Page 20 of Out Of Time

An old man with a small Yorkie in his arms greeted them, a confused look on his face. Max looked over at Remi, who was holding her jellyfish umbrella in place. She smiled up at him, encouraging him to go on.

Max felt the alcohol surging through his body. He felt euphoric and alive, and at the same time nervous and very aware of the cat ears on his head.

“Tri… trick or treat?” he said, more as a question, and the second he finished saying it Remi jumped up into his arms, hugging him and laughing.

“You did it! You have officially trick-or-treated,” she said, her voice booming with excitement.

Max tore his eyes away from her infectious joy and gave the older man a weak, apologetic smile.

“Son,” the old man said, “are you telling me you’ve never done this before?”

Max shook his head. “No, sir. This is my first time.”

The old man stroked the small dog's head and smiled at Max. “Well, I’ve seen better black cats tonight, but you might be the biggest, so I guess that counts for something.”

“I’m actually a ginger cat,” Max said, the drunkenness causing him to feel a little silly.

The old man burst out with laughter, scaring the tiny dog and sending it into fits of high-pitched barks. “Oh, stop that, Bella,” he said, setting her on the ground. “Give me a second to go see what I have left.”

Max looked at Remi and her smile was unreal, it nearly killed him.

“I’m proud of you.” She beamed with pride, her eyes a little drunk and wild.

“For trick-or-treating?”

“Yeah, that. But also, for telling me what you told me earlier. Even if you didn’t tell me what’s going on in-depth, I’m happy you found me safe enough to share.”

Max’s smile faltered but Remi's confidence in him did not, and the comfort that seemed to radiate from her brought him back to the moment. “Thank you for being safe. Now I need to work up the courage to actually talk to a doctor.”

The man reappeared, the small dog back in his arms. “I’m clean out of Halloween candy, but I like to keep these dinner mints on the kitchen table. I hope that works,” he said, opening the door to hand them both three red and white spiraled dinner mints.

“It’s perfect,” Remi said cheerfully, peeling off the wrapper and popping one of the mints into her mouth immediately.

Max smiled and took his first-ever Halloween bounty. “Happy Halloween, sir.”

The old man reached out and shook Max’s hand. “Happy Halloween, son, and good luck tomorrow at the game. Go Condors,” he said with a knowing wink.

They made their way back to Remi's house with mint candy in their mouths, smiles on their faces, alcohol in their veins, and a sense of something new brewing between them.

Their hands brushed together, her shoulder bumping against his arm as they walked on drunken feet, swaying and laughing as the ocean crashed violently close by. Every bump of their bodies, every graze of his knuckles against hers, only made him want more. And just when Max thought he couldn't get close enough to Remi without making it too obvious, the sky opened up and the rain began to pour.

Remi pulled him close, lifting her lit-up jellyfish umbrella above them. Now face to face, her breath heavy with drunken laughter, and something else. Max couldn't be sure, but he thought it might be anticipation. Anticipation for what? He didn’t know, and he wasn't a brave enough man to find out. No amount of liquor could summon the courage he needed to act on his feelings for this beautiful, wild, jellyfish of a girl.

She looked up at him under the colorful lights of the umbrella and he noticed one of the pink jewels above her eye was about to fall off. With gentle fingers, he plucked it from her face and before he realized what he was doing, he put it into his pocket for safekeeping.

“What do we domeow?” she said jokingly as they stood in place while the rain beat down around them.

“Two options,” he said, loving the way the string lights she had attached to the umbrella lit up her already infectious smile, “we stand here until the rain stops, and only get wet from the waist down, or we run.”

Remi gave him a dubious grin, and before he saw it coming, she pulled the umbrella away, shut it, and took off in a sprint towards her house.

Remi woke November first to a raging migraine, a desperation for water, and an ache in her stomach that could only be cured with a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich. The only thing missing was Max. She didn't know when he got up to leave, but her clock showed that not only had she slept through the alarm she set last night as they sat on her carpet, drinking, and laughing, but she had also slept through the entire McDonald’s breakfast window; it would be cheeseburgers or nothing to cure this hangover.

The blankets Max used on the couch were neatly folded up with a handwritten note on top.

Remi,

Thank you for the fun night, and for letting me crash on your couch.

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