Sweep Me Off My Feet

Chapter 3

The air was crisp as Angela walked down the street. The bags on her hands were wearing her down. She could already feel the strain on her muscles as she walked to the next store. She already had two new pairs of shoes: a pair of black, glossy stilettos and sandals, but she had seen an ad in a magazine earlier that day and she knew that Giovanni’s had just stocked some boots. They were basically offering every kind of boot you could think of. Ankle boots, flat-soled boots, knee-high boots…it was basically boot heaven. She pushed a strand of hair back and quickly made her way down the street eager to get to the store. It was already late and she was still supposed to pass by another store and get something for Brandon, perhaps a pair of cute sneakers and a tracksuit in black and blue, his favorite color combination.

She had just got to Giovanni’s when she suddenly dropped her bags. She cursed silently as she bent down to pick up her bags, but she could not really see. It was like the floor had suddenly turned into this bright thing and then there was this annoying, repetitive sound that just wouldn’t go away. It kept on ringing and ringing and ringing…

It was not until she opened her eyes that she found out that she was still in bed and that the annoying repetitive sound was her alarm. She reached for her phone and switched off the alarm before she lay back on the pillow. She exhaled loudly and closed her eyes. The feeling of disappointment that she had grown to know a little too well was like a bad smell that would not go away. It was almost ever present, something that had been happening since just before Brandon was born.

“Get it together, Angela,” she said to herself as she pulled herself up.

She would have wanted to stay in bed a few more minutes and indulge in the pity party she was throwing herself a little longer, but she did not have the luxury of time to do that. She had just enough time to get ready for work, give Brandon a bath, feed him, and drop him off at daycare and that all had to happen before she got to work. She spread her bedspread and walked over to the bathroom where she got the water started. She was trying hard to think of something else, anything else apart from the fact that the dream she had would have been her real life. She thought to the days she used to dance, back before she got pregnant. Everything about her life was different. Even the apartment she lived in was better than the one she was in now. Back then, she did not have responsibilities and what is a young woman living in a big city to do when she gets tips amounting to two thousand dollars a night? Sometimes when she was struggling to get enough for groceries, she would think back to those days. To days when she put on six hundred dollar pants and two thousand dollar boots. It was definitely a simpler time back then. She would have given anything to go back to that time but at the same time, she would not have done anything differently if it meant losing her son. As far as she was concerned, Brandon was God’s gift to her. To save her. It was either that or go on living the indulgent life she had been living which had brought her dangerously close to drug abuse… God knows that if she had not discovered she was expecting, she would have most probably been a junkie by now. Maybe even dead.

When she got out of the shower, she put on her work clothes and then woke her son.

“Good morning, sleepyhead. Time to get up,” she said as she gently rubbed his back. His eyes fluttered open and he smiled up at her. She always loved how waking him up was easy unlike most kids who were slow and groggy most mornings. She sat on the edge of his bed as he turned to lay on his back. “Do you want to give Mama a hug?” she asked, and he nodded. She took his hands and pulled him up before kissing his cheek. “How did you sleep? Did you have sweet dreams?”

“Uh-huh,” Brandon said.

“Good. Now, I want to hear all about your dream last night on the way to daycare, but right now, you know the drill. Teeth first. I already set your toothbrush on the sink and then I will be in to give you a bath, all right?”

He got out of bed and walked to the bathroom leaving her to make the two beds before giving him a bath. When she was done, she laid out his clothes and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. One of the things she loved about Brandon’s milestones was how fast he was getting though them, and he also stuck to his routine. He knew how to brush his own teeth and dress himself, and when Angela allowed it, he even made his own bed. This usually happened on the weekends, which was also when he helped with dinner. It was nerve wrecking watching him handle knives, so she would have him use one of the plastic knives she had bought for him. She was still not comfortable even when he handled the plastic knife, but helping out brought so much joy to him and he knew that she only had a few more years before that phase was completely gone. He would be going to school soon and then camp, then before she knew it, he would be a teenager and that was a whole different chapter she just wasn’t ready for.

“Let me look at you,” Angela said when she walked out of the bedroom. She checked to make sure his shoelaces were secured before holding his face in her hands. “Someone has mastered the shoelaces. Up top.” She high fived him before she took him in his arms and gently set him at the table. “Careful not to get any on your clothes, okay, sweetie?” she said as she put a plate of scrambled eggs and sausage in front of him coupled with a glass of warm milk.

“Okay, Mama.”

She quickly downed her own eggs and toast before straightening up the apartment. She was always impressed at how efficient she had become since becoming a mother. She always managed to juggle being a mother and working so well that it made her wonder why stay at home soccer moms always complained about hardly ever having enough time to run their errands. She always thought that it was a little ridiculous for someone who had a house in a great school district and a 401k to complain of how hard it was being a parent, and all that while having someone to co-parent with. Sometimes, all she wished for was just four dollars more on her meager income to afford health insurance and a house in a school district where she would be comfortable sending her son to a school without a bodyguard.

After dropping Brandon off at daycare, she drove to work and smiled when she noticed that she was well on time. Almost twenty minutes earlier than she was supposed to get there which worked just perfectly for her. She had enough time to get herself some coffee and get enough alone time before the store came alive. She put her purse in her small office at the back of the store before she went to the break room and got started on the coffee. As she waited for her coffee, she leaned against the counter and looked around the place. She could not help but notice just how peaceful it was in there. It was a different kind of feeling. The break room was hardly ever peaceful. That was the one place that was ever busting with activity. The place where everyone went to get away from annoying, entitled customers. It was a wonder that she was all alone in there. She slowly unwrapped the sandwich she had picked up on the way and took a bite. “