Chapter 2: Swimming Lessons - Amory

I wake up the next morning puking my guts up, just like every other day I wake up before ten, but I have a business matter to attend to today so I don’t really have a choice. I pick myself up from the bathroom floor, then shower and brush my teeth quickly. Today is supposed to be even hotter than yesterday, and I kind of regret having worn the white dress. The city's humidity is killing me! I pick the next lightest color, a baby blue dress much like the one I wore yesterday, but it has spaghetti straps, not a tank top. I wrap my hair up in a messy bun and head down to the lobby as soon as Simon texts that he is nearby.

We drove over to the building and there was only one other car in the lot. It’s a dark blue four-door Honda Civic that I remember seeing in Jonny’s driveway last night. So it doesn’t surprise me that when the four men from last night got out of the car, Jonny was in the driver’s seat!

Simon unlocks the warehouse and we head up to the second floor that was formerly offices. He rolls out a preliminary blueprint that gives us a basic idea of what it will look like in here when construction is done. The guys are a little put off by the club’s layout, but I have bigger plans than most nightclubs in the area. I’m going to be catering to all music genres through themed nights, not just one! This will maximize exposure for the club and profits for my pockets.

Simon thought that this was genius, and was more than happy to be my bank! I’m just praying it works and I’m not going to be one of those teen moms dancing on a pole to feed their kid while the daddy acts like the kid doesn’t exist… Or in my case, actually doesn’t know the kid still exists!

When we’re finally done touring the building, Simon gives the guys miniature copies of the preliminary blueprints with markings of what their duties will be. Then Jonny holds the door open for me while I get into his car. The other three guys went with Simon. For being only twenty-one, Jonny drives cautiously to the doctor’s office and even gets out and comes into the waiting room with me.

“You don’t have to wait in here with me, you can wait in the car. It’s fine”, I tell him, growing uncomfortable as the receptionist keeps staring over at us like we’re some couple in love and whatever. When they finally call me, I hand him my purse to hold before following the nurse. She questions why Jonny isn’t coming, and I explain he’s a friend who gave me a ride, not the father of my baby.

She quickly drops the subject and does a quick check of my vitals. The baby is doing well since the last scan at the attempted abortion and we are coming right up on to week eleven. She tells me that means I’ll be out of the first trimester soon and what is commonly the miscarriage danger zone, so I’m less likely to have a miscarriage at this point and my morning sickness should start to fade… Well, thank the heavens for that!

When I check out, I feel like the receptionist is talking obnoxiously loudly. She explains all of the tests I’m being sent for and that I need to come back in few weeks after all of the results are completed. If they find something concerning, they will call me to come in sooner. I guess no news is good news, right? I take the literal stack of referrals from her and stuff them into my purse as I lift it from Jonny’s lap.

“Do you have your bathing suit?”, he asked.

“It’s on under my clothes”, I told him.

“Okay, mi Amor, let’s go then”, (my love) he says as he takes my purse back from me and holds the door open. He also holds the car door open again, and I’m starting to think he isn’t just only polite for this job… That he is just always polite! Again, he drives cautiously to his mother’s house, and when we get there he excuses himself to change. I lifted the dress off over my head and tossed it on top of my purse before taking a seat in one of the lawn chairs.

As I’m left sitting there, his siblings all come out of the back door with their mother. Jonny’s youngest brother, Liam, is about to turn eighteen soon. He breezes right by me and leaps into the pool. Then he circles back after having noticed me and sits in the lawn chair next to me before wiggling his brows at me. I laugh at him before turning my attention back towards the mother who continues to dote on me in Spanish, even though I can’t understand her. Jonny’s older brother and sister are twins, Emilio and Emilia. Emilio works in construction, while Emilia works in a law office as a clerical secretary. She’s assisting Simon and I with the contracts, so I’ve actually met her before. I just didn’t know she and Jonny were related until now! There is one other brother after Jonny who, like him, joined the military and is on active duty right now!

