Ricky's Story

by 4luv4evr428

The story of Lucy and Ricky's courtship, told from his point of view. **The character of Mr. Abbott was created by FF user GeneaLady**

I.

Even as the plane was leaving the ground, I was afraid that I was making the wrong decision. I had never left the island of Cuba and I had never been away from my family…especially my mother. But I pushed the fear out of my head, because there was nothing for me in Havana. I was tired of singing for the drunks in the dark gin joints, working for the centavos they threw at me.

I went to Miami with fourteen other musicians, but I couldn't stand to stay there. It was Cuba in America, full of tourists who came to see the immigrants from "some Latin country" playing rumbas. We weren't even making much more than we made in Havana, and I was cleaning bird cages by day. But the musicians I came with all loved it there. I wanted to keep going north to New York, but they didn't want to come with me.

So now without anyone I had known from the island, I took a plane to New York. In some ways, I was more afraid than before. Now I was definitely alone, and I would have to start all over.

New York was a crazy place and I loved it. There were all different types of people, all different types of places and all different types of music. With the little bit of money I had saved from my time in Miami, I got a small apartment. It was one room with a fire escape and a shower, but it didn't matter because I didn't go there for anything but sleep.

I spent weeks getting auditions and meeting musicians. I had a lot of doors slammed in my face and a lot of club owners didn't want to look at a young, poor foreigner.

I had met about ten guys that I rehearsed with regularly, in the basement of a store that sold instruments and supplies. One day, I got word of auditions for a singer and bandleader at a new club that was opening called The Tropicana.

I knew I would need more than ten musicians, but if I could impress them, maybe they would give me time to hold auditions of my own. I took the guys I had and we went to the club on the day they were seeing acts.

I was lucky because when we got there, we met six more musicians who were there without anyone, including a piano player named Marco, who had arrived from Santiago only a week earlier. I was nervous about playing with guys I hadn't rehearsed with before, but they picked up my music and played well.

I sang with all my heart, in English and Spanish. All I wanted was to succeed at something. I ended my audition with Babalu…and I think that did it. The owner, Mr. Abbott, pulled me away from the guys in the band to talk to me.

"You're good. You're very good. If you and your band are a hit on opening night, in front of an audience, I'll keep you on," he said.

I was so happy, I could've kissed him. We would open that Saturday night.

II.

It rained all day that Saturday. We rehearsed, but I didn't want to over rehearse. I sent everybody home to take a nap and I sat in my dressing room. I didn't want to go back to that little room I was living in. It didn't feel like home to me. I was missing my family and that room was so empty. I hoped that performing here would fill that emptiness.

I walked around the neighborhood, thinking about what I wanted from this country. I wanted to sing and be successful at it. And even though I didn't think about it as often, I wanted a family here. I knew if I ever went back to Cuba, it would only be to visit. I needed something here. More than the band and my music could give me. No girl I had ever known in Cuba was worth asking to come with me. I wasn't in love with any of those women who hung around the bars looking for someone to marry them. But I decided not to think about that. I needed to be the best I ever was that night.

By the time I had a small dinner and got dressed, I was very nervous. If this didn't work, I didn't know what I would do next. But I didn't have time to worry about that for long, because before I knew it, I was being introduced. I grabbed my drum and this was it.

III.

The crowd was huge. There had been a lot of press about the opening and it seemed like everyone in New York was there. Any fear I had went away quickly. My boys sounded great and I loved every second on that stage, in a tuxedo, in a classy place.

I was close to the end of my performance before I really started looking out at the audience. Usually, I tried not to. Sometimes it made me nervous. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Nice looking people who looked like they liked me, dancing. But in the front, I saw her. She was…beautiful. She had beautiful red curls and beautiful…no, incredible blue eyes. I had to focus on singing because the sight of her made me tongue-tied. It was a good thing that the song I was singing was over, because I almost fell over when I watched her cross one beautiful leg over the other. Como cautivante esta mujer era!

She was watching me and I loved it. I picked up my drum for the finale and I wanted it to be the best Babalu that anyone ever heard, here or in Cuba. But I was doing it just for her. When I was finished, the crowd was on its feet applauding me. But I was looking for her.

