Bosom Bodies (Mina's Adventures) (21 page)

“Good
. N
ow forget about it. Let’s pick a tree before they are all gone.”

“Diego, you are such a serious man. Cheer up
. I
t’s almost Christmas. Do you have family in Italy? What part of Italy are you from?”

“Mina, I meant it
.
F
orget about it. And no, no family
,
and I don’t want to talk about Italy. Focus
.
Christmas tree.”

“This is so much fun. Let’s see if I can figure out where I put the Christmas decorations when we packed up the house.” Brian did the packing. She remembered and felt a pang in her stomach.

“Something wrong?”
Diego didn’t miss a beat.

“No, memories. Time to forget and move on. How about that cute tree at the end? It looks silvery. You think it
’s too tall?”

“Too tall for what?”

“Oh, you know, fit in the car, fit in the room, me reaching the top branches.”

“It will fit the car and the room
,
and you can always use a step stool, no?”

“Oh, you are so clever. When I was little, my grandparents put together a
N
ativity scene outside our house, in the courtyard, the nativity wasn’t a very complicated one, just the basic, Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus and the animals, but to a child like me it was fabulous and then on Christmas morning, I woke up to find a light sprinkle of real snow over everything. I thought it was magic!”

“I bet you were one bouncy little girl.” Diego picked up the tree and headed toward the cashier.

He made sure the stand came with the tree and also picked up a booklet with information on how to keep the needles from drying. The whole car smelled of freshly cut pine. Mina inhaled the scent
and
closed her eyes, her head resting against the leather seat
. F
rom that moment on, every time she smelled pine she would be thinking of Diego. Maybe he felt her emotions. He put his hand on hers and kept
there.

“We always went to midnight mass. The first few years I would fall asleep and my grandparents would carry me home, but as I grew I learned to enjoy it. Often we would
leave the
church to find a coat of new snow
,
and then we would gather at friends
’
houses for hot cocoa and cookies. Everything made from scratch and
,
oh, so good.
Still m
akes my mouth water.”

“Why didn’t you spend Christmas back home?” Diego asked.

“There is no home back in Italy. Everyone is gone
. Y
ou know, dead. It’s only me
.” S
he was choking up
and had to
stop
talking. Diego stroked her hand.
They drove back to Bayside
C
ondominiums
in
soothing
silence
.

Getting the tree to the condo was the easy part. Where to put it seemed a little more complicated. The place was still a mess. Mina only went there in the morning to get clean clothes so when they came back, it hadn’t improved.

She thought the tree should be by the patio door so when
she lit
the twinkling lights she hoped to find packed somewhere,
the tree
could be seen from far away.

Diego felt it wasn’t a good or safe idea, sort of like letting the whole world know when you were or weren’t home. They reached a compromise:
the
y would move the side table and put the tree there
, between the couch and the patio door. It was
away from
the patio door so the only way to see the tree from outside was from Diego’s terrace.

“All this arguing about safety and protection just so you can be the beneficiary of the fabulous sight
of this
tree once I’m done decorating
,
” Mina said.

With the exception of the hand holding on the ride back, the
ir
behavior had been friendly. Warm, intense friendship. No mention of the night before. Awkward. What would happen next? W
ould
Diego ask to spend the night?
The phone rang in her bedroom. Diego had moved the phone back to his original spot. She motioned him to wait, then ran to answer.
Could it be Brian?

“Oh, hi Margo. How are you? Well, I still don’t have my car…no, I’m getting it, but
…
” Diego watched her from the bedroom door. “So you need me to answer the phone from
nine
until early afternoon? How early is early? Give me a minute
.
” She put her hand over the mouthpiece and spoke to Diego, “How late can I go to get my car?”

“The place closes at
five
p
.m.
,
”
h
e said.

“I guess I could do it if I can get a ride to the office,” Mina said to Margo.

Diego was gesturing, trying to let her know he could take her. “Okay Margo, but don’t get to the office too late
.
I really want to pick up my car. What do you mean who is here? What man? Oh, Margo, that’s
all you think about
. See you tomorrow.” She h
u
ng up, her face felt like she had just been pelted with scorching coal.

“Did you lie to your friend Margo?” Diego played the innocent.

“I had to
. Y
ou don’t know her the way I do. Take my word for it. How are you going to get me to the office? You said today was the last day you had the car.”

“Have you forgotten the first time I drove you home? On my Harley?”

She shook her head. With Mina sitting on the bed and Diego
leaning against the door, a sense of unspoken anticipation hover
ed
in the room.
Would he come over and kiss her?

“I’ll be b
y
around eight thirty a.m. to pick you up.” He didn’t move.

