“Where are you from?”
“How old are you?”
“Do your parents live around here?”
“How did you meet Rafael?”
“What made you like him?”
Question after question came firing out of Mrs. Cordova without pause before I could even answer the first one. She was practically bouncing in her seat from excitement and had to be held down to the sofa by her quiet husband.
Rafael had pulled me down next to him on the opposing sofa and wrapped his arm securely around my waist to keep me glued to his side.
His eye twitched as more questions came flying our way until he finally snapped.
He hissed, “Mother! You said that you contain yourself today.”
I instinctively reached out to pull his hands into my lap and rubbed soothing circles on the back of his hand, trying to get him to loosen up a bit.
“I-It’s okay, Achilles. I d-don’t m-mind a-answering.”
Even though I was still wasn’t fully comfortable with them yet, I didn’t want to make a bad impression on his parents.
Turning my attention back to his mother’s questions, I carefully answered each and every one of them, squeezing Rafael’s hands as a grounding technique as I tried to contain my stuttering.
“I-I was b-born in B-Boston, but my p-parents d-died when I was l-little so I m-moved a-around a lot b-between f-foster homes as a child until I c-came here for my j-job at S-Serman Incorporate w-when I was 20. I’m 23 now.”
I felt Rafael shift slightly in his seat as he grew more curious about my words. After all, these were things that I hadn’t even told him yet.
He unlaced and intertwined our hands again before mumbling lowly under his breath to himself. “7-year gap…”
I nodded and leaned against his shoulder.
His lips parted for a moment as if he wanted to ask a question, but his mother had beat him to the punch and blurted out, “You got a job at 20?! And in a firm as good as Benedict’s? You’ve been some sort of genius, then!”
I flushed from her praise. “I-I j-just studied h-hard b-because I wanted to l-leave the f-foster s-system as soon as p-possible. I-I finished g-grade school at 16, and i-immediately started c-college. I-I had to p-pay for my college b-by m-mysef so I t-tried to f-finish as quickly as -p-possible and g-graduated at 18. I s-switched through a l-lot of c-companies until I s-settled at M-Mr. S-Serman’s c-company.”
I didn’t want to go into detail as to why I switched companies so often, but Rafael must’ve noticed my discomfort and gave my hand a light squeeze before any bad memories could come back to me.
I continued, “I-I was l-lucky to m-meet Achilles a-as the l-lead for one of h-his n-new p-projects f-for M-Mr. S-Serman’s c-company. H-he a-always t-treated me v-very n-nicely and p-protected me e-even w-when I-I was s-scared of him. H-he n-notices t-things I-I like and d-don’t l-like. He c-comforts me w-when I’m s-sad and g-gets m-mad f-for me w-when I g-get h-hurt. I-It w-would be i-impossible n-not to l-like him.”
When I looked up from my lap, I found Mrs. Cordova staring at me in shock, with her eyes wide open and her mouth gaping for words. I nervously glanced up and Rafael and back to his mother, trying to figure out what I did wrong, but Rafael only gave my waist a lightly squeeze and a soft smile.
Suddenly Mrs. Cordova cried out, “Please marry our son! You bring out a side of him that I’ve never seen before. I’ll give you anything you want as long as you stay with him.”
Mr. Cordova quickly grabbed onto his wife before she could launch herself across the coffee table and quietly warned her, “Honey, at this rate, you’re going to scare her away before he does.”
She sniffled and nodded mutely in obedience.
Rafael turned toward me and tugged me closer to him by the hip. He leaned down closer to me and lowered his voice so only I would hear. “I’m sorry for my mother, so please don’t feel pressured by her, okay? I will only do things at your pace.”
He had a light blush on the tips of his ears out of embarrassment. He must really not remember declaring that he would come up with the grandest proposal for me during the haze of high fever last night.
I leaned up and gave him a reassuring peck on the side of his jaw, pulling back quickly before his parents could notice. “I don’t mind.”
The tips of his ears turned into an even deeper shade of red.
