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In my absent-minded thoughts about the woman, I’d completely forgotten I planned to have lunch with Marcel today.
“Uh… good,” I lie, trying to cover. “Nearly done with this.”
“This isn’t going to be one of those times where you say you’re nearly done and then make me wait around for another hour, is it?” Marcel retorts. “I’m hungry.”
I have to laugh at this. I’m still messing around with the cleat, and he’s called me out completely. He has a way of doing that, for better or worse, and I decide to abandon the work for the time being. I’m not doing a particularly good job of it today anyway, given my obvious and ill-advised distraction.
“No, not today,” I tell Marcel with a smile, setting my tools down on my workbench. “Give me a second to pack up.”
“Oh, thank the dark lord,” Marcel replies. “I’ve been hankering for a feed all day.”
I smile as I pack away my tools and close up the garage. The act of doing something so banal and routine allows the thoughts of the new girl and my attraction to her to wash away.
“So, are you going to be ready for the big trip?” Marcel asks as he watches me.
I try not to stress out as I think about all the work I have left to do and how slow today’s progress has been going.
“I’m going to have to be,” I reply, trying not to show him my concern. “It would suck to get to my vacation and then not be able to go anywhere.”
“Buddy,” Marcel tells me. “I’m trying to pay attention, but you’re not helping my appetite with language like that.”
Luckily, I’m nearly done and the Suck’n’Chew diner isn’t far. When he sees I’m done packing up, Marcel practically runs toward the car. I follow along behind him, but as I step onto the sidewalk, I see a familiar figure out of the corner of my eye.
The neighbor is jogging again and against my better judgment, I stare right at her. She’s coming up the path in front of the house, and I allow myself to take it all in. Her thin, tall frame moving with determination, her toned arms and shoulders sticking out from beneath her tank top, her short brown hair shining almost chestnut in the sunlight, and the glow of a light flush on her olive skin.
At the last moment, she catches sight of me. I falter ever so slightly as she meets my eye, worried that I look like a total creep. I’m not trying to scare the poor girl away, and I understand why a scenario like this one is never really fun for a woman. For a second I’m frozen, not sure if I want to stop and talk to introduce myself, trying to make this better, or if I should just let her go.
Thankfully, I don’t have to make a decision. Rather than running right past me, she crosses the street, taking the longer way back to her own house. It basically answers my question – she doesn’t want to be approached. C’est la vie.
Unfortunately for me, that’s not the end of it.
When I turn back to the car, I see that Marcel hasn’t rushed inside as I thought. Instead, he must have turned to wait for me at the driver’s door, meaning he probably witnessed that entire interaction.
“So…” he says with a sly grin as I walk up and open the passenger’s side door. “Were you just checking someone out back there or do my eyes deceive me?”
I don’t answer him. I climb in the car instead, but he greets me with an expectant look and even an elbow in the ribs. I try my best not to look uncomfortable.
“It was nothing,” I say, probably unconvincingly. “Let’s go.”
Marcel gives me a look that says I won’t get away with that, but he doesn’t push it for now. Instead, he turns the key in the ignition and maneuvers away from the rural parts of Aura Creek and toward the diner on the outskirts of town.
I can’t help but glance in the side mirror as we pull away, trying to catch a glimpse of the girl. Try as I might, she’s already disappeared, either along the trail that leads into the scrubland across the street, or into her own house next door.
Marcel, thankfully, doesn’t notice. He’s probably forgotten all about it now that we’re on our way to lunch, and I’m glad I don’t have to explain myself to him. I can hardly explain myself to myself, it turns out.
Okay, I might have been checking out the neighbor, so what?I think.It’s not like I’m looking for a relationship or anything, and besides, I know nothing about this woman. No, it’s just a harmless attraction. What man doesn’t check out a hot woman in exercise clothes?
By the time we reach the Suck ’n’ Chew, I’ve practically pushed it out of my mind.
“Hi, Martha,” I say to the woman behind the counter as we walk in. “I’ll take a sheep’s blood shake with cilantro and lime, please.”
“And I’ll have rabbit today and surprise me with something spicy,” says Marcel beside me. “I’m feeling fancy.”
“You want that as a shake or in a cage?” Martha asks, hand poised over her order book.
“Oh, as a shake,” Marcel replies. “I don’t want to make a mess.”
“Sure thing, boys, take a seat,” she replies, pointing us toward the booths lining the shaded wall of the place.
