Finders Keepers

I spent the next day slacking off at home because I was still tired from yesterday, plus I was still jet-legged. Alex and Lisa were having a date and I was at the living room, watching TV with Baz on my stomach. Nothing interesting was on so I kept on flicking channel-to-channel and stopped at some food channel. I’ve always loved cooking.

I was settled comfortable like that – lying across the couch with Baz on my stomach and a cushion under my head – when someone rang the doorbell. I groaned and it rang again and I didn’t want to get up because this position was more than comfortable and eventually the person would go away if I didn’t open the door. So I stayed, pretending no one was home.

Which was stupid by the way; the person can totally see through the window that the telly was on and there was someone on the couch. Maybe they’d think I was asleep and go away.

Instead, I heard a click, syndicating that they put the key into its keyhole. They successfully opened the door and I was about to throw my glass of water at them, in case if it was a burglar.

Turned out it was Zack.

“Hey, Penny,” he smiled, dimples forming in his cheeks as he closed the door. Baz jumped down from me and approached him. He kneeled and petted him. “I’m not going to be long here – Alex asked me to drop something.” By now I already sat straight on the couch He walked to me and handed me a CD. “Give this to him, okay?”

“I will,” I replied, taking the CD. He was about to turn around when I stopped him. “Stay here a little longer,” I offered, patting the space next to me.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “I thought you wanted to rest or something. I bet you’re tired from all the moving and decorating.”

“It’s okay, really. I need someone to talk to and I can never know if Baz is listening or not.”

He chuckled, sitting on the space I patted. “Yeah, you’re right. We never know if an animal listens.”

“But sometimes we do. We don’t know how, we just do.”

He nodded in agreement. “We just do,” he repeated, eyes locked on the TV screen. I didn’t continue watching though; I was more interested to take in his face features and lock them in a box and keep it forever. He suddenly turned to see me, making me spontaneously looked back to the telly a little too quickly.

Stupid! I yelled mentally.

I acted coolly although it wasn’t doing anything much because I was blushing a little. We just stayed like that for what it seemed like hours – him staring at me and me staring at the telly without even watching and not one of us looked away. Only the sound of the telly and Baz’s breathing filled the house.

Baz barked, breaking the silence and made me jump in surprise at the same time. We looked at him and he whimpered, pushing his empty food dish with his forehead. I got up and went to the kitchen, silently thanking him for breaking the awkward silent.

I filled the dish with his dog food and leaned on the kitchen counter, exhaling a long breath. My heart was beating so fast earlier and I swear it could break my ribs right there but gladly it didn’t.

Zack came in the kitchen, smiling. He went to the fridge and poured himself a glass of cold tea and proceeded to drink it quietly with his eyes staring at me again. I didn’t know why but being with him made me feel uneasy, but somehow in a good way.

He pursed his lips together before he said something. “Do you want to take a walk together? With Baz too? Maybe stop by to get some ice cream?”

My face lit up. “Yeah, I’d love that. Wait here and let me get changed.”

I went to my room and changed. When I went back down, Zack was putting on Baz’s leash on his collar. We left the house once we were ready with my heart pounding hard against my chest.

I think my feelings for him are starting to grow.

- - -

The weather was warm outside, it was really nice. The leaves in the trees were in shades of warm colours – red, yellow, orange, and brown. Autumn has been my favourite season ever since I was a child; I love watching the colours of nature changing and that I can crunch the dry leaves with my feet.

Zack was walking next to me, holding Baz’s leash. Baz was walking in front of us, sniffing the ground and stare at birds.

“How are your first days in here?” Zack asked as we continued to walk together.

I shrugged. “This is the first time I’m going out and so far it’s good.”

“You know, you’re a bit tan for a British,” he said randomly.

“Yeah, people say that a lot. I don’t even understand why I’m tan – I only get in the sun during summer and that’s not every day. I spend most of my days in my studio, painting.”

“You paint?” he asked in amazement. “On canvases?”

“Yup.”

“What do you usually paint?”

I shrugged. “Anything. Lately I’m into landscapes.”

He nodded. “I’d love to see your painting some day.”

I laughed in response. “They’re not that great, really.”

He scoffed. “Seeing your room, I doubt that.”

“Yeah, well, what do YOU do?” I retorted without thinking.

This time, he was the one who laughed. It was like music. Then I understood why he laughed – he’s in a successful band with my brother. He does music for a living.

I blushed in embarrassment.

“Hey, there’s an ice cream stand!” he said once his laughter died. “Do you want one?” I nodded. He then put his hand on my shoulder and we went to buy some ice cream. I bought myself a cone of vanilla chocolate chip and he got himself a cone of mocha ice cream.

“Ah, mocha. It was my favourite back in England,” I said once we were walking again, each of us holding a cone of our ice cream.

“Yeah? What happened to it being your favourite ice cream now?”

“I just want a variety,” I smiled before licking my ice cream. We sat at the fountain bench and just enjoying our respective ice creams in a comfortable silence. I finished my ice cream and ate the cone before licking off the ice cream that was on my lips.

He also finished his ice cream and when he looked at me, his mouth broke into a grin. “You got a little something here,” he pointed my cheek with his finger. I wiped it off with the back of my hand. He laughed. “No, silly, here,” he said, wiping the dirty spot with his thumb.

By now we were staring into each other’s eyes and I swear I was getting so lost into his green orbs. When I realised I was staring too long, I looked away and shyly muttered, “Thanks.”

From the corner of my eye I could see him pursing his lips and nodded. We spent the next few minutes in a rather awkward silence before someone shouted our name. I looked to where the familiar voice came from and Jack tackled me into a hug.

“What are you guys doing?” he asked as he sat next to me, squishing me between him and Zack. My thigh was touching with Zack’s and I wish I could stop my heart from pounding so hard. The physical contact was making me nervous.

“Just taking Baz for a walk,” Zack answered.

“Oh and where is he?”

“The usual.”

Jack nodded. “Hey Penny.” I turned to look at him. “My friend’s wedding is in a couple days, would you help me finding a good outfit to wear?”

“Of all people, why me?” I asked back.

“I just want to.”

“Okay.”

“Great!” Jack stood up, pulling me with him. I looked at him, puzzled. “I’ll see you later, Zack!” he shouted before pulling me away.

He didn’t mention it’d be right now.