When Jonny comes back out of the house, he’s dressed in dark blue swimming shorts and no shirt. God is this man sexy as fuck, and he smirks when he catches me full-on staring at him. That’s until I get up and basically catch him doing the same thing… Okay, now that we’ve got the eye-fucking out of the way, let’s learn how to swim!

We started off at the shallow end of the pool. Jonny has me lay across his arms to get used to the movement of how my arms and legs should move. At moments, his hands are in some pretty indecent places, but I understand the gestures and how they affect my moves. Eventually, he walks around the shallow side with me, then suddenly removes his arms from under me and lets me go. I spaz until I realize I can still stand, then splash him.

He laughs it off and apologies, then he tells me I need to get used to the water over my head. He wraps me around him and swims out to the deep end where he’s able to somehow balance us both above the water. He again lays me flat on my stomach and has me move. I’m nervous, but as the sun is going down, I’ve finally got the hang of it enough to where I can at least keep my own head above the water in the deep end.

I’m exhausted by the time we climb out of the pool, and as I’m sitting on the lawn chair drying off, Jonny’s mother offers for me to spend the night instead of having Jonny drive me home. That way, I can continue learning to swim tomorrow. I must really be tired because this sounds like the best idea I’ve ever heard, and I accept her offer! As I nitpick around dinner, Jonny asks if I’m sure I’m comfortable staying. I explain away my odd behavior with my peculiar eating habits. He takes me by the hand and leads me into the kitchen, then lets me rummage through it! By the end, my plate consists of grilled steak, half a sliced avocado, and grilled vegetables from what Jonny says was part of their dinner the night before that nobody ever eats. It’s zucchini and eggplant, so I toss the container in the microwave and pile my plate with it!

“No rice?”, he asks. I just shake my head no. “Pasta?”, he says, and again I just shake my head no. “Bread”?

“Multigrain”, I tell him when I’m done chewing the bite in my mouth. “And I like it topped with smushed avocado and tomatoes”.

“Guacamole?”, he says.

“Huh?” I said to him, and he laughed.

“Guacamole, it’s mashed avocado and cilantro, with diced garlic, onions, tomatoes, jalapeños, and lime juice”, he says.

“Oh, um! It’s not all of that in there. It’s just the mashed avocado and tomatoes, but what you said sounds really good”, I told him.

After eating, I’m put in Jonny’s old bedroom, since he’s been staying on the couch, or so I’m told. I find it amusing that I’m also given his tee to sleep in… This all seems too familiar for comfort, but at least I’m changing myself this time! After I climb into the full-sized bed I have to laugh, he’s probably sleeping on the couch because I doubt he still even fits in this thing, since he’s so massive. Ironically, it does smell like him though, faintly!

It takes me a long time to fall asleep, I keep hearing the members of Jonny’s family walk by the door, and at one point I think I hear Jonny pacing in front of it. I cracked the door open slightly, and saw him squatting against the wall across from the door. “Amory, you okay”?

“I don’t sleep well, and until recently I haven’t slept alone in what feels like a very long time. I’m a bit of a night owl yet also a social butterfly”, I admit. “Hence, the nightclub”!

“Do yo-“, he stutters. “Do you want me to ask Emilia to come to sit with you?”, he asks.

“No, no. I don’t want to be a nuisance, it was nice enough of your mother to offer for me to stay the night so you didn’t have to drive me home”, I told him.

“My mother is welcoming to everyone. Would you prefer I take you home?”, he asks.

“No! Could you just sit with me instead until I fall asleep?” I suggested.

“Me? You’d rather me stay with you?”, he says, surprised.

“Think of it as practice”, I said through my laugh at his reaction.

“Uh, sure I guess”, he says as he awkwardly scratches at the back of his neck before rising back up onto his feet and entering the room. He sits with his back against the footboard of the bed and I toss him his pillows to lean on. His sock covered feet nearly reach across more than half the bed so I’m likely right about him not fitting in this bed any longer!

I mirror him by leaning against the headboard, and after a minute we both start laughing. This really is awkward! After we’ve regained our self-control, I tell him, “let’s play twenty questions”?

“How do we play that?”, he says.