It was a little saddening that he didn’t seem to remember our conversation from last night, but it was enough just for me to know that he thought about those kinds of things about me.
Pulling us out of our little bubble, Mrs. Cordova suddenly let out an excited squeal and ran over to me, easily parting me from Rafael with a firm tug. “I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to take Danary out shopping today. She’s going to be your date for the opening ceremony of your new building, right?”
Rafael immediately popped out of his seat and tirelessly tried to reason with his mother, “You can’t do this to Danary, mother. You’re going to make her anxious, grabbing her like that.”
She quickly pulled me back into her and tightened her grip around me. Pouting, she huffed, “I’ve been stuck with you boys for too and never got to have a daughter. But now I finally have another girl in the household now, and I want to spend quality time with her.”
My heart lightened at her words, overjoyed to hear that she wanted to spend time with me, but my body didn’t feel the same. I still wasn’t used to touching other people besides Rafael or Markliam, so my body had completely tensed up under his mother’s touch, reflexively entering my fight-or-flight mode. Yet, at the same time, I couldn’t bring myself to push her away, afraid that I would accidentally offend her.
Luckily, Rafael noticed my plummeting mood and swiftly pulled me out of his mother’s arms. He easily scooped me off the ground into his arms, gently cradling my head in the crook of his neck.
I instinctively wrapped my arms around him and pulled myself closer to him, taking in a deep inhale of his comforting scent.
My heart felt like it would beat out of my chest. All the unfamiliar presence in the room, the touching and loud noises, was just too much. I felt like every single one of my nerves was going haywire and the only thing grounding me was Rafael’s scent.
“Hey… What did you do that for, Raf-”
“Mother!”
Rafael’s voice was sharp and cold this time, leaving not a single bit of room for argument. Although I couldn’t see his face, I could tell that he wasn’t giving any more leniency.
Without another word, Rafael strode back into his bedroom with me held securely in his arms. He closed the door behind him securely before sitting down in his bed, keeping me in his lap as he gently stroked my head.
“It’s going to be okay, Danary… No one’s going to hurt you here… You know that I would never let anyone hurt you…”
His voice had turned a complete 180 from before. It was much lower and softer than before as if he was coaxing a kitten out of its hiding spot.
My hands scrunched up into fists as I tried to regain control of my breath. But it was just too hard. Every breath came out as a heavy shudder, and every inhale came in as a sharp gasp.
My chest felt like it would collapse at any moment.
Even though I couldn’t respond to him, Rafael understood and didn’t say anything more, giving me the silence I needed to try to calm myself.
He gently rocked me from side to side, letting me slowly return to my senses with time.
I never meant to freak out from his mother. I had made so much progress with Rafael in such little time that I really thought that I would be able to handle meeting his parents today. And yet, I still couldn’t stop myself from going into a panic attack again.
What would his parents think of me? Seeing me break down like this. It wasn’t normal and far from what Rafael’s partner should be like.
Would Rafael be upset at me for embarrassing him in front of his parents like that? I was the one who insisted on meeting them, after all.
Did he regret-
“Jane… Are you feeling better now?” His voice was soft as his fingers fluttered lightly down my side.
I nodded mutely as I pushed the intrusive thoughts out of my head. I had to trust Rafael. He wouldn’t blame me for things like this because… because he really was just that good of a person.
A pause passed by before he spoke up again. “I’m sorry for my mother. I should’ve just forced her to leave from the start. Then this would’ve never happened to you.”
I shook my head quietly. “It’s not her fault. I’m the one who freaked out for no reason…”
“No, you’re wrong. I may not know everything that happened to you in the past yet, but I know that you went through a lot and can’t control yourself when you get overwhelmed by your surroundings. I warned my mother to respect your boundaries, but she never listens to anything I say.”
I bit my lower lip. His words were just too understanding. If only he could be upset with me a little bit more, then I might at least know how to respond.
