Taking Care Of The Mobster

It’s funny how she’s so confident about being able to support my weight when I tower over her petite height. I humor her, though, careful not to burden her with all of my weight. “Thank you,” I murmur.

Abby helps me down the stairs, slowly, and into the living room. She holds me while I lower myself onto a couch and fusses over me till she feels I’m comfortable enough.

“Thank you, Abby,” I say to her with a genuine smile of appreciation.

She answers with a little nod and settles on the couch opposite mine. “It’s no biggie.”

“What were you doing?” I ask in a conversational tone after a while.

Abby shrugs. “I wanted to catch up on the news that I’ve missed over the past two days, so I came down here to surf the TV.” She gestures to the television with a nostalgic smile. “But I got caught up on this channel. They’re playing random songs from the 80s, and it just comes with this feeling of going back in time. You know? I can’t seem to... I’m sorry. You asked me a simple question, but I started to ramble. Again. Do you... um... Want anything?”

I chuckle and shake my head slowly in amusement. I like it when she rambles on like that. In those moments, she’s unguarded and cutely animated. In those brief unshielded moments, I get to see deeper into her person.

But telling her my thoughts will only push her further into her shell, so I lean back on the couch and pretend to watch the T.V while I watch her mouth the lyrics to the song playing on the screen.

I’ve never met somebody like Abby. Fiery yet calm. Gorgeous and absolutely oblivious. Innocently charming and innately pure. Her beauty isn’t only physical, it seems to radiate from an inner place within her. Maybe it’s why I’m so attracted to her; the fact that this woman possesses a rare essence that connects with something deep within me.

It’s hard to explain – and more than a little bit frustrating.

“Can I have a cup of coffee?” I ask after a while, just to draw her attention away from the television and to me.

“No...” Abby says apologetically like it’s her fault that I can’t drink coffee. “It’s really not advisable to take caffeine until you’re completely healed. I... I can fix you a glass of mineral water, if you don’t mind, though.”

“No, I’m fine,” I say with a sigh. “Thanks.” Abby nods quietly and returns her attention back to the TV.

“Oh my God... It’s The Temptations song, My Girl,” she says excitedly as the familiar tune fills the living room.

“This is a classic,” I say with a fond smile, wishing that I was well enough to ask her to dance. She’d probably politely refuse while sporting a shy blush, but I can be pretty insistent. “I couldn’t choose a favorite between My Girl and The Way You Do the Thing You Do,” I add.

“You like The Temptations?” Abby asks in disbelief.

“Of course,” I tell her. “They are my all-time favorite. Even now.” I pause and then continue, “You know...When I was young, this small music store was just around the corner in my neighborhood. Old Joe, the owner, was a fan and used to play their songs all the time. Somehow, I connected with their lyrics and melody. Back then, I hung around old Joe’s music store whenever I wasn’t busy trying to survive. For my fourteenth birthday, I got myself all their albums I could lay my hands on. I was so excited. I did all kinds of jobs to get that money, but it was worth spending it all in the blink of an eye.”

“Wow,” Abby says, shaking her head slowly. I start to sing along with the song playing on the screen, thinking back to a faraway place in my past – one of the few moments in my life where I’d been almost happy. It’s been so long that they feel like fragments of someone else’s memories.

I feel Abby’s gaze on mine, so I turn to look at her. She has a faint smile on her face while staring almost unseeingly at me, like if she looks long enough, she’ll find the appropriate answers to her musings.

“What’s that look for?” I tease gently. “Is a roach coming out of my mustache?”

I don’t have a mustache, but she laughs like I intended.

In the few days that I’ve known her, I’ve discovered a new hobby, and that’s doing everything I can to see her smile at least once. She’s most beautiful when she laughs with her perfect teeth and cute dimples. The sound of her laughter is a soothing balm that brings unexpected warmth to my heart. And each time, the feeling is heightened a little more.

“It’s just...,” Abby says and shrugs hesitantly. “You don’t seem like the sort of person to listen to soulful music. It’s... I don’t know....”