Chasing Connor

by Sam Ayers

  Mr. Taylor took the first-aid kit and carefully cleaned the wound. He bandaged Connor’s hand and sighed; he had done this numerous times when Connor came home from soccer practice after hurting himself, but to see him so upset now hurt Miles Taylor badly. He just wanted his boys to be happy.

  “So, why were you hurting yourself?” Miles asked his son.

  “Carter was being an arrogant fool again.” Connor frowned. “He was being rude. I was trying to stop myself from punching him and just imagined the wall was Carter’s face.”

  Miles patted his son’s head and smiled. “Don’t hurt yourself, Connor. It hurts us too. And I’ll have a word with Carter about his behavior. He’s totally out of control.”

  “Thanks Dad.” Connor smiled.

  “Oh my God! What happened to your hand?!” Mrs. Taylor cried and rushed towards her son. She took his hand in hers and asked, “Did Carter do this? I’ll have a word with him!”

  “Honey, Connor fell,” Mr. Taylor explained. “It’s okay now. I bandaged his hand, and he’s all good. Right, Slugger?”

  “Yeah, don’t worry about me, Mom.” Connor grinned.

  “That’s something I can’t do,” Mrs. Taylor smiled back and grabbed his hand, placing a kiss on it.

  The loud bang of the front door indicated that Carter had stormed out of the house. Mrs. Taylor looked at her husband, and he nodded; they were going to have another conversation with Carter about his attitude towards Connor. And they had a feeling that it wouldn’t be the most pleasant conversation they had with their eldest.

  A cool breeze hit Harley’s face, and she sighed in content. It was a beautiful day, and she was going out with Carter to meet the wedding planner. All the final arrangements were almost done, and the planner wanted them to check it all out one last time.

  She smiled brightly as she walked into the Taylors’ home and waited for Carter. To her delight, Padfoot ran towards her and jumped up and down, his tail wagging in excitement. She bent down and patted his head.

  “Hey Padfoot, where’s your daddy’s brother?” Harley smiled at him.

  Padfoot sat in front of her and looked around, a bit confused. He wore his It’s always cloudy in Seattle t-shirt and tried to lick her face. Harley giggled as it tickled and tried to move away. “No, Pads! Where is Carter?”

  “Gone,” Connor said, walking down the stairs. Harley’s eyes fell on his grim face and then over his bandaged hand.

  “Oh my! What happened?” she asked, walking towards him. She grabbed his hand and touched the bandage lightly. “Are you hurt?”

  “Kinda.” Connor smirked. “But I’m okay now. And you are concerned about me.”

  “Of course I am! Nothing has changed, Connor. You are still my friend, and I care about you,” Harley said in a serious tone. “How did you get hurt?”

  “Punched a wall.” Connor shrugged. “Argument with Carter.”

  Harley tapped his nose, grinning, “Really! Where do you have all that cheek stored away? Why do you have to provoke him so?”

  “Right! And now it’s my fault!” Connor pouted and dropped on the couch, looking the epitome of desolate. Only his eyes shining with laughter let her know he was kidding. Padfoot jumped onto him with a woof that seemed to support him and rested his head on Connor’s chest.

  “Pads used to do this from when he was a tiny little pup,” Connor said to Harley, cupping Padfoot’s head. “He liked the sound of my heartbeat; it calms him.”

  “You said Carter was gone? Did he leave because you fought?”

  “He had to get off his high horse so I did say stuff, but I swear I didn’t start this. He said I wasn’t a good company for you, and I had to stay away. I told him to suck it up.”

  Harley giggled when she saw Connor shrug. He was lying on the couch with Padfoot’s head on his chest. Connor rubbed his nose and Padfoot woofed at his daddy.

  “Pads, wanna tell Harley how you scratched that big monster?” Connor cooed.

  “What monster?” Harley asked in confusion. “Wait, Carter? He scratched Carter!?”

  “Can’t blame him! Carter grabbed my shirt collar and it hurt me, so Pads here was a bit furious. Anyway, Carter had some work so he left. And now, Mom and I will go with you to meet the planner.”

  Harley nodded. “Okay! Is Padfoot coming along?”

  The pup raised his head from Connor’s chest and woofed. He let his tongue hang out and licked Harley’s fingers.

