Cilantro and Onions

*

The Morning After

"Oh, gawd, I don't think I'll ever be able to walk again." I make my way gingerly back from the bathroom to the bed where Gabriela still lies. I collapse onto the sheets.

She's looking at me and grinning. "Harder, baby. You remember that? I just gave you want you needed, Angel. No, what you demanded. You were very demanding."

Now it's my turn to smile. She doesn't remind me of the part of the night where I was having my meltdown, only the good times. The hot and sweaty good times. "Thank you." I touch my lips to hers.

"You gonna be able to work today, or am I on my own?" Gabriela's really in a cheeky mood this morning. She's grinning like a fool.

"I'll be there," I say.

"I can put a stool by the register, so you can rest your tired kitty." She reaches out to tap my ass a few times with her hand.

"Just make sure it's well padded." I wrestle Gabriela until she's on her back and I'm straddling her waist. I have a suspicion that she let me win. She's still grinning, even as I lower my head to lay my mouth on hers.

*

I told my parents that I thought their idea of a gap year before starting college sounded like a wonderful idea, and that I had already found a place of my own. They didn't press me for details, so I didn't tell them that I was shacking up in the apartment over the taqueria with a woman twice my age. I wonder sometimes if maybe they knew.

"No more sneaking around," I say, my arms wrapping around Gabriela's waist at closing time.

"No more sneaking around."

"You can have me on the counter top if you want." I grin.

"And you are an over-sexed little monkey," she replies, but still kisses me when I pucker up. "You wanna be on top?"

"Mmm-hmm."

Despite the long hours of working, we practically sprint up the stairs to the apartment above. I flop down on the bed we've been sharing and Gabriela narrows her eyes and shakes her head at me. I heave a sigh and follow her to the shower.

"Oh, gawd," I moan. Gabriela's got her hands on me. Getting me clean, she claims, but oh, it makes me shudder.

My hands are pressed against the tile wall at shoulder height, fingers spread, as I try to keep myself upright. Gabriela has my breasts cupped in her hands and is rolling my nipples between her fingers and thumb as she slides her body over me from behind.

I arch my back and press my ass out toward her. Soon, I feel one of her hands sliding down over my quivering tummy to wind up nestled between my thighs. "Yesss," I hiss as I buck my hips to let her know it's appreciated.

I feel Gabriela pinch my nipple and I suck a breath.

"Angel," she whispers, as her tongue outlines my right ear.

"I think we're clean enough." My words come out with a shuddering breath.

"Oh, you do?" I feel her other hand on my ass now, squeezing, pressing my hips forward as she fills me with two fingers in the front.

Smack. She slaps my ass hard.

I clench down on her fingers.

"I love your ass," she says.

"I love you." I grin as I feel the heat spreading over my backside. "Now take me to bed."

It's not long before Gabriela is lying on her back, atop the sheets. The toy is flopped over to one side, leaving a shiny trail of lube on her skin where it rests. In an instant, I'm upon her, guiding it between my legs, slowly pushing it deep inside.

I bring my index finger to my mouth and make sure Gabriela is watching as I run my tongue over it, slathering my finger with saliva before moving it lower. I know she likes watching me impale myself, and I know she enjoys it when I tease myself at the same time.

I pull my hood back and begin making tiny circles. I have the entire length of Gabriela inside me now. I bear down and start shifting my hips to send some pleasant sensations her way. Her eyelids start to flutter and I smile.

"Feels so good, baby." I've started calling her baby quite a bit these days, but only in the bedroom. I'm pretty sure she likes that, too.

"Oh, gawd. I'm so full." I also pretty sure she gets turned on when I tell her what's going on—when I have the capacity for speech that is.

If someone had told me six months ago that I'd be riding this gorgeous woman while I describe to her what she's doing to my insides in lurid detail, I'd say they were crazy. But after living together for the thirty days of June, I can't imagine it being any other way.

I search for Gabriela's hands and place them on my hips. "Fuck me, baby," I say. "Fill me up and fuck me hard."

I raise myself up a bit and purposely slam down. The resulting motion sets off a shock wave that, judging from the grin crossing Gabriela's face, is something we both enjoy.

I raise myself a little higher for the next one.

"Oh," I cry. "Oh, gawd."

Gabriela is digging her fingers into the flesh of my hips now, lifting me up and slamming me down with each thrust. There is a twinge deep in my belly each time, as the length of the toy buried inside me hits home. Over and over.

Soon my legs are shaking and I'm finding it hard to raise myself up anymore. My body begins to droop.

Gabriela slides her hands up to my shoulders, and in one swift motion, we roll over together and I find myself trapped underneath her. A smile crosses my lips as I feel her moving inside me once again.

"I love you," I manage to whisper before expelling a long breath.

"Angel," she says, and continues hammering my body into the mattress.

This is it, I know what's coming next—or more specifically who's coming next. I feel that uncontrollable quivering starting in my toes and working its way up to my thighs. I hear the pace of my breathing quicken, though I am not aware of taking a breath. I feel the heat and the sweat of my lover over me as the fluttering inside begins bubbling to the surface.

