CHAPTER 20 (ROSANNI)

Danny and I were waiting for Nicole and Pamela to get back from the zoo. We've been waiting for them to get back for a couple of minutes now.

My sandals swept against the grains of sand as I sat on the swing. Danny would push me from time to time. The breeze was cool against my skin.

I held the straps attached to the swing.

"Hm… Can you guess what they got?" Danny asked me, pushing the swings.

Hm… It must be something cute. They were looking forward to adopting a rabbit. Knowing Pamela, she'd pick something cute, fluffy and soft.

I was dead sure she'd pick a rabbit.

"Speaking of pets, how's Brucie?" I asked Danny.

The dog was pretty restless at times; but somehow, I've grown to love him. I'd walk him probably every week now. Thankfully, he's begun to obey me more often now.

I clapped my hands when he actually followed my order to sit down. I grew fonder of him everyday.

"He's fine. I think he misses you. He keeps looking at 'that' picture", he grinned.

By 'that' picture, he meant the one where we had that photo shoot for wedding attires. It's been quite a few months now. We've been keeping it for quite long now. I simply adored the picture.

"Hey guys!" we heard Pamela's voice call out from far away.

Danny and I turned to our backs, hoping to see the cute furry pet that they had brought back.

However, my eyes widened as I saw what she was cradling in her arms. In fact, Danny's jaw dropped a bit too.

The same question tugged on our minds:

Why the heck did she pick that?

Pamela grinned widely at us. "Hey guys. I got her. Isn't she adorable? And she knows so many words!"

Oh my gosh. I never thought that I'd come face to face with this creature again:

It was Rosanni the parrot, the very one that Danny and I met at the zoo.

It was preening its feathers as Pamela placed it on her right shoulder. She giggled as if it was the most adorable thing that she had ever laid her eyes on.

"Um… Pamela… Interesting choice", I began to say as I got off the swing and approached her.

I said hi to Nicole as I saw her at Pamela's back.

"I know! She's great actually, in my opinion. I don't know why no one wants to adopt her", Pamela said, stroking Rosanni's beak gently with the tip of her finger. Why was she treating it like it was some sort of cute poodle?

The parrot suddenly shrieked. "DANNY!!!"

Danny couldn't help but grin. "Um… Hey…"

Oh great. Now a parrot's trying to steal my boyfriend away from me.

"Danny…. You're so handsome", the parrot squawked.

Danny and I laughed.

Jeez. This parrot's absolutely bonkers!

"Um… Thanks… I guess?" Danny said, laughing a bit as he placed his hands in the back pockets of his pants.

"Hey… Girlie… What's your name?" Rosanni squawked to me as if bent its flexible head in an odd angle.

"I'm… er… Anthea", I replied nervously.

Rosanni looked like she wanted nothing more than to poke my eyes out.

It squawked and began hopping on Pamela's shoulder, flapping its wings so much that a few of its feathers were falling.

"Ooh! So you're 'Anthea' the guy was talking about!" it squawked and giggled.

Danny, Pamela, Nicole and I exchanged confused glances. Someone was talking about me? Who could it be?

Danny looked pretty serious.

"Rosanni, can you tell us who?" he asked the gossiping parrot.

We were also wondering who it was. And I very much wanted to know.

Who could it be? I asked again. More importantly, what did that person say to Rosanni? Was it something good? Or something bad?

The parrot squawked a bit more, making loud harsh noises.

"Ooh. Nosy people", Rosanni squawked.

Nicole snorted. "Yeah right. Like you aren't."

Rosanni snapped its beak at Nicole. Nicole swiftly moved out of the way as Rosanni drew near.

Whoa! That was scary!

Nicole gasped and threw a reproachful look at Rosanni. "Why you dirty bird…"

The parrot squawked happily, as if it did something good.

"It's your fault. It's your fault", it repeatedly chanted.

Nicole rolled her eyes.

Pamela grinned. "Aw Nicole… Just try to understand her. Rosanni… Please tell us."

The parrot seemed to think about this for a while. After a few seconds, we knew the answer when she shook her head.

"Nope. Nope. Nope", it squawked, flapping its bright red wings.

We all sighed, except for Nicole. She was pursing her lips, tapping her foot and raising an eyebrow.

"Rosanni… If you won't help us, I'll strangle you", she threatened Rosanni in a dark voice.

Rosanni winced but nevertheless tried to look as if Nicole's threat had been mild.

"You can't do that! I dare you!" she provoked Nicole.

