YESA
LUCKY AND I MOVED into our new apartment while Trish and Eddie drove away on their tour-of-the-country RV adventure. A part of me wished I’d gone with them, but I knew I had to move on with my own life. Trish and Eddie needed time as a couple, too. I was grateful to spend Christmas with them. They pulled away on New Year’s day; the perfect day to begin their journey. Trish promised to email, text and call. I haven’t heard from her yet, but I hope I will. She’d be proud of her little sister; I’m still going to yoga class once a week, although it’s different without her. I miss her. Those are words I never thought I’d say until this past year. How could I spend more than twenty years not knowing my own sister? I’m glad we know each other now. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The apartment is nice. It’s sparsely decorated, but I love the fact that it’s our home. I have a big bed, no more mini-couch in the RV and Lucky still sleeps curled up next to my stomach every night. I have a few pictures of Trish, Eddie and me in frames throughout the living room. Otherwise, it’s just the essentials. Dog leashes, my computer, bed, a few pots and pans and a couch. I don’t need much. Outside of work, all of my free time is spent walking or running with Lucky, running my pet sitting business and hanging out with Travis. Yes, that Travis. The Travis I met by spilling my ice cream on his shoe at The Frozen Spoon. The Travis that wrote his phone number on my hand and asked me to meet him again the next night. The Travis that fills my stomach with flutters of butterflies. The guy with the buzz blond hair and beautiful blue eyes that stole my heart the moment we met. That guy. So, I haven’t really had time to decorate the apartment. I’ve had more important things happening and for that, I am grateful. I thought I’d be lost and lonely when Trish left, and don’t get me wrong, I miss her. But my life has taken some unexpected twists and turns. I certainly wasn’t expecting to meet Travis Tate. I wasn’t expecting to feel something for anyone, maybe ever. I could only dream of starting a business…but now, here I am. I’m doing all of it. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning I pinch myself to remember that it’s all real.
I gained my first five pet sitting clients over Christmas break. One is a single dog home; a small poodle mix named Alfred. Another is a five cat, one dog home. The cats have their own drinking fountain that constantly circulates the water and the dog, Peanut gets to swim in the indoor pool. Yes, they really have an indoor pool. The other three client homes have various sizes and ages of dogs. It’s good extra money and I enjoy the work. Before she left, Trish told me this is only the beginning. I think she’s right. For now I’ll juggle two careers and one day, I hope I’ll be a full time business owner. Things have gone fairly smoothly since starting. The only mishap I’ve had was on my first pet sit with Alfred the poodle. He growled and showed his teeth at me when I arrived. I offered him treats and got down on my knees to be at his level and still he wanted to attack me. He was guarding his home, his territory and I understood that. After an hour and a half of convincing him that I was a safe person and everything was okay, he came around and we had a good visit. Every career has its downfalls. Teaching places me around screaming children while pet sitting brings the occasional aggressive dog. I’m learning as I go. Is there any other way?
I finish putting on my mascara followed by a light smear of lip gloss. Travis will be here anytime now. We have tickets to the Maroon 5 concert. Travis doesn’t know about my happy list, but going to a concert is one of the things I listed. This will be our fourth date and already I know we have something special between us. If Trish hasn’t called by the end of the weekend, I’ll have to break down and call her. I have so much to share about Travis and the business; and she’s the only one I want to share it with. Lucky is resting next to my feet, curled into a tiny ball as I stand in front of the mirror. I place my mascara and lip gloss back into the makeup drawer, close it and bend down to pet Lucky before heading out to the couch. My cell phone buzzes and I grin reading the next text message. It’s from Trish. Hey Yesa! Just checking in on my favorite sis. How are things with Travis? How’s the business? Call me sometime. We’re in North Carolina! XO, Trish
I plop down on the couch, Lucky jumps up and does the same on the cushion next to mine. I type a quick reply to Trish while I wait for Travis to arrive. I’m you’re only sister, so I have to be your favorite. I have five clients right now. Travis is on his way to pick me up for a concert. The apartment is good. Lucky is good. I miss you! I’ll call tomorrow. Are you at the beach? Love, Yesa
As I hit SEND, there’s a knock on the door. Perfect timing. I pat Lucky on the head, grab my purse and head to the door. I feel my lips reaching up toward my ears. While I love Maroon 5, I’m even more excited to hang out with Travis Tate. Our first date was the night after we met. He wrote his number on my hand, along with a message to meet up with him at the ice cream shop the next night. We met there, had ice cream together and then went to an indoor putt-putt course. I don’t even know who won the game. We tried to keep score but wound up spending more time flirting than playing the game. More than once we had to turn around and tell a pack of kids playing behind us, to pass us up on the course. Neither of us were in a hurry. We weren’t there to play putt-putt, we were there to explore the chemistry between us. The course was eighteen holes. On the second hole Travis stood behind me, wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed my neck. Goose bumps popped up on the nape of my neck and down my spine. He pulled away and I was left to putt, helpless at getting my ball anywhere near the hole. Instead, I longed for him to kiss my neck like that again. On the fifth hole Travis hit a hole-in-one and I impulsively kissed his cheek. I wanted to kiss his lips, but I chickened out at the last minute. I hadn’t kissed anyone beside Jordan in years. I was worried Travis wouldn’t think I was a good kisser. I was worried about all of the things you stress about on a first date; how is my breath? Does he think I look good? Is he into me? Does he like being around me? Does he know I like him? Am I too obvious or not obvious enough? Am I any good at this whole flirting thing? On hole number nine it took me twenty-two hits to get my ball into the hole. Pathetic, I know. But I didn’t care and Travis didn’t seem to either. That’s when he instituted the rule that whoever lost each hole (whoever had the most hits) had to pick truth or dare. Since I lost that one, I picked dare. Travis dared me to run up to the pack of teenagers at the hole in front of ours and stand by the hole and wave my arms and yell “hit me with your best shot”. I did the dare with Travis standing on the sidelines laughing the whole time. The teens thought it was great and played right along. They hooted and hollered and eventually finished playing the hole and moved on. At hole ten, I lost again. This time I picked truth. Travis asked, “What’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told?”
