Chapter 14
"Go away," Buffy said as Marco stepped inside again.
"Come on, don't be like that," he said as he walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She swatted them away.
"Go home, Marco. I don't want to talk to you right now."
He sat down opposite her. "I'm not going home. I came over to apologize."
She picked up her coffee cup and sipped. "Not accepted. Now please leave."
"Buff, look. I know I've been an ass lately. Especially since you started dating Antonio, but it's only because it's I love you."
"Marco, I don't want to talk to you right now. I don't want you to come around for a while. I just want to be left alone." She stood up and walked to the door. She opened it. "See you later."
He stared at her for a few seconds. Slowly he rose from the table. "Ok, I'll go, but don't think this is over."
"Goodbye," she said. Once he was through the door, she closed it firmly. She thought about locking it, but since Antonio was still outside, she decided not to.
She poured another cup of coffee and returned to the table. A few minutes later, Antonio walked through the door.
"Hey," he greeted.
"Hey. Sorry about that. He really has to learn his place."
"It's okay. We talked. He apologized for what he thought."
"How could he think I would do that?" She looked down at her coffee cup, then up at him. "I mean, we've only had two dates. Three if you count this morning. It's way too soon to think about that. I just can't believe my own brother would think I'm a tramp."
"He wasn't thinking that about you. He was thinking I was taking advantage of you. I set him straight." He sat down next to her and took her hand. "He came over to apologize for his behavior last night."
"I know," she sighed. "And I bit his head off and tossed his ass out the door. I don't regret that. He needs to learn to back off and let me live my life." She looked over at him. "And don't say it's only because he loves me."
"Wasn't going to say a word." He picked up his coffee cup and drank. It had gone cold. He made a face.
She got up and took his cup away. She walked over to the sink and tossed the contents down the drain. She poured a fresh cup and brought it over to him.
"Thanks," he said as she set it in front of him.
. 'What time do you have to pick up Julian?"
"He has a game at 4. I'll go get him about 2."
Antonio nodded. "Pizza after?"
"Probably. It's sort of become a tradition even if Marco won't be there."
"With Marco, one never knows."
"True. Very true."
Marco entered the house. As expected, his mother was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on something that looked delicious. He kissed her cheek.
"You don't look happy."
"She threw me out of the house again."
"What did you expect? She's still mad at you."
"Ma, Antonio was there. They were eating breakfast."
Angela looked at her son. "And you automatically assumed he spent the night."
"Well, yeah," he admitted. "But when I called him on it, he said no."
"And you also assumed that your sister would go to bed with someone after a few dates?"
"Buffy? No. But Antonio could have tried something."
"You know your sister can take care of herself. She practically ran a whole ship when she was in the service."
"Ma, she ran the radio room. That's not running the whole ship."
"Sure it is. If something came over that radio and it didn't get to the proper person, she could have gotten in trouble."
Marco rolled his eyes. He knew nothing he could say would convince his mother that his sister had nothing to do with commanding the ship she was on. "Anyway, she's still mad at me."
"With good reason. Not everyone is an alley cat like you are."
"MA!"
"Don't play innocent virgin with me Marco Ricardo. I know where you spend your nights when you're not home. So don't you dare say anything about your sister. She's a good girl and a good Mama. Besides, you should be happy she's dating. Means she might get married again."
Marco sighed. He should have known his mother would take Buffy's side. The two of them were as close as two could be without being joined at the hip. She was right, however. He shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. "I went over to apologize, and she threw me out."
"Of course she did. You embarrassed her in front of her company." She kissed his cheek and slid the pan into the oven and turned on the gas. "You can apologize at Julian's ball game. She might be in a better mood to hear it then."