Personally 2 [Complete]

Chapter 9: Return of The Ex

Mindy stood there fiddling with her fingers. It was a habit of hers that always used to bother me. Now, I find it amusing to watch. She usually only did it around strangers. Now, she does it around me too. Her hair was cut shorter and she wore brighter colors, but she's still the same wide-eyed naive girl that I knew. Still frail, still weak, but noticeably brighter. I was grateful for her, not only because she was helping out today. But I was grateful for her being Mindy, for her being the strongest weakling I know. I'm not at that level yet. Today, her only task was to call Ms. Abreau for a ride home. We set her up to be right in front of Harry's work. The timing has to be right since Harry always has his lunch at 2 pm right outside the building on one of the corporate picnic tables. As expected Mindy didn't ask questions about why I was making her do it, but she did negotiate, which is new. The deal is to help her with Cunningham's birthday in return. A small task, but still a condition from someone who was once a doormat.

Veronica and I have been doing our homework. Up to this point, we've been creating several instances for them to meet up. Last week, I borrowed Cunningham's car and the tire 'accidentally popped', I called both Harry and Ms. Abreau to help since 'I didn't know who'd come faster'. Its been about three instances with favorable results.

"Okay, that's her car," Veronica says. I glance in the direction of the entrance and then my watch. He's not here yet. I ran up to Mindy before she walked away.

"Stall," I say facing her.

"W-what? But Hye, y-you never said I had to stall"

"Well, I'm saying it now. Stall."

"B-but I-"

"Mindy listen to me." I grab her shoulders. "All you have to do is go up there and buy us some time. Can you do that?"

She nodded meekly. Mindy walked up to Ms. Abreau practically shaking. "I-I..uhh..need to pee!"

Ms. Abreau was both confused and concerned. I should have seen that coming. Mindy is awkward, but I didn't think she would just come out and say that. She didn't even greet Ms. Abreau properly.

Mindy, please don't mess this up. I prayed.

"Mindy are you by yourself? Where's Cunningham? We need to go now, you don't seem okay"

No no no!

"But I can't hold it in..." Mindy said softly.

"We have a toilet at the house you can use all you wan-"

"...Esperanza?" A low masculine voice interrupted. I had never been so happy to see Harry. Before long, Ms. Abreau was parking her car and walking in the building with Harry. Mindy followed behind, clearly uncomfortable. As far as I know, she doesn't know about Harry and Ms. Abreau's past, so everything should be fine.

"That was easy," Veronica says. We were in the nearby bushes. "See you tomorrow?" She says, standing up.

"What's tomorrow?"

"Tutoring. That's still a thing, remember?"

"Right, yeah see you tomorrow."

On my way home, I couldn't make out why any of this was actually working. Ms. Abreau seemed fine on her own, I didn't understand why she would want to rekindle her old flame or whatever. I certainly wouldn't want to. But could I really compare Mindy to a flame when everything between us was so cold? All I know is that Ms. Abreau is crucial to this plan and that we couldn't waste any time. I got home and heard shuffling in the living room. There's no reason for thieves to come here. It had to be my mother.

"You're back," I say. She had brought back a suitcase of things she had not own before. I'm assuming Harry got them for her.

"Its been a week." I continued. "I've...missed you...a lot." I waited for her to say something, but she wasn't even facing me. I leaned against the wall, looking at the ceiling. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I can't take back the past, but I want you to know that if I could I would. You're my mother and I tend to get protective over you. I'm sorry. I get if you don't want to talk to me, but please don't leave the house anymore. At least let me know." I headed towards my room when she said,

"...What do you want to eat tonight? I picked up some groceries."

I stared at her as she stared at me. Neither of us reacted much, but we knew exactly how we felt. I helped her with dinner that night where she promised she wouldn't leave like that anymore.