Cecilio took the elevator to the second floor, fighting to not fall asleep in the antique elevator. The shop was in order, and so was the garden. The things he still needed to do could wait until he took a well-deserved nap. 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep, that’s what he needed to be fully functional for tonight. Just by thinking about the Callas and their parties, having to dress up to the standard when he felt like spending the weekend in pajamas instead of saluting and talking to people that didn’t deserve to experience Cecilio’s social apathy got him more tired. But work is work, and he had to fix this ominous presence before something else could ruin the weekend he wished to dedicate to reading.
The hallway of cream-colored walls felt longer than usual. For a large building, only two doors were facing each other, one was his and the other one belonged to the woman that Amina rented it to years before he came. With time she bought it, and now she lived there with her husband and daughter. They were the closest thing to a family Cecilio ever had.
He managed to insert the key into the door and then felt steps on the stairs. The sunlight coming through the stained glass across the staircase tinted the floor with many colors, it illuminated the small afro of the woman reaching the floor as if it was a halo. It was Nicole, his neighbor. A middle-aged black lady who owned a warm smile Cecilio always liked to see, and he felt energetic enough to talk to her. He looked up to her since he was a child. Not every day you befriended a firefighter who would take you to the station in her free time and who also helped him learn the language faster.
“Good afternoon, Nicole. I didn’t know you worked today,” he said, avoiding yawning as he saw her wearing her paramedic uniform. “Is your husband working too? I thought he had weekends off now.”
“David and I are training some newcomers at the fire station. What about you? I saw the shop’s closed.”
“Ran out of incense and other things… And I want to take a nap.”
She laughed loudly at his honesty.
“Did you spend the whole night reading? When I saw you with that pile of books in your arms I knew you would get invested. How many did you read?”
“One… No, two… and a half,” Nicole rolled her eyes and Cecilio felt like he would get grounded. “Now I’m paying for it with this awful headache. That’s enough punishment.”
“And your sleeping schedule will be off. You’re not having nightmares lately?”
“I‘m nightmare free. Don’t worry about that, Nicole. I’m a big boy now.”
She kept silent, quietly observing how Cecilio tried to keep his eyes open. Her eyes then wandered to the end of the hallway where a mural full of flowers was painted in the place where there used to be a door many years ago.
“Danielle is changing the mural, she told you?”
“She mentioned something about it. I’ll be away the whole day so don’t worry about the smell of the painting and my allergies.”
Nicole ignored how he flinched. Cecilio rested his back on the door to admire the mural, it was like a gateway made out of flowers that Danielle had changed every spring since she first started working on it when the third apartment got eliminated to expand the other two. She was talented, and Cecilio, being the owner of the building, didn't mind that she wanted to alter it when the result ended up so professional looking. He was glad she did since not even getting rid of that apartment gave him peace of mind when he saw the empty white wall.
“Hey… You never had contact with Theo after he moved?”
“Not really. You’re kind of late asking me that,” he laughed. “Is Danielle asking again?”
“You know she always asks around this time. I thought she would’ve given up years ago but…”
“Spring makes her think of him? I get her,” he sighed, and in his mind, he was able to see the old carved wooden door that ten years ago held the third apartment of the building. “Ask her if she can add orchids this year. Those were his favorites.”
Nicole rubbed his arm, “I will. Remember to come for dinner tomorrow!”
Cecilio battled to keep his smile on until Nicole walked inside her apartment, and kept it until he was alone in his dark living room. After dropping his keys on a small plate on a table at the entrance, he walked straight to his bedroom and didn’t care he stepped on some of his loose notes. When he threw himself on the bed he wished to immediately fall asleep, to not dream at all. The first thing was easy to accomplish due to how tired he was. The second one wasn't since the simple mention of that name made him think of the past.
He dreamt of how he and Theo met.
During the spring when Cecilio was 24 a young man four years younger crashed into his quiet life. Theo moved to the apartment at the end of the hallway through the recommendation of Nicole and her husband. It seemed they’d met him while they were aiding a multiple car crash, and when another car was about to collide with David who didn't react quickly, Theo tackled him and saved his life, but got slightly hurt in the process. Talking to him in the hospital they found out he recently came to Teria for work as a travel writer and was searching for a place to stay.
