As I nibbled on homemade empanadas in my mom's arms, I felt like I was a kid again. It didn't matter that I was a thirty three year old woman who had a whole head of height over her mother, at this moment it was exactly what I needed.

Even better, Dawn and Quinta kept us company through these hard times, while also enjoying Mom's cuisine while attempting to best her at cards. They were succeeding too, as Mom couldn't stop cuddling me.

"What matters is that you survived and that you got some extra days off of our asshole boss," Dawn said, pushing up her reading glasses up her nose.

Our eldest, and by far not our wisest, was Quinta. She was our neighbor and aside from being the first American friend we made since Mom and I arrived, and someone who became our guide in navigating this strange country, we had bonded over the fact that she was hilarious. In a crazy way.

Pushing eighty years old, she was well past giving two fucks about anything that was deemed polite if it went against her personal beliefs. I was sure that was the key for her to stay young.

She set a card down and said, "And besides, you got a rich cutie's phone number out of the whole ordeal, not a bad bargain."

I scrunched up my face. "A terrible bargain. Because I'm not going to keep dating guys and you know what? I'd rather not have gone through all of that."

Ever practical, Dawn asked, "Can you sue someone?"

I shrugged. "I don't have the money for that."

In fact, when I received an email from the airline this morning I thought it would be to return the money for the flight, or maybe gift me a bonus. Instead, they planned to solve this mishap by offering me a free two-way flight to South Korea that I could redeem any time in the upcoming year. As if I ever wanted to get on an airplane again, let alone with them.

"Forget about that." Quinta waved a hand. "Are you just gonna let the man go?"

Mom sighed. "Men are just trouble."

Didn't I know it.

"Less talking and more playing," Dawn said, nudging Quinta to play her turn.

But since I wasn't playing, all I could do was talk and eat. After finishing off my empanada, I said, "I'm not gonna text him first because then I will look interested, which I'm not."

Quinta narrowed her eyes at me. "Really? Can I get his number instead?"

That made me laugh. "Quinta, no. Besides he's already too young for me."

"Are you sure you're not saying that because he's Asian?" Quinta asked.

Dawn barked a laugh that caught her in the middle of sipping some wine, which spilled down the front of her blouse. "Damn you and your inappropriateness."

Quinta sniffed. "As an old white woman, this is my birth right."

I wanted to laugh and cry because even when she was wrong, no one could ever dare set Quinta Golden right unless she wanted to be right, and she was always right even when she was wrong.

"No, I'm not stereotyping." I reached for a second empanada and Mom immediately pulled me back to her side. "He really looked younger than me."

At first, with the cap and mask he'd been wearing I wouldn't have been able to tell. Next thing we knew, we were losing our minds as everything went to shit. After that we got so wasted that I could see two or three of him, and neither version was clear. It was only when we landed in the US and he wouldn't wake up that I got a really good look at him.

The way I'd stumbled upon Bryce was when I applied to a part-time job in one of his stores, to be a shop floor assistant. The role included advising people on the right products to use for their skin or hair type. If you asked me, Tae Yang needed no products. His skin had been perfect, not a line or blemish in sight. Even after the harrowing events we'd gone through, it didn't look oily or dry or with any of the discolorations typical of a bad night.

That was a look only youth and health could give. And I was very jealous, because unless I wanted to look a flaky mess, I had to apply a whole night and morning routine to pretend to be his age.

All things considered, I figured he was somewhere in his mid twenties and I wasn't about to get in the business of cradle-robbing.

Quinta played her hand and smacked her lips. "As long as he's an adult, what's the big deal?"

"I agree that you should wait to see if he is interested." Dawn set her wine glass down and inspected her cards. "What matters is for the guy to be into you. It doesn't matter if you'd climb to the heavens and unhook the moon for him. If he's not into you, he's not going to appreciate you."

Mom showed me her cards and with my lips I pointed at the one she should play next.

"That's why I'm not doing anything," I said.

My experience had taught me the same lesson Dawn had just shared with the room. Men routinely had done anything to get what they wanted from me, which was just sex. But if I wanted more? A relationship? Marriage? They bolted. And it seemed to me that all the men who had wanted a partner for life had already been pounced by smarter women than me.

I was done with that cycle. The last thing I needed was to rehash it with a younger guy who no doubt wanted more of the same.

That was not at all why I jumped out of my skin when my cellphone pinged. Nope.