  “Good boy!” Harley tickled his chin. “I’ll miss you both when you leave.”

  Connor’s hand shot out and grabbed her arm. “We don’t have to go. You just need to change your decision. You can come with us.”

  “It’s not that easy.” Harley moaned. “Please don’t, Connor.”

  Sighing, Connor sat up, holding onto Padfoot and setting him next to him. Padfoot whined and rubbed his head against Connor’s hand.

  “Stay here, Pads. I’ll get your teddy so you can play in the car.” Connor patted the pup’s head and walked away. Harley watched Connor run up the stairs and waited till he returned with Mrs. Taylor.

  “Yeah, did you ask her to call me?” Connor asked his mother.

  “Of course I did. Such a lovely girl, I invited her to the wedding.” Mrs. Taylor grinned. “Oh, Harley dear, are you ready to go?”

  “Yes.” Harley smiled.

  “Let’s go, then! C’mon, Pads.” Connor whistled and Padfoot was at his heel in a minute.

  Mrs. Taylor stated that she would be driving, and she clearly said she didn’t trust Connor’s sense of direction; that made him sulk and sit in the back with Padfoot. Harley sat in the passenger seat, and Mrs. Taylor pulled out her phone and gave it to her son before starting the car. Connor gave Padfoot his teddy and unlocked the phone.

  “Just open the gallery and see her picture,” Mrs. Taylor said. “She is beautiful. Your type.”

  Harley’s eyes widened in shock. Mrs. Taylor was showing a picture of a girl to Connor, which could only mean one thing.

  “I’ll call her later and yeah, she’s kinda cute,” Connor said, showing the picture to Padfoot. “Hey Pads, isn’t she cute?”

  Harley turned around to look at Connor, who just smiled and showed her the picture too. Mrs. Taylor smiled and said, “Now that Carter is getting married, we need to start focusing on Connor. Roxanne went to school with Connor, and they are friends, too. Oh my! I can just imagine these two together!”

  “She’s not his type!” Harley blurted.

  “I’m sorry, what was that, dear?” Mrs. Taylor asked innocently, pretending she didn’t hear the first time. Connor was biting his lower lip, trying to control his laughter.

  “I’m just saying that this girl isn’t Connor’s type.”

  “And I’ve a type?” Connor asked, leaning forward.

  Harley turned around and nodded. “Yes, you do. Your type of girl is someone who will laugh at all your stupid jokes. She will take a stroll with you at midnight without worrying about anything in the world. She’ll let you climb the wall and into her room at night and not chase you away. She would give you Cup Noodles at stupid o’clock. And she would play paintball with you and actually give you a great challenge back. Your type of girl would dance with you at a party and pretend to be your girlfriend just to get another girl off your back! Now that’s your type of girl, Taylor!”

  “My, my,” Mrs. Taylor started, “if a girl does all this, Con-Con, then she’s head over heels in love with you. Don’t let her go, alright?”

  “Sure, Mom. But the ball is in her court now,” Connor said, looking at Harley’s flushed face in the rearview mirror. “She just has to say yes.”

  Harley froze when she heard his words. She hugged herself and looked out of the window. She was Connor Taylor’s type of girl, no doubt about it.

  “Mom, where are we going?” Connor asked as he fed Padfoot some biscuits.

  “To meet the wedding planner, Snugglebunny. She is waiting at the resort where the wedding will take place
.”

  Connor rolled his eyes at the nickname. “A resort? Why?”

  “Because Harley wanted a beach wedding, and Carter wanted privacy,” Mrs. Taylor smiled and looked at Harley who still sat quietly, looking totally nervous.

  “Of course he did! So, we will stay at the resort for the wedding?” Connor asked, munching on some candies.

  “Yes, darling. We will go there after the rehearsal dinner.”

  “Cool!” Connor said, looking out of the window. The wedding was still on for the time being and if it went this way, Harley would be his sister-in-law in few days. Bad!

  The car came to a halt, and Mrs. Taylor got out. Connor opened the door and let Padfoot out. He got out and opened the door for Harley, who looked at him as if he were a Dementor.

  Connor smirked and handed over few pieces of chocolate. “Here, Professor Lupin said chocolate is the perfect antidote. Well, he didn’t say that exactly, but you know what I mean. And darling, I’m SO not a Dementor. I’m too hot for that!”

