Page 28 of Leo and His Love Bunny
“That must be tough, not having a parent. Are you close to your dad?” she asks as she holds her hand out for the airplanes I’m holding in my hand.
I pause, and before I can say anything, she cuts in.
“I know that was a little probing, but you’re the one who said we were friends. I kind of feel like friends can talk about that kind of thing.”
I grunt out a laugh, because she has me there. I wasn’t offended, and I didn’t feel like she was being nosy, but she’s right. I’m the one who initiated our friendship. After all, I’m the one who walked in with my cat and made myself at home in her apartment.
“I guess you hit a sore spot, because I used to be. My dad was my biggest fan. But after Mom died, he...didn’t lose it exactly, but he struggled. We both did. She was the glue that held everything together.”
She smiles a little, and I think right then that she probably has a happy home. Because it sounds like she knows what I’m talking about.
“Anyway, he got married to a woman who was a good bit younger than he was, and I kind of feel like...” I pause, because I don’t want to sound arrogant. “She was just after him because he was my dad. She saw dollar signs, and she also saw someone to help her own boys who just so happen to be interested in hockey. Both of them.”
“She sounds like a gold digger, but I’m sure you helped with her sons anyway. Because that’s just the kind of person you are.”
She turns to the garbage can and throws the airplanes away while I stare at her.
That’s not the kind of person I am.
But it’s the kind of person I want to be.
Stung, because she is wrong about me and I wish she wasn’t, I don’t say anything.
She turns around, takes one look at me, and knows exactly what I didn’t say. I want to laugh, because no one has ever read me like she just did.
“Give yourself a little bit of time. You’re going to do the right thing,” she says, and she has so much confidence in me, I almost have confidence in myself. Almost. Except she’s never met my stepmother.
“She’s not an easy person to get along with.”
“Most people aren’t. I don’t know why that always surprises us so much, you know? Like, wouldn’t you be more surprised if people were easy to get along with? Wouldn’t it be more surprising if people didn’t believe the worst of us?” She laughs a little. “Like today. Not to bring the conversation back to me or anything, but everyone assumes the worst, immediately, and with great glee and delight. And I couldn’t believe it. But the longer I thought about it, the more I thought, why am I surprised? Isn’t that what we all do as humans? Isn’t that what we fight every day of our lives? To not be the lowest common denominator? To be better?”
She is right. Again. “I guess that’s what friends are for, right? To challenge us, make us better.”
She grins. “You’re the one who said you wanted to be my friend. You know, it’s not too late to change your mind.”
“Oh, it is. Once a friend, always a friend. I don’t go through them like used tissues. I stick.”
“That’s funny. Because I do too,” she says, giving me a considering look.
I feel that look the whole way to my toes and back up. Something warm and good curls around my spine and finds its way to my chest. What is this woman doing to me? I start tolean closer, although I don’t know what I’m doing. We’re friends. Friends don’t kiss. But that’s what I want. I want to kiss Nora.
“Love bunny. Love bunny.” The parakeet interrupts whatever was going on between the two of us.
Maybe it was nothing, but it felt like a moment to me.
Goalie rubs along Nora’s legs, like she is her mistress, and I am the outsider.
That is the thing about cats, they are so fickle. I love them, I really do, but sometimes I wish she was a dog.
If she was a dog, she would be certified as a service animal. Being that she’s a cat, she probably never will be. I won’t be able to get her to cooperate.
Not when she’s supposed to anyway.
Nora hunkers down and pets Goalie.
All right, another point in her favor. She likes my cat.
“Call me if you need me. If you can’t handle the angry hordes on your own, I can come and be your backup.”