I turned behind me to the piano player. "Marco, la musica de baile," I shouted to him. I had to find that girl.

I totally forgot about Mr. Abbott until he ran up to me. "Ricky, my boy, if you can do that every night, I'm going to be a rich man!"

He shook my hand. "Does that mean I have the job?" I was hopeful.

"Yes, Ricky, you have the job!"

I shook his hand and for the first time, I felt like I was on my way. What I wanted to happen was starting to happen. And while everybody was starting to dance, I needed to find that girl.

But she was gone. The table she was sitting at was empty and I looked all around, but I didn't see her. She couldn't have left that fast. I thought maybe it was my imagination that she was looking at me the way I was looking at her.

I walked through the crowd and I was looking at everybody. She was nowhere to be found. I was surprised out of nowhere when someone walked right into me. I didn't see anybody until I looked down and saw her on the floor! She looked angry at first, but I looked right into those big blue eyes and my world stopped moving. She was even more beautiful that I thought.

And then I remembered that she was on the floor. I reached out my hand. "I'm so sorry, please forgive me! Let me help you!" She took my hand and aye, Dios mio, my skin burned when she touched me!

I helped her up and when she was standing there looking at me, I just wanted to touch her face. I never felt that way about anyone before!

"I'm sorry, I should've watched where I was going," she said. "You're Ricky Ricardo. I love your singing, it's wonderful!"

No one had called me Ricky until I came to America. It was easier to get people to accept me by finding an American name than it was to get people to call me Enrique. I wasn't in love with it, actually. It didn't feel like my name. But as it came out of her mouth (carajo, those lips were so red and they looked so soft), the sound of the nickname was getting better to my ears.

I gave her the nicest smile I could. "Thank you. I'm still gettin' used to bein' called Ricky. Back home, I was Enrique. But I like the way you say Ricky. What's your name?"

"Lucille MacGillicuddy. Lucille…"

Lucille. All I wanted to do was get to know her. "Do you wanna sit with me?" I was afraid I was too forward, but she looked at me like she was happy I asked. We went and sat in a quiet corner of the club. The lights were low and I couldn't stop looking at her.

We talked for a long time. I told her about Cuba and about how I grew up. She told me about the little town outside the city where she was from. She was very sweet and clever. The band started playing another rumba. "Do you want to dance with me, Lucille? I could tich you to rumba…"

Sometimes, I was self-conscious about my accent, but her smile was so pretty, I didn't even think about it. "I'd love to dance with you," she said.

I took her hand and she came with me to the dance floor. My heart was pounding very fast when I put my arm around her waist. All kinds of feelings were in my head that I couldn't tell her about because I just met her! She had such a lovely figure and it felt like my arm was made to be around her. I showed her how to move with the music and when her hips moved with mine, it drove me crazy. Something was happening in my heart that wasn't like anything else I ever felt.

I wanted to be alone with her and free to look into her eyes. "Do you wanna go somewhere quiet where we can talk?"

She nodded yes and I took her hand. I took her up to the roof of the club. I had only been there once before. It was nice there. We talked for another long time about what we wanted from our lives and I told her about my wishes and all the reasons I came to New York.

Then suddenly, she asked me what time it was. It was 3:30 in the morning and we didn't even realize it. "Oh, my goodness! I have to get home, my friends have no idea where I am!" She was worried. I couldn't stand the thought of not seeing her again, I couldn't let that happen. And somehow I knew she wanted to see me again because she wasn't leaving yet. Without realizing it, I held her arm and for some reason, her name came out different when I said it. I think part of me wanted to claim her as mine…and a new name that only I used was the way to do it.

"Lucy, when can I see you again?" I was desperate to see her again.

"Lucy?" She was surprised, and I thought maybe she didn't like the name.

"I'm sorry, I din't mean to shorten your name without askin'," I said.

"No, I like it. If Enrique can be Ricky, then Lucille can be Lucy." She smiled and I was relieved. She went into her purse and wrote her address on a piece of paper. "This is where I live. You can come by anytime and we can…go out and get to know each other more."

