We are still in the barn, sitting on a haystack, looking at the goats. I’m playing with a piece of hay, twirling it between my fingers. I had taken off my shoes. Shannon had taken off his leather jacket and he was chewing on a piece of hay.
“So tell me, cowboy” I say lying down on my side so I could get a better look at him. “Why do you go to these fancy pancy events like tonight, when you don’t ‘fit in’ either?” I ask. He lays down too, also on his side so he’s facing me.
“I don’t know… Because they’re my friends” he shrugs.
“Friends” I snuffle throwing the little stray of hay away.
“Hey, they invite me and I go to support them… I try to have some fun in between it all. You know, not taking it too serious” he says. I nod, listening to him.
“Well, that’s very sweet of you” I answer back.
“Don’t tell me you wouldn’t do the same, I mean, I saw how you handled everything with, uhm, Kelly” he says with a little grin on his lips.
“That’s different! I had to” I exclaim.
“No, you didn’t have to”. He looks me in the eyes. “You did it because she’s your friend” he says soft.
“So, you’re saying that going to your friends ‘events’ is like me taking my friend to the hospital?” I say raising a brow.
“Practically, yes” he smiles. “Whether it’s a positive or negative event, we do it because they are or friends. We’re not forced to do anything”.
“Point well made, Mr. Leto”.
“So” he says narrowing his eyes at me. “How did it feel to tell Liza Dark off?”. I cringe and throw myself down in the hay, covering my face with my hands.
“I can’t believe I did that!” I say behind my hands. Shannon starts laughing.
“It was about time someone did” he says back. “She’s always been like that towards my dates”. I feel how my blood freezes a little by the mention of ‘dates’. I picture all these tall, blonde, blue-eyed looking models.
“Gaby?” he speaks, dragging me back to reality.
“Uhm, yeah” I clear my throat. “I think she has a tiny crush on you” I chuckle.
“Well, we did date for a short time, but it didn’t really work out” he tells me. Great start, Gaby. Start whatever you and Shannon have by yelling at his x-girlfriend. Bravo.
“Oh, that’s a shame” I answer and he smiles at me.
“It’s fine, she is kind of a-”.
“A bitch” I end his sentence. He chuckles. The little goat slowly jumps over to us. I sit up straight to pet him. “As a kid I wanted to be a zoo-keeper” I change the subject. “I loved animals, I still love animals”.
“You did it again” he says sitting up too. I turn to look at him baffled.
“What?” I ask.
“When I asked you to come tonight, I was sure you wouldn’t. You didn’t seem interested in me, but you did. Then we have an amazing time, until-”.
“Liza Dark” I scowl.
“Yes, until her. Then, I find you outside, smoking and your body all closed up. I was sure, I had lost you again” he looks at the little goat eating hay.
“Again?”, I look at him, searching for an answer.
“I thought you had left, like you did in Costa Rica” he reminds me. I feel an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“I-”, he cuts me up by shaking his head.
“Don’t think about it”. I close my mouth again.
“Is that why you took me here? To capture me?” I give him a cheeky smile.
“Yes” he looks me in the eyes, swiftly glancing down at my lips. I fight every nerve and muscle I have in my body, not to throw myself at him. “I wish I knew what was going through your mind”, he reached out and strokes a lock of my hair. ‘That I want you’, I find myself mentally answering him.
“Gabriella?” he says soft.
“Yes” I whisper back. He gets up. I’m still sitting down, gazing up at him smiling at me.
“Let me take you home”.
Shannon drove me home. The car ride had been rather quiet. The only talk we did, was me giving him the direction. I wondered what he thought about the neighborhood I lived in. It wasn’t the poorest, but it wasn’t the most popular district. He didn’t mention anything, only that he insisted on walking me up to my apartment. I didn’t even bother to argue against it. Every guy I had dated to far, always felt the need to walk me to my apartment.
“Why don’t you just take the elevator” he asks a little out of breath. He was following right behind me, or trying to.
“It doesn’t always work and I’m not really taking that change tonight” I answer.
“One day you’ll have to, this is… quite an exercise” he takes a deep breath.
“What you are trying to say is ‘Gaby, I’m an old man’” I quickly look back at him and wink. He manages to grab me and pulls me a step down, so my back is against his chest.
“Older man, Miss Flores, Older” he whispers into my ear, sending shivers down my spine. I feel his fingers linger over my waist. He then lets go and walks pass me.
“You coming?” he smiles. I return his smile and begin to walk up the stairs again.
“This is where I live” I point at my front door. I walk over to it and lean my back against the door.
“I had a lovely evening… or it turned out nice” I lightly chuckle. He smiles back.
“So did I” he answers back. We stand for a split second and gaze at each other. “See you around” he quickly leans closer to me and gives me a hug goodbye.
“Uhm… See you around?” I answer back as he hugs me. I hope he couldn’t hear the confusion in my voice. ‘See you around’, was that really his goodbye to me after this evening. After me yelling at, apparently, his ex-girlfriend, being rather dramatic outside and later taking me out to his friend’s house to see goats, was this really how he wanted to end it, with a ‘see you around’. Was this a joke I hadn’t caught onto yet?
He lets go off me and gives me one last friendly smile before turning around and stepping down the stairs. I stand blinking a couple of times, letting whatever had just happen sink in.
“See you around” I mumble mockingly as I open the door. “I’m back” I call out, but the silence from our apartment makes it clear I was home alone. Where was Kelly?
I glance at the time on my phone. It was almost midnight. I step further inside taking my shoes off on the way and dropping my purse on the kitchen counter. There’s a little yellow note on the counter.
At least Kelly could tell me when I’d ‘see’ her again. I open the fridge and see there’s less than half of a bottle of wine.
“Thank God” I say to myself and reach out for the bottle, but as I close the refrigerator the doorbell rings. I place the bottle down on the counter and walk slowly over to the door. I hold my breath as I peek through the peep hole. No way. No, it couldn’t be. I step back, unlock the door and slowly open it.
“Hi” I answer soft. My heart was in my throat racing away.
“Hi” his deep voice surrenders me.
“Why… what are you doing here?”, I kept staring at him, making sure I wasn’t hallucinating.
“I said I’d see you around” he answers and takes one step closer to me, wrapping his hand around my waist and pulling me into a kiss.
