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“Can you believe what just happened, Dolly? You probably think I get all kinds of gentleman callers!” Dolly just looked up at me. “You did great. Now we are off to the Bark Park!
There was still a little bit of time before I was to meet Eli, so we drove to the parking lot, and I texted my mother that we were there, waiting for a stranger in the woods. Then, to really get her going, I turned off my phone. I waited three minutes and turned it back on. 13 texts and a voicemail. I called her back.
“Hi, I’m fine. I was just kidding with you,” I stammered out before she couldeven start. “Now that I have your attention...” I started the conversation. She wasn’t happy with me, but she let me talk for once, and I explained about the vet and, most importantly, about my date tonight.
“Describe to me once more what he looks like? Are you attracted to a man who rides a unicycle?”
“No, I never said he rides a unicycle. Helookslike he rides a bicycle with one pant leg tucked into a sock. He’s a little… eccentric.”
“Eccentric? You know who else was described that way?” She hammered, and I knew what was coming—a long-winded list of reasons why this guy was bad news.
“I don’t want to know, mother.”
She huffed a little but dropped it. Her voice went higher. “Aren’t you meeting Eli soon?”
“In eleven minutes, yes. I am probably going to go sit on the benches in five minutes and wait for him there.”
“Good. He won’t see what kind of car you drive that way.” I glanced around the parking lot. I was the only one here. “Yeah, that’s a great point.” Her paranoia came at the cost of my patience sometimes, but I found it was easier to just agree, even if I wasn’t always walking around with pepper spray in my hands, ready to target anyone who spoke to me, she could at least imagine I was. It was how she showed love.
“I’m only going to ask once. Do you still have that tool for your keychain that could work as a self-defense weapon?” I knew it was coming. Laughing, “Yes, mother! Okay, gotta go. A white unmarked van with tin foil covered windows just pulled up next to me. He’s motioning for me to get out of my car so I can help him, he looks injured. Talk to you later.”
I hung up. She apparently knew I was joking this time, because it had been 25 seconds, and I hadn’t heard back.
I gathered up Dolly and we made our way through the wooded area, feeling the dew of the day coating my shoes. We stopped every few yards and I let Dollysniff things. She was highly intrigued by a little moss-covered stone when I heard a car door shut nearby.
“Hello, ladies!” Eli hollered from the top of the short trail. I looked back at him, and my heart sank. Carter was tugging and making leaps and bounds to get to us, Eli breaking out in a jog to keep up with the leash.
“Hey, Eli. Hi, Carter!” I tried to appear aloof, mysterious, stoic—but I worried I was coming off as rude, uninterested, andstrange.“How are you guys doing today?” I added a little foreign pep in my voice, and it sounded half-normal.
“We are doing awesome, aren’t we buddy?” He bent down and gave Carter a pet. “And Dolly?” He reached his hand over to her, and she momentarily looked up from her mossy stone to give a slight sniff, before returning immediately to it.
“Who’s ready to play?” He reached into his pocket and retrieved a bright orange squeaky toy, activating the noise, which sent Carter into a frenzy. Dolly looked up with wide eyes at the noise, too, which was adorable. Her little tail gave a slight wag when Eli squeaked it again.
We shuffled over to the Bark Park area and put them into the small dog pen, removing their leashes. I was pleased to see one other person there, an older woman who was talking loudly on her cell phone while absently tossing a frisbee for her retriever. The dog kept catching it mid-air. It was very entertaining to see.
“Oh, watch out, Katie! Frisbee incoming. Are you feeling PTSD?”
I learned quickly that he was a jokester, which I didn’t mind. I was laughing before we even sat down.
“I’m fine. You might be liable for my injuries, though.” I shot over a smile at him so he knew I was joking, to which he gave a noncommittal comeback like, “Okay, let me know then.”
“So, what do you do for work?” I asked him, noticing his scrub pants again. He was either in the medical field or just a poor dresser, as my mother pointed out.
“I work for a large podiatrist clinic as their X-ray technician. Pretty interesting stuff, the foot.” He motioned to his foot, smiling.
“Oh really? Tell me more about that.” I replied, sounding a little less enthused than I’d hoped, recalling a book I read once about winning people over.Ask them questions about themselves,which was always my cop-out anyway, considering I didn’t enjoy talking about myself.
“I really enjoy it. I’m always moving and meeting new people. They are there because they have pain or a major issue, and I get to brighten their day a little with my jokes and conversation. I couldn’t sit behind a desk all day without socializing. That’s a job foranti-socials.
He was literally theoppositeof me.
“Enough about me,” he said. “What about you? Where do you work?”
Where? We are giving locations already?I shut out my mother’s voice in my head which prompted me to run. I took a deep breath. He’s a normal guy. Can’t I be normal too?
“I’m a paralegal.” Good, normal answer to anormalquestion that I hadjustasked him.
“Wow, I knew you seemed intelligent.” He winked at me, and I blushed like mad.