Oh, my mind was already made up that I would see her tomorrow. We looked at each other and then she went downstairs and was gone. But I heard the sound of her shoes on the street and I wished they weren't leaving me. I looked down at the address that she gave me. I couldn't understand why I was feeling this way. I wanted her and I needed her. I laughed at myself. It wasn't POSSIBLE that I…no. After seven hours? Eso era absurdo!

But I put the address in my pocket and started to leave. I would see her very soon.

IV.

I did see her the very next day. And I saw her every day for the next month. When I couldn't get away from rehearsals, she came to me. As impossible as it seemed, I knew I was completely in love with her. I hadn't told her that yet because it was so new. I didn't want her to think I was crazy.

One night, after my performance, we went back up to the roof. We were used to doing that to be alone. We didn't really say anything. The night was so pretty and warm. She always looked beautiful, but in the moonlight, se veia como algo del cielo.

In one clear moment, I decided right there on the roof that I was going to tell her how I felt about her. And I prayed that I was right that she felt the same for me. I wanted more for us. We hadn't even kissed each other beyond small pecks on the cheek or the lips, and yet every time I was next to her, my hands needed to touch some part of her. With each day that passed, she was completing me.

I looked at her again. She was looking out over the city, wearing a dark blue dress. It curved with her in all the right places and her bare arms and neck were nearly more than I could stand. Dios, cuántas veces en el último mes he ojalá ella pudiera mostrar lo que un hombre que podría ser?

"Lucy…I need to talk to you," I said. I must have looked very nervous because when she looked at me, she got worried.

"What is it, Ricky?"

"I, I have somethin' I need to tell you."

"About us?"

My nerves were getting to me. I looked at the ground instead of at her. I had never told a girl I loved her before and I was so afraid that she didn't love me. "Yes."

"You don't want to see me anymore?"

My eyes flew back to her. No, I didn't want her to think that! "No, Lucy, no! I mean…yes, of course I want to see you!" I never knew whether those questions should be answered with no to mean yes or yes to mean no…the English they spoke in New York was different than the English I learned in Cuba.

I put one hand on each of her arms, the feel of her skin in my hands was all I wanted in my life. "Lucy, honey…" I had never called her that before and I said it without thinking about it. But I saw her eyes shine up at me when she heard it. "What I'm tryin' to tell you is that…I, I dun't have much here. I dun't have anythin', really. But since I met you…I feel…at home." I swallowed my words. I knew what I was really trying to say and I said it slowly. "I…I love you."

My heart didn't seem like it was still beating while I waited for her to respond. But as I looked into her eyes, I saw the answer before I heard it. "Ricky," she whispered. "I love you, too."

I put my arms around her and pulled her close to me. She put her head on my shoulder and I felt her breath on my neck. It was the most wonderful thing I ever felt. But it wasn't what I was looking for. When I told her I loved her and she told me she loved me, I made her a silent promise that I was going to marry her. And I wanted to seal that promise with a kiss.

"Lucy," I said quietly.

She raised her head to look at me and I was still holding her tightly. Her face was very close to mine. I touched my lips to hers very slightly, and we pressed them together. We stayed that way for several moments before I decided I was going to go further. She loved me.

I felt her mouth open with mine and I touched her tongue with mine. Any fear I had about her pulling away from me went away when her hands went up my chest and around my neck. Her kiss was everything I knew it would be. I wanted to be lost in it forever. I never wanted to break away from her. My skin tingled, my heart pounded and there was music on my lips that I could never have made without her in my life.

I don't know how long we stood there kissing. It was a long time and those lips were as soft as they looked. When we finally did stop, we looked at each other and aye, those eyes in the moonlight, llegaron en mi alma y lo agarro. I was hers and she was mine.

V.

For the next month after that, I saved almost every cent I made at the club. I did hire an agent and he was sure he could get me more work on the radio, and maybe even get me a contract with a record company. And I was getting more popular at The Tropicana, too. The place was packed every night we were open and Mr. Abbott was so happy, he let me audition more musicians. My sixteen piece band had grown to a twenty-five man orchestra…plus one female harpist. My orchestra.

