CHAPTER THREE
PRESENT, LONDON.
Bandit walked through a little maze of streets until the little square, one with a fountain in the middle, surrounded by red maples. He inhaled deeply and let out a sigh while looking at the Nikes statue at the centre of the fountain.
He needed to bring Chilli to London, and to be here with her.
"Well, time for a cuppa!", he said, while crossing the square in direction to the coffee-shop.
THIS EPISODE OF BLUEY IS CALLED "GIFTS".
"So, you were mean to dad?", asked Bingo with incredulity.
"Yes, love", said Chilli, "and that was the worst mistake in the long list of mistakes I made that week".
"Lets see", said Bluey. "First you got into an elevator and then a lonely terrace with a handsome stranger in a city you didn't know; then, you didn't let your only friend in the city to know where you were, third: you let your phone died, in consequence that friend couldn't contact you anyway; fourth: you drank enough to get sloshed at the point of forgetting the last part of the night; fifth: the next couple of days you became anxious about the reason of the guy's silence; and last: you were mean to the very guy you were interested in".
"Who happened to be our dad", complemented Bingo".
"Yeah, that is a good summary of it", admitted Chilly ruefully.
"Well, is not that bad for a twenty-five year old woman!", said Bluey flippantly.
PAST
The bus was empty at last.
Chilli took air in and let it out to steady herself, then she walked to the nearest seat to the bus driver.
"Hey", she said to Bandit.
"Hey", he replied.
PRESENT-LONDON
Bandit looked at the tea on his cup, waiting for the breakfast he had ordered.
He still remembered that day.
Angered Chilli.
What was what he had read in her eyes that morning? Was it anger or disappointment? Shame?... all of them? The thing is that despite all these, she still looked beautiful, and he still felt electric butterflies in his stomach at the mere sight of her and, despite the clearly disadvantageous position in which he was, he still felt that this "thing" between them was meant to be extraordinary.
And maybe she did also, because before she spoke, he could guess something else in her face, indecision ... self-guilt perhaps?
"You promised to call me". She made silence for one second, waiting for some kind of reply.
He didn't answer, he first wanted to hear all what she wanted to say. Besides, he was still manoeuvring a bus trough London's centre at traffic peak hours... it was difficult to organise a response under those conditions.
"If you didn't want to see me again, you shouldn't have done that. Or you should at least had called me to say so, and don't let me wait for you... It was a hurtful thing to do, even if I did suspect you wouldn't call me after the night we met". She sighed heavily. "This is my stop, goodbye Bandit Heeler".
Bandit was speechless looking at her.
Now he was beginning to feel really upset, he opened the door and said: "Are you calling me mean or coward?".
She had didn't got out yet, meanwhile, the traffic light changed to green. "I haven't call you anything, it was you who said so, not me". She said calmly.
The drivers behind his bus started to sound their horns. Someone shouted, and she started to leave, along with Bandit's anger. He grabbed her hand, yet she got lose.
"I can explain!", he yelped. By now she was out the bus, but she kept looking at him. "I sent you a note!", he said; at this point there was a cacophony of horns and yells behind Bandit's bus.
Disbelief and anger flashed in Chilli's eyes. "What note?!", she said raising her voice over the noise, "I have already checked twice in the reception!".
Bandit looked dumbfounded "she didn't receive the note!", he thought.
Consternation was written in his face in a way Chilli could not ignore, she looked at him surprised, "There was a note?! Could it be?!", she thought.
"Keep on driving or I'll get you out of the way myself!!!", someone yelled behind Bandit's bus. He looked at Chilli with sadness, "I did", he said while he closed the door and keep on driving.
Chilli could only look at the bus disappear into the busy streets.
PRESENT
The day had go one, and the dinner dishes were cleared of the table. The girls accommodate themselves for study and homework. Chilli was adamant, no more story until they finish it. So, Bluey began to take some notes about a book she was reading while Bingo submerge herself in her biology notes.
