Maria DeLuca (readyourpalm) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2020-04-01 18:52:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, maria deluca, michael guerin |
Who: Maria DeLuca and Michael Guerin
What: Running into each other
When: March 29th
Where: Local restaurant area
Rating/Warnings: PG/None
Status: Complete
Maria was a mix of emotions being back in Orange County. She had absolutely loved her life in New York, but her mother needed her and she was not the type to turn her back. There were a few doctor appointments on the calendar but right now she was concentrating on getting back to her mother’s shop with some lunch for her, her mom, and the employee that was working today. She had stopped at the local cafe to grab everything and she was kind of excited about spending the day with her mom at the shop since it had been forever since they spent a day like that and there were a lot of things that had changed. She was tempted to try out her hand at palm and tarot readings again, but she was definitely rusty.
As her mind was elsewhere she didn’t really pay attention as she turned the corner on the street and ran right into someone. A gasp escaped her lips as she smacked against a body and then stumbled backwards, mercifully holding onto her bags, and then looked up. Wait, did she know this person? Her brow furrowed before everything clicked, “Michael? What the fu-”
Michael decided to get take out for lunch. He was busier than usual so far and needed an actual meal as opposed to whatever junk food was laying around the garage. And that meal came in the form of a burrito. He was on his way to the closest taqueria looking down at his phone when he bumped into someone pulling him back into reality.
It took him a second to realize who knew his name. Over the years Michael met a lot of people. Being in the foster system he went to a number of schools, not only that but he had a lot of customers at his shop. All of which remembered his name but he didn’t seem to remember any of theirs. However, once Michael had a chance to actually look at the woman he knew exactly who it was.
“DeLuca?” Came his response. He hadn’t seen her in over ten years, since she left for New York. Like he would ever forget that night. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Ugh, that night. Maria DeLuca had made a very bad decision the night before she left to drown her nerves of sorrow and excitement in a lot of cheap beer and made out with Michael before she left on a plane the very next morning, with a wicked hangover, and never spoke to him again. Granted, they had never really been super close friends to begin with, but he had been there and again, bad decisions. Maria had thought she had forgotten the whole incident until it all came rushing back to her in that moment.
“Well, Guerin, I’m here to see my mom. I was grabbing some lunch to bring to the shop and apparently the Universe decided we needed to physically run into each other. Are you okay, by the way?” She could at least be nice and ask, right?
“The universe?” Michael replied a small smirk on his face. It did sound like a very Maria thing to say from what he remembered. “Pretty sure the universe doesn’t give a shit about me, DeLuca.” While the comment was said lightly it was something Michael truly believed. After all he had been dealt a pretty shit hand.
“Yeah I’m good. You okay?” He was bigger than her after all. “So you’re just in town visiting your mom?” he couldn’t help but clarify. He hadn’t exactly kept tabs on her or anything but last he knew she lived in New York.
“You would be surprised,” sometimes a streak of bad things would lead to something good in the end, but the Universe was always watching. Maria of course would never waste time explaining that to Mcichael, “And yeah, I’m alright. I think my ego is the only thing that’s bruised.” At least she hoped so.
“Sure, visiting. Maybe a longer visit, we’ll see,” Maria was definitely not going to speak to Michael Guerin of all people about what was happening with her mother. That was strictly reserved for Liz or Caroline who understood. She still wasn’t sure how long she was going to be around, but it was beginning to feel like a bit of a permanent visit because if her mother was worse than she thought then she wasn’t going to leave her.
Probably for the best that Maria didn’t try to describe it. He wouldn’t believe her New Age nonsense anyway. “I think your ego will be just fine,” Michael replied smirk on his face. “I promise not to tell anyone about this little incident.” Just as he hadn’t said a word about their make out all those years ago. Not that he was the type to kiss and tell anyway.
“Yeah?” he asked with a brow raise. “How long you thinking of sticking around for?” He got the sense that there was something else to the story. Something Maria didn’t want to share with him. Which was fine. He was just some guy she knew ten years ago. He didn’t expect the full explanation which is precisely why he didn’t push.
“You’re a good guy, Guerin,” Maria gave him a wink at his comment. It didn’t seem like he had spoken to anyone about what happened back then and she hadn’t even told Liz about it. Maybe she’d bring it up some day but for now it was their secret. At least he wasn’t the most disgusting person on the planet.