  “Did I say that out loud?” Harley gave him an apologetic smile.

  “Yope! And no worries, baby.” Connor winked. “We all mistake love for something else.”

  “You are crazy, Connor!” Harley folded her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrow.

  “You’re my kinda crazy, Harley!” Connor said as he quickly pecked her cheek and walked away with Padfoot.

  Harley smiled lazily and touched her cheek. Connor was making this harder than she thought it would be. She looked away when she saw the knowing look in Mrs. Taylor’s eyes. Clearing her throat, she followed Mrs. Taylor and Connor into the resort, where they met Maxine Hawthorne, the wedding planner. Maxine was a young, beautiful woman who immediately straightened, unconsciously running a hand over her hair. Harley rolled her eyes; Connor seemed to draw women like moths to a flame. She let her eyes travel to where he stood and agreed; it wasn’t easy resisting his charm, not easy at all.

  “Hello, Mrs. Taylor,” Maxine said politely. “Hi, Harley. Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

  “Hello, dear,” Mrs. Taylor smiled. “That’s absolutely fine, after all we have less than a week left for the wedding, and we are so glad that you are the planner. Everything is just perfect.”

  “Thank you so much,” Maxine smiled and her eyes fell on Connor again, who was talking to the receptionist. A moment later, he smiled and walked towards them.

  “Connor Taylor. Nice to meet you,” he introduced himself and saw a light blush form on Maxine’s face.

  “Hello, Mr. Taylor. So kind of you to join us,” Maxine said before biting her lower lip.

  “Please, it’s Connor.” Connor gave her his charming smile and Harley, who was standing next to him, frowned at the exchange.

  “Okay, Connor.” Maxine smiled. She faced Mrs. Taylor and said, “If you would follow me, we could head out to the private beach, before we taste the dessert samples.”

  Mrs. Taylor smiled and followed her. Connor grabbed Harley’s arm as she huffed away. “Hey, wait! No one told me we were going to eat desserts!”

  “Well, we are. So come along,” Harley said, walking away. Connor felt a grin on his face as he watched her walk ahead to join the other two women. Harley was jealous, and a very dark shade of green, indeed. Whether she accepted it or not, she couldn’t stand other women talking to him or flirting with him. Shaking his head, he followed them, Padfoot trotting along next to him.

  Padfoot couldn’t help but look around. He found the whole place fascinating, and the minute his eyes fell on the beach, he dashed towards it.

  “Padfoot, come back!” Connor called after him and ran. He caught the pup before he reached the water and carried him back to where the ladies stood. Padfoot whined and plopped down, rubbing his head lightly against Connor. He didn’t like it when his daddy was upset with him. But he loved swimming! “Stay right here, Pads. We can go swimming later,” Connor said, rubbing the pup’s head.

  “Aw! He’s adorable,” Maxine cooed.

  “Yeah! His name is Padfoot,” Connor said proudly. “Pads, say hi to this pretty lady.”

  Padfoot woofed and walked towards Harley and sat in front of her, his tongue hanging out as he tried to lick her hand. Harley bent down and rubbed his head lovingly. She guessed Padfoot thought she was the pretty lady when Connor asked him to say hi.

  Maxine was blushing lightly. She turned around to talk to Mrs. Taylor. Connor let the ladies discuss about the wedding and gently picked Padfoot up. He walked towards the beach with Padfoot in his arms and sighed deeply.

  “They are getting married here, Pads. It’s a beautiful place.” Connor sighed. “What if she doesn’t change her mind?”

  Padfoot whined and licked his cheek. “You’ll always be here for Daddy, right?” Hugging the pup, Connor pulled out his phone to text Liam about his change of plans. He jumped when he felt someone touch his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Harley said, smiling.

  “Ah! It’s okay. You guys done with the meeting? I would like to eat those desserts now.” Connor grinned. Padfoot woofed.

  “Oh, so you want desserts as well?” Harley asked, tickling Padfoot’s tummy.

  “Of course he does! He loves desserts.” Connor winked and walked toward the resort with Harley. “Say, do we get to choose or is it just a random tasting and they will choose later?”

  Harley grinned. “We get to choose.”

  “Is that why Carter was eager to come here?” Connor frowned. “Bet he wanted all the free yummy desserts!”

