Saturday morning was relaxing for Amy. She got up and took a shower and was about to blow dry her hair straight like she normally did but thought she'd do something a little different today. Her hair was a little wavier when she let it air dry so she just scrunched it up a bit while drying it with a towel and set about getting ready.
She had a bit of toast and some juice because she knew they wouldn't be eating for a while. Raj had said brunch after all. He also said he would be there basically 9ish. Amy felt that was very refreshing, to have someone say they'd be there "around" some time. It seemed so casual, so unstructured, she almost felt kind of naughty. That thought made her giggle.
Since they were going for a walk in the park, Amy chose her light blue gingham prairie skirt with a small white ruffle at the bottom. It was looser than her work skirts and not as heavy as her normal wool or denim. She topped it with a pink and blue plaid button up shirt and a lightweight, coral pink, crocheted cardigan with sleeves that stopped at her elbows. Her ensemble was completed by a pair of neon pink and lime green cross trainers with orange laces and sport socks with pink pom-poms.
She grabbed her shoes and socks and went to the living room to wait for Raj. It felt really nice knowing that someone was going to pick HER up for a change. It was very tiring having to be the chauffeur all the time. She was just about to sit down and put on her shoes when there was a knock at the door. She dropped her shoes on the coffee table and went to let Raj in.
"Good morning, Rajesh! Come on in. I'm almost ready," Amy said brightly. "And this must be Cinnamon. I've seen her picture but never met her before."
"Say hello to Miss Amy, Cinnamon," Raj sing-songed, taking his dog's little paw and waving it in greeting at Amy.
"She's so cute." Amy cooed. "Come on in," she invited, as she made her way back to the couch.
Raj walked a little ways into the apartment and closed the door. "Thank you. Do you mind if I set her down while you get ready? She likes to explore new places."
"Sure, go ahead." Amy started putting on her shoes. Cinnamon ran straight to her and jumped right in her lap. Instead of pushing her away and telling her to get down, Amy leaned back on the couch and let the little Yorkie climb on her chest and lick her face. "Well, aren't you the cutest doggie ever? Yes, you are. Yes, you are." Amy laughed and scratched the friendly animal behind her ears as Cinnamon covered her face in wet doggie kisses.
In that moment, Raj's estimation of Amy rose several points. Most people would have rejected his pet's friendly overture. Anyone that was sweet to his little princess was aces in his book.
"Cinnamon, come here! Don't climb on Miss Amy," Raj chided gently, as he freed Amy from the tiny attack, picking his Yorkie up and holding her to him. "That's too much sugar this early in the morning," he said sweetly, giving her little kisses.
"That's OK, Rajesh," Amy laughed. "She's really so sweet." She leaned over and resumed putting on her shoes.
Raj walked over to her harp. "You know, Amy, I've never heard you play your harp before. Was it difficult to learn?"
"Not too bad. I was able to learn a simple accompaniment to 'Girl from Ipanema' in just three lessons. But just like anything else, the more you practice, the better you get." She finished tying one shoe and started putting on the other.
"I'd like to hear you play something sometime," Raj said, running his hand over the smooth wood. He turned to face her. "I play the ukulele, you know."
Amy tied the last shoe and stood. "I didn't know that. You should bring it over sometime and we could try some duets."
"That'd be fun." Raj headed toward the door. "You ready?"
"Yep. Let's go." Amy grabbed her bag and they headed out.
xxxxxxx
As they reached the parking lot, Raj exclaimed, "Oh, drat! I forgot to move Cinnamon's car seat to the back."
"Car seat?" Amy asked. "Why do you have a car seat for your dog?"
"So my little princess can be safe," he said in a babyish voice, talking to Cinnamon. "And so she can see out the window. Isn't that right, baby?" Cinnamon licked him on the nose. "Amy, could you hold her please so I can move her seat?" Raj handed the dog to Amy.
"Sure." Amy replied, taking her. "You're just a little spoiled, aren't you? Aren't you?" she said, getting close to the little dog's face. Cinnamon had won over a new fan this morning.
Raj took Cinnamon from Amy, put a pink harness on the tiny Yorkie, and snapped her into the car seat. He then opened the passenger door for Amy. "Shall we?"
"Thank you, Rajesh." Amy slid in the car and buckled up.
Raj walked around to the drivers' side and got in. As he was buckling, he said, "My regular café is just a couple of blocks away from the guys' apartment on North Robles, so I thought we'd try a new place, here in Glendale."
"Sounds good to me. What park are we going to for our walk?" Amy inquired.
"I googled some parks around here and found a nice one with a walking trail and a little lake. We'll drive over there for a while and then head over to 'Recess' for brunch. They have an outdoor patio and the reviews show they have four dog bones out of five for being pet friendly."
As they were driving to the park, Raj looked over at Amy. "What did you do different to your hair?"
Amy's hands came up to touch her wavy hair self-consciously. "I scrunched it and let it air dry today. Normally, I blow it straight or use a flat iron. No good?" she asked, unsure of the slight changed she'd made.
"No, no, it looks great! Very soft and feminine. You should wear it that way more often," Raj said then spared another glance at her. "You know, you might consider cutting off some length."
Amy reacted, a little shocked. "Cut my hair?! Why?"
"Not a lot, just 3 or 4 inches. It would take off some of the weight and give your hair a little more bounce. Plus, if you put some defining gel in it when its wet, and then really scrunch it with a towel to dry, you'd get a lot more curl," Raj explained, as he pulled onto the road leading into the park area.
His detailed styling advice made Amy laugh. "How is it that you know so much about women's hair?"
Raj pulled into a parking space close to the walking trail. "I don't know. It's a gift," he said with a smile. "Here we are." He put the car in park and turned off the ignition. "Let's get our walk on. Woot! Woot!"
AN: Not a lot happening in this chapter. Think of it as a sweet sorbet to cleanse your palate from the angst-fest this story has been so far. LOL! Yesterday was my 50th birthday. My wish is that everyone leave a review, including the country or state where you live. I feel privileged to belong to such a diverse group of people here on FanFiction and I think it would be fun to see where everyone is from. As always, thank you for following my story. :)