Chilli went for a tea and her latest crochet project and got comfortable in the sofa. "So, fourteenth row: One single crochet trough next six stitches, one increase and repeat ten times until the end of the row. One, two, three, four single crochets... was it six?"
She sighed, those memories she had shared with her daughters made her think of Bandit again and again, what could he be doing right now? "He is probably having brekky", she thought. Oh, she missed him so much!
She had hurt him that time, she still could feel her heart tighten at the mere thought of it.
But back then she had felt hurt too, because she was really convinced that he was so appalled by her that he wouldn't call her.
PAST
Chilli got a cab and went straight to the Hotel, letting know Trixie where she was.
At the entrance of the edifice, she saw an unexpected face. "Penny!", she greeted at the receptionist, an Akita about her own age.
"Oh Chilli, hi!", she greeted in return, with a somewhat guilty face, then Chilli understood it all and paused before her with dread.
"Im afraid I might have committed a mistake regarding your correspondence... you see... the past Saturday at 15:00 or so, a blue heeler came here and asked me to pass a note to you".
Chillis heart was beating wildly. "Im so sorry I didn't give it to you immediately, but the very second he left I got a phone call from the hospital saying that my mother was in the emergency room, so I left leaving all behind, without asking to Mrs. Gray to give it to you".
Chilli smiled sympathetically; she could relate to that all too well for her liking. "Its ok, I understand. How is your mother now?".
"Thankfully, she is recovering pretty well". The akita rummaged for something in a drawer, and passed a folded paper to Chilli, "I hope I haven't caused too much trouble to you".
Chilli took the paper and looked onto Pennys face, "Dont worry mate", she said.
That simple piece of paper was burning and itching Chillis hand, until she reached her room and sat on her bed to read it.
Despite her nervousness, she couldn't help but smile at the sight of Bandit's handwriting. God it was messy! All sketchy capital letters, like the writing of someone who thinks too fast for his own hands.
"Dear Chilli. I'm afraid I have lost your phone number (my cellphone was robbed this morning) so, if you still want to, please call to my new phone: xxxx-xxxx-xxx.
I would love to see you again!
Bandit.
PS: The Dancing Pony will be closed tonight; would you like to go somewhere else? ... hope you will."
Chilli gulped and dried a lone tear of her cheek. She had messed it up badly.
PRESENT, LONDON.
Bandit took the bus to get to the university. He was smiling, thinking of his daughters back at home, probably doing some homework before bedtime, and Chilli...what would she be doing now? Maybe she was reading, or crocheting, or drawing... If he would be there, he would be by her side, in that special silence of them, watching her contently.
PAST- LONDON.
Bandit was an intelligent dog, so there was one thing he couldn't stop doing: to think.
So, he did just that all the way home.
Maybe Pearl was right, and he really give his heart away far too easy... Maybe that was the reason why all his relationships had gone wrong... he had a tendency to rush things, after all he was a somewhat old-fashioned kind of guy.
About Chilli... he couldn't stop feeling, and thinking, that they could have had something different. There was an almost tangible spark between them, a complicity of sorts that had been there from the very beginning.
Besides, it was clear to him that she wasn't just seeking fun, otherwise she wouldn't have been so upset about not receiving any call from him.
Was she so on to him as he was interested in her? His heart jumped at the mere chance of it!
But he had to consider she had the nerve to give him a piece of her mind and they not even have a relationship! Was that a red flag? "No its not ...she probably had legit motives to feel upset..."
Ah! But she had wronged him! ... "Inadvertently and very elegantly so, because she genuinely thought she was right about me, besides, one had to admire her guts to speak out her mind in that way".
And she had not listened to him!... "But I didn't tell her my version of the story when she made silence, clearly for let me speak... and after it, it was almost impossible".
What was he thinking?! She wouldn't be in his life anymore anyway...he yelped once, like a pup...why was that hurting him so much?
Bandit got to his rented room.
He was an intelligent dog, yet he was also relatively poor right now, so there was a thing he couldn't stop doing: working.
