It comes and goes

sixteen

"I heard that", Mandy said returing with beers for everyone.

"I know, sweetie", her boyfriend said unbothered.

We sat at the table to eat the take out sushi my friend had ordered. She wasn't a great cook, but she was an amazing costumer for many restaurants downtown. Seb asked Shawn about his work, hobbies and other stuff. He was fascinated about my boyfriend's job because he ran the photography club in his high school back in the day. For the most part, I just thought Seb was happy he had someone to hang out while me and Mandy were together.

Mandy had been suspiciously quiet tonight and that wasn't good. She's a very talkative, gossiping and intrusive person, and her silence wasn't a good sign. I locked eyes with her trying to figure out what was going on and she just smirked at me before turning her attention to Shawn.

"So, Shawn. There haven't been any other misunderstanding, right?"

Oh no...

Shawn almost choked on his food but pulled himself together quickly to answer my friend.

"Not at all", he said and stroked my thigh under the table.

"Good. I just wanted to make sure, because, you know, communication is key".

"I know", he nodded with a smile.

"How's the salon?", I asked her changing the topic.

She went off talking about the wonders of her job. I knew that was her favorite topic to discuss and she didn't seem to notice I had done it on purpose, I just wanted to save my boyfriend.

"I think your friend doesn't like me that much", Shawn said when we were walking to his car.

"No, no", I said. "I'm sure she does. She's just being protective of me".

"Well, at least her boyfriend likes me", he laughed while he walked around the car to get on the driver side.

"I like you more", I said when we were inside the car.

"You better".

...

When December arrived Manny was at his lowest. The chemo had taken most of his energy and his inmune system was deteriorating. I stopped my visits because I didn't want to infect him with some virus I could get at the university. We still talked on the phone regularly and even though he wasn't feeling all good, he still had a pretty good sense of humor and mood. I guess having his son and his girlfriend, Gina, around was helping him get through this.

Gina's 15 year old son, Ian, had a bit of rough time with the idea of his mom dating, but it all went away when he met Shawn. I didn't know the kid, but Shawn said it reminded him of himself and they had hit it off very quickly. Ian's dad wasn't around and he didn't have a male figure in his life rather that his grandpa that lived in Seattle and didn't see him very often. They had spent Thanksgiving together while I went to my parents' house. Shawn and I met later and spent the night together.

Shawn was visibly sad but he tried not to show it. He was tough and didn't want to let Manny know that he wasn't doing good. He didn't want to worry his dad, but I couldn't understand why he didn't talk to me. I had tried before and every time he pushed the question away, but I wasn't giving up just yet.

"It says here that a blizzard is coming", Shawn commented looking at his phone while I was answering emails.

"When?"

"Next Thursday". It was Monday today.

"Is it bad?", I asked him.

"Looks like it. I'll have to get some candles and groceries for my dad, just in case".