For a minute, I didn't think that Nicole could do it. Much to my surprise, she placed her hands around the parrot. She had a wide smile on her face.

Rosanni began flapping her wings. "You wouldn't!! You wouldn't!!"

Nicole raised an eyebrow and said in a cool voice "Oh? You think?" She pulled Rosanni upside down. "Kill Rosanni! Kill Rosanni!"

"Okay! I give!"

Nicole slowly released her grip on Rosanni. Pamela threw a reproachful look at Nicole but Nicole only shrugged and grinned.

Wow. It actually worked.

"So… Who was it?" Danny asked the parrot.

"Yes. Yes. I only overheard him though. He's a strange fellow, talking in his sleep", Rosanni narrated.

This caught Danny's attention. He had a hunch who it was.

"Do you know his name?" Danny urged.

The parrot scratched its head. "Nope. I just flew over to where he was sleeping. He said he liked a girl named Anthea."

My eyes widened. What the heck was this?

"Ooh Danny. I smell competition", Pamela teased Danny.

For a moment, I expected him to just roll his eyes and laugh it off. It wasn't such a big deal anyway. I liked him very much, and I wouldn't look for another guy.

However, Danny looked nervous; scared even.

He cleared his throat. "Um… Nah. As if I'd let that happen."

Pamela raised an eyebrow and smiled, as if she knew what was going on. "Danny, you're nervous aren't you?"

Danny laughed a bit. "Me? Nah. I know Anthea. She wouldn't do that."

I knew he was scared. He looked nervous and his voice gave him away.

I squeezed his hand, he looked at me. "Danny, tell me the truth. Are you scared?"
He was still for a few seconds. Then he sighed.

"All right. Fine. I guess I am. But it's not that I doubt you", he began to explain but trailed off, thinking of what to say.

I nodded at him, urging him to tell me whatever he was going to say.

"I dunno. I just have a bad feeling. I know it's purely instinct, but I really can't shrug it off", he told me.

Rosanni was about to say something when Nicole threw a menacing look at her. Rosanni snapped her beak shut.

It might seem that Danny doubted me, but I didn't feel that way. I understand him.

I had gut feelings before that proved to be right, especially about Laura.

I felt touched, really. He was just extremely concerned, and I just found that heart-warming. It just shows that he was serious about our relationship.

I smiled at him, and he looked surprised.

"You're not mad?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No Danny. I'm not. I understand. I know that you're just worried, but you don't have to."

I pecked him on the cheek and smiled at him. "I love you. I won't leave you."

He gave out a huge sigh of relief and hugged me. He kissed my forehead. He grinned. "Thank you… I love you too."

His embrace was so warm. I could feel just how concerned he was.

I guess it's because of his ex-girlfriend. That was pretty awful.

But I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't hurt him.

Danny let go of me, still grinning. Thank goodness he was smiling now.

"Jeez! Hold the drama!" Rosanni squawked.

Now, not only Nicole glared at Rosanni, Pamela did the same thing. Rosanni gulped as she saw their glares, knowing that she had said the wrong thing.

"Shall I ?" Nicole asked.

"Yes", Pamela replied.

Nicole smiled, pleased that Pamela had agreed. She grabbed Rosanni by the foot and turned her upside down. She began shaking Rosanni violently.

"Okay! Okay! I kid! Let me go!" Rosanni protested, fruitlessly trying to escape.

"You promise to be more polite now?" Pamela asked her.

"Yes! Yes! Now PLEASE let me go!" Rosanni pleaded.

Nicole and Pamela smiled at each other.

"That was an improvement", Pamela smiled.

"Okay. I'll let her go", Nicole shrugged and placed the parrot gently on Pamela's shoulder.

Pamela giggled and stroked Rosanni's head. "Sorry, but you were being rude."

Rosanni's head drooped. "Fine… I'm sorry…"

"Hm… Smart parrot", Nicole smiled.

Danny and I laughed. Poor Rosanni. She was improving though.

We all decided to teach Rosanni tricks this afternoon. In the course of two hours, she managed to learn a back flip, skate on a mini skateboard, and roller blade. Pamela bought all the needed accessories. She was smart, and we were all impressed.

Nicole and Rosanni were at peace with each other now. Rosanni respected Nicole a lot now, as if she was its master. It was all funny.

Pretty soon, Jacob came to pick us up. He didn't have any resentment towards Danny anymore. They even chatted about video games again.

I held Danny's arm and placed my head on his shoulder. He was sweet, and that made me even surer of my feelings for him.