No shared Romano/Corday scenes again… just a pick up (filler) chapter with Romano and Gretal. I think I'm a little gun shy to get Elizabeth and Robert in the same room again. (See Chapter 11) I have a rated "R" idea in my head that I would like to write. But they are so not there. If it happens, it won't be right away. Haa haa… now I am a tease.
Romano passed the receiver from his right hand to his left and very slowly set the phone down hanging it up. He was hoping to work through some exercises with Gallant at the park but Elizabeth had shown up. He felt a strange hiding behind a tree once he saw her, but he wasn't ready to see her just yet. After that night, on her doorstep, Romano had made the conscious decision that the next time he was with her he wanted to be with her completely. To comfort her and keep her warm completely. To wrap his arms around her completely. And that meant pursuing rehabilitation with his prosthetic arm much more aggressively than he had planned.
"I guess it's just you and me," he smiled to Gretal. "Are you up for some catch in the park?"
"Shlruff," Gretal answered lifting her head for a moment and then putting it back down. Gretal was contently resting on top of the heating vent that lined a wall in Romano's living room. Robert grabbed a leash out his closet and held it in his left hand for a moment. "Well maybe not quite yet," he said to himself as he passed the rope back to his right hand.
"Come on you big lazy Trojan horse," he slapped the leash noisily down on the hardwood floor. Slowly Gretal scrambled to her feet and allowed for Romano to attach her restraint. On the walk to the park Romano tried passing the leash back and forth between his hands. Gretal looked back and him and shook her head letting some spit swing out of her mouth. "As if there's a need for this leash at all," she seemed to be thinking.
Reaching the park Romano took a cursory glace around the park to see that Ella and her nanny had left. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about not seeing them there. He had decided on the way over that if they were there he would approach them. Detaching the tie from her collar Gretal grabbed the tennis ball out of Romano's pocket and dropped it at his feet. Romano tossed the ball with his right hand a few times to warm up both himself and is oversized ball retriever.
"Alright girl, you ready to cross on over to the other side," he spoke to Gretal but it was much more commentary for himself. Robert put the ball into his left hand and slowly closed the plastic fingers around it. Gretal lower on her front paws in anticipation of the chase. Romano noted that she didn't back away as far as she had with previously. "You trying to make me look good, girl. Thanks. I appreciate that." He reached back his arm and counted down in his head. Once he reached one he closed his eyes and released his arm forward. At the 60-degree angle he unclasped his fingers and opened his eyes. The ball finally released at about a 20-degree angle and landed on the grass rolling until Gretal picked it up about five feet away from him. Gretal dropped it at his feet again and stepped back into position.
"Again, girl? You sure?" Gretal barked and wagged her tail. Romano reeled his arm back and tried again. This time it flew about 10 feet before hitting the ground. Romano beamed. He leaned over to pet Gretal's head she dropped the ball again. "With you as my therapist and Dr. Corday as my incentive, I'll have the dexterity to type 100 wpm in no time…" He threw the ball again and registered that it went just a smidge father than the last time, "not that typing is what I am most looking forward to."