Apartment Building
Lower East Side
5 AM
Téa swallows hard as she opens the door to the building. She glances awkwardly back at Todd, feeling embarrassed. She walks in these doors every day, and yet this early morning, it seems her eyes focused on the peeling paint around the doorways. On the stained indoor/outdoor carpet. At the mailboxes with the broken locks lining the entryway. How she hated this place, but it was the best she could afford under her somewhat unique circumstances.
Todd notices her eyes shooting all over the place, and he could see a slight reddening of her cheeks. He could tell she was ashamed, probably because of all his money. For some reason though, the way she seemed to care what he thought, even though he couldn't have given a damn about the appearance of the place, got to him. There were precious few people in this world who cared what he thought. He hated to admit to himself that he liked that she cared.
Téa looks back, motioning for him to follow her. They climb two flights of stairs, finally stopping in front of one of the large brown doors. Téa rolls her eyes as she notices the "3" on the door has come loose again, and is hanging upside down. As she goes to put her key in the lock, she turns and looks at him, noticing him leaning against the doorframe. A warm rush flows over her as she realizes how incredibly appealing he looks in that moment, and then shakes her head slightly, wondering just where that thought came from. Her stomach was flip flopping inside her. Once she let him in, he would know. And nobody knew. Not because she was ashamed, but because no one had ever cared to ask about her life. And Téa had been hurt to many times in the past to volunteer any information. She had always been too afraid of the looks, the rejections. She never felt comfortable taking the risk.
Until now.
As he watched Téa slowly move the key into lock, he wondered what could possibly have her so nervous. He got the feeling, from her quietness on the way over here, that it was something big. But he couldn't imagine why she seemed so nervous about letting him on it, of all people.
The lock clicks open and Téa leads Todd quietly into the apartment. The tiny kitchen is lit up, and the perking of the coffee pot somehow makes the small place feel..homey. Téa smiles awkwardly at him, glancing around the place.
"Home sweet home," she says dryly.
"Nice place."
Téa laughs. "Nice try."
Todd shakes his head, grinning at her in return. He's about to reply when he hears a noise coming from the other room. As he looks towards the sound, he sees a small woman entering the kitchen. She has a pink bathrobe wrapped snugly around her. But what he notices is her warm smile as soon as she lays eyes on Téa.
"Buenos dias, Téita."
Todd looks at Téa, and has an immediate reaction to the smile that lights up her face. It was so...genuine that it touched some part of him he couldn't quite fathom.
"Buenos dias, Abuela. How are you?"
"Fine," she answers, as her eyes glance sideways. For some reason, Todd immediately felt at ease with the woman, where normally he would feel anxious under anyone's scrutiny. "Who is your friend?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Todd Manning, this is my grandmother, Maria Delgado."
Maria walks over to Todd, extending her hand. Todd hesitates for a moment, then reaches out and shakes it. "Pleased to meet you Mr. Manning."
"Uh..Todd," he says quickly, looking away.
"Todd. Would you like some coffee?"
"Yeah sure, why not try something different," he quips. Maria looks confused, and glances at Téa, who giggles. Maria shrugs, motioning for Todd to sit down. She takes out a mug and pours him a steaming mug of coffee.
"Did you get a lot of work done mija?"
"Some, enough I guess."
"Good. I wish you would take a night off and sleep."
"Abuela..."
"Si, si...I know. You have to work, it's important. But you need rest too preciosa."
Todd watched their interaction, feeling a little jealous. It had been so long in his life since he had had someone to give a fuck about his sleeping habits, or anything else for that matter.
A sound from the back causes Maria to turn. She turns back towards Téa, who has started to get up.
"Ay..no mija...I'll go. You stay with your friend." Maria looks at Todd and then gets up, bustling off towards the origin of the noise. As she leaves his sight, he turns back to Téa. Noticing the strange look on his face, she leans forward.
"What?"
"What?"
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I don't get it."
"Get what?"
"You just seemed so, I don't know, nervous or something, like you had this big secret. Your grandma seems like an ok chick. What, did you think I'd think she was whacked or something?"
Téa shakes her head, looking down. "I can't believe you were able to read me like that."
"What?"
"That I was nervous. And here I thought I had perfected my hiding of emotions."
"Maybe you did. But just not with me."
Téa looks up at him, their eyes connecting. It was inexplicable to her, why she wanted to tell him. In the short time she had known him, she felt this 'connection' to him that she couldn't quite explain. It scared her, reminding her of all the times she had had her heart ripped out in the past. She also knew that telling him would most likely scare him off, but for some reason, she felt the need to confide in him anyway.
"My grandmother is not why I brought you here," she says quietly.
"Okay. So...what?"
As she opens her mouth to speak, hurried footsteps come out of the back room. Todd watches as Téa's face turns towards the sound, and he immediately notices her eyes light up. Before he has the chance to turn and look, he hears a small voice yell out happily.
"Mami!"
To Be Continued...