I wrote to my mother back home all the time. I told her how well things were going at the club and how happy I was to be making real money doing what I loved. And I told her about Lucy. I told her about how sweet and smart and beautiful she was. I told her that we were together all the time. We went out to dinner, we walked in the park, she watched my rehearsals and stayed after the shows. On my nights off, we went to the movies. But if you asked me what we went to see, I couldn't tell you. We always went to the darkest part of the theater and necked. Sometimes she'd end up sitting in my lap. We loved double features. I didn't tell THAT to my mother, but I did tell her that I was in love with Lucy and was going to marry her. She wrote to me that she was happy for me and I was glad.

One Sunday afternoon, I stopped on my way to meet Lucy and I bought the most beautiful red roses I could find. I had saved enough money to put a deposit on a larger apartment. I wanted Lucy with me. And I was ready to ask her to marry me. I was nervous as I walked to her place. What if she said no? No, she wouldn't say no, I thought. Every day, we said we loved each other. Five minutes didn't go by that my eyes didn't say it to her.

My fears were gone when she walked out the front door. I almost couldn't breathe, se veia como la pieza mas dulce de la torta. She walked toward me and my knees shook. I'll never forget it. She was wearing a silk dress, el color de la crema de remolina en el café. It stopped right below those knees that I put my hand on at the movies sometimes. They were smooth and soft and I always wanted to see how much softer the skin above them must be…but I would never dare do that to her. Not yet. She was wearing a wide had, the same color, on top of those curls que eran del color de las llamas que ardian a mi corazon. And when those eyes, ESOS OJOS, looked at me from under that hat, I almost picked her up and took her to the nearest judge or minister or ANYBODY!

She looked at the roses in my hand and she smiled. "They're beautiful," she said.

I couldn't say anything. I just put my arm around that waist that my arm was made for and I kissed her.

VI.

We spent the day at the park and we ate lunch and talked and walked and…kissed, like always. I wanted the right moment to ask her my question, but I hadn't found it yet. But I felt like it was here when we walked over a bridge and sat on a bench near a little lake. The sun was starting to set and when I looked over at Lucy, she had taken off that hat and her hair fell down to touch her shoulders.

This was it.

"Lucy…do you love me?" I don't know why I asked her that. I was nervous. I guess I wanted to hear it before I asked her what I really wanted to know.

I think she looked at me a little nervously, too. Maybe she knew what was coming or was hoping for it. "Yes, Ricky, I love you. Do you love me?"

I felt better now. "Yes, honey. A lot." She was about to find out just how much.

I should've kissed her or held her hand before I moved, or something. But I was anxious. I went down to one knee in front of her and I took her hands right away. Then she knew, I could see it. Those eyes were looking right through me.

"Lucy, I love you desperately. I can't live without you. Will you marry me?" There. I had said it. I prayed that she would answer me quickly or I would die waiting.

I didn't have to wait long because she smiled right away and those eyes melted me. "Yes! Yes, Ricky, yes!"

Those words were the most wonderful I ever heard in any language. And as happy as I was about the success I was finding in New York, that was nothing compared to how happy this made me. She would make me happy for the rest of my life.

I got up and pulled her up with me. She put those arms around my neck and I felt those fingers in my hair. I kissed her and on the inside I was singing.

VII.

A lot of things happened in the next two months. We wanted to have a wedding. Actually, I didn't care. I would've married her the day she said yes. But she wanted it, the white dress and everything. So I wanted her to have it.

We ran into problems right away. Her mother could not stand me even though she had never met me. I knew it was because I was Cuban. She thought I was going to love Lucy and leave her.

But Lucy's mother wasn't the only one who didn't like the idea of us. My mother had told my uncle about Lucy. He was a rough man, muy macho. He helped my mother raise me after my father died when I was ten years old. I loved him, but he was against my leaving Cuba in the first place. When he found out I was going to marry an American girl, he said if I didn't return to Havana right away and forget her, he would disown me. I wrote to my mother and told her that I loved her very much…but I wasn't coming back.

I continued to save my money. I wanted to talk to Lucy about eloping, but I didn't want to at the same time. I didn't want to take her wedding away from her. I knew she was trying to make her mother come around, but it wasn't happening.

