.”

“
When?” Todd
asked relieved.

“
Next week.
Call the client, set the meeting for Monday.”

“
How about we
don’t do that and just meet with them when the final meeting is
originally scheduled, two weeks from now.”

Dave gave him an
incredulous look, it couldn’t be possible that he didn’t understand
the amount of damage he had caused, “We can’t do that, we need more
money to fix this.”

“
I’ll pay for
it.”

“
That’s close
to what you make in a year.”

“
I can afford
it. I have a feeling if my dad finds out, he’s really going to fire
me.” Dave leaned on his desk and slit his eyes at Todd, “You lied
to me?”

“
Yes. I
expected you would catch it, but you were preoccupied by the green
eyed beauty,” Todd whistled, “She’s got a body on her, and a virgin
face too. If you weren’t already barking up that tree...” he left
his sentence hanging, the expression of his face completing
it.

Dave drew back into his
chair. Todd was right, she was a beauty. He had seen more beautiful
women than her, but her fragile virgin look was hard for any man to
resist, and he was certain it attracted the man who made her the
way she was, “I want my promotion Todd.” he said, changing the
subject. He didn’t want to talk about Maria, at least not in a
lustful way.

“
I can’t do
that,” Todd laughed, “I only said that to get you to help me, and
besides it’s already yours.”

“
And if you
want my help, you’ll find a way to make it happen
sooner.”

Todd stopped laughing
when he saw how serious Dave was, before he could say anything
Carol opened the door, “there’s someone here to see you.” she said
with a laugh.

“
Who?” Dave
asked, pushing his chair back and standing up.

“
A handsome
little man with a tongue coated in honey,” she opened the door
wider, “come on in Miguel.”

Miguel walked into the
office with a wide grin on his face and took the seat next to Todd,
“Hi Dave.”

“
Hi Miguel,
where’s Elizabeth and your mom?” He sat down, his full attention
turned to him.

“
In the day
care center.” He answered, swinging with the chair. Normally that
would annoy Dave, but he didn’t mind.

“
Are they
coming up?”

“
She doesn’t
even know I’m here. I’m hoping we’ll be done talking before she
notices I’m gone.”

Dave picked up his phone
and dialed the day care number. He knew how Paula would react if
she didn’t know where Miguel was, the image of her on the floor in
the cafe filled his head. She was in agony then, and she most
probably would be far worse since he disappeared on her watch, “You
should have told her before you left.”

“
Do you like
my mama?” Michael spat out.

“
Yes.” Dave
answered, as he waited for someone to answer his call.

“
Do you want
to be her boyfriend?” Michael asked directly, his voice leveled. He
had every intention to protect his mother and make sure she didn’t
end up with someone like Ricky again. If he wasn’t fond of
Elizabeth, and if he hadn’t noticed how at ease and very smiley his
mother was with Dave during lunch, he would have been here to warn
off the enemy and not size him up as a potential ally in protecting
his mother from everything he considered hurtful to her.