Abercrombie & Bitch

Wednesday, April 22, 3:03pm – on the way to work

I drove to work later that afternoon in kind of a daze, not really paying any attention to what I was doing and operating on auto-pilot. I was still thinking about Riley and Mika and how the perfect couple could possibly have a baby sometime in the near future. How could Riley be so… so…

Well, like my mother?

Don’t get me wrong. I love my mother. It’s just… It’s just, sometimes I wish she didn’t like being a mother as much as she does. Which sounds really horrible now that I think about it, but it was true. She loved the pregnancy part of being a mother – after six kids, she must – but then once they’re born a babysitter had to worry about them while she went back to work. She had Andrea when she was seventeen, and still living at my grandparents’ house.

I don’t think Andrea ever forgave her for it, either.

I just couldn’t think of Riley ever being a mother, much less at nineteen. She’s never been bad with kids, per say. But as I mentioned during lunch, I’d left Meg alone with her for literally FIVE MINUTES, and in that time she almost managed to get my house burned down.

And something told me Mika wasn’t going to like it when Riley told him she was going to give the baby up for adoption. If anything, I wouldn’t be surprised if he persuaded her to think about keeping it. Because he’s just that kind of guy. They’re that couple. The high school sweethearts who everyone knows are going to spend the rest of their life together.

I sighed contentedly as I walked through Second Chance’s door. Frankie bounded up to me right away, an unidentifiable chew toy dangling from his mouth. I was pretty sure it was Scotch’s, but Frankie’s secret was safe with me. Scotch got insanely possessive over his toys. No one knows why. He’s a guy.

“Hey, boy,” I said, scratching him behind his ear. “How’s everyone today?”

“They’re good.”

I nearly jumped two feet in the air when Rob answered my question. Because as far as I knew, he hadn’t known I was there. Unless, you know, he was psychic. Or read minds. “Oh. Well, that’s good.” I laughed shakily and ran a hand through my hair.

Rob raised an eyebrow. “You okay, Miranda? You look a little… green.”

I glanced down at Frankie before scooping him up in my arms. “Yeah,” I said, sighing, “I guess. Just, you know, high school drama.” I glanced back at Rob again, who had proceeded to wipe his hands off with a towel. He was splattered in neon green paint today, instead of the pink. New project.

Rob laughed. I never noticed how he laughed before. It was almost like a bark. But not in an obnoxious way… What am I saying?! “Should’ve known. Let me tell you something, Miranda, high school drama never ends.” He snapped his fingers a few times and waited for the dogs to come rushing over. “So what’s wrong? Boyfriend flirting with another girl?”

“Boyfriend sleeping with another girl’s more like it,” I mumbled. I hadn’t exactly told Rob about the thing with Bryce yet. Mostly because, well, Rob’s kind of like an older brother and I was afraid he might… I don’t know… kill him?

Sure enough, Rob’s face flushed in anger and his hand tightened around the stainless steel food bowl he was currently filling with water. “Sleeping? Dude, that’s… That’s sick, Miranda. I mean, when I was in high school-”

“They were just inventing computers?” I offered sarcastically.

He glared at me. “I’m not that old. But I was saying… Well, my friends didn’t have that much drama.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Rob, you were an art geek. The biggest problem you ever had was the art room running out of oil pastels.”

“That’s…” He trailed off, staring into space. “…Probably true.” I started laughing. “Hey, it’s not that funny.” I laughed even harder. “Alright, if you’re going to be that way, I just won’t give you your pay check this week.”

And then I stopped laughing.

“Gotcha!” Rob exclaimed, holding his sides because he was laughing so hard.

I faked hurt, slapping a hand over my chest. “That was really mean, you know that, Rob? God, you’re just so cruel!”

Okay, so maybe Rob wasn’t cruel. In fact, he was one of the nicest people I’d ever met. I hadn’t talked to him much when we’d gone to school together – after all, I was a sophomore, he was a senior – but now that we both worked at Second Chance… I don’t know. It was like I felt so comfortable talking to him. He was just… more mature than the other guys. He was twenty; I’d hope he was a little more mature.

He sighed as the dogs headed back to their respective kennels. “So, that’s the drama, huh? That sucks. I’m sorry.”

I was confused for a moment. But then I realized he was talking about earlier. “Oh, um, not really. I mean, that’s part of it… But I’m more stressed about… my friend. She’s…” I trailed off. Should I tell Rob about Riley? I mean, he’s only met her a few times, but they’d gotten along well enough. “Pregnant.”

His head shot up again, and his eyes widened. “Miranda, this isn’t one of those times where you use ‘my friend’ as a substitute for ‘me’, right?”

