When Hearts Are on the Line

After breakfast Mike and I took the dogs out for a walk at the rarely used park in our neighbourhood. The park was really nothing more than yellowing grass on an acre of hilly terrain. My dogs didn’t seem to mind too much; I’m pretty sure they were just happy to have an area to explore that wasn’t my backyard. When we got back home, Mike helped me take the warm sheets out of the dryer and we remade the bed together. Currently he was sleeping and I was narrowing down the Fall 2012 collection of my furniture line.

“Ugh” I said as I heard the doorbell ring, I was hoping to spend a whole day in my pajamas and entertaining random house guests was totally not on the agenda.

I look into the security feed on my laptop and see Greg standing at my gate. “What are you doing here?” I ask into the intercom.

“Can’t a guy visit his bestie while she nurses an injured hockey player back to health?”

I roll my eyes and luckily Greg can see me. “You’re supposed to be at work.”

“I was just on my way to Van Nuys to see the floor guy so I stopped to visit you.” Everyone knows that Van Guys and my house were in opposite directions from the office, right?

“Why are you even knocking?” Greg has had a key to my house since I bought it.
Greg takes out his key and unlocks my gate “I was just trying to respect your privacy, didn’t watch to catch you in a comprising situation”

“I’m pretty sure you’ve already seen me naked” I can remember at least five separate incidents when I’ve been trying on clothes and Greg barges into the dressing room so that he can make some additions to my shopping bag and that’s just at the Neiman Marcus on Wilshire.

I stretch out and walked to the foyer to greet Greg as he walks through the door “Trust me, there’s-oof” and I can’t help but giggle as Arnold playfully pounces on Greg.

“Amber!” Greg holds the cups of coffees he’s been carrying above his head, trying to keep them as far away from Arnold as possible.

“Fine, fine” I pull Arnold off of Greg. “So I see you’ve met Arnold.”

Greg dusts off his lilac Thomas Pink dress shirt. “Amber I know you love dogs but I thought you’d have cut yourself off at three.”

I scratch the spot behind Arnold’s right ear “He’s not mine, he’s Mikes”

“Well things must be getting serious if your dogs are living together” Greg says, handing me a cup of coffee.

“So why aren’t you at work? I thought a week without me would really allow you to become the star of the show. Weren’t the camera supposed to follow you later today when you went on a date with that guy you met online.” I’m glad Greg’s really carrying the show. It prevents the producers from forcing me to do stuff like speed dating just so they’ll have some material to air.

“I needed a break.” Greg replies simply, “So what have you and your hockey player been up to?”

“Well I had to wake him up every couple of hours so he and I just hung out and it was nice.”

“Ooooo, sounds romantic like you’re dating but without any of the sex.”

“So basically what you and I have?” Also known as a friendship. “Are you worried that Mike will take your place?”

“Yeah Amber, I’m real scared that a man who can’t match his tie with his suit and shoes is going to take over my role as your style consultant/guy who brings you food.” Greg says rolling his eyes.

“Come on Greg, you know the floor guy comes back goes to lunch at 1 so you’d better start heading out now.”

Luckily Greg starts heading towards the door. “Whatever Amber, just don’t get the Florence Nightingale syndrome.”

“What?”

Greg smiles at me “You know…fall in love with your patient”

“Did you just make that up?”

“No, it’s a thing.” Greg has also tried to convince me that overall shorts were a thing during the summer of 2009. Thank god I did not listen to him.

“Florence Nightingale fell in love with her patients?” How is that even possible she had to have like hundreds of them.

“How would I know?”

I sigh “Well then where did you hear it?”

“Back to the Future” Okay well that’s the end of this discussion.

“Greg, I don’t have time for this, you need to go talk to the floor guy and I promise that I won’t fall in love with Mike Richards just because I’m taking care of him and he’s vulnerable or whatever.”

After I watch Greg drive out of my driveway, I go to my guest bedroom to wake up Mike, Arnold follows me the entire way.

Mike’s sleeping as expected, his hair is kind of a mess which works on him and his snoring isn’t as bad as I thought. “He is kind of cute,” I tell Arnold “you can’t tell him that I told you that though.”

“You probably shouldn’t tell Greg either” I add as I open up the blinds and filling the room with November sure and Arnold pounces on the bed.

“Ambrosia…” Mike whines.

“Come on Mike, I’ll make you some oatmeal or something.”

Mike scoffs “Or something”

“I’m not going to apologize for not being able to cook a decent non-salad meal.” Half of my job is attending housewarming parties and wining and dining clients.

He sits up in his bed. “Who the hell eats a salad and calls it a meal?”

“Well I do.” I sigh “I have cookbooks, I’ll make you something from one of them.”

“Fine”