Chapter 5
five
*LEO*
This means I own your number now.
When I sent Soren my 'Thank you‘ message earlier, I didn’t even think of it as a way to give him my number, but now that it happened, I am actually happy he has my contacts.
Are you at work? I ask, because I have no idea how to react to his first message.
Currently on my way to a farm. They have an issue with one of their horses.
I hope it’s nothing too grave.
Don’t worry, it should be a routine visit. Do you know why horses can’t dance?
No…
They have two left feet!
I hold back my chuckle not to alert Robin, who is currently driving.
I don’t want to explain what makes me laugh, because unfortunately for me, I am the world’s worst liar and also the world’s least spontaneous person.
I am the kind of person who spends hours afterward thinking what I could or should have said.
So, if Robin should notice me laughing and asked about it, I’d try to come up with an excuse. I’d fail miserably, and then feel bad and think he would be hurt.
Fortunately, Robin doesn’t notice that anything is off. “I am so happy I have company!” he hums while he takes the exit to East Sunhaven. “Shopping together is so much more fun, plus I am glad I don’t need to carry everything on my own. Do you like shopping?”
I was so eager to help and to feel useful that I forgot this means I need to have a conversation with somebody I don’t know yet. Barkley is secured on the backseat, so I can’t bury my hand in his fur for emotional backup.
“I guess,” I say evasively, feeling like an idiot for it. It’s a yes or no question, but somehow it has become too difficult for me to answer anything without second-guessing.
Robin doesn’t seem to mind. “You will love it with me!”
“Do Soren and Aspen like shopping?” I hear myself ask before I can stop myself. Stupid.
“Oh!” Robin’s whole face lights up, making me relax again. “Aspen only likes to shop for boring things like wood or tools, or coffee.”
Sounds like Aspen.
“And Soren avoids going shopping with me. For the longest time, I thought he only orders stuff online, but then I actually spotted him in a clothing store once, a fancy one on top of that. He told me in his perfect, smooth way that I am just a little much when shopping. You know the tone of voice that makes you feel like he is the kindest person on earth, until you realize he is either scolding you or making fun of you?”
I might not know that yet, but I can vividly imagine.
“That traitor,” Robin mutters, drawing a smile from me. He beams at me. “See, that’s why I need a shopping buddy. I need somebody who is fun.”
I feel the usual twinge of guilt for disappointing someone. “I am not sure I am fun.”
“As long as you are more fun than these two traitors, you are fine.”
“So, what do we plan on shopping for? Aspen mentioned Christmas decorations?” His list just gave me a brief overview, but not what he wants in detail.
“Yes, all the deco we can find and like,” Robin hums. “Lights, figurines, books, and coffee and cake-inspired decoration, something for the tables. All the stuff.”
“Is Aspen going to do cake art? Do we need something for that, too? And do you plan on making a Christmas-coded special for your books, like a table with books of a certain color and themes?”
Robin parks the car in front of the huge shopping center we are targeting before he turns and stares at me. For a moment, I feel my stomach getting queasy. I probably did something wrong.
“I haven’t thought about it at all,” Robin blurts out.
“We usually get decorations for the coffee shop and basics for the book shop. Aspen doesn’t know much about decorating either.
If it were up to him, we would hang up some lights, a mistletoe and leave it at that.
However, he does bake themed cookies and cakes.
As for me… I love decorating, but I am not particularly good at it.
” He looks at me through big, hopeful eyes.
“Please tell me you will help! Now I want that themed book corner!”
In my mind, I envision how it’s supposed to look.
Make it cozy. Color themed. Christmas colors in particular.
I would need to check the books he has on his shelves.
If they don’t have the right color, I could add special covers.
While my thoughts circle around this topic, I can feel the old lump form in my throat again, my hands tensing up.
“Please,” Robin begs and blinks up at me.
Come on, Leo, it’s books, just books. It’s nothing I have touched before; I can’t ruin it. It’s okay. It should be okay. “I can try,” I say, though all I want is to run away. “But I am not sure if I can pull it off.”
“Awesome,” Robin exclaims. I am not sure if he even heard my last sentence.
He is already hurrying towards the shopping center, forcing me to catch up to him.
“Sorry,” he says when he spots me panting slightly.
“I tend to be everywhere at the same time with my thoughts and then forget what I was doing and who I was with.”
“I get that,” I admit. “I also tend to… doze off sometimes.”
“Finally, somebody who understands,” Robin says, before stopping. “How about food first? I am hungry.”
