Neighbor Dearest (9 page)

“I’ll toast some slices and bring them,” I said, throwing some clothes on with a smile on my face.

“We’ll skip the bacon.” He laughed.

“Um…yeah. No bacon, please.”

Damien had left his door cracked open and was emptying a frying pan full of scrambled eggs onto two plates when I let myself in.

Carrying a dish of toast, I said, “Look, they’re not even burned.”

“You must’ve not been reading and toasting.”

Dudley and Drewfus were circling around me, but as expected, they’d stopped barking with me here.

Hoping for some scraps, the animals sat by our feet as Damien and I ate at the kitchen table.

“It’s amazing how quiet they are now.”

Taking a bite of toast, he said, “They’re quiet when they’re content.”

“So, you’re saying they’re happier when I’m here?”

“Maybe they like having a female around when they wake up, or maybe they just sense something that other people don’t.”

“Like sense something about me?”

“You know how strong their sense of smell is.”

“Yes, I do.” I laughed. “Between your supersonic hearing and their sensitive noses, I’m pretty much screwed around here.

“Maybe they like the way you smell.”

“Are you saying I’m like a piece of smoked meat to them?”

“No. You smell better than bacon.”

“You’ve smelled me?”

“Yes.”

“What exactly do I smell like?”

“You smell really nice. It’s a sweet smell.”

“You’re
bacon
me paranoid.”

He chuckled. “Okay…so either they like your smell, or they just sense that you’re a friendly person, and they calm down when you’re around.”

Damien was giving me a funny look that prompted me to ask, “Are we talking about them or you?”

“Maybe both.”

My heart fluttered, and I wanted to stomp on it.

He broke up a piece of toast and threw the remnants on the ground. The dogs scurried to beat each other to it.

When Damien got up to pour more coffee, I said, “So, I’m going out with Brian Steinway again this weekend.”

He was stirring in sugar, and his hand stilled for a moment when I’d said it.

“I didn’t realize you were still seeing him. You hadn’t mentioned him in a while.”

Brian and I had only gone out a few times in a span of a month. While he didn’t give me the same butterflies Damien did, I’d yet to find a legitimate reason to stop casually dating him. We hadn’t done more than kiss; that was mostly because of my own hesitation.

“Yeah…I figure why not? He’s nice enough.”

Damien slammed his mug down. “Nice
enough
?”

“Yes.”

“You do realize you just basically wrote him off, right? So why bother spending any more time with him if you’re not crazy about him?”

Because I need a distraction from you.

At the same time, I love being around you.

“What’s the harm in spending time with someone?”

“The harm is that while you’re passing the time, he’s getting more and more smitten with you. And I’m gonna have to kick him off the property when he becomes disgruntled.”

“I think you’re jumping too far ahead.”

“Okay. We’ll see about that. Anyway, you shouldn’t be wasting your time with him if he’s not exactly what you want.”

“You can’t always get what you want.” I was sure Damien had no clue that I was thinking of him when I’d said it. I thought I’d been doing a pretty good job of hiding my true feelings for him lately, going along with us just being friends. But if there was one thing I’d learned from this, it was that you can’t control your attraction to someone. If it’s there, it’s there. It can either be ignored or acted upon but not controlled. But I was grateful for Damien, even if things couldn’t progress past friendship. At the very least, he’d helped take the focus off of Elec.

“Where’s he taking you anyway?”

“Fondue.”

“At least he’ll be dipping his stick into
something.”

“You are bad.”

“Did you tell him you like to be double-dipped?”

“Excuse me?”

“You know…two guys…double dipped.”

“I don’t like that at all…nor would I ever do it in real life.”

“I’m just messing with you.”

“You like to do that.”

“Double dip?”

“No! Mess with me.”

“I love it, Chels. Especially when you blush.”

“You’ve never called me Chels before.”

“Do you not like it?”

“Elec used to call me Chels, so no, I’m not really crazy about it.”

“Well, then we need to come up with a new nickname.”

“What?”

“I’ll think about it.” He grinned.

