3.29 Dear friend

I finally made it to the Promenade, found Maira, and ordered some food. With my hunger squared away, my next order of business was making sure she was okay. She could give me details of the situation when the food came, but I just needed to know if she needed a hug or a muscle to go intimidate someone. But apparently she needed neither, because I found her in fairly decent spirits. It didn’t take us long before we were laughing. It seemed we always found something to laugh about, whether it’s some dumb joke I told, or something random. Regardless, I was glad to see she wasn’t too upset to laugh.

She asked about the move and how that went. I told her all about Mama taking over the shopping trip and invited her to come see the new house. Next, she asked me about what I’d gotten into recently and how I liked San Sequoia. Before I knew it, I had dominated the conversation, telling her about how pretty I found the city, the nice neighbors, and all the things there were to do. I stopped myself when I realized how long I’d been talking, but it didn’t escape me that she was stalling. I didn’t want to force it out of her, but she asked me to join her for a reason, and no amount of small talk would make me forget that.

“Sooo…” I said, at an appropriate lull. “What’s going on?”

She looked away and sighed.

“Nothing I’m allowed to discuss,” she said while shaking her head. “I’m sorry, Luca. I hope I didn’t upset you too much. It’s just… I was frustrated about work, and I hadn’t seen you in a while…”

Part of me was glad nothing serious had happened while the other part of me… Well, let’s just say I was glad I hadn’t rushed right over. But at least she was okay. And hanging out with her was always a treat.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I’m glad you’re okay. You know you don’t need a reason to hang out with me. You’re my friend. I care.”

She sighed again.

“Your friend…”

Why did I feel like I messed up somehow?