Page 28 of Please Don't Leave Me

Her breathing slows a bit, but I’m not quite convinced. I drop my hand from her chin and slide it to the side of her neck. My thumb swipes back and forth on her cheek and she leans into it.

"You seem a little stressed."

"I got lost in one of these as a kid. Haven't done one since."

I let go of her face and turn around to assess the options, keeping my fingers on my other hand laced with hers. I guide us out of the center circle toward where I’m pretty sure one of the exits is.

After several twists and turns as well as a couple dead ends, we finally see the exit. I can see her sigh with relief as soon as we turn the corner. She picks up the pace of her strides and I follow suit.

Once we get out, she’s still holding my hand, and I’m not going to be the one to break the contact. She turns towards me, looking up.

“Okay, I lied; I was very anxious back in the middle."

"I know."

"It's dumb, I know. But all of a sudden I was 8-year-old Louisa stuck in the corn maze at the county fair, screaming for my mom. Oh god, this is so embarrassing. Please just forget that that ever happened. I would love it if–”

She stops mid-sentence when I reach my free hand up to tuck a loose piece of hair behind her ear.

She swallows, hard. “What I mean to say is thank you for being so calm.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I could tell you were nervous; I just didn’t want to make a big deal of it.”

We’re still facing each other, and I can feel my heart beating against my chest. I know I want to kiss her, but I’m frozen. I really don’t want to screw this up. There’s still a piece of me that thinks she’s way out of my league and that any wrong step will scare her away.

After a long pause of silence where we just stare at each other, she asks, “Do you want to come back to my place?”

Thank god. I would invite her back to my house, but it’s a bit of a construction zone right now with all the renovations I’m doing. Not that I’m embarrassed by that, but it’s not the most romantic setting.

“I’d love to. But…I’m starving. Would it be okay if I ordered takeout and picked it up on my way over?”

She gives me a soft smile and nods. “That would be perfect.”

Chapter Ten

LOUISA

I sprint up the stairs and into the apartment to start cleaning. It’s not dirty; there are just certain things I’d rather not have Sam see on our first date. For example, my box of vibrators on my dresser or B’s copy of the Kamasutra that she leaves in the living room as a conversational piece. In fact, let’s just shut B’s bedroom door and pretend it doesn’t exist.

That reminds me…I kneel down in front of Pepin’s chair so we’re eye level. “Pepin, there’s a man coming over. You better be nice because I like this one. But I mean, if he gives you red flags, then by all means, let me know. I’ll actually listen this time.” He licks me on the cheek, and I kiss the top of his head and scratch behind his ears.

I haven’t had a guy here since Pepin growled at Darrah incessantly the night of Iris’s 21st birthday. Let’s hope Pepin’s behavior was truly Pepin’s judge of character and not a jealousy thing. If that were the case, it would be this dog’s only flaw.

After I’m done hiding things, I run to the bathroomand rip off my sweater. I’m worried my nervous sweating made me stink, and I don’t want to turn Sam off. I quickly wash my pits in the sink and reapply deodorant before changing my shirt.

I change into a long-sleeve shirt and swap my jeans for some leggings. As I spritz on some perfume, I hear a knock at the door. Damn, that was fast!

But when I open the door, it’s not Sam.

“Hi Louisa, do you have two eggs I could borrow? I completely forgot to get some when I ran to the store earlier, and I already started cooking, so I can’t run out.”

“Hey Sarah, of course. I’m pretty sure I have some. Come on in while I run and check.” Sarah is my upstairs neighbor. She’s a young single mom with 3 kids, and we’ve only met because she frequently sends one of them down here to apologize for the noise.

Sarah steps in, and I run to the kitchen to check the fridge. I grab three eggs and bring them out to her. “Here, in case one breaks or has gone bad.”

“Thank you, you’re a lifesaver!” She says that a lot. When I watch her kids while she runs out for a second, when I borrow her things, or even when I water her plants when she’s out of town. All very simple things, but to her, they seem to make a big difference. I can’t imagine raising three kids on my own in the city. The thing I tellherall the time is that I don’t know how she does it.

“Of course, any time.”

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