Another car pulls up on the block in front of me.
A human woman climbs out. She’s pretty, Black, with close-cropped natural curls and bright red lipstick. She confidently approaches Ant’s door.
I duck behind a car and immediately feel ridiculous. She doesn’t know me. How could she recognize me?
I don’t step out from behind the car.
I peer through the car windows to watch her knock on Ant’s front door, and check her phone while waiting for him to answer.
She must know him. Who is she? A date?
Ant appears. He looks adorable, as always, with a video game t-shirt and a pair of loose fitting black pants.
He greets the woman. I can’t hear what they are saying, but they smile and hug each other.
Fucking bitch.
Oh, dear. Where did that come from? I close my eyes for a moment, trying to reset my thoughts. She’s not a bad person. He’s allowed to go out whoever he wants. We aren’t dating. I don’t even like him. I definitely don’t love him. Who cares if he spent an entire weekend giving me mind blowing orgasms like they were Free Comic Book Day issues?
I definitely don’t wish this woman was dead. Or maimed. Or hit by a car. Then he’d just have to sit by her hospital bed and nurse her back to health. It would only bring them closer.
I open my eyes. They’ve disappeared. Crap.
I hurry down the block and around the corner to find them again. Their silhouettes, highlighted by the sun low over the horizon. The frigging golden hour casting them in the perfect amber light. I still can’t hear them, but I can clearly read their body language. He leans toward her and she laughs at something he says.
Slut.
Nope. No. Not that.
He’s the bastard.
Nope. Not that either. They are fine. They are two consenting adults, and they are allowed to do whatever they want on this fine spring evening. I follow them several more blocks, until they enter a local park, headed for a romantic little gazebo overlooking a duck pond.
I bet he hasn’t told her that he has a fated-mate. I wonder if she knows he told me he loved me two months ago. She’d back off then.
Crap.
I have to stop. I turn around to head in the opposite direction. I do not need to follow them. He’s not dating Tiffany again. That’s all that matters. That woman wasgenuinelybad for him. This one, she’ll be different. Probably. She probably isn’t just after his money. She probably won’t mistreat him. She probably isn’t like Tiffany?
Crap. Is that Tiffany? I never asked what she looked like.
I just have to make sure he’s okay. I spin back around and head after them, keeping a respectable distance, hoping they won’t notice me. They stop to chat beside a playground. What do they even have to talk about? What could he possibly have in common with her? What could she be saying that makes his face light up and his antennae quirk to the side like they do when he is amused?
Ugh. I have to get out of here.
Two waist-high brown creatures race past me. One spreads little wings, lifting itself a few inches off the ground to take a half-hearted attempt at flying before its feet stumble back to the sidewalk. The figures are yelling incomprehensible baby speak. They are followed by a full-grown Mothwoman in a lavender wrap dress. She pulls a wagon full of toys behind her.
I briefly make eye contact with her, and her mouth arms lift into an awkward smile. Very similar to the face I make when I am expecting an inappropriate comment from a stranger.
Crap. I know I’m being rude by staring at her the way I am. She isn’t a spectacle. I return her awkward smile before I turn away and pretend I wasn’t watching her.
I’ve never seen another Mothman before. I know they exist, certainly. But they’re rare. She’s not much different looking thanAnt, slightly different shaped, a little larger, a little rounder, her facial features are slightly more delicate, and the babies, with her are the cutest things.
What a coincidence, to see them in the same park as Ant.
The human woman beside Ant waves in our direction and the Mothwoman waves back. They know each other.
Ant is also looking in this direction.