Where had he put that book? He needed it for Professor Collie paper!
"Think Bandit, think! Where were you the last time you had it? … Biscuits!!! The Pony!!"
Bandit rushed to the club, fortunately the manager was there at this hour.
"Hey Boss! Have you seen a very heavy green book over here? I might have forgot it this Saturday".
"You lucky dog! I was wondering if it was yours", said the manager putting a very expensive looking volume over the bar. Bandit sighed with relief.
"I have something else for you", said the manager, passing a black leather jacket to Bandit. His heart tightened when he received it.
"A very lovely red heeler did bring it this past Saturday's night, saying it was yours". The manager chuckled while giving a friendly pat to Bandit's shoulder, "Well done, you blue guy!".
Bandit didn't smile, "Yeah, I must had been doing pretty good", he said curtly. "Thank you".
He got out and put on the jacket. "Just in time, it's chilling!", he chuckled ruefully at his dark attempt of humour.
His hand went to the jacket's pocket absentmindedly. He gasped, a note was in his hands, he unfolded the paper in a rush. There it was her handwriting.
He chuckled, it was neat and clear, every letter looking more like a drawing than a part of a written word.
"Dear Bandit.
Here's my number again, just in case: xxx-xxxx-xxx
I would love to see you again.
For real life!
Chilli C".
Bandit held the note to his chest and, smiling, looked up to the sky. Maybe there was hope after all.
PRESENT
"Done!", exclaimed Bingo wagging her tail.
"You sure?".
"Yep mum! Here it is A drawing of a eukaryotic cell and its organelles! Did you know that our mitochondria are the same as those of our mothers, and so on?!".
Chilli smiled at her youngest daughter's enthusiasm, biology and science were always a piece of cake for her. "Fascinating, sweetheart!".
"What about you Bluey?".
"Oh, I won't finish today, Mum, I still have four days more to get my essay done. I have already read the book and my notes are in order, so it won't be difficult".
Chilli knew Bluey wasn't bragging. "Good on ya, little book worm", said while caressing her daughter's head.
"Now", said Bingo, "the rest of the story, as you promised!".
"Of course. Bluey could you prepare a cuppa for us?".
"Righto!".
PAST.
"Chilli? Are you ok?", said Trixie sitting at her friend's side.
"No, I'm not. I have been so mean to him!".
Chilli went on to Trixie's embrace and wept a little while narrating the morning happenings to her.
"Now, now honey", cooed Trixie. "What's what you always said to me whenever I'm sad?".
Chilli sighed, "Have a little cry, then pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep going". She smiled ruefully, "Thank you", she said to Trixie.
"That's my brave friend!".
"But I have done wrong ... I don't feel like I would be ok just like that".
PRESENT
"Well girls, I have learnt that sometimes we just make wrong decisions or hurt people, and if our hearts are in the correct place, we just cannot feel ok until we try to amend what had we done wrong. So, I made a checklist for it also".
PAST
"First: Recognise your mistake".
"I was wrong Trixie, Bandit acted in the right way, yet I misjudged him, rushed into wrong conclusions and treated him most unfairly".
"Why did you do that?", asked Trixie.
"Well, to me it was pretty obvious that he had mistreated me, considering his silence".
"Second: Acknowledge the consequences of your actions".
Chilli sighed with sadness. "He is a good dog, Trixie... probably he is feeling offended and hurt right now... I need to do something about it!".
"Do you think it will work?".
"I don't know...and it's very sad, because I had this deep feeling about him, about us... that we might could have had something special if we wanted to. And now, I don't think it might ever happen".
"And yet you'll try to rectify what you have done? You could just let it be...".
"Nah... I need to do what is right, not for what I would have had with Bandit, but for him and for myself. It oughta be done."
"Third: Do whatever you can to amend the wrong or damage you have caused".
PRESENT, LONDON.
"Over here Dr. Heeler. You'll see your seat in this row, it's the third one".
"Oh, thanks son", Bandit said to the student who had guided him at the meeting hall.
