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CHAPTER SEVEN
Thatnight,aftercookinga healthy dinner of pasta and vegetables, Rainer spent a little time tidying up Esme’s place before it was her bedtime.
“Don’t get used to this,” he said, picking up all the clean clothes that were strewn around the small apartment. “I’m just getting you started. From tomorrow, you’re gonna have a clean-up routine, which you’ll stick to religiously.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever stuck to anything religiously,” Esme said absentmindedly.
“Now’s the time to start,” Rainer said, organizing her whites and her coloreds into separate piles.
“When are we going to do all the contracty stuff?”
Rainer felt as though it was a good sign that Esme hadn’t been worrying too much about the business with the stalker from earlier in the day. Hopefully Shit-stain was still at some cold, boring police station, being interviewed about what had happened that day.
“Tomorrow evening, I think,” he replied.
“Why not tonight?” she whined. “I can’t wait.”
“Because I need to organize it. Plus, tomorrow, during the day, there’s a meeting that we kind of have to go to.”
“Uggggghhhh,” she groaned. “I hate meetings.”
“Well, this one’s important.”
Rainer hadn’t been planning to go to this particular meeting, but something had changed in him since he opened up to Esme about his feelings for her. Something fierce and protective and all-encompassing.
“Booooorriiinnngggg.” The word seemed to last forever.
“Oh hello,” Rainer said, spotting a cute little stuffie sitting on the edge of a table. It looked kind of like a bunny rabbit, but it had longer than normal arms and legs. “What’s your name?”
“That’s Om Baby,” Esme said. “She’s annoyingly good at yoga, and she never gets freaked out or worried about anything.”
“Pleased to meet you, Om Baby,” Rainer said. “Areyougonna come to the meeting tomorrow, too? I’d like you to.”
“Om Baby says, ‘Namaste.’ And she also says that she’ll think about coming to the meeting. But she only really wants to go if she can go in your pocket.”
“Sounds perfect,” Rainer said.
Hopefully, everyone else would be fine with Rainer bringing along Esme and Om Baby. Although something told him that it might raise a couple of eyebrows.
The rest of the evening was blissful. Rainer waited while Esme had a shower, then he watched her brush her teeth. After that, he read her a bedtime story, and soon, she was ready for sleep.
“You know,” she said, yawning, “I don’t remember the last time I was in bed by this time. I also can’t remember the last time I did a whole bedtime routine. It feels… magic.”
“You are magic,” Rainer said. Then he leaned over, and gently kissed her forehead.
“You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”
Rainer looked back at Esme as she took her helmet off. There was a huge, unstoppable grin on her face.
“That was so much better than riding a scooter. Itotallyget bikes now.”
“Yeah, it’s about a billion times more fun than a scooter.”
They hopped off, and Rainer chained his hog next to the twenty or so other motorbikes which were fastened near the entrance of the Den.
“You ready, sweetheart?”
Esme paused for a moment. “I like it when you call me that.”
