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In your name,
Amen
They. Are. Engaged? Already? I mean I can see why—what a beautiful couple and they havehistory.Big time. They’d been engaged before; already knew they wanted to spend their lives together. What’s once more?
I looked over at Eli whose expression made me think he caught me acknowledging the ring. He looked at it too, then back at me. He pursed his lips to comment on something, but Carolyn interrupted. “It was really nice meeting you.” She was sweet, but to the point. Carolyn flipped her hair and crossed her arms. “Let’s go.” She commanded Eli, who nodded in response.
They walked off, and the woman next to me whistled. “Well, that sure was something. She was beautiful, I mean, really—is she a model? I think I’ve seen her on a billboard. But he couldn't take his eyes offyou.”
“Really?” I was happy to converse with this woman who had a different perspective as a spectator. She was like the Marge of Bark Park.
“Really. He is interested in you.”
“But they are getting married.” I covered my face with my hand, the other holding Dolly.
“Not when he’s looking at you like that.”
I relished the thought, dreaming up this whole scenario where he confessed his feelings for me after just one short afternoon spent together.
“Dolly, what’s that noise?” Her ears perk up, telling me she hears it, too. “Isthat music?” I open the front door of our apartment. It’s a little louder, but it’s coming from the other side of my unit. Cautiously opening the sliding door, I sliver out to step on the small corner that isn’t covered with Dolly’s grass pad. “Oh, my word. It’s Eli!” Hollering over to Dolly, who leaps and runs over, jumping into my arms as I lean down to catch her. We are wearing matching pink ball gowns with long silk gloves and our hair is in perfect updos—the classic beehive no less. Dolly’s has small pink bow accents.
I gasp. It’s Eli holding a boombox over his head like he’s about to toss it into a dumpster. The song choice couldn’t be worse for the moment, but my creativity must be really running dry if the last song I heard on the radio is what defaults in my daytime fantasy. “Katie, I know we’ve only known each other for 48 hours, but I like you. I’ve left that hag, Carolyn. I know she’s a fitness model but looks and physical fitness don’t matter to me at all. I prefer my women to be more bookish and knowledgeable about the letter of the law. You never know when that will come in handy these days. Come down here, please, and agree to marry me.” The catchy song played on about having faith over fear.
The music was right about one thing. I needed to have faith that God was in control of this situation. Eli was the firstnormalguy I’d liked in a long time. Sure, there had been some abnormal ones in there, too, such as the professional dog food taster guy. We never met—we only chatted for a while online. It wasn’t his job that was odd, because it totally made sense that dog food needed a human tester to make sure it was edible. It was his complete dedication to winning the world record for wearing the most layers of clothing day-to-day. You’d think such a record would have tiers, like all at once, but it was a bit of a competitive category, so they broke it down.
We did have plans to meet once, and it was purely a blind date as neither of us had a profile picture. I made it to the coffee shop early to canvas things out, and I gave him a general description of myself and he did the same in return. But he never showed up.
There was a weird guy that kept trying to talk to me, but my inner twelve-year-old‘Stranger Danger’lessons lived strong and I ignored him. It couldn’t have been a weirder coincidence that the man had been wearing layers upon layers of clothes to the point he was stuck in the booth, but my date said he had sandy hair, and that guy would be described as a blonde.
Now that I think about it, I wish I’d gotten his phone number. I would have liked a good food recommendation for Dolly.
“Well, I better get going.” The woman at the bench stood, clapping her hands at her dogs. “Mickey, Minnie, time to go!” They ignored her and kept running around like crazy. She turned back at me. “They keep me young,” she said, laughing. When she started to walk, I noticed her gait to be unsteady, she had a limp.
“Are you okay?” I asked, pointing to her leg.
“Oh, yeah, I’m alright. Car accident left permanent damage.”
“I’m so sorry! How scary.”
She slowly ambled into the pen, pausing before lifting her other leg. It was awkward for me to step in, the fence was maybe 18 inches high, but the grass was a little slippery even in today’s sunny weather. I watched her carefully, feeling at any moment I might need to assist. The dogs gradually gathered around her, knowing it was time to go. She leaned down and scooped them up in one go and managed to get out of the pen again without stepping in anything.
“Maybe next time I see you, it will be you with the ring.” She laughed at her words, thinking they must’ve sounded even moreunbelievablethan she imagined.
Yeah, right, I thought.
“Take care.” I said, not even commenting on the ring.
I waited a few minutes before returning to the parking lot, not wanting any encounters with Eli or Carolyn on the way out.
“Are you ready to go, Dolly? We can go to another park!” She looked up at me with wide eyes. I thought she still had energy left to play, but there weren't anyother small dogs around. I got up, Dolly in tow, and we hoofed it all the way back to the parking lot. I was just getting my keys out when a red truck pulled up. I opened my car door, ready to jump inside if it was an attacker, but a man got out and went into his back seat and pulled out a dog.A small dog.He turned, facing me and I immediately recognized him as the man from the doggy bakery. I was nonchalantly fiddling with Dolly’s harness, realizing he didn't know if I was coming or going.I could just as easily pretend we had just arrived.Suddenly, his dog started going nuts.
‘Woo woo woo woo woo! Woo woo woo woo woo!’
“Whoa, Davey. What’s wrong?” He asked his dog, then looked up in the direction the dog was barking, locking eyes with me. Dolly, too, was wiggling, but it was just her tail wagging.
“My dog seems to know yours,” the handsome stranger spoke. “Is it okay if they sniff?”
He set his dog on the ground, holding the leash tight in case one became aggressive.