“Oh, boy.”

Damien rested his chin in his hand. “Any other names banned?”

“Leeches.”

“Leeches? Why would I call you leeches?”

“Elec used to like to scramble the letters of words, to make new words. He once figured out that if you scramble the letters of Chelsea, you get leaches. But then we both later realized that leeches is actually spelled with two E’s and no A, but the nickname stuck.”

“Hmm. Elec is not that bright. What do you get if you scramble the letters of dumb fuck?”

“Now you have me thinking about that.” I laughed.

“Bum fuck?” He chuckled. “No, wait…that’s missing the D. I can see how that shit would be addicting, though.”

“Bum fucking or anagrams?” I joked.

Damien spit out his coffee in laughter. “Yes and yes.”

Staring at Damien, I thought about how at the very least, I was grateful to have found a friend and protector in him.

“You’re a good egg, Damien. And you
make
good eggs, too.”

“My mother taught me how to make scrambled eggs fluffy but not runny.”

“How is your mother? You don’t talk about her much.”

“She’s alright. I’m due to visit her soon. Tyler and I have tried to get her to move closer to us. She’s about an hour from here down 101.”

“She doesn’t want to move?”

“She still lives in the house we grew up in. I think it would be hard for her to leave, since there are so many memories of my father there. She’s never really gotten over his death, hasn’t even dated anyone since he died.”

“That’s got to be hard.”

“We both keep telling her she needs to move on.”

“What does she say to that?”

“She says when you really love someone as much as she loved my dad, it’s irreplaceable. She says she’d rather just spend her time alone, trying to seek out and connect to his spiritual presence.”

“Wow. God, that makes me want to cry,” I said as a lone teardrop travelled down my cheek.

“You
are
crying.”

“Well, see? There you go.”

He reached over and swiped my teardrop. “Yeah. It’s pretty fucking sad to see her so depressed.”

“You know, it makes me wonder.”

“Wonder what?”

“Wonder if there
are
different levels of love.”

“I definitely think there are,” he said.

“I think the level of love that is irreplaceable is the highest level. I mean, even after Elec broke my heart, I never once felt that he was totally irreplaceable. But that could just be because he hurt me. I don’t know whether it would have been different if he’d died. And I mean…plenty of people remarry after loss. So, clearly, those people were able to move on.”

“Well, I wish Mom would move on, because that’s no way to live.”

“Yeah, but she can’t.”

“I know,” he whispered, swirling his coffee around mindlessly as he gazed into his mug.

“Anyway, I hope to meet her someday.”

“She’ll come visit at some point.”

“Why doesn’t she visit more often?”

“She doesn’t like to leave her dog by himself. She has a small terrier that’s scared of my dogs. Since I have Dudley and Drewfus every other weekend, it makes it tough to get them together.”

“That sucks.”

“Speaking of sucks, I have to figure out what to do with these monsters next week.”

“Why?”

“I have to go to Los Angeles.”

“What’s there?”

“Just some business I have to take care of. It’s too complicated to get into.”

Hmm.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, so Jenna obviously handles them at night, but I’m trying to figure out a situation for them in the mornings and during the day while she’s at work. They’re not the type of dogs that can be left alone all day.”

“I can watch them,” I offered.

What am I, crazy?

“Chelsea, I wasn’t hinting at that. I would never ask that of you. You’re sweet to even offer, but you and the dogs…not a smart combo.”

“Maybe…but I thought they supposedly liked me.”

“They do, but you’d have to pick up their shit and all that. We’re not talking about little pebbles, either.”

“Oh, I know. I’ve seen you cleaning up their turds.”

“Some days, if they eat the wrong crap, it’s like Montezuma’s revenge. Seriously, I couldn’t subject you to that if you’re the least bit queasy.”

“I can totally handle it, Damien. I can tell you’re stressed about finding someone to look after them. I’m right next door. I can take them for two walks before I head to work in the afternoon then be here at night when she comes to pick them up.”

“You serious about this?”

The dogs were looking back and forth between us in unison as if they were interested in the outcome of this conversation.