  “Well, he’s paying for the wedding. So technically, the desserts are covered. You aren’t getting anything for free.”

  Connor gave her a skeptical look and walked away with Padfoot. Harley didn’t even know how to react to that. She followed them, and Maxine led them to an outdoor café where they would be sampling the desserts.

  Connor pulled out the chair for his mother and sat next to her. The staff were friendly enough to get a bowl of water for Padfoot. But Padfoot was waiting to see what his daddy was about to eat. The servers placed different kinds of desserts in front of them, and Padfoot looked at Connor keenly. Connor couldn’t resist Padfoot’s innocent puppy dog eyes.

  “Aw Pads, you aren’t playing fair! You can’t eat all this.” Connor sighed when Padfoot whined and pawed his leg.

  “Actually, he can have some of the yogurt,” Maxine spoke. “Dogs can eat yogurt. And most of the desserts here have a little portion of chocolate, which is not safe for him. So I went ahead and ordered some yogurt with fruits.”

  Connor looked at her in surprise. “Oh, really? Thank you, Maxine.”

  “Not a problem.” she smiled brightly. Connor gave Padfoot some yogurt, and then he tasted the scrumptious Caramel Cheesecake, declaring that this was the best dessert for any occasion. Padfoot woofed, agreeing without realizing that his daddy was eating something different.

  Harley had the final say, and she randomly chose something and decided to go home. Mrs. Taylor and Connor noticed the change in her behavior and walked out. Before leaving, Connor stopped and had a word with Maxine.

  “Hey, thanks for the yogurt.” he smiled. “That was so thoughtful, what you did for Padfoot.”

  “No worries.” Maxine smiled and patted Padfoot’s head. “He’s lovely. So, I’ll see you again?”

  “Yeah, absolutely! Goodbye!” Connor waved and walked away with a smile lingering on his face.

  He didn’t miss Harley’s glare when he got into the car. Connor frowned. She was being indecisive. Heck! She was marrying his brother in a week. Avoiding her gaze and internally screaming at himself for feeling guilty, he slid into his seat and buckled up.

  “Such a sweet girl,” Mrs. Taylor spoke. “So considerate about our darling Padfoot. Doodle-bug, girls like Maxine are keepers. Don’t you agree, Harley?”

  Harley looked at Mrs. Taylor and shrugged. “Well, I’m not really sure. She doesn’t strike me as Connor’s
type.”

  Connor coughed, hiding his laughter, and leaned forward. “And how can you be so sure?”

  “I just know.” Harley glared at him. She was irritated, alright. Her emotions were running high, and she couldn’t think straight. The minute they reached home, she thanked Mrs. Taylor and rushed to her home. And now she realized she was worse than Carter when it came to jealousy issues.

  Peaceful sleep was a concept that was becoming history to Connor. He sighed and turned on his side, face half hidden in a pillow. He glared at the wall, waiting for answers that it just didn’t have. Frustrated, he pulled his phone off the side table, hoping a game would distract him. But all he saw was Harley’s anger. He was letting her make the decision; his heart sank as he thought maybe, just maybe, Carter had gotten to her and now she didn’t even want to be his friend. She wouldn’t do that, would she?

  Connor switched on the bedside lamp when he felt some movement on the bed. Padfoot was now sleeping next to him with his paws moving lightly. Dreaming of running again? Silly Pads, Connor thought, patting Padfoot’s head lightly.

  When Connor finally decided to close his eyes and try to sleep, his phone pinged. He unlocked it to see a text from Harley.

  Come to the beach ASAP. See you in 10 minutes.

  Connor got up and read the text again. She really wanted to see him. Smiling, he got up and Padfoot opened one eye to see if his daddy wanted him to wake up too.

  “Go to sleep, Padfoot. I’m going to the beach. I’ll come back soon,” Connor said, patting Padfoot’s head and watching him till he fell asleep again. He slipped on a jacket and tiptoed out of the room.

  In five minutes, Connor was walking out of the backyard and towards the beach. When he reached there, Harley wasn’t waiting for him. Connor sighed and plopped down. The beach looked scenic under the bright moonlight. When he heard some shuffling behind him, he turned around to see Harley walking towards him. She was wearing jeans, sneakers and a hoodie. The hood was covering her head, and she ran towards him.