I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!
It wasn't supposed to take so long! I was told it'd be THREE WEEKS to take out my double-wide, put in a basement, and put in the new house, and it took almost EIGHT! I have been gone for WAY too long! I tried to get this chapter up a few days ago but it wouldn't work! So now here it is, and I really hope you like it! I'm trying to get a chapter up for every story now, to repay you all for my absence.
By the way, I heard a rumor that you weren't supposed to respong individually to reviewers, but I'm going to keep doing it until an official says something to me. I think you all deserve it, it lets you know we're listening to your opinions and ideas, and it can be a good way to learn about another writer.
And speaking of reviews, these responses are all I could save. All my email got deleted for some stupid reason...I'll try to get them all for this chapter to make up for it, but these are what I had before I...left.
PunkRoxPixie: I love dogs too! I'm an animal maniac! When I'm doing homework, my cat come into my room with me and sits on my bookbag or on my folders. My dog knows how to round up the chickens, and the goat knows how to come when she's called. My oldest chicken, who's a year older than the seven other ones we got at Easter, comes when she's called, too! You just pretend like you're calling the cats and go "here, kitty kitty!" and Bubbs (chicken) comes running! It's hilarious! She thinks she's a cat! And she waits on the front porch at night for us to take her into the hutch!...And omg, I HATE moving! My friend recently moved into her grandmother's old house, and now she's like the moving QUEEN! My mom and brother waited until the last MINUTE to pack up, and then my mom worked until like 2 in the morning packing up. She's throwing a lot away, but I'm a major pack rat, like my grandma...Oh, and Monica is based on a real girl, but she's not as nasty as I made her out to be, I just don't really like her. (she's the girl that the guy I like has a crush on. He told my friend who moved--since she can get anything out of him--that he likes me and Monica, but he doesn't know which one he likes more...and I've known him since 3rd grade!) Sorry I rambled so much!
halli-halliwell: My boxer-pit whines when she wants out and my mutt-dog runs back and forth from the door to the nearest person. My Lab-Shepard that lives with my dad and step-mom is a really good walker, but when he smells something he likes, he's outta there! My step-mom's Akita-mix, this beautiful little teddy-bear dog, is a crazy walker! One time I tried to walk the Lab and Akita at the same time and I swear my arms almost ripped out!
notanothernonamer: I think you'll like Piper's character. She's...fun. Very fun. She's a lot like me! If the story were to be made into a movie, I could play the character for two reasons--A: because I'd get a lot of money. B: because I'm fun like her!
scullymulder: Yeah, Monica's so going! I had to get rid of her! But she'll leave a lasting impression on Leo, that's for sure...Which is why Piper comes in to the rescue! BTW, did you email SammersKkcnkSMac or the Squrl one? 'Cause Sammers works, that's what I use.
LeoPiper-Forever: Everyone's looking forward to Piper! What if she's not what you expect? j/k, she's cool. She really comes into the story in Chapter 4, though.
Two weeks passed and I didn't hear from Monica or Joe. That was perfectly fine with me. I focused on work and spending lunch breaks with Sarah. I was almost sure she had a thing for me, and I'll admit, she was a beautiful, energetic person, but other than a little flirting, we stayed friends.
I was a regular at the restaurant I mentioned earlier. Sarah and I were there a lot and Ashley and I met up there, too.
I tried not to think about Monica.
So I let my friends take me to their favorite bar.
When I agreed to spend that Saturday night with the four craziest men I know, I felt a pang of dread. (No offense, guys, but you really are insane.)
Jack, Ryan, Chris, and Blake.
We'd grown up together. We knew each other since the first grade. They showed up at my place around nine and dragged me out.
"You need to start looking into other women," Jack told me.
"Yeah, start checking out more asses, stare at more legs," Ryan said.
We all laughed.
They took me to Gloria's, their favorite bar. From eight to midnight, they had a DJ doing karaoke. Some of the singers were really good. Some really sucked. One girl, my guess was she was about fourteen, had one of the best voices I'd ever heard. The whole bar started dancing when she started singing. Jack tossed a twenty dollar bill at her and she immediately pocketed it with a smile. Chris and I started yelling, "Nashville Star! Nashville Star! Nashville Star!" at her to tell her how good she was.
Most of the time, though, we drank and made rude comments about Monica. We complained about her and embellished on her bad points to make me feel better.
By midnight, the Monica we all knew turned into a monster. She had brown teeth and bad breath. Her hair was frizzy and crap-colored when she didn't dye it. We said she was too short, her nose was too small, her ears were too big. We said her eyes were blue because of contacts. She was fat, too.
Of course, she was none of these things, but we were drunk and blowing off steam, what did we care?
We stumbled home, since Blake's house was only a couple blocks away. We accidentally hailed a cab by waving and cheering. The cab van stopped, backed up to us, and asked if we wanted a ride. We laughed all the way home about it.
At three o'clock in the morning, after Blake's girlfriend fell asleep on the couch in their living room, refusing to watch us, we split up. Chris crashed at Blake's house. Literally crashed. He just...fell on the lazy boy in the living room and started snoring. Jack and I both wanted to go home, so Blake made us go through his home-sobriety test. Jack passed and I didn't, so he drove me home. I didn't have my car, anyway.
I barely made it inside, went straight to my room, and fell on my bed. A yelp made me jump. Toby crawled to the end of the bed with a low growl. I fell asleep on top of the blankets.
