Second Act

Chapter 8 Finale

Sol reached under the tablecloth of her dining table where she hid her money. She pulled out some of the bills Shownu had left for her. She sighed. She hoped she would be able to spend his money quickly because she was tired of seeing it. Every time she picked up one of those bills, she felt a dull ache in her chest and in the pit of her stomach. Never one to ruminate excessively over a lost lover, she tried her best to carry on. She felt a keen sense of betrayal from her body that refused to cooperate with her plan of putting all things Shownu firmly in the past. Three days had passed since his exodus, and Sol had already taken in a new guest in the upstairs apartment. A fresh-faced college student from Germany had booked the room for three weeks. The health-conscious blond girl spent most of her time exploring Celaya. She had opted out of eating breakfast. So, Sol rarely saw the girl, only occasionally catching a glimpse of her as she made her way up the stairs late at night.

Shownu had texted when he landed in Korea, and Sol had responded with a thumbs up. There had been no other communication between them. "It's for the best," Sol thought. "It's like a band-aid; just rip it right off in one quick motion." But still, reminders of Shownu kept popping up, like the stray sock she had found in his room under the bed. Sol tried to throw it out, but she couldn't, and that fact alone was a source of irritation to her. "Why can't I throw out his damned dirty sock?" she had questioned herself.

Her mother had stopped by the day after Shownu had left. Her well-meaning, but utterly exasperating questions about Shownu had set off an argument between them.

"Mamá," Sol had said, "just let it go. There wasn't much going on between us anyway. It's not like you were about to get a son-in-law."

"So, there was something going on," her mother had replied. "How did you manage to run him off?"

"Why are you so sure this is my fault?" Sol had countered.

Her mother had rolled her eyes Heavenward. "Because I know that any time you get close to having a real relationship that might lead to marriage and kids, you flinch."

Sol was particularly annoyed by that attack because she was, in fact, not the one who had flinched here. She had been all in. She laid her heart out on the line. It was Shownu who wouldn't allow himself to feel what he obviously felt for her.

Shaking off these troubling thoughts, Sol took the money she had retrieved from under her tablecloth and set out to the butcher shop. She was hoping to score a soup bone before they were all gone. Perhaps a good bone broth would help to soothe her aching soul.

When she arrived at the shop, she stepped under the canvas awning that covered the area in front of the counter. Ana, the middle-aged woman who owned the shop, had been a family friend for years. She had watched Sol grow up since the time when she could barely see over the counter. Ana smiled when she saw Sol approaching.

"¿Dónde está tu coreanito?" she asked as she used her cleaver to hack through the joint of a chicken leg.

"He's gone," Sol answered back as nonchalantly as she could.

"Aw, qué pena," Ana lamented. "Estaba muy bueno, ¿no?" the older woman continued with a sly wink.

"Of course, he was sexy," Sol admitted internally, "but sexy doesn't equal reliable." Sol didn't share any of this internal dialogue with Ana, but merely smiled brightly and said, "Qué será, será." Her noncommittal reply was something approximating what American kids were saying these days, "Whatevs."

Sol left the butcher shop with her precious soup bone and went back home to simmer the bone for hours to extract its flavor and collagen. She sat restlessly on the couch and decided to go outdoors while she let the soup simmer. She stopped to talk to her parakeets. They always proved to be good sounding boards in times of crisis.

"What do you think?" she asked her chirping friends. "Is Shownu a cabrón?

"Cabrón," confirmed one of the birds. Sol's birds knew several words, and none of them were appropriate for polite society, but still they were a good reflection of her personality. She was never one to pull any punches.

Later that evening, after she had eaten her bone-broth soup, Sol sat down at the table with a bottle of tequila and some cut limes that she placed close to a plate of salt.

She picked up the bottle and stared at it. "Well, it's just you and me, Don Julio," she declared as she poured her first shot. She drank it down and slammed the glass down on the table. She heard some commotion outside, but assumed it was just her new tenant returning from wherever she went at night. But when the noise continued, she peeked out of the slats in the top of the metal door. It was dark outside, but she thought she could make out several women in traditional skirts.

"What the hell?" she wondered aloud as she heard music begin to play. She peered outside more carefully now and was able to make out the faces of several of her friends from the dance troupe. She went outside to investigate what was going on. Two of the women had their skirts in their hands lifting them to the side to cover the face of someone standing behind them. Suddenly, they lowered their skirts to reveal Shownu standing awkwardly. He stepped forward a bit and signaled for the musicians to lower the volume a bit.

"If in Korea," he began, "I get on knees. But here, I bring dance to say sorry." He motioned to the troupe, and he began to dance with them. It was apparent that he had taken the time to learn the steps. Sol wondered how long he had been practicing. She had to admit that it was impressive, but she was still feeling hurt.

"He thinks he can just waltz back in here like nothing happened," she groused inwardly. Shownu continued dancing, all the while, watching her eyes for some type of sign that he was making inroads. Despite herself, Sol felt her hips moving, as if having a mind of their own. Shownu held out his hand, inviting her to dance with him. She glared at him for a moment but was soon overcome by the repentant look on his face.

She took his hand and allowed him to lead her in several spins under his outstretched arm. Before long, she was laughing and celebrating along with the others.

"So, I assume you're back for good?" she whispered in Shownu's ear.

"Back forever," he said pointing to his suitcases sitting at the base of the stairs. He started to drag them up the stairs when Sol stopped him.

"You can't go up there," she told him pointedly. "I got another renter when you bailed on me," she explained.

Shownu looked confused. Sol grabbed the suitcases and unceremoniously threw them into her section of the house. "Those belong in here now," she declared as she grabbed Shownu by the arm and dragged him inside the house as well. She yelled out to the gathering of her friends. "Go home, now. You've done your work for today."

She turned to Shownu and grabbed him by the shirt collar. "And you," she pretended to scold Shownu. "You owe me more than a few thousand pesos. I want to get something for every last tear I shed for you," she demanded in gest.

She kissed him passionately, letting her tongue explore his warm mouth. "That is for cutting me off so many times when I was kissing you," she said. Then she placed her hands on his chest and trailed her hands over his 6-pack before resting them on his hips. "And that is for leaving me an envelope and making me cry," she declared. She tugged his T-shirt off of him and he didn't fight her. She pushed him onto the couch. "I intend to get payment for every last thing you did to me," she said as she kicked the metal door closed with a loud clang of metal against metal. Shownu smiled. He loved the sound of that metal door. He hoped to hear it every day of his life.

Sol sat on Shownu's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Pay up!" she demanded as she set about devouring his soft mouth.

"I'm all yours," he answered as he gave in to the passion he had been holding back for so long.