Love Has No Labels (BWWM) ✔

Chapter 3: A Sprained Wrist

March 1981

Angie sat down on the cafeteria chair with a sigh of relief, relishing in her only break of her eight-hour shift. She had been on her feet since ten in the morning when her shift began. Now it's a little after two o'clock, and her feet were killing her. It has been nine months since she has been working in this hospital. She loved every single second of it, but it was a lot of work.

Angie's mind then wandered off to none other than Austin. It's been two months since Angie actually met Austin on the uptown bus, having their very first conversation. Ever since their first meeting, she would always see him on that uptown bus. Every time they spoke, it was like she had known Austin all her life; he was so easy to talk to and an eager listener.

One of the most captivating things that Angie loved about Austin was his sense of humor, something her ex-boyfriend never had. He would always keep Angie laughing, whether it would be at jokes he'd cracked, outrageous life experiences, or even making fun of the politicians and mainstream celebrities of today. However, it was Angie that would make Austin laugh the most. He would laugh at all her jokes, and she was the most vicious when making fun of celebrities and politicians. Angie loved when Austin's nose would wrinkle when he laughed hard.

She was always happy when he was around; she often wondered what they could be like as something more than friends. They could be...

"What's up with you?" she heard a voice call.

Angie looked up from her bag of potato chips. Maria, one of her very first friends that she made in this hospital, giggled as she plopped down on the seat across from Angie.

"Maria!" Angie exclaimed, pleased to see her. "Don't tell me you're on break!"

"Yup, thank God, and you still hadn't answered my question," Maria replied, still haranguing Angie about her past thoughts.

"Umm, nothing," Angie replied defensively.

"Aww, that's a load of bull," Maria pouted. "There must be something that could make you go like this....."

Maria then made a mock lovestruck expression while sighing dreamily.

"Oh, my God...." Angie muttered, her face turning red hot.

"Uh-huh," Maria smirked, nodding knowingly. "You've seen somebody, haven't you?"

Oh, what the hell, isn't it obvious.

"Mm-hmm," Angie smiled, blushing.

"Ay, mijita!" Maria exclaimed. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"Well, he's a plumber, I met him while he was on the job fixing the pipe of the kitchen sink at my mom's place," Angie replied.

"Ooh, so he's a handyman, I like that," Maria commented. "How long have you've been seeing him?"

"Since December, but we're just friends."

"Just friends?"

"Yeah," Angie said, remembering her mother's raging disdain for white men. "I'm just thinking about how my ex-boyfriend hurt me, and I'm just not ready for a relationship yet," she lied.

Her ex-boyfriend was the least of her problems. Austin looked like he'd be capable to love somebody, by his story of being taken advantage of by other girls, because of his good looks. She just didn't want to damage the relationship between the only parent she had left.

"That's alright," Maria said. "Sometimes you gotta go through the pain, gives experience."

"Yeah," Angie replied.