After a long moment of silence, I mumbled softly, “I… I just wanted your parents to like me…”
“Jane, look at me…” When I didn’t move, Rafael let out a heavy sigh and pulled me out of the crook of his neck, forcing me out of my hiding soft. He gently hooked his finger under my chin and tilted my head up to look at him. “You don’t need to do anything to make them like you. You saw how my mother was already. They’re just happy that you’re willing to take someone like me in.”
I pursued my lips. “But you’re the one that’s too good for me…”
He let out another heavy sigh. “I hate it when you say that, Jane. It hurts me more than anything else that you don’t think you’re worth as much as me, if not more.”
“But-”
“No, Jane. There is no but.” His arms tightened around me. “Don’t you ever wonder why I’m so hung up on you? Why I only want you and no one else… For all 29 years of my life, I’ve dedicated myself to my work and nothing else. There was nothing that could make my heart flutter or even make me turn m my head back for a second glance. It was like I was just living in a corpse. But then you came into my life. You make it feel like I have an entire zoo in my chest, and I can’t help but stare at you from afar even when you don’t give me another glance back. I don’t think you understand that you’re the only one who makes me feel anything at all. So don’t say that you don’t think you are good enough for me, but you are worth more than anything else in the world to me… You’ve shown me what it means to be alive and that, in itself, it already priceless…”
My breath hitched at his confession.
If a half-conscious Rafael wasn’t already good enough, a fully conscious Rafael could steal my breath with only his words.
Feeling embarrassed under his intense gaze, I bashfully diverted my eyes. Unable to come up with any other words, I blankly mumbled, “Rafael also puts a zoo in my chest…”
“That’s good to know.” He chuckled at my poor reply and pulled me closer to him, pressing his lips firmly against my temple in the process. “Why don’t you rest up in here while I see my parents off? We could stay indoors for today, and I could get-.”
“But your mother wanted to go out with me today…”
He squeezed my knee lightly, “Please don’t worry about that. I’m sure she can wait a bit longer until you are ready to go out with her.”
I pursued my lips. “What if I said that I wanted to go?”
He sighed and lightly ruffled his hair out of habit as he glanced warily at me. “Jane, you don’t need to push yourself for her. She will understand-”
“I’m not pushing myself. I-I just didn’t expect her to grab me all of sudden, but now I know that she is just very friendly. I want to get to know your mother. You seem very close with her, and I want her to like me…”
He let out another exasperated sigh and mumbled lowly under his breath, “You’re quite the stubborn one, aren’t you?”
I pouted at his words.
“Fine, but you must call me the moment you feel uncomfortable, and I’ll pick you up, okay?”
I nodded eagerly, excited at the thought of getting closer to his parents, but my mood quickly dropped when I realized I had momentarily forgotten something very important.
“Is something wrong, Jane?”
“Um… I just realized that I can’t actually go even if I wanted to. Liam is still at home by himself since I spent the night taking care of you, and I should probably get back…”
He let out a softer considerate hum before replying, “If you really want to go out with my mother, I can pick up Liam from your place and bring him back to my apartment until you’re done.”
I chewed on my lower lip, reluctant to agree. It would feel like I was abandoning Liam for someone who hasn’t nearly stayed in my life as long as him.
Noticing my hesitation, Rafael added reassuringly, “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if it were something that made you happy. Besides, he’s been wanting to show me his refined rocket ship for a while and has been asking me to take him to the roof of one of my buildings so he could launch it without damaging anything in the vicinity.”
My eyes widened at his words. When did they talk about doing such a dangerous thing together? Liam never said anything to me about this before.
He chuckled at my horrified expression. “It’s alright, Jane. His model rocket won’t cause too much damage, and I’ll make sure he won’t get hurt.”
I nodded reluctantly.
Giving my hand one last squeeze, he told me, “Why don’t you go get changed while I talk to my mother? I don’t have any clothes in your size, but your clothes are still dirty, so see if you can tuck one of my button-ups underneath your skirt instead of your dirty blouse and make sure to pull a sweater over yourself, okay? It’s chilly outside, and I don’t want you to get sick after I just got better.”
