Worth Saving(43)

Our kiss is interrupted by a big white goose that comes waddling its way up to us. Austin notices it first and turns his head to see what’s going on. The goose has another small group of geese behind it who watch him as he approaches us, obviously looking for something.

“Aww, this little guy is hungry,” I say. “We have to give him some bread.” I break off a piece of my sandwich and toss it on the ground in front of the goose.

“No, don’t!” Austin exclaims. He tries to reach out and grab the bread before the bird gets it, but it’s too late. The goose picks it up and tries to run off, but the entire pack behind him comes running over to steal it. “Oh, you just made a big mistake,” Austin says, looking at me.

“What? He wanted food. The poor guy was hungry,” I reply, unaware of what he’s talking about.

The next thing I know, the whole pack of geese comes charging at us full speed. Their wings are in the air, flapping violently as they try to find the source of the food. Austin and I have to get up, but even when we’re standing, the birds don’t stop. They charge at us, trying to peck at our clothes like they’ve suddenly gone insane. I let out a small scream when one of them pecks my hand. They look innocent, but that shit hurt.

“Holy shit. Come on, we’ve gotta go,” Austin says, then he takes both sandwiches and tosses them in the middle of the pack of geese. The birds flock to them and go to town while Austin and I run away towards the stairs. When we make it back to the car, both of us burst out laughing.

“Oh shit, that was funny!” I exclaim as I hunch over laughing.

“Damn, Layla. You’re out there trying to get us killed.”

We’re both still laughing when Austin starts the car and drives away. When we make it back to my apartment, we’re still talking about the goose incident.

“I bet you learned from that one, huh?” he says as he pulls up the parking brake.

“Oh yeah. Don’t feed the damn geese. They’re psychos,” I reply.

“Yeah they are.”

I look out the window at the apartment complex. “Umm, you wanna come up. We can watch a movie or something,” I say, hoping I don’t sound desperate.

“Unfortunately, I can’t right now,” Austin says with a genuine look of disappointment on his face. “I just wanted to hang with you while I had time. I have plans to meet up with my boys from Seattle. They’re here for work, but we’re old friends. Maybe you can meet them while they’re here. If that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah, okay. That’d be cool. Well, I guess I’ll talk to you soon?” I say in the form of a question that I hope he agrees to.

“Definitely,” he replies with a smile and a nod of his head. “Have a good night, Layla.”

“Okay. You too.”

I get out and stand on the steps as he drives away. I keep watching him until he turns the corner and I can no longer see his tail lights. I hate to watch him go, and that’s the first time I’ve ever let myself admit that. I know I have feelings for Austin, and every day I spend with him, it becomes more and more impossible to deny, and I become more and more afraid of what I haven’t told him.





Austin

When she says hello, I’m glad she can’t see me, because I scrunch my forehead. I can’t believe I’m excited by the sound of her voice. I don’t know where these kinds of feelings come from, so they’re strange to me. They’re strange, but I like them, too. The weird, tingly feeling I get in my gut when I see her is something that puts a smile on my face. I don’t know how she does that.

How does the sight of another person, or the sound of their voice feel like a sudden shot of adrenaline? I can’t explain it, but that doesn’t bother me. I’m just rolling with the punches and doing what I feel comes natural when we’re together, and when we’re not together, I’m thinking about the next time we will be. I’m not holding anything back, but I’m not forcing the issue either. So, the things I feel when Layla answers the phone—I don’t fight them. I enjoy their company even though we’re perfect strangers.

“Good morning,” I reply after she answers.

“Hey, Austin,” she says. She sounds like she’s in a good mood. “What are you doing?”

“I’m sitting in my bedroom watching TV, totally not thinking about you.” I hear her giggle and the sound makes me smile.

“Not thinking about me, huh? Interesting. If you’re doing so much not thinking about me, how’d you end up calling me?”

“Uhh, I object to the question and plead the fifth.”

“Oh, I don’t think so. Overruled.”

“What? I’m pretty sure you meant to say sustained.”

“Whatever. You’re crazy,” she says behind a laugh. “Well, I was not thinking about you when I woke up this morning. So, I guess we have that in common.”

“I’m totally confused now. I don’t know if I should be happy or sad,” I kid. “So, what are you doing today, Layla, besides not thinking about me?”

“Not too much,” she replies. “I’m getting ready right now because Marlene’s girlfriend is back in town, and I have to talk to her about some stuff. So, the three of us are gonna go have a late lunch before Marlene has to go to work. After that, though, I don’t have anything planned. You?”