Ha! I knew the answer to that one. But should I say it? On a whim, I decided to be honest. After all, I wanted him to know the real me. There’s no sense in hiding what will eventually come out. “That I loved my fiancé.” There, I said it. And once I did, I wished I could take it back. I watched as he stared at me, silently judging me. If I could lie about love, he probably wondered if I was really into him.
He replied by nodding his head and raising his eyebrows inquisitively. He knew there was more to the story. “It’s a long story.” I added, trying to soften the blow. “What matters is, I eventually let him know and we both went our separate ways.” I swung my putter behind my shoulder and motioned to him to follow me and head to the next hole. He lost the next one and picked truth. That was easy, I asked him the same question. “What about you?” I said. “What is the biggest lie you’ve ever told?”
“Oh, that’s how it’s gonna be.” He winked, resting his weight against a plastic boulder behind him. “Well, I’ve never faked being in love. I’ve never had a fiancé. But once I cheated on a Calculus test. It was in high school, I hadn’t studied and I needed to pass the test in order to stay on the baseball team. It was lame, but I did it, and luckily, didn’t get caught.”
I studied him, looking at him from his feet to the tip of his head, pretending to mull it over. “And it was just the once?” I winked.
He assured me it was. “I love dating a badass.” I teased. Oh, I said dating. I didn’t mean to say that. I didn’t want to label what this was- what we are. We hadn’t talked about that. We weren’t anywhere near that. I thought my eyes were going to bug out of my head as I tried to fix the damage I’d done. “Sorry, I didn’t mean dating, I mean-“ I fumbled on my words. Instead of letting me flop around like a fish out of water, he came up behind me again and gently kissed the right side of my neck just like he had on the second hole of the course. I melted in his arms, closing my eyes to enjoy every second of it. He lost hole number eleven and chose dare. I dared Travis to climb to the top of one of the giant plastic boulders at the center of the putt-putt course, throw his arms in the air and yell “I’m the king of the world!” He did it and about half of the people on the indoor putt-putt course turned to stare and laugh at him. But it only made me like him more. There wasn’t one thing that was making me fall for him, it was everything. From the moment we met I felt magnetically drawn to him and as the night went on, it only grew stronger. The next six holes were filled with goofing off. I did two cartwheels on one hole before hitting the ball. On another, we both putted our balls while we sat on the ground, not allowed to stand. It’s a lot harder than you’d think to putt a ball into the hole while you sit on your bum. Somehow we’d forgotten about the truth or dare element on those six holes; we were too busy acting less mature than most of the teenagers that filled the course. It felt good to be a kid again. It felt good to laugh. It felt good to be looked at like that; with nothing but love and happiness.
The final hole of the course had a spinning wheel with every other slat being solid. If you made a hole-in-one here, you won a free round of putt-putt for another night. Neither of us hit a hole-in-one. Not even close. But Travis reinstated the truth or dare rule. He lost by one stroke. He chose dare and I dared him to kiss me. It was the best dare I’d ever given and the best kiss I’d ever received. When our lips touched something electric jolted through my veins. I felt like putty in his arms and I longed for him to hold me forever.
I replayed the kiss and that night in my head as I cheerfully glided to the door and pulled it open, ready to wrap my arms around Travis and head out to the concert. Only, when I opened the door it wasn’t Travis. It was Jordan.
Jordan looked me up and down, assessing my attire and pushing his way through the door and into my apartment. He didn’t say a word; he just looked around as I stood dumbfounded by his presence. Lucky jumped off the couch and growled. He stood close to my feet as he kept his canine eyes on Jordan. I left the door open and looked out into the hall of the apartment, not sure if I wished for Travis to show up now or not. I wanted Jordan to leave. I didn’t know how he had found me. I hadn’t seen him since we bumped into each other in the grocery store, months ago. “Jordan, you have to go.” My words are rushed together so they sound like one. His eyes are bloodshot and he smells like alcohol. “How did you know I lived here?” I demand. The answer doesn’t really matter; I just want him to leave.
