Loving Maverick

A Talk With Mom

Maverick knocked on the door of his parent's house. When the door opened, his mom's face lit up with a smile.

"Hello, baby!" She said, ushering him into the house. "It's  pleasure having you!" 

Maverick looked at her curiously. "Thanks?" He said with amusement as he wrapped his arms around his mother's neck. "It's a pleasure to see you too." He said.

"So how are you?" She said as she went into the kitchen. 

"I'm pretty okay." Maverick said as he followed his mom into the kitchen. "Where's dad?" He asked.

"Went to the office for a few hours to get some work done."

"On a Saturday?" Maverick asked. "Shouldn't he be resting?"

Jean shrugged. "You know your father has always been a workaholic." She glanced at him. "Where do you think you got it from?" She smirked.

Maverick chuckled and shook his head. "Funnily enough, he always still had time for us." He nudged his mom. "You especially."

Jean shook her head. "Your father's a real family man." She said. "Family trumps everything with him; and in order to take care of his family, he had to work and make money so that his family wouldn't want. It all goes hand in hand." She said. "Where your father is concerned anyway." She turned around and looked at her son. "I cannot wait until you become a family man." She smiled.

"Yeah." Maverick smirked. He didn't see that happening any time soon but he wouldn't tell his mother that. "One day."

She sighed. "So, how has being back home been for you?" She asked.

Maverick shrugged. "It's actually been easier than I thought it would be." He said. "But it can be hard at times..." His gaze distanced itself. 

Jean saw the concern in his eyes; there was something on his mind that he didn't really want to talk about. "How so?" She asked. She knew not to force him to talk about anything that he didn't want to talk about but it wouldn't stop her from inquiring.

"I-" He started to say when he stopped himself. His mother was a bit of a worry wart and he knew that telling her the full truth would only cause for concern. "It's just ex soldier type things."

Her head dropped slightly and she squeezed her son's arm and nodded. "I understand." She exhaled. "But you do know that I am here for you. Whenever you want to talk." 

"Yeah, I know.." He replied.

She nodded. "Okay." She sighed. "Alright, so...since you don't want to talk to me about the past, tell me about the present." She smiled and nudged her son.

Maverick chuckled. "Anything you want to know, Am'mā." He said, calling her mother in Tamil.

Jean smiled. "So how has work been?" She asked. "I know that it isn't idea for you." She said, knowing that her son preferred to be underneath a car. "But I cannot help but hope that it isn' too bad for you."

She went to grab her son a bottle of water. He opened it and took a sip as he thought about her question. He shrugged. "It's...actually been pretty good, Am'mā." He replied. "I really like working there." He said.

"Glad to know." His mother replied. "I know you'd prefer to be under a car." She teased.

Maverick sighed. "I wouldn't mind it." He admitted. He sighed and his gaze distanced. "But I actually...really like the complications and challenges of it all." He confessed. "Takes my mind off of things-keeps me focused on new things-innovative things." 

"And cars?" She asked. 

"It's different, mom." He said, shaking his head. "I was never as good with cars as I was with...you know...this." He replied. "I just enjoyed doing it, but...working there-being at Maverick Industries." He looked at his mother. "Intricate lines and architecture-design, I'm good at it Am'mā." When he saw the large smile on her face, he already knew why. "Don't tell dad." He smirked.

Jean chuckled. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." She went into the kitchen to pull out a few things. "You going to stay for dinner?" She asked.

"Hmm, you know I can't resist your soul food." He smirked. "Or are you cooking a little Indian tonight?" He asked. "Either way, I'll be staying." 

She sighed. "Well, you know your father's food is far better than mine." She admitted. "At least his Tamil cuisine." She chuckled. "But I am making lemon rice." She mentioned.

"Sounds like a big meal." Maverick said. "I'd love to." 

"Great!" She said as she took the rest of the food out of the refrigerator. "So," She said, deciding to change the subject. "the new...assistant." She mentioned.

Maverick shifted his gaze to her. "What-what about her?" He asked. His mother didn't counter right away, so he did. "How do you even know about her?" He asked. "Did dad tell you?" He asked.

Jean turned around. "No, sweetie." She answered. "I hired her." She said with a smile.

"Wait, what?" 

"Oh, Mav, you know your father keeps me in the loop with some of his business decisions." She replied as she grabbed a searing pan and a few other things from under the cabinet. "He was busy and so he asked me to hire someone."

"And you chose a female." Maverick scoffed, shaking his head. 

"Well, what's wrong with that?" Jean asked.

Maverick sighed. "You know men are less distracting, Am'mā." He said. "And women-"

"Are far more useful and neat, and compliant, and-"

"Troublemakers, and hateful, and-"

"Oh, come on Maverick." His mother intervened. "she can't be that bad."

Maverick sighed. "I'm sure your husband told you that she got me arrested the night before she turned up in my office for the job." He scoffed. Judging by the look on his mother's face, she didn't know this bit of information. "Take it, dad, didn't tell you that, huh." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh wow." She muttered. She looked away and bit her finger. "That's a surprise." She looked at her son. "So, I-wha-did you-what did you do? When she got there?" She asked.

"Fired her." He answered simply.

"Oh!" She gasped. "Well, wow!" She shook her head in disappointment. "So, who's working for you now?" She asked curiously.

Maverick was almost sheepish in admitting. "She is." 

"What?" Jean incredulously asked. "What do you mean-how?"

Maverick exhaled. "You remember, Stefano?" He asked. 

Her eyes brightened. "Yes, of course! How is young Stefano?"

"Her cousin." He said, bypassing her question. "He's her older cousin. Did you know that?" Jean shifted her gaze and Maverick noticed. "You-you did know her! You knew that it was Stef's cousin?!"

"You didn't?" Jeans countered. "The girl used to stay around her uncle and her older cousins." She reasoned.

"Yeah! But-she didn't...look like that." Maverick pointed out. "She was-she was chubby and-and just...not like that." 

Jean was suddenly interested in what was being said by her son. "What do you mean?" She asked. "Like that?" 

"I-she-" Maverick couldn't even put into words what he meant without more than likely causing his mother to get the wrong idea. "She's just not-"

"Chubby anymore?" His mother asked.

"Well...I mean, she's certainly not skinny if that's what you mean." Maverick said.

"Is...that a bad thing?" She asked.

"No! No, of course not." He thought about it-about how attractive she was. "Not at all." He said under his breath.

"So then..." 

Before she could even finish her sentence, Maverick interceded. "She's not...small anymore-she's not a kid. She looks different and well...I mean she's grown." He explained. He shrugged and shook his head. "Not to mention, I've-I barely had any contact with her. It's easy to forget."

"Ah." She nodded.

Maverick could tell that she was just taking in information at this point. "Why did you hire her?" Maverick asked. "And why did dad act as if he didn't know her?"

"Well, he didn't know...initially. Then we talked." She explained. "Your father hadn't seen her in a while either." She said. "She looked familiar and he put two and two together."

"Right." Maverick was resigned at this point.

"So...since you decided to hire her back, how has she been?" She asked. "Though, I must admit that I'm disappointed to hear about her little incident."

He didn't want his mother judging the girl. "She's actually a good hire. A really good hire." He thought about it further. He looked at his mother. "And I hate to admit but...she's really talented." 

"Oh, is she?" Jean asked. "You seem impressed." 

Maverick thought about the girl. Part of him resented the subject of the conversation because it made him think about her more. He would never admit aloud and especially to his mother because she adamant on him starting a family soon, but it was hard not to think about that girl.

"Guess, I am."