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| THE PROJECT BY BEESA |
CHAPTER 13 |
"So, things are improving between you two lovebirds, hmm?," asks Del.
"I don’t know."
"You don’t know? Why don’t you know? Either things are better, or they’re not."
"Del, nothing is ever that simple with Téa and me."
"Oh."
"Look, I don’t know where we stand with each other, okay? On the one hand, she is talking to me, and she doesn’t seem to be all that mad at me...but, on the other hand, she seems so, I don’t know, resigned? Yeah, she seems resigned or defeated or that...she has given up or something."
"You think she has given up on you, on the two of you?"
"It’s more than that, Del. It’s like she has given up on everything, including me and us. God, she’s so sad, and I can’t deal with the fact that I’m the cause of her sadness."
Del stares at him for several moments. "Then fix it."
"What?"
"You heard me, Manning. Fix it. Instead of being the problem, for once, be the solution."
"Fix it? Just like that? How the hell do I do that?"
"Hey, how you do it is up to you. You figure it out. You’re a grown man, Todd, and it’s time you start acting like one."
Del stands up and stretches. "I gotta call the Bureau, check in, that kind of thing." He walks to the door and stops, turning around to look at his friend. "Think about what I said. I mean it, it’s time to be a man, Todd. If you want to be with my sister, then you do whatever you have to do to make that happen. You say the words and you do the deeds, and you move Heaven and Earth to earn her forgiveness and trust...or you don’t. You stay, or you walk away, but whatever you do, you do it now, and you make it permanent. You decide, but know this: Téa deserves a hell of a lot better than what you have given her in the past, and if you hurt her one more time, I swear to you, man, I will make you regret it. You and I are friends, but Téa and I are blood, and you have done her wrong for the last time, you hear me? Maybe the smartest thing you could do would be to call those two guys with the boat and the plane, get on that plane and get the hell out of Téa’s life forever. Unless you are absolutely, one hundred percent ready, willing and able to be her man, then you leave her alone." Del leaves the room.
Todd sighs heavily, knowing that Del is right. He needs to decide if he is capable of having a real, mature, sustained relationship with Téa. He desperately doesn’t want to hurt her, again, but the thought of living without her makes him physically sick. The panic that is rising in him is immediately calmed, when he looks out the window and sees her sitting at the end of the dock, dipping her toes into the water. He gets up and walks outside, not stopping until he is standing beside her.
"Is this seat taken?," he asks.
Téa looks up at him, but she doesn’t say anything. Instead, she just looks back down at the water.
"I’ll take that as a ‘no,’" he says. He sits down right next to her. He rolls up his pants to below his knees and puts his bare feet into the warm water. They sit there in silence for several minutes. He gently nudges her shoulder with his. "Hey, thanks for breakfast. It was great."
"You’re welcome," she says, softly.
Silence.
"Dammit, Delgado. Why are you so quiet? It’s freaking me out, you know?"
Téa looks at him and slowly shrugs. "I have nothing to say." She looks back out at the water.
Silence.
"Del thinks you should be more forgiving and give me another chance," says Todd.
Téa looks at him and raises an eyebrow.
"Okay, so, maybe he didn’t use those exact words...okay, so, maybe he said it was time for me to decide if I was ready to be an adult or something like that...I can’t remember exact quotes here."
Téa looks at the water.
Silence.
Téa’s silence is really bothering Todd. It’s disconcerting and uncomfortable. Her closed-off demeanor is making him feel ill. It’s scaring him. He knows he needs to find the words to convince her to take him back one more time, but he can’t put his thoughts and hopes into words. He is shocked when he hears what comes out of his mouth.
"I love you, Téa."
Silence.
"Don’t," she declares. She quickly gets up and runs toward the house.
Todd runs after her. "Don’t what? Don’t love you, or don’t tell you that I love you? I can stop saying the words, but I can’t stop feeling the feelings, Delgado, and neither can you!"
She runs into the house, just as Todd catches up to her and gently places his hand on her arm. He turns her around and is amazed to see that she isn’t crying. He thought she would be, and he’s scared that she isn’t. Talking and tears were things he could always count on in the past from her, and now, she is withholding both from him. Téa pulls her arm away from his grasp.
"Hey! There you are, mija," says Del. He is sitting on the couch. "I just got off the phone with my boss, and I’ve been given a new assignment. Three guesses what my new case is?"
Téa is too distracted by Todd’s presence and what he just said to her on the dock to follow what Del is saying.
"Okay, I’ll just tell you. I’ve been given the case of the disappearing billions! Ha! Can you believe it? I’m the lead investigator in Asa’s case. My boss figured I’d be perfect for the job, since I already have some ties in Llanview, and I’ve worked there before. This is too sweet. Golly, mija, I have a feeling that I won’t be solving this case," Del says, sarcastically. He laughs. He looks at Téa. "Oh, come on! This is fantastic! I’m going to bury this case so deep, it will never be solved. Any evidence that might be found, I will destroy, and I will leave the Bureau because of my ‘despair’ over my inability to solve this case. We are home free!"
"That’s great, Del," says Téa.
"Uh huh. Okay. Well, I must say, your boundless enthusiasm is overwhelming. Anyway, I have to leave shortly. They need me in Llanview by the end of the day. I’ve already called those two guys with the plane, and they’ll be here in about an hour."
"Oh. I was hoping you could stay at least another day. You just got here," says Téa.
"Yeah, I know, and I’m sorry, but duty calls...and you gotta admit, this is one hell of an opportunity to cover our tracks."
"I know. It is a good thing for us."
"Chin up. Once I finish with this case, I’m quitting the Bureau, and maybe we can go on a trip somewhere, anywhere in the world. Wherever you want to go, okay?"
"Okay," she smiles, nodding her head in agreement. "Well, I guess you two better get ready to go. Maybe they’ll even let Todd sit with the people, instead of the luggage, this time?"
"I’m not going," Todd states.
"Yes, you are," Téa corrects.
"No, I’m not," Todd argues.
"My island, my rules, you’re gone, buh-bye," Téa says and leaves the room.
"She can be such a snotty little bitch sometimes," says Todd.
"Yeah, and you love it. Come on, man, let’s get ready to go. And, be nice to those two guys this time, okay? I don’t want to have to try to keep them from throwing you overboard off the boat, because I can’t swim, or worse yet, from throwing you off the plane while we’re in the air, because I can’t fly."
***
Téa hugs Del tightly, reluctant to let go, but she does, and he gets into the boat. Todd approaches her, but she turns away from him, crossing her arms in front of her body. He grins at her attitude, but he walks right up behind her, close enough so his chest is touching her back. She doesn’t move, as he places his chin on her shoulder and whispers into her ear. "I do love you, Delgado, and I will be back, very soon, whether you like it or not." He plants a quick kiss on her neck and pulls away from her, getting into the boat.
Struggling to keep her composure, she turns around and faces the men in the boat. She smiles at Del and waves goodbye, as the boat pulls away from the dock. She watches for a few moments, as the boat becomes smaller in the distance, before she walks back into her house.
***
Feeling tired from the lack of sleep last night, Téa leans back on her couch, resting her head on the arm and closing her eyes. Just as she is about to drift off to sleep, she hears a knock on the glass of the French doors. She opens her eyes to find Todd standing there, dripping wet.
To be continued...