My eyes widened. “Oh, God no.” Truthfully, it wasn’t possible. I’m a virgin. But he obviously didn’t know that. “I’m talking about Riley. You know, the one with the curly blonde hair and the lip ring?”

“Oh.” He seemed relieved after that. “Good.” He ran a hand through his hair.

I squinted at it. “Holy crap, you cut your hair!” I pointed at his head accusingly, just noticing for the first time that most of his hair was absent. Yeah, I’m not the smartest person alive; I think we’ve established that.

I rushed up to him and touched it. It had been so long since Rob had cut his hair – the last time I remember it being short was that one time I talked to him in seventh grade, when he had been a freshman. Our parents had been acquaintances back then, so we’d been forced together on a few occasions, but none that had lasting effects. I’d seen him maybe once or twice a year, at best.

Anyway, he let his hair grow out for the longest time. It was short again. Well, okay, not exactly short, but it was spiky and sticky-uppy all over. I looked at him skeptically. Rob was like a little kid when it came to his appearances – almost every time he dressed up, I had to help him do everything. (Except bathing, because I’m almost positive he can handle that himself. Almost.) So when I figured out that Rob had put gel in his hair – without my assistance – it took me by surprise.

“You did your hair! By yourself!” I squealed, touching it again.

Rob chuckled and pushed me away, without much force, since he was gigantic and muscular, and I was shorter and… well, not muscular. “Yes, Miranda, I did. I can manage to get cleaned up without your help, thank you very much.” He grinned boyishly.

“Well, you haven’t exactly proven yourself lately,” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest.

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say.” He turned to the dogs. “Alright, everyone! Bath time!”

They perked up, and then simultaneously ran off in seven different directions. I’d told Rob over and over again about the dogs’ collective phobia of baths, but he always insists on making things harder by telling them about it first.

“Bath time. Woo-hoo.”

-[-]-

Wednesday, April 22, 5:12pm – Second Chance

“Ah! Ginger, stop!” I screeched as she shook, spraying water all over Rob and I.
Ginger was the last dog we had to get washed. We always saved her for last, because she always caused us the most trouble. I don’t know why, but she did. And we’d already washed the other dogs without incident, so…

“Argh!” Rob fell over, into a pile of boxes that had been badly placed. They crashed down to the ground and papers fluttered everywhere, landing all over the floor and me and Ginger, who was still shaking.

I grabbed my bag and closed it, moving it to the corner of the little bathroom. “Ugh. Ginger!”

She perked up at the sound of her name, and the shaking ceased for a few precious minutes. Rob managed to collect himself, briefly, tugging his white-T-shirt off. It was already soaked through, anyway, as were my clothes – but, being a girl, I was forced to sit there, damp and soggy, while Ginger looked suspiciously smug. Can dogs even feel smug?

“On the count of three…” I murmured out of the corner of my mouth. Rob nodded. Ginger cocked her head to the side, like she was wondering what was going on.

“One…” I crouched down, my eyes never leaving Ginger’s. Her ears perked up.

“Two…” Rob said softly.

“THREE!”

We both lunged for Ginger, hoping to keep her down in the tub, but she outsmarted us once again. Just before we’d caught her, she leapt out of the tub and sped out of the room, trailing soapy water throughout the building.

Rob and I, of course, landed in the dog’s bathwater. I was submerged for about a second before I brought my head above the water again, bewildered. That plan always worked.

It took me a second to realize that Rob was above me. He’d fallen into the tub, too, but somehow he’d managed to straddle my waist and brace himself on either side of my shoulders. His face was just a few inches from my own and he was staring at me with an unreadable expression.

I don’t know how long we stayed like that. I studied his face carefully, realizing that I’d never really been this close to him before. I noticed the little freckle he had just to the right of his nose, barely noticeable for far away but perfectly clear at this distance. His eyes were strikingly, icy blue – so many different colors that I hadn’t had time to count them all. He hadn’t shaved in a few days, so he had what looked like five-o’clock shadow around his strong, muscular jaw. It took almost all my willpower not to lean in those few inches, and just…

But then it hit me. This was Rob. Nerdy, artsy, barely-aware-of-reality Rob.

“I-I’d better be going,” I stuttered, wriggling out from under him. “I need to, uh, make dinner, and uh… Bye.”

I grabbed my backpack and bolted out the door without another word. Rob called my name once or twice, but I didn’t turn back. My head was too screwed up at the moment, what with everything with Riley and then Zach and now Rob?

I mean… It was Rob. And, sure, he was my boss, and I guess we got along well… And, yeah, okay, he always seemed to be there when I needed him, and I was always there when he needed me… And maybe, to an outsider, it might seem like there might be something deeper there… But there wasn’t. I couldn’t be attracted to Rob…

…Right?