Sweet Sofie (11 page)

She nodded and wiped her tears away. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Alex glared at Eric, then looked back at Sofia. “You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Alex shot Eric another look before closing the door.

“Don’t ever…” She whispered.

“What?” Eric took a step closer to her.

“Don’t you ever dare cheat on me, Eric Diego.”

He’d never even considered it and ga-damn if he’d ever would now. He reached his hand out and she took it.

“I would never, Sof. You should know that.” He pulled her to him, feeling her arms wrap around him and squeeze him.

“I don’t want you to talk to that girl anymore, and you better never eat any of her food.”

Eric had to smile. He hadn’t even thought of what a big deal that might be, but Sofia had always loved cooking for him. It was their thing. He buried his face in her neck. “I’m sorry I made you so upset. I hate to see you cry.”

Sofia pulled away from him and looked him straight in the eyes. “No more house calls for any of your
tech idiot
girlfriends either. Okay?”

Eric kissed her. “I wish you could somehow feel what I feel for you, Sof. You’d never have to worry about me with anyone else.”

“I do feel it. It’s what I feel for you, but you made me question it today.”

“I’m sorry, Sof. I didn’t even do anything, but I’ll say that forever. I’m sorry.”

She rested her head against his chest and sighed. “I feel drained.”

Eric took a deep breath. “Yeah, that makes two of us.”

***

Sofia’s graduation present was a trip to Cancun. Eric seemed thrilled when she said she wanted him to come with her. All her friends were going. It would be a blast.

Sofia had been a little surprised her brothers were actually happy Eric was going, but at almost nineteen, she knew her brothers had to assume they were sexually active. At this point, all they were more worried about was her safety partying in a foreign country.

The trip was everything she’d hoped for, except for the fact that she was the only one of her girlfriends that brought her boyfriend along. There were a couple of nights her friends were a little miffed that she didn’t hang out with them because they were supposed to be girls’ nights. Still, Sofia and Eric made the most of the trip, and they had the best time ever.

Eric took a break that summer and only took a few classes instead of his usual full load. They were able to spend more time together and as always, every moment alone was electrifying.

When summer ended, Sofia concentrated on school. She attended UCSD, the same as Alex and Angel. She dare not go anywhere further. It was bad enough, school and his job kept them apart for days at a time now. She couldn’t imagine being away from him for weeks, much less months.

She met Naomi in college. They were both majoring in English Lit. They met in a creative writing class. Naomi was a few years older than Sofia, and already had a baby. She was also a little bitter about the hand she’d been dealt. Only twenty-two, she was a single mom with no family support. But she loved reading, writing, and she was working her way through college. Sofia had to respect that.

Sofia worked at the restaurant when she had the time. Her parents had told her she could put in as many or as little hours as she wanted. She couldn’t even imagine working a regular job, going to school and raising a baby all by herself.

They went to lunch as they often did. Sofia sat across from Naomi. She’d asked Sofia if she could interview her. Naomi was working on a paper on relationships for Psych class.

Naomi bit into her sandwich before picking up her pen and note pad. “So how did you meet Eric?”

Sofia smiled. “I’ve known him forever.”

“Really? You’re whole life?”

Sofia nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. We grew up in the same neighborhood. He lived up the block from me. Still does.” She bit into her own sandwich. Naomi waited for her to continue. When she was done chewing, she swallowed and added, “He’s my brother’s best friend, so he was always around.”

“Wow. That’s so sweet. So was he your first boyfriend?”

Sofia smiled and nodded. “My first everything, actually. I’d never even kissed a boy before him.”

Naomi stared. “You’ve never had any other experiences than with him?”

Sofia thought about it. That was it in a nutshell—she’d never been interested in experiencing anything with anyone else.

“That’s interesting. I’ve been reading a lot about long-term relationships. The ones that I find the most fascinating are the couples that met and marry after only a very short time, say a week or a month, but are together forever. Then there are the ones like you, who’ve known each other your whole lives and stay together forever. But I know you’re still young, so who knows. Personally, I don’t know anyone else, even high school sweethearts, that have stayed together. It seems like too much. ”

“What do you mean?”

“Well.” Naomi sat up. “I’m not saying you won’t; I’m just saying most couples that start that young eventually start getting bored with the same relationship and start wondering what they missed out on. You know—dating—meeting new people in the real world outside high school.”

The memory of Eric laughing with the girl at the store came to mind. There hadn’t been anymore instances since then, but the image was seared in her mind forever.

“In most cases, usually the guy starts to resent all he missed out on.” She tilted her head. “Neither of you has had other relationships outside of each other?”

Sofia smiled big. “Yep. It’s just been me and him all this time.”

Naomi took another bite of her sandwich and wrote something, thinking aloud. “Never even been kissed by anyone else.”

Sofia shook her head. “Nope, and I never wanna be.”

Naomi smiled. “That’s beautiful. But don’t you get curious?”

“About what?”

“I don’t know.” Naomi stared. “I’m just saying don’t you ever get curious about what kissing another guy would be like?”

Sofia shook her head. “Never.”

“That is so amazing.” She held out her hand and gave Sofia a high five. “You go! You and your boyfriend are one in so few.”

Sofia thought about that, then remembered Angel and Sarah. “My brother and his girlfriend have been together since high school, and they’re sophomores in college now.”

Naomi’s eyebrows lifted. She lifted her notepad again, but waited until she finished chewing, then asked. “Were they each others first, too?”