He sighed; he was nervous! Today he was meant to deliver the first of the two presentations he had agreed to. The last one was programmed for the next Friday, and then he would return to his family.
He had begun to fidget with a lucky charm in his pocket, when his phone began to ring. "Cheese and crackers!". It was an incoming voice message: "Daaad! We love you! Show'em how it's done, big fella! You'll do great Bandit, I love you!".
He smiled, that was just what he needed.
He took the lucky charm in his hand and looked at it fondly before putting it in his pocket again. It was a little folded paper, the same he had over his desk long, long time ago.
PAST, LONDON.
"Done!" Bandit said, stretching his arms, "Hope this is enough for you, Professor Collie!".
He looked at the little folded paper over a pile of books in his desk, it was Chilli's note. He sighed. He didn't understand himself, he was still mad at her, yet he wanted so bad to understand what had happened and to see her again.
"I won't call her!", he said looking at the note. "She accused me of not making good on my promises! She misjudged me! She said I had hurt her!".
"My stars! She had felt hurt...". He couldn't help but feel bad about it and sighed while sitting on the bed.
"I won't call her, what if she is bananas!? As much as I like her, as much as somehow I feel we were meant to each other, I won't call her. I'll leave it to destiny, whatever is meant to be, it will be".
He thrown himself into the bed, looking at the ceiling, and closed his eyes inhaling deeply. He stayed that way for a couple of minutes, until his phone began to ring.
"Yes?".
"... Bandit?".
PRESENT.
"Ahhhhh!" the girls squealed; Chilli chuckled.
"You called him!!!". "Did you confess your undying love to him?!".
"Ohh! That's so romance!!".
The mother snorted, "Of course not! Geez! You two are too romantic for your own good!"
PAST
"Hey", she said.
"Hey"...
" I - I know you must be upset with me. I was unfair to you this morning and had treated you wrong, now I see I was mistaken... so I wanted to ask for your forgiveness, but now it seems not enough to do it through the phone. Could we meet to talk?".
Bandit was in silence.
"...I ... of course I'll understand if you don't want to...".
"No, please! I mean...", he paused to speech calmly, so she couldn't hear the sheer need in his voice, and said: "I would not be opposed to meet you so we can talk about what happened this morning..."
She sighed, "Thank you... I know you are always very busy, so I won't take long... When it will be convenient to you? It can be right now if you want to..."
"There is a little square four blocks away from your hotel, with a fountain and a Nike goddess statue in its centre...".
"The one with red maples, across a coffee shop?".
"Yes, that one... Could you be there in half an hour?"
"I will. Thanks Bandit".
Two dogs were hurriedly walking to a square from different directions.
He was smiling despite that his reason had tried again and again to quench the hope kindled in his heart.
She, walked with purpose yet with calm, with her heart open to anything might happen.
"Well, the most possible outcome is that he'll be gentle and kind as usual, he'll accept my apologies as befits a gentleman and we'll go into separate ways ... And I will become just a memory in his mind, just a weird woman to be forgotten in time". Her heart tightened almost painfully at that thought.
Bandit turned a corner.
"Maybe she is not bananas after all, maybe she was just confused and had a good reason to acted that way!... Yeah... and maybe all the interest she had shown in me was only adrenaline and alcohol, and now she is only trying to do what is right. Maybe the spark between us is not there anymore..."
Bandit shuddered, he FEARED that. He slowed his pace.
"Nevertheless, I admire her drive to do the right thing...whatever she might feel for me".
Chilli stopped at the corner waiting for the green light.
"In other hand, if we part in good terms, we might get reacquainted when hell returns to AUS. I can always go to the museum to see if he has arrived... But then, he said he will stay here for two months more, so it's likely he might get himself a girlfriend by then, after all he seemed quite popular among the female audience at the club... Well, we could still be friends after all... Ha!". Chilli chuckled darkly, "as if I could stay just friends with a guy that moves me so!! Im afraid that with Bandit Heeler is all or nothing".