Six hours and one hangover later, I was at that indoor/outdoor restaurant again, sitting outside. I was watching the people go past, focusing on the women. Something made me distrustful of them, even though I didn't know them. I didn't want to know them.
I watched them all walk past, and not one of them meant a thing to me.
Then I saw her.
No, not Monica. The one I was talking about earlier, in the beginning.
She was walking past with a cell phone to her ear. She was moving quickly, her walk was brisk. Her long brown hair was swaying with her and her hips swayed as she walked, too. She glanced around the sidewalk and our eyes met for a split second before she looked away. She weaved her way among the tables and chairs in the outdoor section of the restaurant until she found a waiter made an order off the top of her head, then she found a seat and continued her phone conversation.
She was sitting a couple tables away from me, and when she looked up, our eyes would meet for a second before we both looked away. Once, when she looked up, she was smiling, but I brushed it off because she was already smiling when she was looking down. I assumed she was talking to her boyfriend...or fiancé.
I looked at her hands, working away at the edge of her coffee. She had no ring.
I had to smile.
She said goodbye to whoever she was talking to and hung her phone up. She looked up at me again and smiled. I was paralyzed. I tried to look away, but I could see her eyes from where I was and I was lost. She smiled again and stood up, grabbing her coffee with her. I tried not to watch her, but I couldn't help it.
She moved to my table and sat across from me. That surprised me.
"Hi," she said to me, smiling.
"Uh..."
She flipped her hair back behind her shoulders. Then she stuck her hand out over the table. "Piper."
I shook her hand weakly, still confused. "Leo."
"Hi," she said again.
"Hi," I managed to say.
"So what's up, Leo?" she said.
I sighed and leaned forward. "Piper, is it?"
She nodded.
I glanced at the people around us, then my gaze fell on her again. "This...Who are you?"
She laughed a little and pushed back some stray hairs. Once again she stuck her hand out over the table with a smile. "Piper Halliwell. Well, Piper Elizabeth Halliwell, according to my birth certificate."
No one had ever just come up to me and started talking with so much enthusiasm. I wasn't sure of what to say. "Okay..."
"So what's up?"
"Uh..."
She settled into her chair, took a sip of coffee, and then leaned forward again. "I came over here because it looked like..." She shrugged. "It looked like you were a little down."
I raised an eyebrow at her. "It did?"
She nodded. "I thought maybe you'd like some company..."
"Well, Piper..." I leaned forward too. "I don't want any company." I didn't mean to sound too rude, but I didn't want to talk to some strange girl right now.
My comment didn't even phase her. She shrugged again. "I don't care what you do or don't want. I can tell what you need, and you need some company right now."
"How can you tell?" I challenged her.
She finished another sip of coffee. "It's in your eyes." She set the cup down. "So what happened?" she questioned. "Girlfriend dump you? Lost your job?"
I smiled. "No."
"Then why are you so down in the dumps?" she asked.
I directed my smile at her, but then I frowned and shrugged. I stood up, tossed a dollar on the table for the waiter, and started to walk away.
She stared at the dollar before scrambling up to follow me. "Wait! Wait up!" She caught up with me on the sidewalk, her coffee still in hand. "Some hell of a tip you left there," she said as she walked beside me, as if we'd known each other for years.
I didn't comment. What would make her go away?
"Hello?" She stepped in front of me and waved her hands in my face. I stopped and stared at her. She was just too damn beautiful. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. But I did my best to ignore her. This was just all I needed today...
"Hello? You there?"
I blinked. "Why are you following me?"
She smiled. "Thought I lost ya."
I continued walking and so did she.
"Where ya goin'?"
She was annoying, to say the least.
"Back to work."
"Where at?"
"A building."
"Well, duh, I figured. I didn't think you worked at like a loading dock or something..." She laughed to herself. "Which building?"
"The big one."
She nodded sarcastically. "Right...Well, Buddy, this is San Francisco. There are tons of big buildings around here."
"The biggest one."
"Oh, of course. That clears it up..."
She was sarcastic.
She was sarcastic and annoying. But so goddamn beautiful. I almost wanted her to follow me. But I didn't want her to. No, no, no, no, no. I told myself I was going to wait a while until I tried for another relationship. This was definitely not waiting. I didn't trust women then, I didn't want to be around women then, I just wanted to do my job and drink away the weekends with my friends. At least for the next few months.
So I tried to make her go away. I tried ignoring her. I made rude comments, I barely spoke, I tried to walk faster to give her a hint, but no. She kept following me. In fact, she followed me right up to my workplace. Right to the revolving doors.
"So this is where you work, huh?"
I nodded.
"Well...Good luck at that!" She patted my shoulder and started to leave.
"Wait!"
She stopped.
"Where are you going?"
She smiled. "Home. I'll see you tomorrow."
"...Tomorrow?"
"Yeah, at the restaurant. You probably go there all the time, right? Since it's so close. You spend lunch breaks there, right? Am I right?"
I was silent. She was right.
Her smile grew. "Ah, I knew I was right." She turned to walk away. "See you tomorrow, Leo!" she said as she walked down the street, her back to me.
I wasn't sure what to say or do.
This woman was stalking me. Or something like that. She was doing something, and I was almost afraid to know more about her.
But there was something about her that just...I don't know.
Maybe it was the way she walked.
I hope you all liked it! I'll get the next one up as soon as I can!
I'm Back!
I'm Home!
Yay!