“Didn’t you want to go shopping?”
“We can do that after lunch,” he muses. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes,” I say, though I am still full from breakfast. I just don’t have the heart to turn him down. “But first, we need to get Barkley to the dog sitting area. He will love it there.”
The dog sitting area is like a huge playground for dogs, and Barkley instantly throws himself into a fetch game with a bunch of other dogs there, like the huge puppy he is.
Then Robin and I head to have lunch. Robin has a spring in his step when he leads me to the top floor of the shopping center with several different restaurants.
East Sunhaven’s shopping center definitely has a lot to offer.
I don’t say it out loud, though. Apparently, there is a weird rivalry going on between these two towns.
We settle for a pizza place. “I love fast food,” Robin says. “Though I probably should eat more greens. Aspen is always on my case.”
“On mine too,” I admit. “Though I do like veggies.”
“It can’t beat fast food, though,” he sighs.
“I don’t know,” I muse. “I never ate much fast food.”
“You are kidding me!?”
“No, I… as a kid I wasn’t allowed to eat a lot of it, and then…” I mostly went to posh restaurants because that’s where I had to be for my career. “I just forgot about it.”
“Then let me be your personal food guide,” he exclaims. “I will make sure you try it all!”
“Just not all today, please.”
Robin beams, once more looking like he is throwing pixie dust around him with how brilliant his smile is. “Of course not. We will make this a weekly outing instead! Maybe Soren and Aspen want to join, too.”
I feel a twinge in my chest. Is it pity? Does Robin take pity on me? Still, it would be impolite to turn him down. Even if he is just being nice.
Fuck, when did I turn so cynical?
“Only if they want to,” I say evasively.
“They want to,” he says with finality in his voice, right when our food arrives.
We dig in, and he was right; I was clearly missing out. Not that I didn’t have pizza before, but I certainly never had this super-cheesy, calorie-heavy type of pizza. I am going to feel so sick later, but I don’t mind.
“How did you actually meet those two?” I finally ask what I‘ve wanted to know, since I met him and Soren. I figured Robin is going to mind these questions the least.
“Oh! I know Soren from school,” he says.
“As for Aspen, he bumped into me when he came here. Literally. Knocked me over.” Robin laughs.
“He was so cute, how he scrambled to pick up all my things. Obviously, I had to drag him to get some tea from our little tea house in town, only to learn there that he was the new owner of that completely run-down place.”
“The one that’s the coffee shop now?”
“Yes, it was supposed to be torn down. But Aspen bought it and renovated it. He did most of it alone, and well, I helped.”
“That was very nice of you,” I say.
Robin looks flustered for a moment before he shrugs. “Aspen’s vision was contagious, and I didn’t know what to do with my life anyway. I tried college, but it wasn’t for me. And Aspen understood.”
“So, that’s how you became friends and partners,” I muse, noticing how Robin blushes furiously and waves his hands in panic.
“Work partners,” he exclaims.
“The library was always yours?”
“Yes, I inherited it, and with Aspen’s help, renovated it as well. He really knows what he is doing.”
“I agree. His talents would have been wasted in university,” I say quietly, my stomach churning at the fact that my parents were never able to see that.
“Then we struck a deal, became business partners and with the finances from my inheritance, managed to fulfil this dream. I needed Aspen for me to learn what I truly wanted to do with my life.”
“That’s amazing.” I listen in awe, soaking up all his words. I never asked Aspen how he built up his business here. I missed asking him a couple of years ago, and now it just feels shallow to do it.
“And you and Soren were friends in high school?”
“Not at all,” Robin says. “Clearly, I was one of the cool kids.” When I stare at him, he giggles. “Just kidding. Soren is a bit older than I am. We bonded because we were both the two geeky boys in school.”
“Hard to imagine,” I admit.
“Today,” Robin says. “You should have seen us two awkward kids back then.”
“I was awkward too,” I say.
“Aspen told me you were always super smart,” Robin says, looking at me as if he hopes I will tell him more. But I just can’t. Whenever I try to say something, my throat seems to close up. “Do you think Aspen will want to help decorating?” he asks suddenly, fortunately shifting the topic.
“No,” I say. “I mean, I guess he would help if we asked him…”
“Yeah, but it’s never been his thing,” Robin agrees. “But you will help me?”
I look at him, and into his open and trustful eyes. I don’t have the heart to turn him down. This is for Aspen, too. “I will try to.”