Chilli crossed the street and found the little square.
It was a lovely place. Bandit wasn't there yet. She stayed still in front of the fountain, inhaling deeply to calm her racing heart.
"There she is: Nike herself, the victory goddess incarnated in a red heeler, surrounded by red maple under a grey sky. My! She shouldn't be that beautiful!".
Bandit could see Chilli from across the street. He crossed and with his first step in the square, he thought: "Go Bandit, it's all or nothing".
PRESENT:
"Oh My!" Both girls were waiting eagerly for the outcome. "Please get the biscuits Bingo!".
PAST:
"Chilli?"
"Oh! It's you... just for a second, I feared you wouldn't come".
"I said I would".
"Yeah... now I know you are a man of your word...".
They seated into a bench near the fountain.
"Bandit I'm truly sorry for what I did to you. I misjudged you and treated you wrong ...".
"You accused me of hurting you!".
"Yeah... sort of ... I'm sorry".
"What happened to you to do that?"
Chilli sighed... "Well... first, I had the impression you wouldn't want to see me again. Then when I got to the club at Saturday's night, the guy who was there told me that you had been there in the morning, so it was pretty obvious to me that, as you hadn't told me about the club being closed, you had no interest in see me...".
"Then it was when you returned my jacket?", Bandit interrupted her.
Chilli gasped, "Yes".
"I have just recovered it today after work and found your note".
"Oh?!".
"Although I wanted to know about you, I had decided not to call you..."
Chilli gulped, "I understand it...".
"Yet I'm truly glad you did it", he said with a warm smile.
Chilli smiled in return and continued. "I called to your phone many times during the weekend, only to have my calls rejected, sometimes I could even tell there was someone listening and then it hanged out the phone! So, I thought you were avoiding me on purpose".
"Well, it wasn't me!".
"Now I know, but at the time I had not received your note. I got it just when I returned to the hotel today. The receptionist to whom I had asked for it didn't even know about its existence".
"Oh! So, you really thought it was me... but, why not to believe I was just busy and could not attend your call?".
Chilli chuckled, "Because you are the kind of guy that answers the phone anyway, or that send a message saying something like: Busy, mate!".
Bandit laughed, "How did you knew that?!".
"Dunno", said she, shrugging.
He smiled mischievously. "And... what kind of guy is that?".
She kept silent for a second and then, with a somewhat shy smile, she said: "The very good kind".
Bandit smiled, maybe they could have a chance after all... "But, if Im that kind of guy...how come you started thinking I would not want to see you again to the point of avoiding you?".
Chilli sighed silently.
"My...she looks hurt!", thought Bandit. He looked at her hand in the seat, his was on the same place, yet a pair of inches away, so he moved it closer to hers, almost touching.
"He looks worried … about me? Hold on... his hand is so close to mine! He moved it on purpose?", Chilli wasn't expecting that, yet she didn't let it show.
"Bandit, I got sloshed the very night we met! And I was so much so I can't remember anything after the first mojitos. You had to carry me to my hotel room, and it seems I said things to you I wouldn't said sober! I was, Im, so ashamed of it, of course you wouldn't want to call me after that, I would not had!", she said flattening her ears back. "But nevertheless, the fact that you had not, after you had promised to... yeah, that did hurt me... Now I know it was not your intention..."
"Of course, it wasn't my intention, my intention was quite the contrary. I was trying to call you when my phone was robbed! … because I wanted to see you again, very much..." He closed the distance between his hand and hers, so their borders were touching.
"Oh! That was on purpose!", she thought.
"Dou you think Im the kind of guy who think women shouldn't drink?".
Chilli snorted, "You better not!"
He laughed. "Well said! Chilli you only made a mistake anyone can do... I have done it myself... many times really".
"Well, it was the first time I got THAT drunk, besides, considering the things I said, I was about to... jump at you... if you get me".
Bandit snickered cheekily. "Yeah, I get ya! And yes, you were, I can confirm it. Are you sure you wouldn't say those things to me while sober?"
