Beauty Queen in Tears

When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I noticed was my need to empty my bladder. Curse those damn beers I had last night. I peeled my eyes open, one at a time, and smiled gently when I saw Vic's figure standing by the doorway. "Stop being so creepy." I muttered, lifting the sheets to pull it over my head.

He chuckled and made his way over to sit on the edge of the bed. Vic yanked on the sheets until my head was exposed, leaning over to press a kiss against my forehead. "I was only standing there for a couple seconds before you woke up. Also, get up. It's half past one PM and there's lunch in the kitchen." He brushed some of my hair out of my face, "I have an extra toothbrush under the bathroom sink. I'll be waiting for you." With that said he exited the room, leaving me to collect myself.

After a couple more minutes I sat up and stretched my arms out over my head. I grabbed the dress I was wearing last night and carried it with me to the bathroom adjacent to his bedroom. I was still in a daze as I changed out of his t-shirt and located the extra toothbrush he mentioned, still in its original packaging. As an excellent multi-tasker, I emptied my bladder AND brushed my teeth, ending my morning routine with a quick wash of my face and hands.

I redid my ponytail as I walked down the hallway, grinning wildly as I entered the kitchen. My eyes widened considerably upon noticing that we weren't the only ones there. I cleared my throat, awkwardly, as I attempted a stealthful escape from the kitchen. Vic shot up from his chair, almost immediately, a firm hand resting on my elbow. He pulled me into a chair and waved towards the unfamiliar woman. He didn't have to say anything, I recognized her from pictures hanging around the house. This was his --

"Sydney, this is my mom."

-- Mother. Yeah... his mother.

I waved shyly, cheeks heating up in embarrassment. I wondered what she was thinking at that exact moment. Perhaps it was something along the lines of 'who is this poorly dressed woman' or 'she must be a groupie.' It all boiled down to the kind of guy Vic was, a man I didn't know all that well. At least where his past was concerned.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Fuentes."

She smiled from ear to ear, the wrinkles located near her eyes absolutely endearing. "Call me Vivian, please."

An exasperated chuckle spilled from my mouth. Definitely wasn't going to call her by her first name. It just felt too... strange. Especially considering the mother of my ex-boyfriend, whom I dated since I was a teenager, never liked me enough to allow me the comfort of addressing her on a first name basis.

She rose from her seat and pulled something out of the oven, I couldn't quite tell what it was. I was far too busy murdering Vic with my gaze. "A warning would've been nice," I mumbled as his mother happily hummed a couple of feet away.

"It was more fun this way," he paused, "besides, I knew you would've snuck out the window or something."

I could only stare at him before nodding in agreement.

Vivian floated to my side of the table and placed a full plate in front of me, followed by a bowl of what I assumed was soup.

"Flautas and pozole." Vic commented when he noticed my expression. "My mom stopped by to help clean after one of my cousins told her about the state of my house after the party last night. She let me pick the menu."

She placed a can of Coke in front of me before repeating the process with Vic. "I heard about the couch fire. We're gonna go out and either pick a new one or find a nice set of covers. Want to tag along?"

I almost choked on air at the mere thought. Was she already inviting me to crash some mother and son bonding time? I couldn't. Not without stuttering over every single word.

"I'd love to," I lied, "but Anna is probably missing me really bad."

"Anna," she brightened at the mention of everyone's favorite blonde. "How is she doing? I haven't seen her in far too long."

"She got a promotion at work so she's making more money. However, she's not too thrilled because she can't do much for the usual organizations she works with. I told her to just quit her job. Her parents are loaded anyways."

Vivian and Vic laughed at my sheer honesty. If my parents were willing to financially support me then I wouldn't do a damn thing but shop and watch TV all day.

"Tell her to stop by the house next time she can. She has an amazing green thumb, that girl. She made my garden the envy of the block last year."

I nodded, "you can count on me to relay the message."

I assumed we'd eat in silence but I was proven wrong when Vic's mother started drilling me. They were harmless questions, an obvious attempt to get to know the 'new woman' in her son's life. A tad bit on the desperate side considering we were at the 'staying the night' level. Little did she know... we had our first kiss just last night.

I was certain that kids in middle school were doing far more adventurous things than we were.
"I've been telling Vic that he's getting too old. He needs to settle down. You guys look like you'd make adorable kids." My eyes widened, the food that I was chewing falling right out of my mouth. Vic turned a million shades of red as his mother chuckled mischievously, obviously looking for some sort of reaction out of us. All I could do was laugh, otherwise... I'd have run out of there with my tail between my legs.

I helped her clean up after lunch while Vic went off and did God knows what. I was surprised that his mother didn't pull any more stunts when we were alone. In my opinion, it was the perfect opportunity. Instead, we talked about random things that would pop into the conversation. The weather, animals, TV shows. She tried watching a couple episodes of the Walking Dead but was easily sick to her stomach. I found her absolutely adorable and that was saying something in itself. Older people usually creeped me the hell out.

After everything was tidy we all piled into Vic's car, where his mom insisted that I sit in the front. She couldn't bear to 'keep us apart, even for a minute'. I couldn't help but cringe outwardly.

The whole way back to Anna's house, Vic kept trying to grab my hand. Only for me to retract it sheepishly. Eventually... I gave in. Grumbling to myself as I glared out the window.

It seemed as though God (or whatever was up there) mistook my FAUX annoyance as reality.

