Road To Victory

Office Secrets

                “Sure!” I agreed immediately, walking over to the tack room where I grabbed a leadline, handing another one to Jessie. “So, did I miss a lot?” I asked Jessie casually. It felt like Jessie hesitated about something before she faced me and shook her head. “Nope, not much.  We just have a new boarder, and Cassey got a new horse.”

                I grinned, thinking of Cassey. She was 14, had short blonde hair, and a squeaky voice.

                “You can take Azure, I’ll go grab Lilac,” Jessie said, shifting to the mare’s stall. I walked over to Azure, stroking his neck and giving his ears a scratch.  He licked his chops sleepily. I laughed, “That feels good, doesn’t it?” The tall gelding nuzzled my shoulder as I slipped his halter on, and then clipped the leadline onto the gold ring. Jessie was already waiting for me with Lilac by the stable entrance, so we quickly walked over to them.

                “We’ll go to the one around the back,” Jessie said, with made me cock my head. That was usually for the east side boarders, who paid less for smaller stalls and paid for ring usage. I didn’t question her, however as we walked over to the pasture, talking about saddles that we wanted. She wanted a Pessoa that cost almost $3,000 dollars.

                “I’m sure your mom will let you get that. When you’re 57,” I joked. Jessie stuck her tongue out at me as she pulled the pasture gate open. Then I understood why she wanted to go there. David was there, with the bay horse again. She was looking at him, biting her bottom lip before shaking her head.

                “Is that the … uhm … new boarder?” I asked, my voice almost sheepish.

                “Yeah, his name is David and that’s his horse, Fancy” Jessie replied quickly, halting Lilac and unclipping her lead line. David looked at us and waved, smiling broadly. I waved back, but Jessie just stood there like a frozen statue.“I have to go, Kat. I’ll talk to you later,” she muttered nervously, jogging off.

                “That was weird…” I sighed, talking to Azure as I still kept him on the lead. Azure bobbed his head in agreement and then swung his over-sized head to the side, whinnying to the other horses.

                “Hey, Kat!” I hear David call from behind me. “Keeping him prisoner?” he teased, rubbing his hands together through his gloves.

                “Yeah, totally,” I replied back sarcastically, laughing.

                “So how about you let him go and give me that tour you promised,” he said, giving me that cute smile again.

                “I never promised anything!” I laughed as he faked a shocked expression. “Fine, I give in.” I unclipped Azure’s lead and he trotted off.  I walked towards him and gestured with my hand. “Come on, I’ll show you all the horses. You’ll have them memorized by tomorrow.”

                He snorted as I said that. “Suure. Please, I forgot your name after I met you,” he joked, smirking.

                “Well, you remembered it today,” I joked back,  leading him into the West Barn.

                “Well it’s nicer here,” he huffed unhappily. I looked back and frowned. “I started out boarding Tequila on the East side too, but my trainer wanted me to start and board here. My parents weren’t too thrilled, but they caved in.”

                David nodded, stepping next to me. “Can I see your horse? Tequila, right?”

                “Yep, Tequila. Follow me, she’s been moved downstairs…” I silently prayed my mom wasn’t down there still. She was so embarrassing, especially when I introduced her to guys my age. Thankfully, she wasn’t.