Sofia laughed. “I’m pretty sure she was his first real girlfriend, but she was far from his first experience.”

< k="0else.p height="0" width="48"> “What about her?

After thinking about it for a moment, she responded, “I think she said she had gone out with a couple of guys before she met my brother.”

Naomi kept jotting things down on her notepad, but asked, “Well, that’s a little different.”

Sofia was beginning to feel annoyed. Who cared if she didn’t have anyone else to compare Eric to? She didn’t want to compare him to anyone. All her friends had these roller coaster relationships. She and Eric barely had a few minor bumps. They were incredibly happy and neither could get enough of each other. She bit into a carrot and waited for Naomi’s next question.

Doubt

After almost two full years of college under his belt, Eric was ready for a break. Now that Sofia was in college also, their time together was even more constricted. Even when he was finally free of schoolwork, sometimes she wasn’t. She was also running on the college track team, so that took up a lot of her time.

Both he and Sofia had been looking forward to the summer. They’d been saving for a vacation. Nothing fancy, maybe just a drive up the coast. Stop at a few bed and breakfasts. It didn’t matter where they went. Just being with her for an entire week, day and night, would be paradise.

Then a few weeks ago, his dad threw a wrench in his plans. The company he worked for was highly influential. Students lined up for the chance to do an internship there. A position in their IT dept was well sought-out. Eric was majoring in Software Engineering. He’d always been a natural tech, even when he was a kid.

An internship at this place would do wonders for his resume, might even open a few doors. His father always said success was due in large to hard work, but it also involved some luck, and it helped to know people. In this case, he was lucky his father knew people that could get him in. The internship would be for the entire summer. Unfortunately, it was at their head quarters in Los Angeles. He’d have to stay with his mom all week and be home only on the weekends.

Eric’s first thoughts were
hell no!
But after his dad stressed the importance of this and what it would mean for him in the future, he started rethinking. Sofia wouldn’t be happy about it, and the thought of being away from her all summer except for the weekends was the hardest thing to accept. Still, this was a huge opportunity for him. His father even said he was certain if he didn’t, do it he’d regret it later on.

Eric finally agreed, but he still hadn’t told Sofia. He’d be leaving in less than three weeks and there hadn’t been the perfect moment to bring it up.

After watching a movie and munching on pizza, they ended up naked on the living room floor. Eric worked on catching his breath when Sofia sat up. “God I miss this. I’m so glad summer is almost here. I’m s n="0els Erick of going days without you.” She kissed his neck. “I want this every day.”

Eric took a deep breath. “We need to talk, babe.”

Sofia stopped kissing his neck and looked at him. “About what?”

“This summer.”

She pulled away from him. “What about it?”

“I’m gonna be gone. But I’ll be home on the weekends.”

Sofia stared at him. “Why?”

“My dad got me an internship with his company in L.A. It’s for the whole summer, Monday through Friday.” He caressed her face. “It’s a dream internship, Sof. My dad pulled a lot of strings to get it for me.”

“You asked him to?”

“No.”

“I thought we we’re taking a vacation?”

“I know.” He kissed her. “I was looking forward to it, too. But my dad says this is something I really need to do, and I have to agree, Sof. I’d be stupid to pass this up.”

Sofia looked so sad it killed him. “The
whole
summer?”

He pulled her against him. “I promise, we’ll make the most outta every weekend. Okay?” He kissed her nose. “You mad?”

She took a deep breath, her expression completely heartrending. “Are you going to miss me?”

Eric sat up and cupped her face in his hands. “Of course I am—every minute of every day. You’re all I think of, Sofie. It’s almost embarrassing.”

Her face crumbled. “I miss you already.”

For a moment, he hated his dad, and he choked up, hugging her tight. “No, Sofie.” He took a deep breath, trying to hold it together. “We’ll talk every day. I promise.”

They held each other for a while, then Sofia asked, “Are you sure you didn’t ask your dad to take you away this summer—from me?”

Eric pulled himself up and leaned on his elbow. “Why would you even ask me that?”

She lay there, looking at the ceiling. “You’re not bored with me are you?”

Eric turned her chin gently to look at him. He gulped, trying to hold in the anger that question filled him with. “Don’t ever ask me that again. I can’t believe you would even think it.”

She stared at him, then in an instant, she wrapped her arms around him. “Maybe I could go out and stay with you a few times.”

Eric squeezed his eyes shut. He had a feeling she’d suggest that. But his dad had told him he’d be putting in some long hours. There’s no way he’d have time for her.

“We’ll see,” was all he’d commit to.

She pulled away, eyes pinched. “Or not.”

Eric pulled her to him. “Sof, I’ve only stayed with my mom a few times my whole life. I’m not even sure if this is gonna work out. I’m just saying, let’s wait and see what happens.”

Even though he knew how disappointed Sofia was, he was glad he’d finally told her. They’d been through so much already. They could get through this.

***

Eric had only been gone a few days, and Sofia was feeling it. She tried so hard to put up a front when he left, but she couldn’t help feeling like somehow he wanted to be away from her. It felt wrong. She should be happy for him. Even her brothers had agreed this was an awesome opportunity for him, but she couldn’t help it.

Weeks later, even after Eric had come home and two weekends in a row they’d spent most of their time together in a hotel room, she tried pushing it to the back of her mind. Sofia had only signed up for two classes over the summer. She regretted it now, because it gave her too much time to think.