I leave my laptop open so that I can come back and do a little work before I have to leave, and go to the living room and roll out my mat. After some sun salutations and balancing poses, I’m ready for a shower. I head to the bathroom and start the warm water, before going into my room to pick out my clothes for today. Because I’m going to see Jack. For that reason alone, all of a sudden, my clothing choices are a struggle. I pull out my favorite go-to slim fit jeans and decide to figure out a top after my shower since the water is running.
After scrubbing myself to death and shampooing my hair, I step out and wrap a towel around myself and come back to my closet. I finally decide on a slouchy wide necked black t-shirt over a light blue tank top. Then, I blow-dry my hair and head back to the breakfast nook. It’s a little after 8:00. Jack and I said we’d meet up at the same time today as we did yesterday. Yesterday we met at 10…ish. Well that makes it hard to shoot for an exact time. I decide on 10:00 sharp and hope for the best. This leaves me with some time to get a little work done. Probably not as much as I could get done, as I know I’m going to be sidetracked and nervous.
After getting a meager amount of work done, 9:30 has rolled around and so I go to my bedroom and sit at my vanity to put on a little light foundation, some shimmery pink eyeshadow, mascara, and call it good.
“Come on girl!” I yell to Penny, who comes running, and we head out the door to my car. It’s not quite a ten-minute drive, and as I approach the park, I find a parking space on the street along the side of it. I have no idea what Jack drives so I can’t look for his car to see if he’s already here. I get out of the car holding my handbag and walk around to the back to open Penny’s door. I snap her leash on before letting her out, and then we head on down the path. My heart is slamming in my chest and my nerves are through the roof at the imminence of seeing Jack.
The path winds through the trees with several bends and I do my best to pretend that we are just on a leisurely walk, and then we come around the corner to the bench where Jack and I sat talking yesterday, to find him sitting there. He’s in cargo pants and a white t-shirt today, along with a pair of sexy aviators, and he’s leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and a leash wrapped around his hand attached to the sweetest looking German Shepherd I’ve ever seen.
“Mayzie,” he says, standing up to meet me, an easy smile on his face.
“Hi Jack,” I say smiling brightly, but I can’t hide the fact that my voice is shaking a little.
“It’s good to see you.” We both say, laughing at the jinx.
“So this must be Trooper. He’s beautiful,” I say reaching out to scratch Trooper’s ears. He immediately leans into me and paws at me, enjoying the attention.
“Yes it is, “Jack responds. “And you know he’s going home with you after this now, right?”
“Oh, he’s such a sweetie.”
“And this must be Penny. You weren’t kidding about her being big and playful,” he says, trying to pet my giant Rottweiler as she circles around him, wagging her stubby tail so hard that her butt is counter-wagging along with it. When she’s done doing laps around Jack and deciding he’s okay, she heads for Trooper and the two of them do the butt-sniff circle thing for a couple of rounds.
“Want to take these kids to the off-leash area?” suggests Jack, and I nod. “Yeah, let’s do it.” We head up the path to where we know there is a fenced-in clearing at the end where dogs can run off-leash. We talk lightly on the way.
“So, how’s your morning been so far?” he asks.
“So far so good, I got some work done.” Lies. “How about you, did you work at the bar last night?”
“Yeah, it was good. Busy. Got home a little after midnight.” When we get there, Jack opens the gate and lets Penny and I go through first like a gentleman. “Ladies first,” he says.
Our conversation is flowing even easier than it did yesterday. “What about you? What did you do with the rest of your day yesterday?” he asks.
“I got some more work done, then took a break when my brother came over. After he left, I went back to it for a while, and then went to bed and fell asleep watching House Hunters,” I reply, rolling my eyes and sticking my tongue out.
“Is your brother older or younger?” he asks.
“He’s a year older.”
“Any other siblings?”
“No, just him. How about you? Got any?”
“Yeah, two sisters, both older. The oldest one is married, the one closer to my age is just goofing off around the world.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” I say. “So your oldest sister is married, is she going to make an uncle out of you anytime soon?”
“They talk about it, yeah. So who knows, maybe. Will you be an aunt anytime soon?”
“Doubtful. My brother isn’t married. He’s in an, uh, shall we say, intense relationship?
“Intense?”
“Okay, volatile. Total love-hate relationship with his live-in girlfriend. So yeah, the poor schmuck seeks refuge at my house sometimes.”
We watch as Trooper zips back and forth across the field, being chased by Penny. One way. Then another. It’s like a cartoon. Poor Penny, she just wants to play. She doesn’t realize Trooper’s afraid of getting smushed. The reaction on Jack’s face is amusing as he watches our dogs with his arms crossed. After a few more seconds, he turns his attention back to me.
“So, tell me more about you. So far all I know is you work from home, you dance, you read, and you have an older brother whose ass you love to bust on because the poor guy got sucked into some chick’s fly-trap. Oh, and you drink enough sugar to put the whole town supply on back order.”
“Come on, give me a break on that already!” I say laughing. He ignores my protest.
“Come on, let’s have it.”
“Well, what do you want to know?”
