Love Has No Labels (BWWM) ✔

Chapter 5: His Kind

Two Weeks Later

These last few weeks went by like a whirlwind for Angie. It seems like time flies when you're always busy. It was close to the end of her shift, and she was preparing to see her last patient before the end of her day. The faster she finishes, the sooner she could get home; most importantly, seeing her cute little friend Austin.

She never forgot that night when they had their little get-together at Cheyenne's. After that encounter, things changed dramatically between them. Every time they would see each other, Angie would get so nervous, so self-conscious of her image around him. Everytime Austin would touch her, Angie's breath would hitch. Whenever Austin pulled her in for a hug, Angie thought she would melt into his arms. She had no idea what was the deal with her. She then realized rather quickly, that she was falling in love with him.

She also realized that this was a big problem, which was very sad. If she went any further and let her relationship with Austin grow serious, she would have to lie to her mother and live in a secret. That would hurt Austin as well because it was a certainty that Austin would love to meet her family. She would have to hide him away from her mother, Austin would find out about all about it, thinking that Angie never loved him, and was like all the other girls he had dated, only getting with him for pleasure. She didn't want any of that to happen. So it was very important to control herself and keep herself within boundaries.

It would be a hard thing to do because she would be lying to herself. Angie was falling in love with Austin, always replaying that daydream of growing old with him. Austin was the only man that would make Angie smile, even on her worst days. She was afraid to lose him. All because her mother was scarred for life of her husband's death caused by a drunk white man all those years ago, and the stemming anger following it. Much worse, the driver was only a kid, only seventeen or eighteen years old, Angie couldn't recall; after all, she was only ten years old. Austin was close to the driver's age, a little older, but he was still a kid in her mother's book and would bring back painful memories. She would also be furious that Angie would settle down with a nineteen-year-old "child", let alone that he's a plumber. Her mother's expectations for Angie was too high, she wanted Angie to date a proper man with a sophisticated occupation, not some blue collar worker.

Angie wanted to confront her mother about those issues, persuading her to let her make her own choices in life, and stop trying to live hers, but she didn't have the confidence to do so. In the meantime, she had to keep her relationship with Austin at a friendship level.

Angie walked into the emergency room, on her way to treat a battered female patient from a domestic situation. As she walked into the room, her face fell when she saw that she was no ordinary patient. It was her old friend Yolanda. She was dabbing at her busted lip while dried tears lined her face.

"Yolanda?" Angie said, shocked.

Yolanda's eyes darted to where Angie stood.

"That you, Angie?" she spoke up.

"Yeah, it's me," Angie replied. "I would have asked you how you been but.... what happened?"

"It's my shithead for a boyfriend, that's what happened," Yolanda replied, her voice still quivering from crying.

"You mean Roy?" Angie guessed. The last time Angie and Yolanda saw each other, she was enamored in a relationship with the man. 

"Who else?" Yolanda replied, throwing her hands up. 

"But you were so in love," Angie said in disbelief. "How come he put his hands on you?" 

"He drank," Yolanda deadpanned. "I confronted him about it, and plus he was coming home late every night, so he beat me up. I fought back though."