"Oh, Gabriela. Baby."

"Angel."

"Oh my— Oh my goodness." I arch my back, almost painfully, as the first wave crashes over me. Gabriela has her lips poised just inches from my ear. I can hear her labored breath as she whispers my name.

"Angel."

I cry out. My shriek echoing about the tiny bedroom.

"Angel."

A long, guttural moan passes over my lips. I shudder.

"Angel."

I smile as Gabriela touches her lips to mine.

*

All Good Things

I can't help but grin as Gabriela tries to disentangle herself from me without waking me up.

"It's okay," I whisper and turn to steal a quick peck from her lips.

It's Sunday morning and I know she's off to mass again. For a few weeks she tried to convince me to come with her, but now she doesn't ask anymore, she just tries to be quiet when she sneaks off.

Gabriela looks beautiful as she stands in front of the mirror, completely nude, brushing the tangles of last night's passion out of her hair. I lean on my elbow just long enough to watch the switch of her hips as she makes her way to the shower. She closes the bathroom door and I flop my head back onto the pillow.

It's mid-July and I'm beginning to worry. Gabriela and I have been shacked up for over a year now. The business is growing by leaps and bounds. She's taken on three more part-time helpers to run the restaurant while she expands it into a catering business. I've never seen her smile so much. And that is why I worry.

I worry about what I have to tell her—the decision I have to make. Or, if I'm being honest with myself, the decision I have already made—the decision to go to State University in the fall.

I think back to the time that our first part-time helper came to the restaurant, the daughter of a friend. Gabriela introduced me as her partner. Later, at closing time, I had asked her if she meant business partner, or something else. Gabriela just picked up my hand, smiled, and laid a gentle kiss on my lips.

Now, I was going to leave her.

She said it wasn't going to be easy. In the beginning, when I had plenty of lust, but zero courage, she had taken my hand then, too. She said, "Angel. I'm willing to give it a chance if you are."

But, had I ever really given us a chance? Or did I know all along that this is where we would end up—a temporary thing—a year-long experiment that would result in my leaving her.

"What's the matter, Angel?" She pauses to stroke my hair. She's dressed now and on her way downstairs.

"Nothing," I say. "See you after mass."

I hear the click of the apartment door and I bury my face in the pillow. A hot tear rolls down my cheek as I start to sniffle.

I'm going to leave her. I know that now. I'm going to leave Gabriela, the woman I have come to love. I'm going to leave her and go off to college. It's over.

I am my mother's daughter.

*

"Gabriela," I say. It's late August, and I can't put this off any longer. It's past closing time, and everyone has gone home—everyone except for those of us who live upstairs, and share the shower and double bed in the small apartment over the restaurant. I'm hoping it will be a quick and painless conversation. Well, quick at least.

"I know," she says.

I turn to her, but I don't meet her gaze. I can't. "How."

"Angel." Gabriela takes my hand in hers. "I've always known this day would come."

She called me Angel. She's holding my hand.

My breath hitches in my throat. There is a long pause before I can summon any words. "If you knew, then why did you—?"

"Because some things are worth it." Gabriela throws her arms around me and pulls me into a warm embrace. "You're worth it."

And what do I do? I lay my head on her breast and let my tears stain her shirt. "I'm sorry," I say.

"Don't be. I knew what I was getting into."

There is no passionate lovemaking that night, no shrieks of ecstasy echoing in the tiny bedroom. Gabriela and I take separate showers, but still share the same double bed. She wraps her body around mine as I shiver and sob.

In the morning, I pack up my things. Gabriela is busy prepping for a big catering order and I have a train to catch, so we don't even have time for a proper goodbye. She does, however, pause long enough to hand me a paper sack. "For lunch," she says.

I open the sack just a bit and hold it up to my nose. "Chicken tacos?" I ask.

Gabriela nods. "With cilantro and onions."

"Just the way I like it."

"Just the way you like it." Gabriela touches her finger to my cheek. "Goodbye, Angel."

*

Epilogue

Six weeks of college courses come and go before I can stand it no longer. After some long talks with my academic adviser concerning community college partnerships and transfer credits, I finally book my train ticket and bid my roommate farewell. My mother is not completely happy with the situation, but for the moment, she is giving me my space. Now, my only worry is finding a place to stay.

I stand at the counter in the little taqueria. The laminate surface is shiny and new, having been replaced recently, and there's a girl I don't recognize who is taking orders, but the menu board is still the same. The enchanting middle-aged proprietor, who is hard at work in the kitchen, has her back to me.

"I want to work here," I say.

The girl turns her head toward Gabriela in the kitchen who comes walking forward.

"You don't have to pay me," I say, "but I just transferred to the college in town and I could use a place to stay..."

Gabriela smiles. "I suppose you're hungry too, after that long trip. Can I get you something to eat?"

"Two chicken tacos?"

"What would you like on those?"

"The usual. Cilantro and onions."

I watch as a smile spreads over Gabriela's face. I notice the way her eyes crinkle in the corners and I can't help but smile in return.

* * *

Afterword

I hope you enjoyed the story. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section.