"Aw, for me?" I grinned at her, grateful for such a thoughtful gesture.

"Yes, ma’am. All for you. You can’t just lock yourself up in this lab, Andi. You need something substantial to eat."

"Thanks, mom."

"You’re welcome, daughter." She smiled. "I have to run. Catch you later." She turned to go.

"Yeah. Actually, um, Haley?"

"Yeah?" She looked at me from the doorway, her hand on the frame.

"Well, I was wondering if maybe you’d like to get together tonight. You know, maybe we could catch a movie, or dinner or something?" She turned, facing me fully, a huge smile on her face.

"I would love to. Thanks for asking." She looked at her watch. "I have a session at four-fifteen, and I expect that to last for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Why don’t I give you a call when I finish?"

"Yeah. Sounds good."

"Great. Talk to you then." She hurried out of my office, and the lab. As I sat there, a through occurred to me. With a wicked grin, I grabbed my keys, and headed out.


* * *

With a sigh, I looked into the microscope again, seeing if my eyes deceived me, or if maybe, just maybe it had actually worked.

I looked at the numbers again, and,

"Yes!" I stood, arms above my head, as I twirled in a circle, doing my happy dance, only to stop, mortified. Haley was still laughing as she clapped.

"Nice. May I have an encore?"

"Hi." I grinned sheepishly. "What I was working on, well, worked."

"Well, then I guess your little jig there was justified." She smiled again. "I just came by to tell you that my client canceled, so I’m free now."

"Oh. Well, I need about another half hour." I wrote down the results, scratching my head with the back of my pen. "Maybe forty-five minutes."

"Well, how about I head home, get changed, then make my way to your place around five-thirty? Is an hour enough?" I nodded.

"Yeah. Should be."

"Great. See you then."

I watched her leave the lab, then turned back to my work.


* * *

"Hello, my baby." I picked up my boy, and tried to avoid little Pug kisses as I hurried to my bedroom to change my clothes. Haley would be here any minute, and I wanted to be ready to go.

Ding dong.

Just in time.

I pulled the tank over my head, and buttoned my cargo shorts as I walked toward the front door.

"Hey." Haley smiled when I pulled it open. I opened my mouth to speak when it snapped shut. Haley’s head went up, and her nose began to work. I watched, my hand still on the door as she began to sniff the air, taking small steps, following the smell. "Brownies," she murmured as she went. I looked down when I heard a whimper.

Bunsen sat on his haunches, looking up at me as through he were completely confused about why the fun lady totally passed him up. Picking him up, I turned to Haley again. She was turning the corner into the kitchen, still sniffing. I hurried to catch up.

Haley was headed straight for the counter by the stove where a plate of her favorite brownies, baked this afternoon, waited for her. She turned to look back at me, a huge smile on her face.

"May I?" I nodded. Like a piranha, she dug in, moaning happily as she did so.

"So, um, still interested in a movie?" I muttered, shaking my head as I watched.


* * *

The week had passes so quickly, a lot of that due in part to Haley. We had seen each other nearly every night to some degree, whether it was to grab a movie, or to get some coffee after work. I had even pulled myself out of the lab for lunch Friday.

As Bunsen and I walked the bike path, headed to the park Saturday morning before my nine o’clock Tae Kwon Do class, I thought about the time spent with her, and how refreshing and, well, needed it was. Her friendship was bringing me out of my haze, much as it did over a decade ago. What was it about her that made the world around me brighter? Almost like she threw the curtain I’d thrown around everything back so that the brightness could come in, and make me see life again. What an amazing gift she had.

I turned us away from the park, and began to head left on an offshoot of the path, Bunsen strutting his stuff beside me.

As I walked on, I thought more about her. I thought about her marriage, however brief it was, and wondered what her husband was like. What had she seen in him? What sorts of things did she look for? Why was she back here? I wasn’t much for coincidences. I was far too logical for that, but it was so odd that she was back, from the span of half the country away.

I looked up, surprised to see that I was in Haley’s neighborhood. Looking around, I felt almost scared for a moment, wondering how the hell I’d gotten here. Then, thinking about how far from this my house was, I looked down at Bunsen.