"Is he flirting with me?!" Chillis tail began to wag. "Not the very night we had met, at least! It must have been truly embarrassing to you too, I was way too drunk".
"Nahh, it wasn't. Chilli, it was just a mistake... I think you are far too hard on yourself... are you still hurting about it?"
"Not now that we have talked about it... Do you forgive me for the things I said to you this morning?".
He looked at her warmly. "Of course, I do!"
"I think I have the tendency to be too hard on myself sometimes", she said.
He moved a little closer to her and smiled sweetly. "Well... maybe you just need someone to remember to you how good you are, while you learn to be more compassionate to yourself".
Chillis heart was thumping very fast. "He still looks at me in the same way he had at the club!", she thought.
He continued. "You are pretty awesome you know? Even if you were mistaken, it takes courage to stand for what you believe is correct in the way you did this morning, and it does even more so to acknowledge your mistakes and to do what is right. You could have let it pass you know? You have guts Chilli Cattle!"
She smiled at him. "Are you remembering to me how good I am?"
"Well, yes!".
"Its not that difficult to acknowledge your mistakes when you have a good reason to do it".
"Well, it is to me. Im an awful looser, you know?", he said.
"You don't look like it! Any way... maybe you just need someone to remember to you that you have nothing to lose when you don't win, while you learn to do it. To lose will not diminish anything about you, for you are a great dog, kind and with an open heart", Chilli said while moving a little closer to him.
"Are you remembering to me how good I am?"
"Well, yes!"
He gasped inwardly; was she open to a relationship with him?
"Any way", she continued, to get that sloshed was a mistake and to treat you unfairly was a greater mistake... Im very thankful for your readiness to forgive me, it means a lot to me".
"Hey!" he said, while taking her hand in his softly. She smiled at him. "I would gladly be to you whenever you make a mistake from now on", he said looking into her eyes.
His stare was so sweet and intense that Chilli got speechless for a moment.
She smiled coquettishly. "Was that a proposal or declaration of sorts?".
He looked at her seductively. "Only if you want to".
"Ohhh, but you know me too little, it could be a mistake!"
"Well, yes, it could be", he said still smiling at her.
"What would be a mistake, to think it or to say it aloud?"
Without letting go of her hand, he moved so close to her that their arms were touching. "Only to say it aloud, and its only a tactical mistake I guess", he said shrugging.
She laughed.
"This feels like so right!" they both thought.
"By the way, did you and your friend make it to the museum after all?".
"Only she".
"Oh, what a pity! The British museum is one of my favourite places in all London! Would you still want to visit it? I know an expert guide..."
"Do you? Is he an aussie archaeologist?".
"Oh, yes, he might have time to show you the museum… by the way, there is a special night opening tomorrow...", he said, smiling smoothly.
"Really! Oh, I would like that very much!".
"Its a date then?". His tail wagged along his heartbeat.
"Yeah, a date!".
"Its almost teatime", she said, "Would you like a cuppa at the coffee shop across the street? Ill pay".
"Righto! I remember that last Saturday's night you told me your job was well paid right now!", he said bantering, "so you did make me know... That was an implicit proposal, you know?".
"Only if you want to, Bandit".
They left the square, with their hearts beating fast and their tails wagging happily.
PRESENT
"So, you kissed him at the coffee shop, don't you?", asked Bluey with dreamy eyes.
"Yay! Smoochy kiss!!", said Bingo.
"Nope!"
"What?!", exclaimed the girls.
"You just can't rush this kind of things girls!".
"Well, dad was rushing it!", observed Bluey.
"Yeah, that he was..." admitted Chilli, "but then, he has always been a hopeless romantic! Just like you two!".
"Well, that's how we met, and enough story for one day!", she said while leaving the table.
"Awww! But we want to get to the part when you kiss!", complained Bingo.
"Not today! It's very late and you have school tomorrow!".
"Awww... Ok Mum."
"Now, what have you learnt today?".