“Everything. We’ll start small. Favorite food?”
“Mac ‘n’ cheese. You?”
“Are you serious?” he asks smiling, his eyebrows drawing together.
“Yes. Don’t judge me. Now what’s yours?”
“Steak. How old are you?”
“Twenty-four. How old are you?”
“Twenty-eight. Last name?”
“Walker. What’s yours?”
“Krasinski.”
“Bless you.”
“Very funny,” he says.
“Beer or wine?” I ask.
“Beer. But won’t necessarily say no to wine.”
“Me too.”
“You prefer beer over wine?” he says, turning.
“Oh yeah.”
He steps back, clutching his chest at my response. “Where’ve you been all my life?” We are interrupted briefly by our dogs tearing a line between us, running in a circle and then tearing off again. “What would you take with you if you had to stay on a deserted island for a month?”
“My Kindle Fire.” And a vibrator.
“What, no sugar?”
“Shut up. Your turn.”
“Call me a cliché musician, but my guitar,” he says, shrugging.
“Are you kidding? It’s so cool that you wouldn’t want to be without it for a month.” We go on like this for a long while. We walk around, watching the dogs run, learning more about each other. He tells me about growing up with two sisters and learning to play guitar when he was thirteen; about his friends that are in the band with him and how they got together right after high school. They just got right down to it, writing songs and practicing anytime they didn’t have a job to be at. His best friend, Matt, plays bass and they co-write a lot of the songs. They have recorded a demo, and the next goal they are hoping to attain is playing at The Black Fire, which is the top-rated club in downtown. Getting to play in any other downtown club would be a huge stepping stone leading to that.
I tell him about how I tried college to appease my parents, but never really wanted to go and it really did not turn out to be the right path for me. How I started dance class
when I was seven and kept going with it all through my school years, even coming back to it after the college failure. I tell him how I could never stand regular ballet but love modern ballet because there is less structure and poise, and more freedom to express yourself. And lastly, I tell him how my love of reading sparked my interest in writing.
A little more than an hour later, he checks his watch.
“Do you wanna grab some food?” he asks. I don’t even hesitate. Let this day go as long as it can. I’m having so much fun with him.
“Yes, I could totally do that.” We re-leash the dogs and head back up the path to the main park area. A couple of food trucks generally show up and set up about now, and I happen to know the taco truck has food to die for. We both order carne asada street tacos, which Jack insists on paying for, and head over to a picnic table. He picks our conversation right back up.
“Favorite movie?”
I have a bite in my mouth that I take a second to swallow before answering, “I have several actually, I love movies. ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ and ‘The Rock’ to name a couple.”
“You must love movies; it looks like you have a broad taste.”
“I do,” I say, tearing off a piece of tortilla and feeding it to Penny who’s sitting down by my side. “What are some of yours?”
“I like the heist movies, like ‘Heat’ and ‘The Italian Job’.”
“Both good ones,” I agree. My phone chimes then with a notification. I grab it out of my pocket to find a calendar reminder that I have some dog walks to do later. I silence it, and go to put it back in my jeans when Jack holds his hand out.
“Nice phone, can I get a look at it?”
“Uh, sure,” I say handing it to him. “It’s nothing special though.” Before I know it, he’s tapping on the screen and it’s making me sort of leery. I awkwardly tell him so as I watch him swipe and tap. “Uh… what are you looking for? You know, going through someone’s phone is… kind of like going through… their diary…”
“I’m not looking for anything,” he says leaning forward and handing me my phone. “But you now have my number. You don’t have to give me yours, but when you feel like you’re ready for me to have it, you can just call-,” He’s cut off by his own phone ringing and he pauses to fish it out of one of his cargo pockets. Looking at the screen, his eyebrows draw together in confusion. When he looks back up at me, I’m grinning at him, holding my phone up. “Alright then,” he says, smiling while entering my name. He finishes his tacos and grabs a napkin, wiping his hands before shoving his tray aside. “So, what’ve you got going on this weekend?”
“Just some dance stuff tomorrow morning, then working on a paper, cleaning…” I shrug. “I’m pretty boring. What do you get to do?”
He opens his mouth and closes it, before saying, “Working at the bar tomorrow night. Can I call you and see what you’re doing on Sunday?”
“Yeah,” I say smiling.
“Good. I have to get going. Matt and I have to get together and work on some songs.”
“Ooh, that sounds cool. I gotta hear one sometime,” I say as we get up and throw our trash away.
“Oh I’m sure you’ll get to. Can I walk you to your car?” I nod as we head in the direction of the street. Jack stops to open the door of a black pick-up, letting Trooper bound inside.
“Cool truck,” I say. It looks like an older model, but restored, or at least maintained well.
“Thanks,” he says, shutting the door, and we continue walking as Trooper watches us out the window. I’m parked two cars down, and I unlock the doors to let Penny in the back before walking around to the driver’s side. Jack holds my door as I get in, shuts it for me, and then leans down by my window. The close proximity gives me a whiff of what he smells like, and sweet Jesus, he has a clean and musky scent that smells sexy enough to make my panties go up in flames. “It was good hanging out with you.”