During all of that, I was under stress at the club. Mr. Abbott wanted me to change up the act to include a dancer. He wanted a pretty girl on stage with me. It made sense. The popular thing was conga lines and rumbas and I was bringing it to New York. But I needed a dancer to do them with. I held auditions and hired a girl who was very good. She was pretty, she learned quickly and she looked good in the costumes.

There was one problem with her that I didn't know about until after I hired her. She was looking for a husband, like all those girls in Cuba who hung around those dark gin joints. And she didn't seem to care how she found one.

For some reason, even though most of the orchestra was single and found her attractive, she flirted with me. She saw Lucy all the time, just like everybody else, and there was no secret about who she was to me. I was very clear that our relationship was only business, but Josephine (that was her name) convinced herself that I wasn't serious.

One afternoon, I was having a very bad rehearsal. Nobody was together, we sounded terrible. Just as I was starting to rehearse the end of a dance number with Josephine, Lucy came in. She wanted to have lunch with me and that was exactly what I needed. But I told her I had to get the dance done first. She said she'd wait on the roof for me.

I can't even explain what happened next because I don't know! The music started, I started to dance with Josephine, I dipped her because that was the last movement of the dance, and before I knew it, she kissed me! I was stunned for a second, but everything in my brain and my body was screaming at me. As fast as I could, I pushed away from her. "Are you crazy?! What are you doin'?" I was very angry and this was the last straw. If I was only thinking about firing her before, now it was for sure.

I turned around because I heard footsteps behind me. Lucy was walking away, leaving.

"Lucy? Lucy, where are you goin'?" I ran after her.

When she turned around and looked at me, her eyes were red from crying. Dios mio, she had seen that! And she was mad. "I didn't mean to disturb your cozy little rehearsal, Ricky. I'll see you around."

"Lucy!" No, no, no, this wasn't happening. I wasn't going to let this happen! I looked at Josephine and I was hoping to find the good part of her that would stop this. "You tell her I had nothin' to do with that!"

She didn't say a word. She actually had a little smile on her face. That made me even angrier, but I couldn't think about that yet. "I'll deal with you later," I yelled at her as I started running after Lucy.

I chased Lucy for blocks. I begged her to listen to me. I tried to tell her that I didn't have anything to do

with that kiss and I didn't want anything to do with Josephine. I knew she was a little stubborn, but this was crazy! I did everything but crawl after her on my knees…and I almost did that. Finally, she turned around and I thought to myself, que bueno, she's going to listen to me!

"Leave me alone, Ricky. Just leave me alone," she said. She started walking away again and there was nothing I could do but watch her go. I sat on the front steps of the apartment building we were in front of and I thought of what to do. I couldn't go back in time and stop what happened. She was going to have to believe me. Why didn't she? I decided I had to go after her. And I wasn't going to take no for an answer. This was the woman I loved and I was going to fight for her.

So I went to her apartment. I didn't know if she'd be there, but I prayed she was. I ran there.

As if it were an answer to my prayer, when I got in front of her house, she came out the front door. I was relieved I found her. "Thank goodness. Lucy, will you PLEASE listen to me? Please?" I was desperate.

She didn't say anything. She just sat down and looked at me. Oh, good. At least she wasn't running away from me. "Lucy, I did NOT kiss Josephine. She kissed me, and as soon as I realized what was happenin', I stopped her."

"Do you always not realize when a girl is kissing you?"

Dios mio, cuando queria ser terco…

"I was surprised by it. It took me a few seconds to register it. You din't see me yell at her after?"

Lucy didn't say anything. She was just looking at me. Was this good or bad? I was kneeling in front of her. "There's NOTHIN' between Josephine an' me! If there was, would I be fool enough to kiss her while you were there?"

She looked like she was thinking about it, then her face got mad again. "You sent me to the roof! You didn't know I was there!"

Now she was starting to sound ridiculous! Esta mujer era una locura! "That was your own idea, I din't tell you to do that!"

She knew I was right. Her eyes were looking at me like she was desperate to believe me. "Have you ever kissed her before?"

