When Andy starts a complex and steamy love affair with her new boss, she discovers there's more to his arrogant facade than she originally thought.
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Having secured her dream job at Kelex, a company she's long admired, An...
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With a broad smile on my face, I put the phone over my ear. "¡Hola mamá! ¿Cómo estás? [Hi mom! How are you?]"
"I'm great, Andy. [And you, how are you?]"
"[I'm great too.] Except I miss you guys..."
"We miss you too," she said with palpable emotion. I heard my father's voice, and he seemed to be close to the phone. My mom answered him with something I couldn't make out. "Your dad says hi," she added.
"Hi, dad!" I yelled, hoping he could hear me.
"Hey, peanut!" He definitely had his ear pressed against my mom's phone. "We are very proud of you, you know?"
A twinge of melancholy tightened my heart. My parents and I were very close. I had been that nerd lingering in their basement for a while and had only moved out of the family house three years ago, upon getting my first proper job. It still had been in Portland, though, and I'd never lived so far from them.
Both my parents were teachers in the same high school. My dad taught physics and computer science, while my mom taught Spanish. Both my mother's parents were first-generation immigrants. I'd barely known my abuelo, but my abuela, Maria Carmen, had lived with us for the past twenty years and some.
My father was from a pretty conservative family – not to mention racist – and because of his love for my Hispanic mother, his parents had cut all ties with him. I had never met them, but sometimes one of his two brothers would drop by.
My parents, Michael and Isabella, were the cutest couple I knew, and I wished for everyone to find what they had. Even after over thirty years together, they were still smitten with one another, and my father's loving gaze when he looked at my mom was everything.
Tyler and I were their only children, and I knew they would have had more, had my complicated birth not forced an emergency hysterectomy on my mother. Clearly, I'd never been blamed for it, but I couldn't help but feel some guilt. Some never-to-be-born children had missed the most exceptional parents that ever existed.
Swallowing back the tears now watering in my eyes, I told them about my day, and how I was sure it would be great. I, of course, didn't tell them a thing about my frustrating boss and the confusing things he triggered in me, but I did tell them about the few people I'd met. They seemed delighted to hear I was doing amazing and promised to pass the news on to my abuela and Tyler.
After the longest goodbyes, we hung up, and I stared at the ceiling, nostalgic. A few seconds had passed when I noticed the paint was peeling, and I winced with an eye roll. This apartment was truly horrible, but it was one of the few I could afford right now, especially on such short notice. Maybe once I would have settled in a few months, I'd take the time to look for a better place. Right now, however, this would have to do.
My stomach grumbled, and I remembered I had only eaten a small bag of chips and a candy bar. The time on my phone indicated it was already past eight. With the grace and agility of a warthog, I pushed myself off the couch and went to my tiny kitchen. The cupboards were desperately empty, offering little choices as to what I would eat tonight. Well then, popcorn it was. The upside wasno dishes, and the downside was no nutrition. Tomorrow, after I'd signed the lease, I would go out to get some groceries, and then start unpacking everything.