We arrived at Anna's humble abode before I could even roll my eyes. A small part of me wanted to click my Converse three times and do this whole afternoon all over again. Vic's mom was the first one out of the car, hugging me tightly as if we'd known each other all my life. "Don't be a stranger. Drop by with Anna soon! I'd love to see my girls."

My girls... My stomach did this weird thing. Was it butterflies? Never in my whole life had my own mother even referred to me this affectionately. At least not genuinely.

I smiled and nodded in response. What else could I say? I was at a loss for words. I bid my goodbye and watched as she claimed the passenger seat as her own.

I was snapped out of my thoughts as Vic locked his pinky finger with my own and drug me towards the front door. "My mom really likes you," he commented.

I chuckled and shook my head. "As she should. I'm fucking great."

He leaned forward as if to kiss me, his lips meeting my hand. "Your mom is right there..." I glanced over at her, catching her as she tore her gaze away from us... pretending as if the perfectly groomed grass on the lawn was more interesting.

"So?"

I leaned forward and kissed him suddenly, fingers digging into the exposed skin of his arms as I braced myself. This kiss was all tongue and unprecedented passion. His grip on my waist was akin to something like a python. I was thankful for it, or else I would've been a puddle of jello collected around his feet. I quickly got used to the way his tongue dragged itself slowly over mine... the lingering flavor of the mint gum he chewed at some point after lunch.

If it wasn't for his mom honking the horn playfully... I'm sure we could've stayed out there all day. He chuckled and shook his head, waving his hand at his mother as he looked at me, eyes still glazed over. "See you soon?"

I nodded, biting down on my lower lip. "You got it, mister."

He smiled widely, reaching out and pulling my lip out from in between my teeth with his thumb. Vic leaned forward and gave me a single kiss. "Until later."

I tried to contain myself as he walked down the pathway to his car, hands shaking as I dug through my purse for my set of keys. It almost felt like years before I found them, heart dropping in my chest at the sound of his car getting further and further away. I kicked off my shoes once inside, locking the door behind me.

"Oh, Anna!" I sang happily... being met with the sound of a cabinet slamming.

Uh oh.

I tiptoed into the kitchen, spotting a very clearly upset Anna, cooking her bad mood away. Obviously to no avail. She looked as though she could start bawling at any moment.

"You okay?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." Came her fast response, spinning around on her heels to tend to something on the stove.

I sat down on one of the stools by the kitchen counter. "That's fine. I'll just tell you about my night. Guess who I went out with?"

"I know you were with Vic. He texted me after I called your phone a million times last night and this morning. Thanks for answering, asshole."

I narrowed my eyes at the accusation, fingers searching through my purse for my iPhone, which was barely hanging on for dear life.

Anna: 10 Missed Call(s).

I sucked in a breath, "sorry."

"Yeah, whatever. I don't care... and I don't care to hear about your perfect little night either." Anna chopped at some vegetables furiously and I was worried she'd end up cutting one of her fingers off.

I really wanted to know what made her so angry... but at the same time it was like opening a can of worms. In the end, my curiousity won out.
"So are you gonna tell me what's wrong?"
She just ignored me and dropped the vegetables into a pot of boiling water.
"Annnnnnaaaaaa. Helllloooooo. Answer m-"
"Do you want to know? Do you really want to fucking know?" She asked, hands slamming down onto the granite counter.
"That's why I'm asking, aren't I?"
"Well, that piece of steaming shit Jaime, asked me out to dinner. FORMAL DINNER," she emphasized. "Like any normal girl I assumed it was a date. A one on one thing, you know? Guess what this fucking demon does?"
I knew she was angry just by her choice of words. She was never the potty mouth sort.
"He brought me along for his fucking friend. FOR HIS FUCKING FRIEND!" Anna was shouting at this point, jaw clenched so hard I wouldn't be surprised if all her teeth cracked. "Jaime showed up with another girl and brought me along so his friend wouldn't be a third wheel."
The secondhand embrassement was real as I fought for words of comfort. 'I'm sorry,' just didn't seem like enough.
"I like him so damn much but he just doesn't -- it's like he doesn't," she groaned out of frustration, knocking the cutting board into the sink before turning away from me.
"Have you told him how you feel?"
I could see her body tense up.
"You can't just assume that he knows how you feel. Honestly, if I were in his shoes I'd assume you only liked me as a friend, nothing more. Anna... you're kind of weird. You treat him like you treat everyone else."
She spun around, wonder and amazement plastered all over her face. "You think so?"
"Hell yeah."
"Maybe I should. I'll sit him down and be like, 'Hey! I'm in love with you.' That should do it."
I laughed quietly, "how about I ease him into it first? I promise I won't be too overbearing. I'll see what he thinks about you in that way before letting you swoop in."
Anna nodded, her face slowly returning to its usual shade. And just like that she was back to her optomistic self.
"Sorry about ear-"
"Don't be, I understand." Really, I did. Anna was the type to wear her heart on her sleeve. She couldn't swallow her emotions down even if she wanted to.
"So... tell me what happened last night.. and this morning and afternoon."
I let out a deep breath, eyes glimmering as I placed my palms flat down on the granite.
"Girl, let me tell you..."

Notes

i have so much planned for this story... and i just CANNOT for the life of my rush this.. guess this is gonna be a lonnnnngggg ride. also pls don't be a silent reader if ur not shy. i'd love to hear genuine opinions/hopes/dreams eeeeps.