10. Joshua

Joshua

T alking with Mabel was an unusual experience. Her mind worked in mysterious ways, with her jumping from topic to topic. Her stories ranged from crazy to outrageous, and some of the questions she asked… well, I couldn’t even imagine where she got them from.

It was fun though. She was fun. Smart, funny, and very perceptive. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d wanted to just talk to someone for hours. I enjoyed our pizza dinner together more than I would have expected.

Once we’d demolished a large pie and a couple of beers, I paid the check after a brief argument. Then Mabel coaxed Esmerelda back into her carrying bag and we headed out into the street. It was already dark out, though the street was lit up with lights from cars and the various businesses on the block.

“Did you drive here?” I asked.

Mabel shook her head.

“No, I try not to drive too often, especially since I moved here. It’s so pleasant to walk in Starlight Bay.”

“It is.”

She looked up and gave me a small smile, her eyes glowing in the ambient light.

“Well, thanks again for dinner – and the company. I’ll see you around.”

“Wait.”

I grabbed her arm, and even through the layers of her clothing it was like touching a live wire. I immediately released her. Mabel frowned slightly as she looked down her arm, letting me know that she’d felt it too.

“I’ll walk you home,” I said.

“No need. Starlight Bay is really safe. I feel way safer here than I did back in Chicago.” She lifted the shoulder that held the dog carrier bag. “Plus I’ve got my ferocious guard dog here.”

“I insist,” I said.

There was no way I was leaving her on the sidewalk to walk home in the dark. I didn’t care if she did it all the time. My mother had taught me to be a gentleman. She passed away several years ago, but I had no doubt she’d find her way back from the afterlife to kick my ass for leaving a woman walking alone in the dark.

Mabel looked like she might argue, but instead she shrugged. “Fine. I’m about a mile away.”

I fell into step beside her, leaving the business area downtown and heading through the residential neighborhoods on our way towards Starlight Bay. We were both quiet as we walked, lost in our thoughts, but it was a companionable silence.

We headed up a little hill to a row of houses that looked like they’d seen better days. There really were no ‘bad’ neighborhoods here in Starlight Bay but some were definitely nicer than others.

Mabel lived on the corner of her street. Her small house was at least two levels, with a postage-stamped sized yard. A light shone in one of the windows on the street side with the words “Tarot Reading”.

“Tarot Reading?” I asked.

Mabel looked between the window and me. She seemed uncomfortable.

“I have a business doing tarot card readings,” she said quickly. “I mean, I just started the business, so I haven’t done a lot of readings for money yet, or any really, but I’ve done readings as a hobby forever, ever since I was a little girl. The readings are sometimes eerily accurate and people really like hearing what the cards say, they totally get into it. Unless of course you’re my mother or my ex-husband, both of whom think it’s nonsense, not that they’ve ever tried it to know.”

I was starting to realize that Mabel had a tendency to word vomit whenever she felt uncomfortable or embarrassed.

“I thought you were a writer,” I said, not wanting to touch any of the other things she’d said.

She looked at me in surprise. We hadn’t talked about her career at dinner, but that’s what she’d put on her intake forms at the Vet clinic.

“Writing is one of my jobs,” she said breezily. “I have several different enterprises.”

“What do you do besides writing and reading tarot cards?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Well, besides my freelance technical writing, I’m a self-published author of fantasy books, and sometimes I take virtual assistant gigs.”

“Virtual assistant?” I asked, unfamiliar with the term.

“Helping other authors or small businesses doing remote work on things like newsletters, websites, marketing, that kind of thing.”

“Wow, sounds like you’re really busy,” I said.

“It pays the bills,” she said. “In fact, I’m semi-retired.”

I wasn’t sure how someone could have four different businesses and be semi-retired. I only had one and it was killing me.

We stood there for a long, awkward moment while I talked myself out of kissing her. I was dying to, of course. Spending time with her had only confirmed that I was feeling a strong emotion towards her, something that felt like love.

But that was ridiculous. I’d never been in love before, but I was fifty years old, much too old to be feeling whatever this was. A crush maybe. Or maybe I was coming down with something, something with a fever, because there was no way I was falling for a woman like Mabel. We couldn’t be more different.

Somehow that didn’t matter.

“Well, good night,” I said, awkwardly breaking the silence.

Mabel gave me a long, considering look before turning around and heading into her house, her curvy hips swaying with every step, Esmerelda walking alongside her.

“Good night.”

I was in a funk the next few days. I couldn’t get Mabel out of my mind. I kept replaying our dinner and our walk to her house over and over in my mind, analyzing every sentence like some kind of lovesick teenager.

I’d never been a player, but I’d always done pretty well with women. Usually I could tell if they liked me, and if I liked them too, I’d ask them out and maybe we’d have a night or two of fun together. But I couldn’t tell at all if Mabel was attracted to me, or even if she liked me at all. For all her sunny personality, she was clearly very guarded.

To make things worse, after a solid week of running into each other in town, I went an entire week without seeing her again. I told myself it was for the best, yet I continued to obsess about her, looking for her everywhere I went in town.

After not seeing Mabel for the entire week, on Friday I decided to go for a run to clear my head. It was a nice, cool morning and I wanted to run hard and clear my head. To my surprise, I ended up running right by Mabel’s house without any conscious thought. I cursed myself for being an idiot even as I slowed to a stop near her front yard, where Mabel was playing fetch with Esmerelda.

The dog saw me first, running over and barking her head off.

“Hey Esmerelda,” I said, leaning over the waist high fence to give her a pet. “How are you doing, girl?”

The mixed breed wagged her tail so hard the bottom part of her body got in on the motion.

“What are you doing here, Joshua?”

I looked up to meet Mabel’s green eyes.

“Hey Mabel. I was just out for a run in the neighborhood,” I said, only half lying. On some unconscious level I’d clearly been hoping to run into her. “How are you?”

“Good.” She looked past me. “Where’s your dog?”

“Dog?” I asked in confusion. “What dog?”

“Don’t you bring your dog with you when you go for a jog?” she asked.

“I don’t have a dog.”

For some reason I often felt like I’d come into conversations with Mabel halfway.

“Oh, so you have cats then?” she asked.

“No, I don’t have any pets.”

Mabel looked shocked.

“I can’t believe I didn’t know this. I’ve never met a veterinarian who wasn’t a pet parent. I mean, what kind of vet doesn’t have pets?” she asked. “Isn’t that like against the vet oath or something?”

My lips twitched. The way this woman’s mind worked…

“The oath is really focused on doing no harm. It’s similar to the Hippocratic Oath that people doctors take,” I explained. “There’s nothing in there about mandatory pet ownership. And to answer your question, I don’t have a cat or a dog because it doesn’t feel fair to have a pet when I spend so much time at the clinic.”

“But you can take your pet to work with you,” she reminded me. “Wow, this really makes me question your commitment to animals.”

She looked down at Esmerelda, shook her head, and murmured, “A veterinarian without pets? That’s like a musician without an instrument.”

I stared at her for a long moment before blurting out, “Will you have dinner with me tonight?”

“Dinner? Can Esmerelda come?” she asked.

“Of course,” I answered instantly.

“Well it is Friday which, as you know, is my pizza night. I guess I wouldn’t mind some company for pizza if that works for you.”

It wasn’t exactly an enthusiastic acceptance of my invitation, but with this woman, I’d take what I could get.

“Pizza sounds great. Shall I meet you at Starlight Pi at six o’clock?” I asked, unable to help the big smile that broke out on my face.

“That sounds good. We’ll see you then, Joshua.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” I said as I turned to jog back home.

And I really was.