I didn't know what I was expecting when I viewed the screen, but I was disappointed to note it was Bryce. The hell was he texting me for on my day off?

"Oh no." Dawn snorted. "I know what that face means. Bryce?"

Quinta groaned. "What does the schlump want now?"

"Ugh, he says he's dropping by for a quick second."

"Say you're busy?" Mom asked. "Or if that won't work, say I kill him in sight."

"On sight," I corrected.

Mom waved a hand like it didn't matter. And actually, it didn't. The sentiment was clear.

"Unfortunately, he pays my bills so I should probably humor him."

That said, I got up from the couch and polished the rest of my food in the kitchen. If Bryce was leaving his place by the time he texted me, I had about fifteen minutes to become presentable. Far more than he deserved. All I did was change my dirty sweatshirt for a clean one and fix up my hair bun.

When he arrived, I was already in the parking lot, sitting on a cement bench close to the entrance of the apartment Mom and I shared. If I let him go through the effort of knocking on the door, it was plausible Mom would come out swinging the broom.

"Hey, I'm so glad you're okay," Bryce said as soon as he got out of his red Corvette. His expression was the perfect picture of worry, as if he actually cared.

Fortunately, at this point I knew better.

"What brings you to my humble abode, boss?" I asked, my voice in a deadpan.

"I wanted to give you this," he said, offering a gift bag to me. "It's a little care package I put together so you can enjoy the week I gave you off to recover."

Even though all I could hear was the word I, it was best I didn't point out that this gesture hadn't been about me, and really helping me process my mortality, but about making himself feel better.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"Also," Bryce said and hah, whatever came next must have been the real reason for his visit. "I really want you to get some rest and I promise you I won't bother you again for a week, but all I need is the signed copies of the contracts with the Korean suppliers and I can take it from there."

As I took a deep, calming breath, my phone pinged in the pocket of my hoodie.

"Right. Fortunately my suitcase also survived the whole ordeal, otherwise almost dying would have been in vain, huh?"

He had the gall of thinking it was a joke and laughed. "I wouldn't go that far but it definitely would've made our lives more complicated."

Our? No. His.

I'd have told him to fuck off.

As it was, I did have the contracts, so I headed back into the apartment and dumped his gift on the kitchen counter.

"What did he want?" Mom asked from the living room. The two other women blinked like owls at me, waiting for the gossip.

"Just work stuff," I said and went into my room to fish for the documents. My phone buzzed again and I paused to take a look.

How u holding up?

Hope ur not losing ur mind like me.

The two texts were from Tae Yang.

And what I didn't want to happen, happened. My heart skipped a beat.

"Shit," I whispered.

I couldn't help being happy I wasn't the one who texted first.

I stomped back out and slammed the papers against Bryce's chest. "See you in a week."

"Oh. Um, Cee?" he called once I was already halfway back. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Nope, I wasn't. But that wasn't a conversation I wanted to get into with him.

Before leaving for real, the only kernel of honesty I'd give him was to say, "I will be."

I locked the door after me and pulled out my phone, crafting responses in my mind until I caught myself.

Cecilia, estás haciendo lo de siempre, I told myself. If I truly wanted to walk the talk of not wanting to date again, I couldn't be getting weird ideas about interactions with this guy. I had to keep this friendly, but aloof.

Taking a deep breath, I texted him back with, Tbh sometimes I'm okay and some other times I'm going crazy.

His response came back in seconds, Any tips to relax?

"Who are you texting?" Mom asked, motioning with her hands for me to join her back on the couch. But if I did that, she'd be able to see the answer by herself and I also didn't want to open that can of worms.

The can opened itself when Quinta guessed, though. "Is it the cutie?"

"It must be, going by the way her whole face is going red," Dawn said. "Coromoto, it's your turn."

My mom ignored her. "No dijiste que no estabas interesada, pues?"

And in turn, I ignored her. And I also ignored my past self from a few minutes ago.

You know what? Why don't you come to the store I work at and I can give you a free facial to help you relax?

The three dots appeared on the chat for a second longer than I expected. Was I being too forward? Was I showing interest that I shouldn't feel nor manifest?

Ooh, I'm not gonna say no to free stuff.

I collapsed against the front door. What had I just done?

SONG OF THE DAY: Gnarls Barkley - Crazy

if you want an early peek at a future chapter, sign up for my newsletter before next friday. link in my profile