Flower Boy (BoyxBoy)

xviii

kevin.

I CAN FEEL MY HEARTBEAT AGAINST MY RIBCAGE WHILE I OPEN THE DOOR TO THE CPR PLACE. It hurts, and I'm excited to see her; excited to see her reaction to me surprising her with flowers.  I hold the flowers against my chest as I walk through the glass door.

There's a beautiful young woman sitting at the front desk who doesn't look up from her computer as I approach.  I stand for five minutes as she types and types away on her clackity keyboard; typing so fast that it's like she's just pressing buttons in order to avoid me.  

Finally, the brunette stops and asks me, "Hello, sir, how may I help you?" 

"Hey, could you tell me which studio has a yoga class?" I ask, setting the flowers on the marble desk.  "I'm here to drop something off for Isabel Ledezma."

She looks up from behind her round glasses and long mascaraed eyelashes and smiles at me. "Sure, I'll look it up now."

"Thank you," I say.  I step back from the desk and pace around the lobby.  The building has huge beige walls that are bare except for a few small paintings, three love seats, and a few very leafy plants sitting on small tables. A coffee table stands in the right of the room between the chairs, with a small stack of garbage magazines.

"Sir?" The woman asks from her desk.  I quickly walk back to the front desk.  "The yoga class--one with Miss Amber Morales--ended at noon."

"Are you sure?" I ask, smiling nervously.  "She told me it begins at twelve."

"Well, Miss Morales' classes begin at noon on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  Today's Saturday, so it ends at twelve."

"Oh.  Okay."

The receptionist doesn't say anything, leaving me just standing there awkwardly with a bouquet in my hands.  I sigh and turn around.

"Have a good day, sir," she says, cautious.

"Yeah, you too."

When I got into the car, Nat looked at me and smiled. 

"So?  Did she like them?"

I show him the bouquet.  "She wasn't there.  Her class ended at noon."

"Did you mess up the days?"

"Yeah, I guess I just... didn't know.  I don't know."

He hums and taps his fingers on the steering wheel as he drives.  He turns the music up in his car so that we don't sit in silence as I think about what to do next.

Nat dropped me off at the house around four, which means that I have about an hour to think of what to say to Isabel.  

Sighing, I walk into the living room and lie down on the couch.  I want to talk to Isabel, I decided on the way home.  I want to ask her how she feels about our relationship.  But how do I ask that?

As I'm contemplating what I want to say, I close my eyes.  When I wake up, Isabel is sitting on the floor in front of the couch.  My heart rate picks up quickly and I shift my weight uncomfortably.  Cielo, who is on my stomach, jumps off me as I move.  Isabel looks at Cielo, then at me.  She smiles.

"Hey, sleepyhead," she says.

"Hey," I say.  

"How was your day?" She asks, returning to her study book.

I lean my body weight on my elbow.  "It was okay.  You?"

"Very busy."

I stand and walk into the kitchen.  "That's good, right?"