I hummed quietly in understanding as I tried to hold the butterflies down in my stomach. His words were just too sweet, even when he wasn’t trying to do anything in particular.
He left me on his bed as he went back out to his parents. I could hear the low murmurs of their words but couldn’t really make out anything besides that.
I shuffled off of the bed and padded back into this closet, recalling all the drawers that I had to stay clear of after my last escapade. Following his instructions, I changed back into my skirt and traded my old shirts for one of his large button-ups. His shirt was so long on me that it almost fell below my skirt. I tightened the cuffs of his shirt as much as possible before pulling on his cashmere sweater over myself and checking my outfit in the mirror. It was all much too big on my frame, but hopefully, people would just think I was following the oversized clothes trend.
Collecting my phone and purse from his bedroom, I quickly made my way out into the living room. All three heads belonging to the Cordova family instantly and simultaneously turned their heads to me the moment I walked out, making me falter ever so slightly by their actions.
Mrs. Cordova had a bright smile stretched across her face as she carefully made her way over to me, obviously straining to keep in her excitement for my sake. She chirped, “Gosh, you look too cute in Rafael’s clothes. I could just gobble you up.”
I laughed nervously.
“Not that I would actually eat you up… But I am feeling hungry, so why don’t we go out for breakfast first before shopping and leave the boys to themselves?”
I nodded with a timid smile and followed her energetic figure as she started to head toward the door. But before his mother would drag me out the door, Rafael managed to stop me for a moment and held out a thick coat towards me.
“It’s cold out,” he mumbled quietly as he draped his coat over me. His hands trailed down my arms as he smoothed out the coat before stopping at my hands and placing a slim piece of metal in my palms.
My eyes widened when I realized that he had placed his black card into my hands. I immediately tried to shove the card back into his hands and stammered, “I-I c-can’t take this. I c-can p-pay for myself, and I h-have my-”
He pushed the card firmly back into my palms and forcibly curled my fingers around the card. “I know you can pay for yourself, but I want you to have it. Anything that you could possibly spend today wouldn’t even make a dent in my account, so please don’t feel guilty for letting me spoil you a bit.”
His words held no room for argument, making me reluctantly tuck his card into my pocket. He grinned at my acceptance and leaned down to press a soft kiss right under the corner of my eyes.
“Have fun, darling…”
My cheeks burst into a bright red hue at his words. Although I didn’t hate it, how could he call me so sweetly with such a loving nickname for the first time without any hesitation?
And in front of his parents too!
I hurriedly scurried away from Rafael, unable to handle another moment longer next to this ridiculously tempting man. Even though he didn’t seem to remember our conversations from last night, he seemed to have become increasingly more affectionate by ten-fold for some bizarre reason, and it really didn’t do any good for my heart at all.
It felt like my heart could jump out of my throat at any moment from how hard it was pounding in my chest.
“Danary, are you okay?” Mrs. Cordova peered down at me worriedly.
I quickly replied, “I-It’s n-nothing. A-Achilles j-just w-wanted me t-to t-take his c-card.”
She nodded slowly as if she was skeptical of my words. “If you say so…”
Then, she walked into the elevator, holding the door open for me. The ride was silent as we waited for it to reach the bottom floor. It was a bit awkward, but Mrs. Cordova didn’t seem to notice. If anything, she seemed to be lost in thought. It was a bit weird to see her so silent after seeing her so energized all morning.
When the elevator finally reached the bottom with a soft ding, she suddenly spoke up again, “I’ve never seen Rafael act like today before… He had always been such a quiet and studious child, never getting into any trouble or even pursuing anything of interest. He never really asked anything of me and it honestly worried me for quite some time. But seeing how he is with you- how he softens at your presence, how he smiles unlike before, how his happiness finally seems to reach his eyes- I can finally feel at ease.”
She had a soft smile on her lips as she glanced over at me.
“It’s as if he had finally been sent an little angel from the heavens, the last missing piece of his being…. Thank you for coming into his life.”