Settling In

By the time I had left the gym, it was nearly 1am and pouring down rain. The roads were slick, but I didn’t care, my car slide effortlessly over the hills as I wound my way up the mountains to my house.

When I arrived home, poor Lady was still waiting outside for me. She had curled up on the porch and was sound asleep until the hum of my car’s engine awakened her. She greeted me excitedly as I walked up to the house. It was excited knowing that I was about to stay the night in my house for the first time.

I opened the door, “Com’mon Lady.”

She stood there and cocked her head at me, “It’s alright. You live here now, you can come in.” I waved my hand at her and she curiously entered the house. I showed her to her food and immediately she began to chow down. To my surprise, she was quite the piggy!

While Lady scarfed down the entire bowl, I grabbed myself some Brain Freeze Ice Cream from the fridge.

Eventually, we headed up the stairs to the magnificent purple bedroom. Purple is my favorite color, so of course, my bedroom and master bathroom are in purple. I showed Lady to her bed and she climbed right in and fell asleep. It was as if none of this was new to her.

Sleep did not come easy for me. Lady was snoring and the rain had turned to hail and was beating against the windows. Plus, being in a new place was hard for me to adjust to. At least my bed was comfortable. I was finally able to fall asleep, yet it seemed that as soon as I closed my eyes, Lady was on my bed waking me up.

I looked at the clock, 8am. I slowly got up, “Lady, this is way too early to be getting up.”

She woofed at me and made a little doggy smile. I rubbed my face with my hands and got up.

I decided to work out at home for a bit before going to work at 3pm. It was my first official day on the job, and I was pretty nervous.

Pumping Iron for about an hour can really get a person stinking so I had to take a shower so my co workers wouldn’t think poorly of me. Then again, being in a stadium with a bunch of pro athletes doesn’t smell that great anyways.

Right when I got out of the shower, I heard a knock at the door. I hadn’t been expecting company, so I ran down to answer it.

“Hi, I’m Amber Newill. I’m your maid?” A beautiful blond stood at my door, wearing a skimpy maid’s outfit.

It took me a moment to recompose myself, “Oh yes, I called yesterday for house keeping services. I’m so glad that you are here. And on time too!”  I had no clue what time it was.

“So, are you going to let me in?”

I opened the door wider for her and ushered her in. She took a quick glance around. “My, your house is so… bright.” She smiled at me.

“I like being a little different.”

We stood there and talked for a little bit before I realized what time it was, “I’m really sorry, but I have to leave for work. Please don’t steal anything or anything. Oh, and be nice to Lady!” I ran out the door to catch my ride before she could even say a word back to me.

By the time I got home from work, Lady was very sad and whimpering by her bowl. I went over to her and immediately got tackled in a huge puppy hug.

She had clearly missed me while I was gone. It was as if perhaps she had been abandoned at one point in her life.

I grabbed her big head in my hands and looked her squarely in her eyes, “My beautiful Lady, I promise I will never abandon you. I will always come home and fill your bowl. You don’t have to worry anymore.”

She tilted her head and proceeded to slobber all over my face.

As the days went by, I began to settle into a routine. Lady would wake me up every morning at 8am and we would exercise together.

After my morning work out, I would shower and wait for Amber to come over and clean. Even though she was my cleaning lady, I was forming a bond with her and could feel a connection growing between us. She didn’t mind spending a few hours chatting with me, even if it meant that she got off work late. And if she did mind, she never said anything to me about it. It was like she enjoyed my company as much as I enjoyed hers.

After a few long weeks of work and working out, it was finally my Friday off. I had earned a little promotion for my hard work so I treated myself to a soccer net that I set up outside my house. I decided to practice my shots instead of working out. If I wanted to become a Pro someday, I had to start working on my shots now. So, when Lady woke me up at 8am, I slipped into my workout gear and headed outside in the cool morning air. Lady followed me and sat off by herself while watching me.

I was so focused on my kicks, I didn’t even realize that Amber had come over already. She came up behind me and said, “Mind if I join you?”

I jumped, unaware of her presence. She was dressed in her casual Friday wear, “Sure, but I gotta warn you, I’m pretty good.”

Amber laughed at me, “Well that makes two of us!”

“I’ll play goalie first. Give me your best shots!” She said and ran over to the net.

“My best might break your hands. Then again it’s not like you’re actually going to block any of my shots!” I taunted her.

“Just shut up and kick!” She yelled back while making faces at me.

I will admit, she wasn’t too bad. She stopped all but two of my shots. The second time she missed, she picked herself up off of the ground and walked over to me.

“Ok, I’ve ate enough dirt. Now it’s your turn!” She pushed me towards the goal and placed the ball in position for her kick.

“Promise me you won’t cry when I block all of your shots.”

She beamed at me, “I’m not a sore loser.”