Amina saw that boy and didn’t think twice before renting him the apartment. Cecilio was unphased at this but made an effort to not have to talk to him. Whenever he went to class and heard the door of Theo’s apartment open he would quietly wait until he was gone from the building. If Nicole and her husband asked for him to accompany them for dinner and Theo was there, Cecilio would kindly decline, using the university as his favorite excuse. The only valid one he owned since Nicole knew well he didn’t have any type of social life. Amina noticed this behavior and immediately called him out.
“How long are you playing hard to get with that boy?” she asked him one morning while she made the arepa dough.
“I’m not doing that."
Amina stared at him with her piercing green eyes, he tried to ignore it by bringing the juice to the kitchen table and reading a book while waiting for breakfast. His grandmother, a woman of 80 years of age, was the wisest and most intelligent person he's met. Wherever they went, people told him he was the perfect carbon copy of her, and Cecilio wished that was true on the inside too, and not just on the looks. Amina stopped cooking and sat across the table from him, drying her hands with a towel and staring at her grandson.
“I’ve told you this many times Cecilio. There’s nothing wrong with making friends.”
“I already have a friend.”
“One friend, who lives in a whole different country and who you only talk to through the phone,” she started putting on her golden rings and fixed the wrinkles on her cotton nightgown. “You’re a loner, and you’re never getting a boyfriend if you keep acting like that.”
The way he closed his book and tried to look angry caused Amina to laugh. Cecilio didn’t feel as insulted as he seemed, this strange way Amina used to give him life advice was common to him. That's just how Amina Terán was, extremely perceptive and straightforward, a woman that accepted everything life threw at her and who had experienced so many things that turned her into the coolest grandma ever. Cecilio didn’t come up with an answer or asked her to stop laughing, she wouldn’t say anything to him that he couldn’t handle, only what he needed to hear.
“Who said I wanted a boyfriend? You’re not thinking that I’m avoiding that guy because I have a crush on him, right? If that's the reason let me tell you that you’re wrong.”
“What? Feel like you can’t bag such a catch?'' She started playing with her white curly hair, twirling it in a finger to make Cecilio mad. “Theo is quite good looking, and a nice boy too, such a hard worker. He helped me at the store the other day when you were in class.”
“Wow, he deserves a prize,” he said, pretending to be moved by it.
“He’s probably not your type though, who knows who’s your type. I don’t think you even know it yourself.”
“Want to know how I feel, Abuela? I just don’t see what you, Nicole and David, even Danielle see on that guy!”
“Jealous?”
“No. It's the constant ‘Theo this, Theo that’ from everyone that got me tired! I haven’t even seen the guy in person yet all of you sell him as if he was the coolest dude on earth!”
“You’re unfair. Theo's cool, but you wouldn’t know since you refused to give him the welcome gift I prepared for him, making this old lady with creaky bones walk through that cold, long hallway….”
“Stop victimizing yourself when you literally do pilates every day.”
Amina chuckled while covering her mouth, and Cecilio accompanied her in the end. She just loved to tease him and he always let her do it.
“If I talk to him will this conversation be over? I don’t promise that he and I will be the best of friends, but exchanging greetings won’t be such torture.”
Amina was now pleased and stood up to serve the arepas. She let go of the topic during breakfast and avoided mentioning Theo for the rest of the day as she sat in the store, in her black and golden antique easy chair next to the counter while she oversaw Cecilio attending the customers. It was a calm Sunday afternoon and she'd done some private readings earlier in the back of the store that looked so much different than how it looks in the present. It was so full of things, there was no type of decorative balance and it resembled more a kiosk than a proper store. Amina loved her organized chaos, and Cecilio never dared to change it to avoid angering her.
The store’s door opened and a little black girl no older than 6 ran inside, her braids gattered in pigtails that had pink beads at the ends and made the cutest sound as she approached the counter calling Cecilio and Amina’s names. It was Danielle, their little neighbor.
“Cecilio! Grandma Mina! I came for candles please!” She said as she climbed to sit with Amina who hugged her.
“What color?”
“White and yellow!” she beamed her smile that missed one of her teeth.