She wasn’t going to ask him to stay. Last nig
ht she had been the aggressor. I
f he wanted her as much as she longed for him, he better
let her know. Her edginess grew.
“I’ll walk you out,” she conceded.

He didn’t answer, but straighten
ed
up and headed toward the living room
.
Mina follow
ed
.

When he reached the front door, he turned
.
Mina stopped inches from him.

“Mina, if you are scared or need anything, I’m next door
. D
on’t be shy
. C
all, knock, whatever. I
’ll
see you tomorrow.” He cupped her face with both hands and kissed her. Everything was so different from the night before,
it
made her head spin.

The kiss felt like their first kiss, tender, l
ong
and mesmerizing. Boyfriend, girlfriend, high school sweethearts. All the romantic clichés
she
liked so much floated through
Mi
na’s
head. When she finally open
ed
her eyes
,
he let go of her and left, closing the door softly behind.

She didn’t believe it. Any minute now he would be back, tak
e
her in his arms and carry her into the bedroom. She waited. A long time. At some point she realized he wasn’t coming. In a state of total disbelief she turned off the lights, went into her room and
,
after getting undressed
,
she figured out that their bedrooms shared a common wall and their headboards were braced against that wall. She propped the pillow against it, as close to the spot she pictured Diego’s head would be and she fell asleep that way, missing his warmth even in her sleep.

Mina wor
e her best jeans, dark and snug;
her black leather
, Italian
boots;
a creamy colored silk shirt and a short black jacket with fancy metal buttons her mother bought her on their last Christmas together. She also wore bangles, and the ever
-
present mascara. Yeah, she felt pretty sophisticate
d
and all grown up.
Let’s see if Diego
is
impressed
. He had behav
ed
as if their night of passion never happened. Maybe he liked older women with more experience
.
O
r women with large breasts and more curves
.
Maledizione
. Why couldn’t she let it go? It was all she’d been thinking about. Not good.

When he knocked at her door
,
she was ready. That alone was a major event. Mina’s clock seemed to run differently than
everyone else’s
.

A cheerful hello, a kiss on the check
was
all her elaborate get up elicited
.
Away they went. Diego wa
i
ted
on his bike until she opened the door to
West Coast Software
. H
e waved and
roared
off
on
squeal
ing
tires. Double damn.

Paco’s welcome didn’t help improve her mood. “There you are. You heard the news? We
lost the deal.” He said it
without stopping to breathe.

“Wait, wait, wha
t deal? What’s happening? Sheesh
, can I get some coffee first?”

“Sorry, sorry. Yes, let’s have some coffee and talk about it. Adams should call any minute with the official announcement. I just brew
ed
fresh coffee
.
I thought maybe your friend, the Harley man, would come in.”

Paco had been watching them?

They sat in Paco’s office, sipping coffee. “So, what’s this announcement?”
s
he asked.

Paco sighed
.
“The investors.
They backed
out.
” He glanced at her
as if w
aiting for her reaction
.

“Oh, that. You had me all worr
ied
. I thought you said you didn’t care if
the deal went through
or not. What made you change your mind?”

“I didn’t change my mind. But I wanted it to be us turning them down
, n
ot the other way around
,
”
h
e said.

Mina could certainly understand that. She wanted to be the one ignoring Diego. Not that Diego actually ignored her, he volunteered to drive her to the office, was picking her up to take her to get the Volkswagen. I
t wa
s
n’t
just that she
needed
more attention
;
she
need
ed to be wanted.
Why must
we
covet what we can’t have?
Who said she couldn’t have him?

“Mina, hello…”
Pac
o poked her arm. “Are you even listening to me?”

“Oh, I’m sorry
.
I was wondering
when Brian would come back…” A lie
.

“Sure you are.” He smiled with that devilish glint in hi
s eyes. She could never get anything past
Paco. The main phone rang, “Oops,
time
to get to work.
M
aybe it’s Adams.”

“West Coast Software, Mina speaking
. M
ay I help you?” She hadn’t worked in the office for a long time
. I
t felt good, maybe
get her mind off her obsession.

The day moved slow
ly.
Paco was right
. S
o close to Christmas most of the orders had been placed, shipped and received. Not much happening. Adams called to confirm the negotiations had come to an end
. T
hey couldn’t agree on the terms
,
and he wasn’t about to change anything. The investors had approached West Coast Software, not the other way around.

Margo phoned around
three
p
.
m
.
to announce she couldn’t come in after all, something about a flat tire. Mina didn’t believe that for a moment, more like Margo hooked up with whoever came to replace her broken car window and they were having a jolly good time in her condo. All of
the
morning
’s
great expectations were dying at the doorsteps of reality.