𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 ( 𝘫𝘰𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘺 )

34 | "mami"

REAL LIFE

a knock on the door woke rosie up from her sleep on her couch. for a brief second she thought it was joe, but then immediately thought better of it when she remembered that he left that same morning; something that he was very reluctant to do.

"i don't think i should go," joe had told his girlfriend that morning as she rolled his suitcase to the front door.

rosie immediately shook her head at him. "joe, you can't cancel on your parents again. that'll be the third time this month."

"but, i don't wanna leave until i know you're doing okay," joe said as he pulled her hand away from the suitcase and intertwined it with his and then tried to pull her toward the couch so they could continue to watch reruns of 'the office.'

however, rosie stopped them midway. "honestly, joey, i don't think i'm gonna be okay for a while. and i really don't want your life to be put on hold just because mine is right now."

"but–"

"no but's. you're gonna go and have some fun with your family in massachusetts. okay?" rosario told him. "and you don't have to worry about me. my mom is coming soon."

"okay, i'll go," joe sighed. "but i'm gonna miss you so freaking much, rio." he then brought the girl in for a tight hug. "and i promise i'll try to be back as soon as i can."

rosario hugged him back and pressed her cheek into his chest. "i'm gonna miss you a lot too."

in the next ten minutes joe finished gathering the rest of things and then left for his eleven in the morning flight. that led rosie to watching 'the office' reruns by herself on the couch and then falling asleep. which was going fine until she heard the knock on her door. when rosie opened it she was met with the sight of her smiling mother, celia.

"rosario!" celia said happily and pulled the girl in for a hug. when she pulled back she gave the girl a quick onceover. "honey, no offense or anything, but you look bad."

"mami!" rosie exclaimed completely offended. "i just woke up from a nap."

"well, i'm gonna make some food. you go shower and get cleaned up," her mom told her, already in the kitchen pulling out various pots and pans.

rosie sighed, knowing that the best thing to do would be just listen to her mom and not question anything. "fine."

—

thirty minutes later, rosie emerged from the bathroom wearing a simple pair of denim shorts and a t-shirt with her wet hair pulled up in a messy bun.

"rosie, i'm glad you're out of the bathroom," celia said with a smile on her face. "someone's on your phone for you." 

rosie's eyebrows furrowed in
confusion. "what?"

"your phone was vibrating so much from calls while you were in the bathroom. and after the fifth time i decided to just answer it and tell whoever it was trying to call you to try and call back later. but they said they'll just wait for you because what they need to talk to you about is really important," celia explained and handed rosario the phone.

"um, okay," rosario said and pressed the phone to her ear.

———

PHONE CALL
phone call call between
rosie ( bold )
and
matty ( regular )

"hello?"

"hey, rosie. *chuckles* i really
didn't think the only way i would
be able to reach you was through your
mom. who's super nice by the way."

"*awkwardly laughs* listen about not answering your calls and stuff, i'm really sorry about that. i got your voicemails and i listened to them and i wanted to respond, but...it's just been a pretty rough past couple weeks."

"rosie, i'm not mad or anything.
i completely understand. things
have been hard for me too."

"so, um, what's up?"

"i want you to come and
help me clean out aaron's
apartment."

"*pauses for a moment* i
thought you already did
that?"

"i started to. but, then i stopped.
it just got too hard to continue...but, his apartment needs to be cleaned out soon or all of his stuff is gonna get thrown away. at least that's what his landlord
told me. so, i wanted to see if you would come with me. maybe there will be some things of his that you want to take and i don't know, i just feel like aaron would want that."

"um, yeah, sure, okay.
i'll come."

"great. i'll be by your apartment
in about ten minutes. see you then."

"yup, see ya."

rosie ended the call