Picture Perfect

Chris glared at him as they passed each other in the doorway, before he walked over to me. “That fucker’s in your class?” he growled, still staring at the empty doorway.

I placed a hand on my boyfriend’s cheek and guided his head so that he was looking at me.

His eyes instantly softened when he saw me. “Sorry, baby,” he apologized, wrapping his arms around my waist and leaning down to capture my lips in a quick kiss. “But, you know much I don’t like people like them. They’re the dirt under our shoes and shouldn’t be viewed as anything else.”

“It’s okay, I understand,” I lied, grabbing my bag and purse off of the desk and holding his hand as we made our way out of the building.

He gave my hand a small squeeze. “Good. I see you’re finally coming to your senses.”

Not really, I thought.

“Say, let’s go somewhere- just the two of us. It’s been a long time since we had some time to ourselves.”

“I can’t. I have a lesson, remember?”

His smile faltered. “Oh, I forgot.”

“It’s okay. You can watch if you want,” I suggested. I really didn’t want him to come, but I had to be polite. He is my “boyfriend” after all.

He shook his head and opened his car door for me. “Anna, I don’t think that would be a good thing.” He shut my door and walked over to his side.

“I forgot that you were allergic.”

He gave me an award winning smile. “It’s all good. I forgive you,” he replied, kissing the back of my hand before throwing his car into gear and speeding off toward my house. “I was thinking, once we get married and I take over my father’s company, I’m going to be gone a lot, meaning that I would have to leave you alone in the house. Well, this notion doesn’t sit well with me, so, I decided that I’m getting us a boxer pup. That way, I can train it to look after you and our future kids when I’m gone.”

I hid my grimace. I hated it when he started talking about our future. Yes, we were in an arranged marriage, but I still wanted to have at least a vague notion that I was free to choose my own future. “That’s so sweet, Chris, but, eventually, I also want a Jack Russell or two, if you don’t mind.”

“Anything you want, it’s yours.”

I smiled contently and looked out the window, realizing that we had just turned onto my long driveway. I thought back on the day and realized that the only highlight of my day was my Shakespeare class. Maybe the project with Jimmy would be good for me. I could see how the other half lived and I could help him out if he needed it. I hated how my lifestyle allowed me to carelessly throw around money as if it were nothing when there were people out there who needed it so much more that we did.

“So, I’ll pick you up at seven tonight, okay?”

“What?” I asked, looking back at him. He had already stopped the car.

“Ballroom dancing? Tonight? Ring any bells?” he chuckled. “Our mothers arranged it last month for your debut…”

“Oh, right! Sorry. Yea, I’ll be ready.”

Chris chuckled at me again. “You’re just too cute sometimes,” he laughed, pecking my forehead.

I smiled back at him- my smile never reached my eyes- and got out of the car. “Thanks for the ride, Chris.” I replied with a small wave before heading through my house and into the back where the barn was.

“You are such a bad girl!” I heard my instructor yell as soon as I entered the barn area. “Addie DiMarco-Lamb, what the hell are you doing? Where is my mare?” Her shouts grew louder as I entered through the office and into the indoor arena, where she was lounging the eight year old bay mare.

I laughed when I saw the mare doing a few very high bucks that would make a hardened rodeo bronc quiver. Most people freak out when they see a horse get airborne on the lounge line, not us, we actually encourage it, especially in the green horses. It actually gets them to stretch out their legs so they get into better form over fences.

“Don’t you laugh at her. Look at this, this is not my quiet mare.”

Addie let out a loud snort.

“Ooh, listen to those elephant noises. Addie, are you about to run off and join the circus?”

“I’m not laughing at you, per say, I’m laughing because I could hear you up at the house.” I said through my laughter.

She shrugged her shoulders and let Addie out on a longer line.

“And weren’t you the one who named her Royal Attitude to begin with?” I questioned with a large smile on her face.

“Shut up and grab your new horse. I would take a lot of bribery with you.”

“Really?” I asked. The paddocks that we have are pretty small- fitting a max of two horses- and tended to not have much running room.

“Oh yea. You’ll see.” She said, bringing the mare into the middle and swapping the lounge line to the other side.

I shrugged my shoulders, but did what was asked of me. I grabbed a handful of treats and his halter before I walked out into the hot California sun. I smiled as soon as I saw him. He was so gorgeous standing out in the paddock with a scenic backdrop behind him. I let out a soft whistle, telling him that I was there, before I entered the paddock. I fed Casey, my trusted German warmblood, before walking over to Puck.

“Hey, Puck. How are you?” I asked, offering a cookie to him with an out stretched hand.

He sniffed and snorted at my hand, nudging it with his nose a couple times. His eye grew very soft and trusting as he hesitantly nuzzled at the treat in my hand.

Smiling, I reached up with my other hand and gently rubbed his jaw before carefully sliding my hand to the other side of his head and grabbing his nose. Puck tossed his head and bolted off to the other end of the paddock. The laughter in his eyes was evident. Casey whined and tossed his head up and down in amusement.

“Ah, so that’s why they call you Puck!” I said with humor in my voice, not believing how stupid I could be.

“Ms. Anna! Do you need help?” one of the hands asked, also laughing.

“No, Marco, I got it. I just realized why he’s named Puck!” I called back.

Marco nodded his head and pushed his wheel barrow back into the barn.

I looked back at Puck and extracted another treat. “Do you want it?” I asked, walking up to him in a way that would corner him. I stopped about ten feet away from him and offered the treat to him again.

He came back, with the same “innocent” look in his eye…innocent, my ass. He tried to pull the same thing again, but I was smart and quickly wrapped my arms around his neck (I was basically just hanging off of him) and somehow managed to slip the lead rope around him. He snorted and lowered his neck so that I was touching the ground.

“Good boy,” I praised as I gave him another cookie and slipped the halter over his head. “See? That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” I cooed, running a hand up and down his slick neck.

Puck gave out a dejected snort as I led him away.

“I think this will be the start of a great friendship, don’t you think?”

He snorted again, making me smile.