The Look of Love. Crystal B. Bright

couldn’t get Eboni out of his thoughts. She consumed his every waking moment, exactly like when they had first dated.

      Seeing her in a robe with her hair pulled up into a messy bun, he wanted to run over to the house and pull her hair down from the bun and make love to her.

      He swallowed hard. His hands itched to touch her.

      As he started to open his mouth to say something, anything, orderlies wheeled in the bed that carried his mother. Gunnar stood along with Eboni, who moved back from him so that they could slide her bed between the two of them.

      Elizabeth remained conscious but looked tired, evident from the bags under her eyes and her pale skin tone.

      “I made it.” Elizabeth smiled. “That room was so cold. They were trying to freeze me.”

      The same doctor who had spoken to them yesterday returned.

      “Looks like the surgery went okay.” Gunnar smiled.

      The petite woman’s expression remained serious and somber. “We didn’t install a stent.”

      The smile melted from Gunnar’s face. “You were gone a while. Why didn’t you do the procedure?”

      “We found another artery behind her heart that is also completely blocked. Installing stents will not help. At this point, we need to talk about doing bypass surgery. At least double, but it could be triple.”

      Clutching his mother’s hand gave Gunnar the strength to remain standing. His world spun out of control. He gazed down at her. “Ma?”

      Gunnar needed to hear her to know that she would be okay.

      His mother frowned. “I’m going to have a scar. I won’t be able to wear my dress with the plunging neckline.”

      Gunnar laughed through his impending tears. He kissed her forehead. “I think that might be the least of your worries.”

      “I know.” She became solemn as she spoke to him.

      “We’ll hold her for a couple of days to watch her. She’ll go through a healthy heart care class.”

      “What?” Elizabeth’s bottom jaw unhinged.

      “Mom, you wouldn’t go to a class like that voluntarily. Catching you while you’re in bed would be the only way.” Gunnar squeezed his mother’s hand.

      Elizabeth sucked her teeth and turned away from her oldest son.

      “If all goes well, she should be home by the weekend.” Dr. Patel typed something in the wall-mounted computer in the room.

      “When is her surgery scheduled?” Eboni patted Elizabeth on her shoulder as she talked to the doctor.

      “I’d like to do it in the next couple of weeks. I don’t want to wait too long with the amount of blockage that she has.” She patted Elizabeth’s legs and said her good-byes before walking out.

      The room fell into a deathly silence. Elizabeth put her hand to her chest.

      Gunnar knew his mother and knew her statement about her scar being visible hid her fear. He patted her hand. When she looked at him, he smiled.

      “Did you two work out your problems?” Elizabeth looked at both of them.

      “We’re taking it step by step.” Eboni rubbed her fingers over Elizabeth’s arm.

      “That’s the only way to do it. Rome wasn’t built in a--” She fell asleep before finishing her statement.

      Gunnar peered up. “Now I’m starving,” he said in a whisper. He nodded toward the doorway.

      Eboni followed him and they both went to the hospital cafeteria for lunch. When they got to a table, he wasted no time in asking Eboni questions about the salon. He didn’t want to bring up his mother and have the thought of her surgery plaguing his mind.

      “What are the other stylists like?” Gunnar opened one of his four bottles of water and chugged the entire bottle down within seconds.

      “The stylists have changed since you were there. They aren’t like me or your mother.” Eboni flicked the lettuce and cucumbers around in her salad. “Other salons rent their spaces out so that stylists can be their own bosses. Not your mother. She employs these people. She feels like she can give them better benefits than if they went out on their own.”

      “Any problems I need to know about?” He picked up one of his sandwiches and finished it in three large bites. Good thing he’d grabbed two more sandwiches to fill him.

      “Same ol’ beauty-shop drama. One person accuses another of stealing their client. You know. Stuff like that. But nothing major.” She watched him work on his second sandwich. “Do you have a tapeworm or something? I’ve never seen anyone eat like you do.”

      Gunnar opened his second bottle of water. “I work out a lot. I need the food for fuel.” He took a couple of gulps and then wiped his mouth. “So my plan for tomorrow will be to see my mom in the morning and be at the shop an hour before it opens.”

      Eboni blinked. “Really?”

      Gunnar shrugged. “I want to be a good boss.”

      Eboni shook her head.

      “Supervisor.”

      She cleared her throat.

      “Owner.”

      “Oh, hell, no.”

      “Fine. I want my presence there to be seamless. I don’t want the staff or the clients to even notice that my mother is not there.”

      “That’ll be a neat trick. But tell me, Gunnar, when you didn’t talk to you mother for a long while, did you miss her?”

      He laughed. “Of course.”

      “That’s how other people are going to feel. Don’t go in thinking you’re her replacement. You can’t do what she does.”

      Gunnar knew no one could replace his mother. He just wanted an opportunity. “I think I’ll surprise a lot of people. You just wait and see.”