"That true love isn't something that just happens, it requires humility, compassion, empathy and work from both sides", said Bluey.
"That we should not get into elevators or lonely places with strangers, even if they are cute", said Bingo.
"Yeah, and anyway you promised not to do it until you get 25 years old", chuckled Chilli.
"Yeah...thanks Bluey!", said Bingo with a lopsided smile to her sister, who just smiled and shrugged.
"And not to rush into judge people, but to listen always at all the sides of a story", added Bingo.
"Well done girls", said Chilli smiling tenderly. "Yet there's something else to learn here. You see... life is always treating us with little gifts along our way, those little gifts sometimes are just to be enjoyed, but many of them also have the power of change our future, so its up to you to receive them with an open heart, and to give of your own gifts when it might be time. For instance, your auntie Trixies friendship, you know she was the one who insisted to our boss that I had to go to that seminar in London? and then, she made me go to your dad and speak to him".
"Oohhh! So, if weren't for Aunt Trixie you may have never met dad?!".
"Maybe, we'll never know", said Chilli.
"So, you were giving away from your own gifts when you matched her up with Uncle Stripe?", asked Bingo.
"No! I don't match up people, and that was your dad!", said Chilli laughing. "Now, what other gifts I found on that journey that changed my life?".
Bluey and Bingo got pensive, and after some seconds of silence, the oldest said: "Well... Your drive to make the right thing, Mum. If it werent for that, you may have never asked dads forgiveness, and you may have not gotten together again".
"Yeah! And dads kindness and readiness to forgive!", added Bingo.
"Yes! Although he would have been wrong if he wouldn't have accepted Mum heartfelt petition of forgiveness", said Bluey. "And your own boldness mum! If you hadnt were bold, you wouldn't had spoken with a cute stranger in a lonely place, nor gave him a piece of your mind in the bus!".
"Yeah Mum! your mistakes were gifts also, for they made you even closer to dad!", concluded Bingo.
Chilli smiled pleased. "You clever girls...", she said ruffling their heads. "Never ever, take for granted or ignore little gestures of kindness, for they can change your life, nor never ever deny your own mistakes, for they are opportunities to learn. Sometimes the bumps in the road, are the road itself".
"Now off to bed!".
"Night Mum!", both girls said while heading to the staircase.
"Oh, I forgot! Bluey!", called Chilli. "Stay with me a little bit longer, please sweetie".
The eldest girl looked dumbfounded. Had she done something wrong? There was something with Bingo or dad?
Chilli gestured for Bluey to sit at her side on the sofa and opened her arms.
Bluey immediately snuggled up to her mother, as if she was a very little pup again.
"Bluey... you seemed a little too pensive this morning at the beach, and then you asked me about unrequited love... is something the matter hon?"
Bluey grimaced and got even more snuggled to her mothers side, then she sighed. "No Mum, theres nothing happening nor not happening yet".
Chilli smiled kindly, "And... that's part of the matter?".
"Yeah... Mum, Im afraid its something where I must take the first step and then see what it happens".
"Are you having trouble to speak you mind?".
"Yeah... weird it isnt? Yet... I think Im having trouble to speak my heart, really...".
Chilli gulped, while giving a gentle squeeze to her embracing daughter. "...Oh Bluey...".
"What is it, Mum?".
"You are growing up".
Bluey wagged her tail lightly and look up to her mother. "Ill be fine Mum, I know I can count on you..."
Chilli smiled; it was as if her daughter had read her mind.
"I promise whatever might happen, youll be the first to know... well, maybe. I promised to tell Bingo also you know?".
--
Chilli was yet sleeping on her bed, peacefully resting when her phone rang, and she immediately wake up in emergency mode. "Dad? Bandit?", she murmured hoping everything was right.
"Oh! Bandit is video calling!".
"Hey gorgeous one! Its too early to call on you?"
Chilli smiled at his cheeky greeting. "Its never too early when its you who wake me up darling...", she replied in the same fashion. Then she heard some catcalling at Bandits background; someone said: "Well done, you old man!", and "My! You have her wrapped around your little finger!", while someone clapped.