I started to answer her. I couldn't wait to answer her. But when I opened my mouth, I heard Marco behind me. I turned around fast. Good old Marco. He was a wonderful friend. "Lucy, I never saw him kiss her or show any interest in her, ever. She's tryin' to hook him."

That was great of him, but I wanted her to hear me say it. "No, we never kissed or did ANYTHIN' before. And we never will again, I'm gonna fire her. I was thinkin' of it anyway. Lucy…" I moved to sit next to her. I looked in her eyes and I took her hands. I wanted her to believe it. I needed her to believe it. "Lucy, there's no one else, honey…"

She still didn't say anything and Marco was backing away. He knew it was time to go. "I'm gonna go back to the club, boss."

I was happy he'd been there. "Thanks, Marco."

Lucy looked at me. I couldn't read her eyes, for the first time ever. "Ricky, I don't know…maybe this is what my mother's been talking about…"

Well, that made me mad! All the time, every day, I was with her and her only. I put my heart out to her, I was crawling on my knees! I was begging! There was no man in Cuba that did that for a woman! If anyone saw me doing that, they'd say I was a pendejo! Maybe I was, but I was in love with her and I didn't care. And after all that, she was going to listen to her mother? Well fine! I got up and I talked to her in a way I never did before. "What?! Is THAT what this is about?!"

She got right up and faced me. No woman in Cuba would do that, either. I hated to think it, but I loved it. It excited me that her temper was as hot as her hair…and the rest of her. "No! This is about you two-timing me!"

"Lucy, I tried to tell you I dun't want anythin' to DO with this girl! What am I gonna do with you?"

She put her hands on her hips and looked me square in the eyes. "You don't know what you're going to do with ME?!"

I didn't know what else to say. I looked at her and it killed me. Even as angry as she was, there was no match to her beauty. And I loved her so much. But NO, I was not going to back down and show HER that. "If you don't trust me….if you believe what your mother says about me…well, I dunno…"

Neither one of us said anything after that. I didn't know about her, but I couldn't believe this was happening. We'd spent four months together and it was the happiest I'd ever been in my life. When she didn't say anything, I started walking away. Everything inside me was crying out to stop, to turn around. No, I wouldn't be a pendejo. I prayed for her to say something, anything. Just say my NAME, it would be enough to turn around and get on my knees again! But she didn't. She was as stubborn as I was.

I walked all the way back to the club. I went in and everybody was standing around, not doing anything. And there was Josephine. Sitting on top of the piano como una puta. I walked up to the stage and looked right at her. Everybody was quiet, like they were waiting for a bomb to drop.

"Do you know what you've done? Get out. Get out of here! And dun't come back again, ever!"

She stood up but stayed far away from me. She didn't have the courage Lucy had! "Mr. Abbott likes me, Ricky. What will he say?"

"Dun't threaten me! They come here to see ME! Mr. Abbott knows THAT! Get out!"

She turned around and walked back to her dressing room.

Marco was the only one who spoke after that, but I didn't want to hear him. I don't even remember what he said. I looked at them all and yelled, "Rehearsal's over, go home! Dun't be late tonight!"

I went to my dressing room and slammed the door.

VIII.

That night, the rain came. It matched my mood. I got through my show, but I hated every minute of it. I had tried to call Lucy. After an hour of not speaking to her, I didn't care what it looked like. But her roommate, Marian, said she wasn't home. I didn't believe it.

I went back to sit in the dressing room after the show was over. Marco was leading the orchestra so people could dance. I wanted to cry but it wouldn't come. I had tried too hard not to while I was singing and dancing and pretending to be happy. How was this possible? I had fallen in love so hard that when it seemed like it was taken from me, the floor I hit seemed to kill me. How would I go on? Would I never see her again? We would both be moving around this big city, I'd know she was out there. It was enough to make me think about going back to Cuba. But the distance wouldn't be enough to make me forget. It wasn't the answer. Then I'd go back to being miserable without her AND poor AND under my uncle's control.

No, I wasn't doing that. I wasn't going to give up. I was going to find my Lucy and get her back. I was too far gone for her to forget about her. I just didn't know how I was going to do it.