“I’m not sure, at least a few weeks right now. I have to see how things are with my mom,” she was extremely nervous about all the tests she had lined up for her mother, but hopefully they would be alright. The last thing she wanted to do was to put her mom in a nursing home. She would probably stick around for the long haul if that happened, “What are you up to nowadays?”
Even if they were said in jest, good guy weren’t words Michael ever heard about himself. It caused a slight smile to form on his face. “You’re gonna ruin my reputation, Deluca,” he joked in return.
Now he was getting a bit more of the story. She wasn’t just here visiting her mom. There was something going on with her. “Your mom okay?” Michael of course had to ask with genuine concern. As for him? “Not much. Pretty much the same as the last time you saw me. Only now I’m a mechanic.” And he could no longer play guitar thanks to his foster father.
“Oh trust me, I can keep the secret about you being a good guy if you need me to. Don’t want to hurt that reputation you think you have,” a grin appeared on Maria’s face. It had been a long time since the two of them talked but it felt nice to just chat with someone and bantering could be a lot of fun.
Maria gave a small shrug, “I’m not sure, honestly, which is why I’m here. And a mechanic? Huh, I never really pictured you as someone who enjoyed working on cars, but I guess if you enjoy it then that’s good.” At least now she knew someone she could go to if something happened to her car. She didn’t use her car much in the city but had done a road trip back here when she decided to come back.
“Oh I know I have it,” Michael replied with a grin. Maybe not as much anymore. Orange County was a big place after all. But he knew back in the day he was the foster kid that people were warned about. Got into a lot of fights, both then and now.
“I’m sorry, Maria.” He opted to call her by her first name so she would know he actually meant it. It wasn’t just an obligatory sorry. Maria had been one of the few people to actually get near him back in high school, one of the few he actually let near him. He cared. Even all these years later. “It’s not the worst work in the world,” Michael replied getting back to the banter.
That reply made Maria roll her eyes with a scoff. Typical, Michael Guerin. Cocky, sure of himself, and ready to pick a fight at the drop of a hat. She would hope that the years since high school had tempered him, but who knew, she certainly didn’t. Everyone seemed to have changed at least a little bit; honestly it was just weird being an adult.
“Thanks,” she spoke softly with a small smile at the sentiment. It was very sweet of him to say that and she did know that he meant it. That was the one thing she always admired about Michael; he was honest and he didn’t really bullshit you. If you needed someone to tell it to you straight he was a good choice, “Never too late to find out what you truly enjoy. I can always give you a free reading.”
He had calmed down a little bit since high school. No longer getting into fights on a weekly basis, now it was just the occasional bar fight. But he had also hardened a lot more since high school. How could he not? What with the constant rejections from foster families, and then what one of his foster father’s did to him simply for being who he was. It changed a guy. Which was why he continued to not let anyone get close, except for Max and Isobel.
“Free reading?” Michael questioned. “Do I even wanna know what that means?”
"I can read your palm or I can do a tarot card reading. Give you some information about yourself and your future," Maria explained. Not everyone believed in that sort of thing, but Maria definitely did and even felt it within herself. She and her mother had a knack for it, which made her consider moonlighting at the shop while she was here, "Totally fine if you don't want to. Offer is good forever, basically." Well, until she left, if she left. That was still undetermined.
If Michael believed in that sort of thing it wouldn’t be his future he’d want to know about. It’d be his past. What his parents were like, hell what the first seven years of his life was like. But that was something he didn’t talk about. Max and Isobel were the only ones that knew he didn’t remember his life before age seven.
“That’s an offer I won’t be taking you up on, DeLuca,” Michael replied keeping it light with a smirk on his face. “But if you ever need something more practical like someone to look at your car I’m around. Might even give you a discount.”
"Never say never, Guerin," Maria cocked an eyebrow at him and then gave him an easy smile, "a discount? Oh my, what is a girl supposed to do with an offer like that? Be still my heart." She dramatically lifted the back of her hand to her forehead and pretended to swoon.
She settled back to normal with a smile, "But seriously, thanks, I'll remember that. I should get this food to my mom's place before she gets hangry. I'll see you around, Guerin." Another smile was given as she stepped around him and made her way to the shop.
“A guy’s still gotta make a living,” Michael replied. “I can’t just go around giving free service no matter how hot the girl is.” Now it was his turn to wink with a large smirk on his face.
Speaking of hangry. Michael was still pretty hungry himself and he hadn’t even gotten to buy his burrito yet. “Yeah I gotta get my food too. See you around, DeLuca.” And he honestly hoped he would.