Old Me

58 - Better Man

I was still giddy from just having lost my virginity as I sat in the passenger seat of Micheal's car. Music played softly in the background, something acoustic that was unfamiliar to me. I couldn't help but smile as I watched him focus on the road. It wasn't until we were exiting the freeway that a pit started to form in my stomach.

Oh my gosh. What if my parents can tell? What if they find out? They will be so disappointed that I didn't wait until marriage...wait, did I just make a huge mistake?

The phone ringing loudly over his Bluetooth shook me from my thoughts.

"Sorry, just a second," he said as he pressed the accept button on his steering wheel.

"Hi, mom. I'm actually driving Bea home right now. Can I call you back in twenty?" Mikey explained, flashing me an apologetic smile.

"Hi, love. Oh, that's okay. Tell her I said hello. When are you bringing her over so that I can meet her?" She asked.

Her accent sounded much thicker than Michael's.

"Oh, um, I dunno. Can we talk about this later?" Mikey asked uncomfortably.

"Why don't you come next weekend? I'll prepare a nice lunch. I've already got the day off work on Saturday," she explained.

Mikey sighed and scrunched up his face.

"It'll be just you, right?" He asked hesitantly.

I wasn't sure what that meant. Did he mean that we would be excluding his dad?

"Yes, love. He'll be at work," she said, with a tone that almost sounded like sadness.

"Well I'll have to ask, Bea, but I'll let you know. Okay, bye now. I'll call you back," Mikey said, ending the conversation.

"Okay, bye. Love you, son," she said before Mikey hung up the call.

"Sorry about that. And please don't feel pressured to go. We really don't have to," he said, looking over at me after he placed his car in park across from my house.

"No, I want to meet your parents--or your mom," I corrected realizing that his father wouldn't be there.

After a moment of silence, I continued, "I mean unless you don't want me to meet her."

"No, no. It's not that. It's just..." he stared out the windshield in thought for a moment before continuing, "it's just that my family isn't as...nice as yours is."

"Baby, I don't care about that," I paused, realizing that I had just called him baby, "She's your mom. I mean, if this is going to last, I'll meet her eventually anyway right?" I smiled, grabbing his hand.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he shrugged, lacing our fingers together.

We sat in silence for a moment before he suddenly spoke.

"How are you feeling?"

I knitted my brows together, not exactly sure what he was talking about.

"About the sex," he clarified, looking into my eyes.

"Oh," I said, suddenly feeling embarrassed, "fine."

I chewed on my bottom lip as the thoughts from earlier began to intrude. Am I fine with it?

"I'm serious, I want to know. Do you regret it? Because we don't have to do it again. I know that you had said you were wanting to wait until marriage and I meant it when I said I would wait if that's what you wanted."

I glanced up at his sincere face and smiled.

"Are you saying that one day you're going to marry me?" I asked trying to change the subject.