Subtle Signs - 1. Chapter 1

"That sounds like he's getting ready to cheat on you."

She meant well. Ambrosia, my close friend, sat across from me in my apartment. She'd invited herself for coffee and gossip, but when the topic turned to my partner...

I sighed. "I'm not so sure about that," I responded, scratching my scalp. "It's probably just the beginning of IBS."

"Listen, Noah," Ambrosia said. "Doing his business in the bathroom once a day is one thing, but disappearing for an hour four, five times a day? Julian's gotta be swiping."

"It could be anything," I countered. "He could be hunting for a new job, a new place, trying to find his mom a good gift for Mother's day…"

"Or maybe you're not being adventurous enough in bed and he's getting off on his own."

"Doesn't feel that way to me," I complained as I rubbed my lower back, feeling a twinge of frustration. Out of all her suggestions, that one felt the least likely. While neither of us had the stamina and drive we had back in our early twenties, I genuinely felt we were still plenty active in bed, and that eased some of my worries.

"I don't know, something's still off, if you ask me," Ambrosia insisted. "Either confront him about it or find a way to figure it out, cause he's definitely hiding something from you, good or bad."

After Ambrosia left, I tried not to dwell on her concerns. Julian and I had only recently learned to communicate comfortably, but I thought we had finished year four of our relationship on a strong note.

Was I the only one who felt that way?

I forced myself to shift focus and think of an alternative. If anyone would know what was going on with Julian, it was his mother. Mother's Day was around the corner, so that was as good an excuse as any to pay her a visit. I sent her a quick text asking her to come over, and her response was an immediate "yes."

"Noah, it's so good to see you," Mrs. Ruiz greeted me when I showed up at her door a half hour later. "What brings you here?"

"A couple of things," I admitted. "First, I wanted to ask what you'd like as a gift for Mother's Day."

"Bless your heart, you're so much more thoughtful than my own brats," Mrs. Ruiz responded with a pleased smile. "We've been doing alright this year. But if there is one thing I'd like for myself, it's this purse I saw online." She said as she paused to open the link. "I'll text you the link right now."

"Consider it done," I couldn't help but grin in response.

I remembered the first time I asked her about a gift. Her family meant well with their practical gifts, but she once told me she wished they'd just asked her what she wanted.

"I can hardly wait," she said. "But why are you really here, my son?"

"I wanted to ask if you knew why Julian has been ducking into the bathroom with his phone so many times a day recently?"

Mrs. Ruiz put one hand on her hip while she slapped her forehead with the other. "Ay, knuckleheads, every one of them. They just never know how to be discreet about anything. If they're going to be this clumsy, I wish they were more direct like you."

The relief swept through me immediately. If whatever Julian was hiding was known to her and she wasn't concerned, then it was none of what Ambrosia had feared. I then felt the sting of shame for having so much as doubted him.

"Come here," she said, and I knew enough by then to walk over to her and bend down so that she could grab a hold of my face with her small hands. "I can't tell you what he is doing, that is forbidden knowledge for you." A gentle smile formed on her face. "But I can tell you I don't have to give him a spanking about it."

The laughter bubbled right out of me, so infectious that it had her laughing, too.

A little while later, I left Mrs. Ruiz's house with a lighter heart. The weight I'd carried from Ambrosia's suspicions had lifted, replaced by reassurance and a sense of ease as I headed home.

Later that evening, when Julian came back to the living room after his second "bathroom break," I decided to tease him.

"You know, Ambrosia thinks you're cheating on me every time you go to the bathroom," I said aloud.

Julian's green eyes went wide, and he shook his head. "No, I'd never."

Confusion formed on his face when I sent him a sly grin. "That's along the lines of what I told her," I said. "So, are you going to tell me what this is about?"

Julian hung his head with a groan, grumbling something I didn't catch.

"What was that?"

"I said, I've been trying to research vacation packages for our five year anniversary," he confessed.

I blinked in surprise. "I don't see why we couldn't have done that kind of research together…" Then, he held a hand up for me to stop.

"I was also asking your sister and mom about what kind of engagement ring you'd like while planning accommodations for both our families so they could be there with us."

My stomach erupted in butterflies. Of all the different scenarios, engagement rings hadn't even crossed my mind. "O-oh," I said, holding back tears. As much as I valued Ambrosia as a friend, I knew more than anyone that her gossiping nature was the only reason she'd been left out of the loop. Julian's thoughtfulness floored me.

"Is it too much? Or too soon?" He asked quickly, and that time I had to hold my hand up to stop him.

"No, it's incredibly sweet, and I love you," I said as I tugged him into a hug. "Thank you for telling me."

"So, is that a 'yes?'"

"Definitely a yes," I said. "If you want, you can even pretend you never told me and I promise I'll still act surprised."

"Oh, thank God," Julian said. "I'll let you pick your own ring if you want, just don't tell anyone I told you. Mom would never let me hear the end of it."

I made a motion of zipping my lips with my fingers across my lips just before Julian pressed his lips to mine.