“We ask each other questions about ourselves to get to know each other. Supposedly it’s a good dating game, but I wouldn’t know. Haven’t been on many of those in my life”, I admitted to him. “But I think it fits in appropriately right now. It’ll kill the awkwardness”!

He chuckles and says, “you first, mi Amor” (my love).

“What’s your favorite color?” I started off simple.

“Blue! More specifically, sapphire blue, like my birthstone. But that blue on your nails is nice too”, he says, and I look down and blush that he would notice such a thing. “And I’m guessing yours is pink”.

I giggled and nodded, “okay, you go”!

“What’s your favorite music genre?”, he says.

“Ooo, I don’t have one! I love all types of music, like everything. I even have music on my playlists that’s in different languages, and even though I have no idea what they’re saying, I like something about it”, I tell him.

He nods and says, “now your nightclub idea is making even more sense to me! Reggaeton for me”.

“So you like music that makes you feel like moving”, I say, and he smiles and shakes his head while looking down.

“When’s your birthday?” I asked.

“September thirteenth”, he says.

“Virgo! Makes so much sense now”, I say casually.

“Yeah? How about you?”, he now asks.

“December thirty-first, so every year is a celebration on my birthday”, I say as I roll my eyes.

He laughs, “somehow I doubt you enjoy that since you’re a Capricorn”.

“I am! And I don’t! But you understand my pain, since we’re like one in the same, which makes our signs the most compatible together out of all of the other signs”, I said, then realized what my sudden diarrhea of the mouth just made me say.

As my face heats, Jonny chuckles. “I guess that’s good to know since we’ll be spending so much time together. It would be better if we got along”!

“Question four is yours”, I reminded him.

“Dream car?”, he asks.

“I don’t have a favorite car really, but I used to drive my ex’s car all the time and that was a pretty nice ride if I could ever even afford one in my lifetime. But, I have a custom-built motorcycle and that’s probably been the best thing I ever drove”, I say.

“What kind of car was it?”, he asks.

“Oh, uh… A McLoo- I dunno something like that”, I tell him.

“A McLaren?”, he says.

“Yeah that’s it”, I said.

Jonny’s mouth drops open, “what eighteen-year-old owns a McLaren”?

I know I’m turning pink, possibly even red at this point! “He’s a bit older than me. But let’s get back on topic. Your dream car”?

“BMW”, he says.

“What series?” I said to keep him focused and not divert back to talking about Spin.

“Four! Funny for a girl who doesn’t have a favorite car or likes to drive, you would know something like that”, he says.

I just shrugged… My ex was a mechanic, it kind of became my thing, “I said I didn’t have a favorite and I don’t like to drive, not that I don’t like cars. Do you have a middle name”?

“Anthony”, he says. “You”?

I chuckle, “depends on what document you look at”.

“What do you mean?”, he says.

“So, technically Amory is my middle name”, I tell him. “I was in foster care and my foster parents adopted me and we had my name legally changed to Amory Williams. But if you want to be technical, my full name is Loyalty Amory Marshal Williams Hart”. I don't know what it is about Jonny that made me comfortable enough to disclose that to him, but I just feel like I can trust him!

“That’s a looong name”, he laughs.

“Yeah, so growing up I was called Lala and was going to have my name legally changed to that when I was adopted, but circumstances changed my mind. So, Amory Williams, it is”, I tell him. “I’d appreciate it if this just stayed between the two of us. My parents didn’t even tell Simon, the name change was done just prior to me meeting him, and to make sure my ex never finds me, we’d like as few people as possible to know”!

“Your secret is safe with me, mi Amor”, (my love) he tells me. “Favorite number?”, he asks.

“That’s a good one actually, thirteen”, I told him. “You”?

“Seven”, he says.

“Prime numbers”, I say quietly, and he looks at me curiously. “Numbers that can only be factored by one and themselves”. We sat there for a long pause before I blurt out, “I want ice cream”!

Jonny starts laughing at my randomness and unlocks his phone, “DoorDash is still delivering. What kind of ice cream are you looking for”?