“I had fun too,” I say smiling and nodding.
“I’ll see you soon.”
“See ya,” I say, putting my sunglasses on and starting the car. And with that, he turns and heads back to his truck.
Jack
I give a quick knock before just letting myself in to Matt’s house to find him sitting at his dining room table. He has his guitar out, and reaches out to slap hands with me. “How’s it going, man?” he asks, as I put my guitar down, and fish through my bag for my notebook.
“It’s good,” I say, not offering him much. He’d give me so much shit if he knew my mind was on a girl I’ve known for a day and a half. And not only that, I’m feeling bad about keeping something from her, despite knowing her for only a short time. I didn’t tell Mayzie that Matt and I are going over our set list because we have a show tonight. I thought about it, but immediately dismissed the idea. It didn’t feel right, for some reason. It felt off to be shoving my music, a.k.a. my life, in her face after just two… dates? Hang outs? Whatever they were, I just pictured myself telling her to come out to The Cedar tonight, see me tearing it up on stage, and then expecting her to what? Swoon? Tell me that me and my band are awesome just to be polite because we still barely know each other? I feel like it would be saying ‘So, this has been a fun couple of days. Now come to my show tonight and be a fangirl.’ And who knows, it could even make her think that’s the only reason I’ve been spending time with her - to attract more fans. Plus, I’m kind of a different person when we’re performing. Not bad different, but I’m in my element. I let loose and I try to project the vibe of the music we’re playing, which is usually pretty angsty. It’s rock music after all.
I tell myself that she’ll see the band. We just need a little more time together before I show her who we are and what we do. Obviously, I don’t know all the people that come to our shows, but it’s different with her. I want her to know me, and music wasn’t even on my mind when I decided I wanted to know her.
“How was your time with your niece?” I ask Matt, keeping conversation light, hoping he doesn’t see anything is weighing on my mind.
“Fun,” he says, his face going all soft. “She’s adorable. She made up this cute song and was singing it.” Then his face hardens. “I might ask her to write it down so I can put it to music, since my partner can’t come up with shit lately.”
“Oh, you’ve got jokes. Shut up, asshole. Look.”
I open my notebook to Breakthrough, and drop it on the table in front of Matt. He glances down at it before looking back up at me. “Wow, four lines. D’you hurt yourself?”
I smack his arm. “Read it.”
He picks up the notebook and I see him reading it over a couple of times before he raises his eyebrows and looks back at me, shrugging. “Ok, not bad,” he says, setting it down.
“Can we do something with it?” I ask, sitting down and opening my guitar case.
“Yeah, you know we can, man.” There’s not much there, but it’s enough to get us going, and hopefully more words will come once we get a good hook and melody. I start tuning my guitar.
“What key should we start in?” I ask, setting out my pen, and digging through my case for a pick.
“What, now? We have a set list to line up.”
“We will, we will, just give me a half hour with this. Please? Can we do that?”
“Alright, alright. A half hour, since we haven’t written in a while. If that will get your head back in the game…”
Mayzie
“Whoa, Jeffrey. Easy, Jeffrey! Slow… down!” It’s later in the afternoon, and I’m walking one of my clients. Actually, I’m being dragged down the street by a St. Bernard that is roughly the size of a small moose, and has all the energy of a coked-out squirrel. Before I took this walking gig, I thought these types of dogs had gone extinct, as I’d never met one before in my life. I’m pretty sure he outweighs me, and why his owner named him Jeffrey, I don’t know. I feel like Thor or Dwayne Johnson would have been a better fit for a canine this size. Then again, I have a Rottweiler named Pe
nelope, so I can’t talk. We are just approaching the small park several blocks up from his home, when my phone rings. I struggle to get it out of my purse, which is hanging from my shoulder, while trying to keep a good hold on the leash. I see on the screen that it’s my mother. “Hey, Mom,” I say, when I finally get the phone to my ear.
“Hey, honey. I wanted to make sure you’re coming for breakfast Sunday.”
“Yeah, what time should I be at your house?”
“How about you come over at nine-thirty?”
“Sounds goo-ULP!”
“Walking Jeffrey?”
“Of course. Ah!”
“I can tell. I’ll let you go; we’ll catch up on Sunday.”
“I’ll be there.” I hang up and see that Jeffrey has left me a present the size of a Buick.
Later that night, I’m doing my usual wind-down in bed, this time reading a book on my Kindle. Another what I call “fluff” book, lighthearted, not too emotional, romantic comedy. My phone pings on my night stand, and I pick it up to see I have a text message. My heart stops when I open it to see it’s from Jack.
I had fun with you today. Just wanted to say goodnight and I’ll talk to you soon. Say hi to Penny for Trooper.
My heart finally starts beating again, as I read the text over two more times. It was short and sweet, but still. I’m freaking reeling over the idea he was thinking of me at this moment. I need to get a grip. But I can’t ignore this, I have to text back. I’m not going to play games by leaving him hanging. I carefully consider what to say before deciding to go with answering him in the same tone he texted me.
See Her (Turn it Up Book 1) Page 4