"Oh, baby." He laid on the sidewalk at my feet, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, his pants coming out in snorts. I was this far, may as well go on. I picked up the tired Pug, walked down the street, seeing Haley’s townhouse coming up. I hurried up the stairs, suddenly finding myself at her door, and feeling like a kid again. My stomach was doing flip flops, my palms beginning to sweat, sticking to Bunsen’s short fur.

What the hell was it about Haley that made me feel like I was 17 again?

Rubbing my hand on the side of my shorts, then pulled my fingers into a fist to knock. I rapped three times, and waited, petting Bunsen’s head, his panting slowing, but he still needed some water. We had walked nearly two miles; far too much for a little guy.

I heard movement inside the townhouse, and my butterflies came back full-force. Would she be mad that I had just shown up at her place unannounced? God, grow up, Andi. You’re not a kid.

The door opened, and Haley stood before me, her hands grasping the ends of her robe together, her hair wild, eyes droopy. I glanced down at my watch, mortified when I saw it was only seven-ten in the morning.

"Andi?" I looked up at her again, putting a smile on my face to attempt to cover my embarrassment.

"Hi, uh, good morning. We were taking a walk and," I looked down at my dog, then up into confused, tired eyes. "Got any water?" She looked at me, a brow raising. "For Bunsen. He’s not used to such a long walk." Oh yeah, I felt really stupid now.

"Sure. Come on in." Haley stepped back from the door, letting us to pass. "Can I get you some water, too? Juice maybe? Unleaded?" I looked at her over my shoulder.

"Unleaded? You’re offering me gasoline?"

"Well, no," Haley walked by me, leading me to the kitchen. "It is an unnatural color, has an unnatural taste and smell, but this one is produced from beans. Coffee beans, to be exact." She grinned at me, and I smiled back.

"Alright. Unleaded it is."


As she set to work on the coffee, I looked around. The place was nice, spacious and open. These townhouses were relatively new, only going up in the last five years or so. The vaulted ceilings in the kitchen led up to a skylight, the early morning sunlight coming in to light up the room, reflecting off the egg-shell colored walls. The black appliances were spotless, as were the hanging pans and utensils mounted on the wall.

"Nice place you’ve got here."

"Thanks. Care for a tour as that brews?"

"Yeah."

"Will Bunsen be okay down here by himself?" We looked down at my dog who had found a comfy spot right in the middle of the living room to lie down. "Oh. Water." She grabbed a cereal bowl, and filled it from the tap, then brought it over to the Pug. "Drink, little guy," she said quietly, gently lifting my dog’s head. Bunsen drank greedily, then plopped back down, falling asleep with a snort.

Haley led me through the living room, then back to the small second bedroom toward the back of the place, which was where she had her computer and bookshelves, though it was only about half full. There were a few pictures here and there, but overall, the decorations were sparse.

The main bathroom was good-size, with a nice, big bathtub in the corner, and a separate shower stall. The narrow flight of stairs led to the loft, which was the master bedroom. A beautiful four-poster bed was the room’s centerpiece, and a single dresser.

"What a beautiful set." I said, running my fingers across the smooth, dark surface of the cherry wood.

"Thanks. My grandmother died a few years back, so my parents had it in storage. They’re letting me use it."

"Oh." I glanced over at the bedside table, and grinned when I saw the familiar orange Koosh ball sitting by the table. "It’s like an American Express, can’t leave home without it." I grinned at Haley who looked at me. She nodded, grinning.

"I’ve sent many a date running scared from that little guy."

"I imagine so."

"If they can’t accept my Koosh, they can’t accept me."

"Oh, I see how it is. Planning on staying single for a while?"

"Ha ha. Funny girl. Come here and meet my bunnies."

I walked over to the small rabbit pin in the corner by the closet. There were two rabbits in there, but they had a little bunny palace.

"Those are two very spoiled little Bugs’."

"You’re telling me." She smiled at me, and unlatched the cover on top, lifting it. I looked down at the two. "This one here, the friendly one, is Oreo." She lifted one out. He had the long, floppy ears, and his entire body, including his ears, were black and white splotches.

"I didn’t know rabbits made the Dalmatian variety. Hey, little fella." I tentatively reached my hand out, stroking his soft back, his dark eyes ever watchful, whiskers twitching. "Wow, he’s so incredibly soft."