“A little birdie told me you were here…” He stumbles around looking at the framed photos. “You’ve just forgotten all about me, haven’t you? You’ve moved on so easily.” He smiles, but it is not a friendly smile. He is creeping me out and I want him to leave. Lucky starts to bark and I reach for my phone, just in case. “And you got yourself a little mutt too, I see.” Jordan points to Lucky as he continues to bark. I try to place my body in front of Jordan. I am much smaller than he is, but still, I try to herd him toward the door and out of my apartment.
“Jordan, what do you want?” I am surprised at the strength of my own voice. I think he would have slapped my face if I’d have spoken to him in this tone when we were engaged.
“You, of course.” He leans down and tries to kiss me. I turn away just in time. He smells awful, like a mixture of booze and cigarettes. I’m sure he’s just come from a bar.
I manage to move him closer to the open door. Almost close enough to close the door in his face, but I need him to still move a few more feet to be successful. “We’re not together Jordan. It didn’t work out. It wasn’t meant to be.” I gulp. Where is Travis?
“It wasn’t my decision though, was it? You took it upon yourself-“ he stumbles, grabbing onto the frame of the door. I almost have him out. I can almost close the door. Lucky is still barking and he’s helping me herd this drunk away, and I am grateful for the assistance.
“Jordan.” My voice is firm, sharp. He stumbles into the hall without realizing it and I quickly slam the door and lock it. Lucky barks a few more times and then sits by the door, growling a low, constant rumble to keep us safe.
My fingers are shaking as I text Travis from my phone. Are you almost here? I don’t want to be pushy, but I also don’t want him to run into Jordan on his way to my door.
A few seconds later he texts back. Sorry, running late. I’m in the parking lot. Be right up.
I press my face against the door and look out the peep hole. I don’t see Jordan in the hall. Lucky is still guarding the door, but he’s stopped growling; I take that as a good sign. I think Travis will be fine. Jordan doesn’t know who he is anyway. I pace by the door, waiting for Travis. Two minutes later there’s a knock on the door and I look out the peep-hole to check and make sure it is him before I open it this time. It is. I open it and pull him inside, locking the door behind him. I throw my arms around his waist and rest my head against his chest. “I’m so glad you’re here.” I whisper.
He holds me in his arms. “Are you okay?” I nod, trying to assure him that I’m fine. I don’t think I’m very convincing though. He pushes away from me and looks into my eyes and then back at the locked door. “Are you sure? It seems like something’s got you spooked?” He watches me for a moment and then bends down to pet Lucky who is wagging his tail and pressing up against his legs. “Hey there little buddy.”
I squish my mouth to one side and tell him about Jordan’s surprise visit. “But you guys are okay, right?”
I love that he considers Lucky’s well-being, too. I assure him we’re fine. I tell him I was just a little shaken up when he arrived and I was worried Jordan would come back again. “He’ll leave you alone. I’ll make sure of it.” He doesn’t say it as a threat; it feels more like he’s draped a soft blanket around my shoulders with his words. I know I’ll be fine; we’ll be fine. “Are you still up for the concert?” He rubs my left arm and kisses my forehead. I don’t know how we found each other, but I’m glad we did.
“Of course, it’s Maroon 5!” I stand on my tip-toes and kiss his cheek. “I’m ready to go anywhere with you.”
Travis raises his eyebrows and his eyes twinkle. “Anywhere?”
I run my fingers along the sides of his neck and hold his face in my hands. “Anywhere.” I smile devilishly. “But right now we have a concert to get to.” I grab the front of his shirt with my hand and pull him toward the door.
“Have I ever told you how much I like you, Yesa?” He always calls me Yesa. I don’t think he’s called me Casey once. Trish told him the first night we met that anyone who loves me calls me Yesa. I wouldn’t want him to call me anything else.
I shake my head. “Not lately.” I pretend to be bashful, selfishly wanting to hear all of the reasons he likes me.
“Well, there’s your sexy laugh, your bright eyes, your amazing putt-putt skills…”
I laugh at the same time Lucky lets out a single bark. We both look down as he stands at our feet, wagging his tail.
“And of course there’s Lucky.” He finishes.
“So you like me for my looks, my putt-putt abilities and my dog.” I pretend to think, realizing that I almost said love instead of like. “Okay, I’ll take it.” I lean forward to press my lips against his. This has to be love. There can’t be anything greater than this. We both say good-bye to Lucky and Travis reaches to open the door. We’re already going to miss the opening acts of the concert, but neither of us cares. When the door opens, I hold my breath, hoping Jordan won’t be waiting on the other side. I peek my head in the hall and Travis assures me it’s okay. The coast is clear. Jordan is gone and I’m with Travis. We walk to the car hand in hand, ready for whatever comes next.