𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊

|6| Please someone drown me

It's 7 a.m, and I am awake. It may be Saturday, but I don't want to miss this opportunity to let off steam in peace. I'm preparing to do my morning jog with my dog Nala, my music, and my thoughts as I usually do when I feel the need to.

Running in the morning is a good way to avoid human contact, plus it's refreshing, and everything is calm. This is all I need to purify my body and my mind.

I put on my outfit and go out with Nala outside. I don't need to keep her on a leash, she follows me everywhere, and she is very obedient. I got her right after I arrived in France. I got her to keep me company, and she fulfills her role wonderfully, I love her like a member of my family. She's always been there for me, it's like she always understands me, she knows what to do when I'm not well.

I wonder how a dog can be so intelligent and understanding, she really helped me in my hardest times and I could never be grateful enough for all that she brings to me daily.

We run for at least forty minutes, I head to the lake because it's a place that Nala and I love. I can relax and she has fun like crazy. It's so refreshing and beautiful, there are only a few morning joggers today, it's peaceful. Just what I need.

I sit on the grass and think about a lot of things, I observe and play with Nala. It's hotter now than when I left the house, I lay down and close my eyes for a few minutes. When I'm here I forget and simply enjoy the fresh air, it's something that I liked to do in France, that helped me a lot.

After a while, I no longer hear Nala barking, which is rather strange knowing that a few minutes before she was all excited about the sight of a butterfly and kept moving and barking to catch it. So I get up and decide to go look for her, but when I don't see her I start to whistle and call her, except she doesn't come back.

I go take a look around the lake and the surroundings, but still nothing. I start to panic, someone could very well have kidnapped her, or she may have drowned. She can swim, but you never know what could happen.

Now I really panic.

Bzzz

"Hello?" A man's voice says when I pick up.

"Hello," I answer. I don't know who it is since I don't have this contact on my phone.

"Have you lost a little Australian Shepherd?" He asks as I suddenly feel relieved because Nala is safe, he must have found my number on her necklace.

"Oh my god thank you, is she okay?" I ask and release a breath I didn't know I was holding, probably smiling like an idiot.

"Yeah she's fine, it's literally a ball of energy no wonder she ran away, she has a lot to spend." He chuckles, making me feel like I recognize that laugh.

"That's for sure. Where are you?" I try to decipher where I could have heard this laugh before, but on the phone, the voice can change, besides, who would be awake at this time on a Saturday morning? Certainly not my brothers for example.

"I'm at the entrance of the lake, near the toilet," he says, laughing at Nala and playing with her. I totally know that voice, yet I can't name it, it's so frustrating.

"I'm coming." With that, I head for the entrance, eager to discover who is behind this voice and of course to get Nala.

When she sees me, she rushes toward me and jumps on me. I take her in my arms and then go to the man who found her. My eyes have to adjust because of the sun which is exactly in my line of vision, preventing me from seeing the person. I can perceive a rather tall man, who looks well-built.

Is fate in my favor this morning?

Of course not, I really hope this is a joke, please someone drown me. He's there, only wearing sports shorts and a goddamn body, his T-shirt in his hand, oh dear lord. He is totally attractive, I can't say the opposite, but I have to stop fantasizing. Except, he's practically naked, all sweaty and so hot in front of me.

Damn hormones.

"Val? Oh... I told myself that this dog reminded me of yours, but I didn't think you would be here at this hour." He scratches the back of his neck, looking like a freaking model. And he wants me to be mad at him, it's basically impossible. Couldn't he be ugly at least?

"I'm jogging and Nala needs to have fun, so it is good for both of us. Besides, here this is downright nice for that, plus in the morning it's cooler." I'm clearly embarrassed by my condition, I sweat, and my hair is falling out of my ponytail and going all over the place. I don't know how I can even form a complete sentence without either drooling or stuttering.

"Yes totally. I run here every weekend, maybe we'll see each other sometimes. Nala is totally a ray of sunshine... well, have a good day. See you at school." He bends down to caress her, who seems to love him more than I would like as she looks at me like she knows what she's doing, this little prick.

"Yeah probably, thanks for finding her. See you at school," I say but frankly, I'm lost in his beautiful hazel eyes. I must look like a freak right now, I bet he's going to want to run away from me.

"In fact, she came to see me, and she didn't seem to want to leave me. But I'm fine, I like her. She's a good dog, you're in luck." He caresses her again and that damn Nala literally adores him.

Why did she go to him?

"Cool, yeah. Ok, it's really perfect... well yeah. See you soon on Monday." I try not to speak awkwardly but fail miserably and with that, I start to walk away as Nala happily follows me barking and wagging her tail excitedly.

"Goodbye." He chuckles a bit and starts to run towards the exit of the lake.

Obviously, I watch him go and take the time to admire his features. Yes, I don't like him, but that doesn't mean that I can't admire his body. Damn, he knows how to take care of it, I don't remember him being so muscular last year.

Anyway, I was way too drunk.

Come to think of it he called me, so I have his phone number now, not that I care about it of course. But if Nala ever gets lost during one of our jogging sessions, he may be there to help me find her.

Why am I thinking about that in the first place, I should simply not save his number since it will be of no use to me. And if I have a problem, it's surely not him that I would call if I need anything, but it also means that he has mine. Oh well, I don't think he'll call me, but it's a possibility. No, why would he do that, he probably just saved it just in case, but he certainly doesn't intend to call me soon. Why do I wonder that, why would he call me anyway? I'm so weird.

I have to stop thinking about him. I'm going home with Nala, it's 10 a.m. now, and I'm exhausted. I take a shower and have breakfast with my brothers who just woke up, then we play video games for the rest of the morning.

****

The football and basketball teams came to our house later in the day making me the only girl in the house. It was disastrous but at the same time, I clearly had fun.

I sometimes saw him looking at me and always felt kinda attracted to him, not romantically obviously, but I always looked at what he was doing. I don't know why it's so frustrating, everything about him is frustrating.

Even Nala, that little prick, was always with him. I guess she's starting to grow fond of him and I don't like it at all.

They finally left in the evening and the rest of the weekend was pretty calm. We watched movies, read, played basketball, and ate a lot of junk food since Dad wasn't there because of a business trip.

Unfortunately, he didn't leave my mind for the rest of the weekend. I was constantly looking at my phone. Except, I made it clear to him that I don't like him and I don't want us to interact, so it's definitely okay if he doesn't try to text me or call me.

Yet, I still feel myself waiting for that to happen, I really don't understand myself anymore. I don't know why I act differently towards him, I really need to pull myself together as soon as possible.

What is wrong with me?