I got up and walked back out into the club. I walked past all the people dancing. They looked at me, greeted me, smiled at me. I tried smiling back but it was fake. Like my show had been that night. Just a show.

I kept walking and I ended up at the front door. The rain was so heavy I couldn't see through it. It was so loud I couldn't hear the music or the people anymore. I was a million miles away from the happiness and fun that was back there. I leaned against the wall like it was holding me up. It probably was. And I looked out.

When I heard footsteps coming up behind me, I started to pay attention. When they stopped next to me, I turned my head. There she was. I stopped breathing. How did she do that? Get more beautiful every time I looked at her? Her hair was pulled up, se veia tan suave. She was wearing a black dress and I could see the white skin on her shoulders and her legs…aye, las rodillas de ella! I was surprised to see her but so happy! But I didn't know what to do, so I just looked at her.

When that little bottom lip shook like she was going to cry, I couldn't take anymore. I put my arms around her waist. This couldn't go any further, she belonged to me.

"Ricky, I'm sorry, I so sor-"

I couldn't let her go on. "No, Lucy, no. I've been sufferin' all night that the biggest mistake of my life was to walk away from you…"

She touched my arms and everything disappeared. The club, the people, the fight, the anger, the pain. It was gone. She was back in my arms. "I came here because I had to know if you were saying that it's over…"

Over. I hadn't let that word in my head. No! It wasn't. It couldn't be or she wouldn't be here. "Do you want it to be over?" I was so afraid of the answer.

But she looked at me and her eyes told me the answer. "No," she whispered.

"I dun't want it to be over, either. I want to marry you."

She started to cry and it broke my heart. But at the same time, it was my sign that she loved me and she wanted to be with me as much as I wanted to be with her. She was afraid of my answer as much as I was afraid of hers. I pulled her closer. "Lucy, dun't cry, I understand why you were so upset. I wasn't gonna just let you go, I just din't know what to do…"

"I trust you, Ricky, I believe you about what happened. And I don't care anything about what my mother says, either…"

I couldn't help laughing. That woman wasn't going to keep me away from her daughter. No en cien vidas. "I love you, Lucy."

She looked up at me. "I love you, too," she said.

I kissed her. We kissed with the same passion that we had all those nights in that dark movie theater, when with one touch, she could've made me claim her right there. I had to marry her. Not in two more months or two more weeks or even two more days. Tomorrow.

My lips left her for a second. "Lucy, honey, I dun't think we're gonna get any peace until we just do what we wanna do…"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, let's go get married. Tomorrow. I dun't want to put it off anymore, I want you to be my wife."

She didn't say anything to me. Was that bad? She put her head on my shoulder and that breath on my neck was making me crazy. "Is that a yes?"

"It's a yes," she said. She kissed my neck and yo no podia hacer nada.

"We'll go to Connecticut tomorrow. I'll take care of everything. All you need to do is come with me and marry me…" I touched her cheek and she looked up at me. I kissed her and our tongues were together and her arms were around my neck. Yo queria que ella.

I let go of her all of a sudden. I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed her by the hand and I took her all the way through the club and back to my empty dressing room. I slammed the door. At first she looked at me like I must be insane. But I took her in my arms again before she could say anything and I started to kiss her again. She didn't resist me. Not at all. She put her arms around my neck and my hands were everywhere. Around her hips, her waist, her stomach. Before I could think, I had her back against the wall. And everywhere my hands went, she moved to make it easier for me. My hands went up to the side of her breasts and then back down to her thighs. I started to lift her. Dios en el cielo, yo queria que sus piernas alrededor de mi!

But I stopped. My eyes opened to look at her and she looked at me. I couldn't do it. I loved this woman, I was going to marry this woman. She wasn't una puta. She deserved better than a dark dressing room in the back of a nightclub, backed up against a wall. No. "Lucy, I can't do it. I mean…I want it…I want you, more than anythin'. But not this way. You deserve better than this, it should be special…"

She took a deep breath. She wanted me as much as I wanted her, I could see it. But she knew I was right. "Tomorrow," she said.