Bandit smiled apologetically at the camera.
"Bandit!! You should had told me you were accompanied! Where are you?!".
"Hope you can guess!". he said smiling, while focusing his camera on a sign at the wall of the place he was in.
"Oh my!!! The Dancing Pony!!", Chilli squealed. "Its so good to know it still exist!"
"Yeah! And guess who are still working here!" Bandit, focused the camera on the group of people with him.
"No! The Debtors! Its so good to see ya all!!", she greeted waving her hand to the camera.
"Oh Chilli! I have missed you so much!", said Bandit looking at his wife.
"Aww... Bandit I have missed you heaps! I have been thinking of you the whole day..."
"Me too... Do you remember I told ya I got a present to you? Well... here it is", he said while giving his phone to someone behind the camera.
"Bandit?", she said while she saw him walking away with the people he was with.
A young wolfhound female was in front of the camera now. "Good night... Erh, morning, Mrs. Heeler! Im Diamond, Pearls daughter".
"Wait! You are Pearls baby girl?"
"Yep!"
"My!... Im too old!", Chilli said chuckling. "Where did Bandit go?".
Diamond smiled. "Wait and see!", she said, focusing the camera at the band dais. Bandit had taken his old place at the drums.
PAST
"Can you see her? There she is, the one sitting alone at the couch in the corner!".
"So, that's the girl you told me about, Bandit?", said Pearl.
"She is VERY pretty! How come she's with you?", bantered Clark.
Bandit sighed. "Dunno. So, now you see why I need to sing tonight? I promised her a song!"
Jam clapped Bandit's shoulder. "I approve!", he said.
"Thanks mate! It's your trumpet in good shape Clark?".
"Always. What do you want to play?".
Chilli could see that Bandit was hurriedly speaking with the band members, and the guitarist changed his instrument for a trumpet. What were they planning?
Suddenly, Bandit's voice could be heard at the microphone: "This is a song you may all have listened to if you are regular at the Pony, yet for me is special since last Saturdays night. Chilli, here's your prize. Hail to the victor!".
Pearl began the song with the first keyboard chords, and Chilli recognised it immediately.
PRESENT
Chilli gasped and felt her heart soar. "It's the fandango! The very first song we danced together, the one he dedicated to me all that time ago!".
PAST
She felt her eyes watering while truly paying attention to the lyrics for the first time.
"Dance with me, oh won't you dance with me?
I can see that I'm no good without you.
The rhumba makes me hunger for your love.
And the moon and the stars are up above.
Therefore…
Dance with me, you are so pretty.
And me, well I'm just an old fashioned type of guy.
All I want to do is dance with you
And romance with you.
I'm talking to you..."
Bandit eyes encountered hers at that last phrase, he was serious, intense and loving. "This", what they have, mattered deeply for him.
She felt herself at the edge of a precipice... and she wanted so much to jump...
PRESENT.
"He remembers how to play it, after all these years!", thought Chilli, moved to tears.
Pearl was skilfully closing the song with a little rain of notes in her keyboard while Bandit looked sweetly at the camera. At her.
PAST.
Suddenly, Jams voice cut out the spell saying: "Well Ponys people! This was Clark Corgi, the coolest music teacher in town, at the guitar and trumpet!".
"At the keyboard, synthesizer, sound effects and everything whimsical and beautiful about this band, our very own medicine student: Pearl Wolfhound!", said Clark.
"My own sweet brother, eternal law student and most skilled bassist: Jam Wolfhound!"
Bandit was just silently smiling at Chilli, so Clark spoke again. "And our international drummer, the multitalented Bandit Heeler, whom, as you can guess, will not be single for too long!".
At this, Bandit awoke from his romantic stupor to say, looking directly to Chilli: "Not if I can help it!". He smirked cheekily. "So, The Debtors say good night, party people!".
PRESENT
Bandit was looking directly to the camera. "... Happy Anniversary Chilli!".