My One & Only

Ch 32: Distractions

Nini has never seen Ricky this defeated.

He didn't even talk to anybody besides her, and their conversations were rather short. He avoided his dad and Jenn's calls, and Nini had to update them on his mental state every time he dodged them just to give them peace of mind.

As expected, Nini never left his side since she knew he couldn't be alone without failing to do basic things. She never forgot last week when he forgot to eat two meals and five assignments since that was uncharacteristic of him. She helicoptered over him to ensure he submitted each assignment and peaked at his plate to see if he was making it look like he'd eaten when he hadn't. It was exhausting at times, but she didn't mind if it meant he wasn't sulking in his room all day.

It's been three weeks of this, and he's shown no signs of getting better. If it went on another week, she wasn't gonna let this behavior slide. He would do the same for her. Nini and Ricky were sitting in peaceful silence on his bed. Nini was in the midst of crocheting while watching a rerun of Full House. Ricky's head was leaning on her lap as he stared at the ceiling blankly.

Nini chuckles at something Joey says on the screen when she feels her gut rumble. She checked her phone clock and realized it was lunch time.

"Hey, do you want a sandwich? I'm gonna make one."

"I'm considering it."

"Cool, do you want turkey or—"

"I'm considering contacting her."

Nini goes tight-lipped, not expecting him to say that. "Oh?"

"Yeah..."

The room goes silent again as she anticipated him to continue, but he doesn't. She clears her throat.

"So, are you gonna do it?"

He shrugs. "I doubt it. It's not like I have her contact anyway. I guess I could maybe find her on social media or something if I really wanted to."

Nini bites the inside of her cheek. She hasn't told him she found that note Laura left, and she wasn't sure how to bring it up. If he ever did want her information, she wouldn't hesitate to give it to him though.

"What caused the sudden change of heart?"

He sighs. "I don't know. I feel like maybe she has something important to say if she's reaching out."

"What do you mean important?"

"Usually estranged people don't reach out unless they either need something from you or have important information to share, you know? I hope it's not because she needs an organ or whatever because I'm definitely not giving it to her when she couldn't even give me a mother figure."

"Well, I'll be here for you."

He finally looks at her for the first time in an hour. "I know you will be."

She smiles and pecks his forehead. "I'm gonna make us both sandwiches."

"Turkey is fine by the way."

"I figured you wanted turkey. Be back in a second."

He gently removes his head so she can get up, and she walks to the kitchen. Once she was out of sight, he took out his phone and went on Facebook. His finger hovered over the search bar for a minute, disputing on whether he should mentally torture himself or not. His intrusive thoughts eventually won his internal debate. He types in his mother's name and scrolls through the collection of Lynne Steele's that appeared. He went through each one to see if it could possibly be her, but he came up dry.

After the tenth one, he realized how ridiculous it was to search for a woman who he doesn't know the face of. He was about to give up until he saw the final option at the bottom of Lynne's. This Lynne didn't have the same last name as the others, but that could be due to her remarrying. He reminds himself to not get his hopes up in case it wasn't her before pressing her profile. He frowns when he sees it's a red-headed woman from Russia. He sighs in defeat. Of course she manages to disappoint him when she doesn't even mean to.