Kick after kick, the ball came whizzing towards me and my hands effortlessly snatched it out of the air. I could tell she was getting frustrated so after about ten blocks I told her to just give up.

“Fair enough, I guess you are a little better than me.” She sighed sarcastically at me. “Well I should probably go clean your house before the sun sets.”

I grabbed her arm before she could walk away from me, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll pay you for today, but you can go home. On one condition that is.”

She looked at me quizzically, “What’s that?”

“Let me take you out tomorrow night. Just as friends. We  can go to the magic show at the festival in town.” I felt my face flush, I had never asked a girl out before.

“How about…” She twisted her face slightly as though she was thinking. “How about we rock, paper, scissors for it. If I win, you have to take me out. If you win, I have to take you out.”

“Uhm, well ok. If that is what you want to do. But I warn you, I never lose.” I smiled at her and we readied our fists.

“I win!” She cheered. “You have to take me out tomorrow. Nah nah nah!”

Laughter escaped my lips, “Well that was the original plan anyways!”

“Alright, well, thanks for being so nice and giving me a day off. I have a lot of stuff to get done at home. I’ll give you a call tomorrow ok?”

“Sure thing, see you tomorrow then.”

I watched her get into her junky car and drive away.

That night, I went to bed early. I was so glad to being going out; even if it wasn’t technically a date, it sure gave me butterflies as if it was.

When Lady woke me up the next morning, I decided to try doing some chin ups again. I could feel myself becoming stronger and this time, I actually managed to do one!

With my little ego boost, I decided to end my training session with a jog. The early morning breeze was perfect and no one was out and about yet. I jogged all of the way to the stadium before turning around and jogging back home.

After showering and playing with Lady for a bit, I made myself some lunch. It seemed that the day was just dragging on as my anticipation grew for that evening.

Finally, at about 5pm, Amber called and told me she was ready to go out.

“Can I come pick you up?” I realized I had no clue where she lived.

“Well, uh, I’d rather just meet you there. You know, keep things on a friend level.” Her voice sounded almost shifty.

“Alright, well, I guess I’ll meet you over at the park then. See you in a little bit.”

I arrived at the park, but didn’t see Amber anywhere. As I scanned the area for her, I noticed a bunch of wild flowers in my favorite color. I thought it would be sweet if I presented Amber with them, so I headed over and scooped them up.

Just as I looked up, I saw Amber making her way towards me.

“Hey! There you are!” She gave me a quick hug, “I’ve been looking all over for you! Why are you so far away from the stage? I thought we were here to see the magic act.”

She grabbed my hand an led me over to the stage. “I’ve seen this girl do magic before, her stunts are amazing!”

The show had already started. The lady on stage was waving her hands around and when she snapped her fingers, a bunch of flowers appeared. Amber was intently watching, trying to figure out how the performer did it.

“I can do magic too.” I leaned over and whispered to her.

“Oh really? Show me.” She smiled at me.

I put my hand behind my back and when I pulled it back to my front, I had the wildflowers in my hand. Amber’s eyes lit up, “Oh my gosh! You are so awesome! How did you do that?!”

She promptly put the flowers to her nose and took a big whiff. I just hoped there weren’t any bugs in it.

We continued to watch the magician until her show was over. For her last stunt, she made a man disappear and reappear. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. I guess I got a little excited. But just for the record, I didn’t wet my pants, it’s just the shadow of my hand.

After the show, a group of people wanted to do a hot dog eating contest. Amber tried to get me to join, but I told her I was too full. Secretly, I just don’t like hot dogs.

I watched her swallow them down one after another. The kid next to her ended up throwing up, and Amber got last place. She said she had fun though and I guess that’s what matters.

As the night wore on, the park emptied and eventually there was just me and Amber left.

“If you’re not in a hurry to get home, we could just hang out under the stars for a little while.” I suggested.

“Sounds good to me.” She sat down and leaned beck, gazing up at the sky, “Let’s just hope it doesn’t start raining. You know how unpredictable the weather can be here.”

We laughed and then sat in silence for a bit.

Eventually, the silence was broken, “Cole?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad I have a friend like you.”

“Same here, Amber. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you to talk to. I’d probably go stir crazy.”

She looked at me with serious eyes, “I don’t want to seem like I’m playing with your emotions. So I have to tell you something.”

I sat up, “What’s that?” I swallowed the lump in my throat and could sense my heart rate picking up.

“I have a boyfriend.” She looked down at her feet, “He isn’t in town right now. Well, he is hardly ever here. He has to travel for work, far away places like Egypt and France. Sometimes even China or Brazil.”

Though I could feel my heart break a little, I couldn’t let her know it. “That’s ok. We can just be friends.”

She smiled back at me, “I appreciate it.”

After she left, I didn’t feel like going home yet. I was glad to have Amber as my friend, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have feelings for her.

So I sat at the park and read under the dim glow of the street lamps.

 

Chapter Three: Love Quest