“Totally.”

“Alright. But I insist on lining up a backup in case you bail out mid-week.”

“I won’t. I’m not a quitter.”

“I really appreciate it.”

“It’ll be good exercise. I see your ex running after them sometimes when she drops them off. They’re basically walking her.”

“Yeah, you just need to hold on and go with the flow.”

“I can handle it.”

I couldn’t figure out whether those would be my famous last words.

***

The following week with Damien gone, I needed to be up early to collect the dogs from Jenna.

That first day, I had to admit that I was a little nervous to meet her up close and in person. At the same time, even though she’d been intimate with the guy I was obsessed with, he’d dumped her. So, I felt an equal sense of sympathy and kinship, seeing as though Damien made it clear that things weren’t going anywhere between him and me, either.

Damien told me he always fed the dogs as soon as they were dropped off then took them for a walk an hour or two later. I figured I could try to nap in between their breakfast and the walk then take them out again before heading to work. In the evenings, I would give them one more meal and walk them one last time before she picked them up for the night.

He’d given me the key to his apartment, so I made myself some coffee while I waited for the dogs to arrive.

The door opened, prompting me to straighten in my seat. Dudley and Drewfus ran into the room ahead of her.

Wiping my hands on my pants, I said, “Hi, I’m Chelsea.”

“Yes. I know.”

Damien had told me that Jenna worked as a hair stylist downtown. She was wearing black pants that hugged her wide hips and a black shirt with the name of the salon written in sequins. Her physique made me wonder if Damien preferred curvier bodies to more athletic figures like mine. Her hair was cut into a straight brown bob. She was definitely attractive, although not someone I would characterize as a bombshell. Jenna was naturally pretty with big brown eyes and a funky style as exhibited by her multi-colored fingernails and fitted retro leather half-jacket.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said.

“Is it?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry. I can be a little snarky. He told me to be nice to you.”

“He did?”

“Yeah. He didn’t want me to scare you away, maybe.” She gave me a quick once-over that made me wish I had dressed up a bit. “You’re probably so into him, that wouldn’t happen, though, right?”

Great.

“Damien and I…we’re just friends.”

“Oh, I’m sure that’s the official label. But you probably like him, right?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I’ve been there, and I can tell by your face. You’re blushing.”

“Everything makes me blush. It doesn’t mean anything,” I lied. “Well, regardless, it doesn’t matter. He’s already closed the door on that.”

“Right. He’s not gonna let you get too close, especially after what happened with me. You’re probably kidding yourself, though, and still holding out hope, thinking maybe you can change his mind?”

“No,” I lied.

Her mouth curved into a somewhat empathetic smile. “I wouldn’t blame you at all, by the way. I just pity your situation because it reminds me of a time when I didn’t get it. But thankfully, I’ve moved on.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” Sadly, I wanted to ask her how she’d managed to get over him—if she were even telling the truth. Ironically, the only thing that’d helped me get over Elec somewhat had been Damien.

“Do you have any questions about the dogs?”

“No. He briefed me on their routine.”

“Okay…well, here’s my number if you need to reach me.” She placed a small piece of paper on the counter.

“Thanks.”

After the door shut behind Jenna, I let out a long sigh and looked over at the Double Ds. They were still trying to catch their breaths as they stared at me excitedly with their long tongues hanging out. They were truly beautiful dogs with smooth black hair and copper fur accenting their paws and faces.

“Your mama is either very bitter or very smart. I haven’t figured out which yet.” I made my way to the cabinet where Damien stored the dog food. “Are you guys hungry?” When they started to jump up and down around me, I joked, “No bacon, though, okay?”

Big mistake.

At the mere mention of it, they started to flip out.

Shit.

The B word had to be banned altogether.

***

By the second day, it was clear that there was only one way I was going to catch up on sleep after the dogs’ breakfast. I picked up my phone and sent a text to Damien.

Hey. Would it be okay if I napped over at your apartment in the mornings? It’s the only way the dogs will stop barking.