Cecilio went to fetch the candles under the counter when he heard the door of the store opening again and someone catching his breath. He lifted his head to see over the counter and, for the first time, he saw Theo. He was a young man, of brown skin with shoulder-length black hair and was simply dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt that fitted his muscular body. What surprised Cecilio the most wasn’t how good-looking he was, with his strong jawline and hazel eyes, flawless skin, and tan that kind of annoyed Cecilio how he looked like pulled out of a magazine cover, all of that was minuscule compared to his aura. It wrapped him perfectly compared to other humans, like a protective field, and was so bright and welcoming too. It was like looking at the sun and not getting hurt in the process. Cecilio’s eyes searched for his grandmother, who had this “told you” expression on her face as she fixed a bow on Danielle’s hair.
“Danielle! I told you not to run down those stairs!” Said Theo, exhausted while resting his hands on his knees trying to catch some air. “I told your mom I would accompany you so you have to stick with me!”
“But you're slow!”
“You’re not supposed to run down the stairs!” he retorted.
Danielle answered by crossing her short arms and looking at Cecilio for support. He finally raised from the floor, first fixing his short hair without noticing.
“That’s wrong Danielle, what if you got hurt? Not even I run down the stairs.”
After a while, she accepted the advice and walked toward Theo to apologize. Amina stood up and went to show the little girl some of the new crystal jewelry that came to the store, leaving Theo and Cecilio alone. Cecilio didn’t wait too long before Theo spoke first.
“I think we haven’t been presented yet. I’m Theo Alves,” he didn’t extend his hand since Cecilio had his arms crossed.
“I’m Cecilio. A pleasure.”
“Miss Amina’s grandson, right? You both look alike.”
“I’ve been told that… Have you liked the place?” he tried to continue the conversation but didn’t look at the person he was talking to too much.
“Great! The street reminds me of my home!”
"Where are you from?”
“Brazil, from Rio. I moved here some months ago and I gotta say Buena Vista has to be the closest home away from home in the city.”
The more he spoke, the more interested Cecilio got in the conversation. That’s how he found out about his work as a photographer and how he moved to Teria as part of a tourism project for the organization he worked for. Theo was kind of chatty too, he didn’t mind that Cecilio only gave him short answers or that he nodded at times. After a while, he saw the boxes of incense sticks on the counter and decided to get one of orange incense.
“Love the smell, we have orange trees at my house,” he paid in cash, and since he saw Danielle was still busy playing around the store he passed his hand through his silky hair a little ashamed of what he was about to say. The citrine piercing in his ear caught Cecilio's attention. “I think I should apologize.”
That confession surprised Cecilio, “Why for?”
“Since I moved in you’ve been avoiding me. I thought that I did something that bothered you.”
“I’m not avoiding you, it just happens that we’ve never seen each other around. You haven’t been here too long either.”
“Yeah, I thought so too, until that time we opened our doors at the same time. You closed it immediately and ran back inside,” he laughed a little embarrassed. “I found it funny though!”
Cecilio’s neck tensed, he believed Theo never noticed. He felt guilty, especially when Theo looked so apologetic. It wasn’t his fault that Cecilio was closed off to people, and in the end, his grandma was right, he was being unfair to this boy he didn’t know.
Something was inviting about him. From the way that he talked to the way he moved, Cecilio couldn’t find anything that personally bothered him. Because that was his worst trait, to suspect the worst in people before knowing them.
There was nothing wrong with Theo, at least nothing Cecilio could sense. The worst part? His grandma fancied him, and so did others in the street. Whenever Cecilio went out people kept asking him for that new hunky neighbor of his. Meeting Theo proved he was being mean for no reason and confirmed that he had to get used to this change and add this person to his life now.
“I’m not that good with people. Don’t take it personally... It’s good that we met properly so I can thank you for helping my grandma around the other day.”
Finally, he smiled at Theo who stood quietly, staring at him in silence until Danielle ran towards him, asking him to lift her. She took the small black bag with the candles and paid Cecilio, who congratulated her for being so responsible. She giggled and hid on Theo’s neck. Theo still had this subtle smile while looking at Cecilio, it was the first time he felt that way. Theo thanked him for the incense and took Danielle back home.
Amina sat on her chair and waited for Cecilio to stop looking at the door as if that boy would come back to talk a little more with him.
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