I reached over and pulled the phone from him. “Ooo, that looks good!” I said out loud as I scanned through the selections and added it to the cart before handing the phone back. Then I pulled my purse off the end table, pulled out my wallet to retrieve my credit card, and handed it to him.

He pushes it back at me without even looking and says, “it’s just ice cream, Amory”!

“Thanks”, I told him as I put my card back. “What’s your favorite ice cream flavor”?

“Pistachio”, he says. “I’m guessing this is your first time getting unicorn vomit, or I dunno what it is you just picked. So what’s your regular favorite”?

I started to laugh, “butter pecan usually”!

“How do you go from a classic like butter pecan to unicorn poop or what is it you even ordered?”, he says, and I’m literally in a full-on giggle fit by the time he even gets the phrase out.

“I’m going through something right now”, I tell him through my laughter and he now joins me in my giggle fit.

“Do you have a favorite video game character?”, he asks.

“Princess Nadia”, I said.

“Never would have guessed you’re a Chrono Trigger fan”, he says.

“Guilty, how about you?” I asked him, and it hits me that I would not be able to answer half of those questions about Spin and I’m married to him!

“I’m a donkey kong fan”, he says. “But both are Nintendo, so the vibe here is still good”.

“How about books? Do you have a favorite?” I asked him.

“Grapes of Wrath”, he says, surprising me. “You”?

“The Great Gatsby”, I tell him.

“So tragic”, he comments.

“Speak for yourself”, I said, causing us both to laugh again.

“Favorite movie?”, he then asks.

“Love, Actually”, I told him.

“Serious? Isn’t that a little before your time?”, he questions.

Again I find myself shrugging, “I like classics! How about you”?

“Venom, but it was a favorite comic book when I was younger. It helped me learn English”, he admits.

“Were you not born here?” I asked him, confused.

“I was! But my father was Italian American and was a police officer, so he was never home. My mother was born in Cuba and was home all the time, so I learned Spanish first, then English”, he says with a shrug!

“It’s nice to know more than one though”, I told him.

His phone vibrates on the bed between us and Jonny says, “let me go get the ice cream”! He gets up and heads out the door, leaving it cracked open. It seems like everyone else has gone to sleep, leaving just the two of us, up alone together. When he comes back, he shuts the door gently and sits back down on the bed before opening the bag between us and handing me a container with my ice cream and a plastic spoon. I crack the lid and scoop a spoonful into my mouth… It’s not at all what I was expecting but still tastes amazing!!! However, when Jonny cracks the lid of his ice cream, the smell draws me in, and I find myself reaching over without warning and spooning some of his ice cream into my mouth too! “Oye, detente”, (hey, stop it) he says with annoyance that I just have to laugh.

“What does that mean?” I asked him.

“It means to stop it”, he says, making me laugh harder as he reaches over and takes a spoonful of my ice cream. “That tastes like shit so it’s appropriately named”, he says as he swallows it down. I’m laughing so hard I’m crying! “I’m glad you find my misfortune amusing”, he says, once he thought I had regained my self control and renewed my laughing fit.

We sit in a comfortable silence eating our ice cream until I yawn. “So is that your sleeping pill of choice? Azúcar“, (sugar) he says.

“What’s that?” I asked him.

“Sugar”, he corrects himself.

“I guess”, I say as I shrug. “What else is there really to naturally put you to sleep that’s enjoyable”?

I see Jonny bite his bottom lip and shake his head, probably trying to prevent himself from saying something that would be inappropriate to say to your boss, even if I am younger. I mean I know what he’s thinking, but it’s not really an option for me now, is it?

“What goes on in your head when you switch back and forth between languages?” I said casually.

“My thoughts come out in Spanish and I have to translate them into English before I say them out loud, and sometimes I don’t translate it as quickly as I speak it”, he states.

“Oh, that must get annoying”, I told him.

“It used to! But I’ve gotten used to it”, he admits.

I lay my head back on the headboard and I dunno how it happened, but we both eventually doze off there together opposite each other, making waking up even more awkward than going to sleep was!