Page 49 of Leo and His Love Bunny

I’m standing at Nora’s door with Goalie in my arms. Goalie is my decoy. After I spent the entire day carrying Nora around, I figured she needed a break from me. Not that she’d done anything to indicate that’s what she wanted, but I know neither of us want a relationship and, okay, maybe I needed the break from her. Not because I was tired of her, but because it seems like the more I’m around her, the more I want to be around her.

So, I tried to pull back. My plan was to not see her again until we go to the council speaking engagement tomorrow night together. But...here I am, at her door, and I know she’s home because I just saw her walk into the apartment building with her friend from upstairs. She’s limping just a bit. I might not have noticed if I wasn’t looking for it, but at least her ankle doesn’t seem to be hurting too much.

I was worried she’d overdo it. I know how it is when you feel like you just can’t take time off.

Anyway, I saw her walk in and Goalie was right there and that’s all my brain needed to come up with an excuse to go see her. My cat misses her parakeet. I hope she’s still watching Trixie. Otherwise, I’m going to go back to my own apartment, frustrated and impatient for tomorrow.

The lock clicks and the door opens, and she’s standing right there, and it’s all I can do to not move forward, and...I want to greet her with a hug. I make myself stand still and loosen my grip on poor Goalie.

“Hey.” That’s all she says. I’m not sure what that means. She doesn’t sound excited to see me.

“Hey,” I say in return.

We stand there and stare at each other. I want to say something smooth and funny and something that will make her smile and laugh andinvite me in. But nothing, absolutely nothing, comes into my head.

“Hey, Goalie,” Nora says, and then, bless her, she adds, “Would you like to come in and see Trixie?”

“Yes!” I almost interrupt her in my haste to accept her invitation. Then I realize she only invited Goalie. Thankfully, she does not hold her arms out for her but opens the door wider and stands back so I can step in.

Maybe it’s just me, but she seems a little frosty. Could she be upset that I didn’t call or text her? Instead of thinking of me as a crazy stalker or an annoying, smothering friend who never leaves her alone, could she have been upset that I actually left her alone?

She closes the door and motions for me to follow her as she leads the way through her kitchen and into her living room where Trixie is still in the cage in the corner. It looks like his cage has been freshly cleaned.

“Love bunny. Love bunny.”

“Aww. Trixie did miss Goalie,” she says, smiling.

I set Goalie down, and she sets Trixie’s cage down as well. We stand and watch as the parakeet and the cat greet each other through the gaps in the bars. I don’t know what she’s thinking, but I’m wondering how I can get back the fun and sweet companionship we had shared earlier.

“I haven’t heard from you in a while.” Her tone isn’t exactly icy, but I can feel a chill. I’m clueless when it comes to women, but I don’t want to be. Only because of Nora. Not because I want to know how any other woman thinks. I don’t.

“Did you want to hear from me?” I don’t want to beat around the bush, but I can’t expect her to go first. “Actually, I wanted to text you.” I wanted to do more than that, but I leave it there. I’mnot sure what I’m trying to do or where I’m trying to go with this woman. I just know I hate being apart from her. “But I thought that you might have been sick of me. I didn’t want to wear out my welcome.”

“Did I act like you were wearing out your welcome?”

I purse my lips. “No?”

“Why did you think you were?”

“I suppose I wanted to be cautious. And I was pretty bossy about your sprained ankle.”

“I appreciated your concern.”

I believe she did.

“Love bunny. Love bunny.”

I start to smile. That crazy parakeet.

“Leo’s love bunny. Leo’s love bunny.”

I freeze. Nora freezes. Our eyes meet, then we slowly turn together to look at the bird. He’s not looking at Goalie. He’s looking directly at us.

I swallow. Could the bird have read my mind? Of course not. I know I should just play this cool, but I panic a little, because I’m not ready for Nora to know how I feel. And while “love bunny” doesn’t exactly describe my feelings for her, it’s too close for comfort.

So I do what I typically do when I’m nervous, and that’s crack a joke. “Either I’m spending too much time here, or it’s time for the bird to go back to the ladies.”

It’s not that funny, but Nora laughs, and I think what Trixie said upset her as well.

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