Maria stretched out her hands, unknotting the kinks before she picked up Michael and held him, not bothering to scold him, probably just glad that he had been safe with Dave.
Dave moved to them and pulled Miguel out of her arms, “I think you need a break, your arms must be tired.” He placed a hand on her back and guided her to the empty seat next to Todd. “What was that you whispered in Izzy’s ear?” He walked around his desk and put Miguel in his chair. He liked Miguel’s pet name for his daughter better than Lizzy or Elizabeth.
“It’s a blessing. She whispers it in my ear too when I go to sleep.” Michael offered, spinning in the chair. Dave walked back around the desk and sat on it next to Maria with an eye shot to his daughter.
“Sit still!” Maria scolded, but Michael didn’t stop.
“Don’t worry about it, he’s been doing that since he got here. It kept him busy for a while as I finished some business.”
Dave didn’t want to tell her about the question Miguel had asked him. He had managed to convince Miguel to give him some time before he answered it. He was very protective over his mother, and he got Dave to agree to supervised dates by Miguel of course, as he figured out his answer.
Todd stared at Dave, amused at how swiftly he lied to her. He could see Dave didn’t want to tell her the conversation he had with Miguel, but he couldn’t figure out why, “Hi I’m Todd.” He stretched his hand out to her with a smile.
Maria swallowed a lump in her throat before she shook his hand. It’s just a hand shake, a harmless hand shake that’s all.
Maria returned the smile, placing a face to the screw up Dave had been talking, more like rebuking, at the cafe. He was the personification of muscles and looks without brains. She figured his father was McKenzie when he said ‘dad’ and a promise of a promotion in the same sentence. “Hi.”
“You must be Paula.” He lowered his tone to a seductive level. Dave looked at him with a raised eyebrow at the sudden change of his tone.
The change in his tone annoyed Maria, making her withdraw her hand from his. Maria, repeating his earlier insinuation, “Yes, the waitress who he’s not sleeping with, we just have a habit of finding each other’s kids. How are the repairs going?” She was amused when she saw the red rush to Todd’s face. It would teach him not to think the worst of every situation. Dave placed a hand over his mouth to hide a smile.
Todd picked up his notebook and stood up, reading in between the lines, “I’ll leave you two alone.”
“Can I come see your office?” Michael chimed excitedly.
Maria didn’t want him out of her sight again and was about to say no when Dave intervened, placing a hand on her shoulder, “Todd, tell Carol to watch him. Tell her, her job depends on it.” Michael shot off the chair and ran after Todd, not waiting for his mother’s approval. Todd nodded and closed the door behind him. Dave saw the worry in Paula’s face, “Don’t worry, he’s very safe with Carol.” Maria nodded and gave him a feeble smile. She was still worried and Dave liked that. Amy wouldn’t care if Elizabeth ran into speeding traffic. Dave sat in the seat Todd was on and turned to Paula with an amused look on his face, “You really put him in his place.”
Maria felt relieved his hand hadn’t lingered too long on her shoulder. “Someone had to. I figured since I don’t work here and I can’t get fired for being rude to the boss’s son, I should take the initiative.” She responded trying not to worry about Michael. She didn’t know Carol nor Todd, but Dave did, and he was sure he would be safe, so she had very little to worry about.
Placing his hand on her arm, “Do you always eavesdrop on your customers conversations? How much did you hear?”
Maria’s eyes darted to his hand, her throat quickly restricting, making her hold the breath in her dry throat. Don’t fret, she urged herself. She slowly let go of the breath and swallowed hard before she pulled her gaze back to his face, “All of it. You were pretty loud, and I was on my way back out to give you Elizabeth.” She tried to ignore the nervous itch his hand gave her arm, she was hopeful he would move it as quickly as he had before.
Dave wanted to ask her the question that had been bugging him, but he thought against it, he didn’t want her to retreat into her shell. He would get to know the person she was trying to be, and then when she was comfortable around him, he would ask her about the life she was running away from, “I’m sorry, I have a short temper and I tend to get loud sometimes.”
Maria there’s your warning, she thought to herself. But she saw how he was at the cafe, so he must be different.
“But never physical.” Maria said unconsciously. She wanted to take it back immediately because it sounded like another accusation, and she definitely didn’t want to make him mad again.
He saw she didn’t mean to say that, and it seemed more like a relieved proclamation than a comment. He was right, who ever she was running away from used to beat her, “My mother taught me only cowards hit women.”
“Clever mom, you should lend her to the cowards of the world.” But she was sure nothing could change Ricky.
Dave looked at her, the dark pained look on her face that mirrored her voice hurt him. He couldn’t believe anyone would consciously break someone as gentle as she was, “No woman deserves to be hit.” he said gently, making Maria lift her gaze to him, “not even the annoying ones like my wife.”
“Ex—wife,” Maria corrected with a smile, “I’m sorry I implied it was your fault, I should have known there was something worse than your male chauvinist ego. I can’t believe she cheated on you.”
Unable to bear the itch anymore, she pulled her arm from under his hand and scratched her neck in pretence. She may not like to be touched, but it doesn’t mean she had the right to be openly rude about it, especially to Dave.
“How do you know that?” Dave felt embarrassed that she knew that. He had grown not to care about who knew how his wife was like, but with Paula, he felt self conscience.
“Carol.” She said, noticing his embarrassment. But he had nothing to be embarrassed about, his ex—wife did, for cheating, and losing a guy like Dave.
“She told you?”
She placed her elbow on the arm of the chair and rested her head in her hand and closed her eyes, “No, it’s what she didn’t say rather than what she said. She was pretty happy when she thought I was your girlfriend, but I think I ruined her day when I said I wasn’t.”