Zap, Wham, Pow, Marriage

1. Boy meets Girl

"Why did you watch me stare at that tree?" he asked.  I blinked.

"Why were you staring at a tree?" I retorted.

"Please, I really need to know," he said, his voice sounding urgent.

"I did it because I wanted to know why you were staring at a tree.  And why you were so close to the tree you got tree bark on your shirt.  Also why you weren't even moving!  Can you tell me?" I replied, crossing my fingers.  It was his turn to blink stupidly before answering my question.

"I was doing an experiment," he said with a weird sort of half-grin on his face.

"Oh.  Well okay then.  Have a nice day!" I said, starting to leave since it was almost time for supper.

"Wait!" he said, so of course I stopped and waited until he caught up to me.  "What is your name?"

"Delilah," I answered, "Delilah Livingstone.  But call me Del."  I really was late, and told the man so.  He stepped aside to let me pass and I managed to get to the gate before remembering something.  Turning around, I asked, "What's your name?"

"Leo Clarke," he replied in amusement.  It didn't register in my mind that he hadn't needed to turn around to answer me.  He had been watching me walk away.  I saluted him in my strange sort of way and then ran to catch the light before it changed.

Once I reached my apartment, I yelled "Honey, I'm home!" before charging up the stairs so no one could bother me.  I know I said I live alone.  I do, really.  But you see, my parents own this apartment building, and I couldn't find anywhere else to live, so I'm renting from them.  There's only one other apartment open, since my parents moved into the one below me.  As far as I know, no one's rented yet.  The bulding is small and my parents bought it not long ago when they wanted to move somewhere smaller.  They kicked the renter in apartment C out because the parties there were too loud.  Of course, they were delighted to have me move into apartment B.  I think it was part of their plan all along.  Occasionally they came up to check in, but as long as I was home for supper they left me alone for the most part.  Today my mom was cooking lasagna, and if I showed up at her table wearing the shirt covered in my leftover burrito, there's no telling what would happen.  Mama doesn't like when I eat other food so close to supper time.

After supper that night as I climbed back up the stairs to my apartment and completed my night-time ritual, I couldn't stop thinking about that man, Leo Clarke.  He had acted really strange today.  So had I, but that was in response to his strangeness.  Okay, I was always weird.  But seeing another weird person this close to home that wasn't related to me, well it was strange.  I fell asleep thinking about that tree and resolving to look at it more closely later in the week.  

The next day as I was walking back from work, I decided to take a detour and go through the park.  I practically sprinted until I reached the tree.  There he was again, standing and staring.  I was going to just walk up to him when I noticed a clown making balloon animals and got distracted.  Checking back at the tree, I realized Leo probably wasn't going to move for a while, so I stood in the line for the clown.  I got a pink poodle and a green balloon hat before some lady behind me started yelling that her daughter had been waiting forever.  Flushing slightly, I moved away and looked towards that tree again.  No one was there.  

Panicking, I ran over to the tree and circled around it.  I looked up into the branches, but Leo Clarke hadn't climbed the tree.  I ran around and around looking for him.  When I couldn't find him, I started hitting my forehead on the tree.  This made my balloon hat pop.  I jumped back in shock and crashed into someone.  Spinning around, I came face-to-face with Leo Clarke himself.

"What are you doing here?" I inquired, trying to act casual.

"This is my tree," he said.  "Why are you here?"  Okay, excuse time.

"Well, I was out walking my dog.  And she, I mean he, walked up to this tree.  He was sniffing a lot and then he tugged the leash and walked away, but wanted to come back right away.  So then I was checking it out, trying to figure out why Buster liked it so much.  Did you say this was your tree?  Do you mean literally or is that a figure of speech in some way?  Sorry my dog liked your tree," I rambled.

"I've been here the whole day.  You weren't walking your dog," he said.  Uh...

"Well, you maybe didn't see us.  You might've blinked."  Face, meet palm.

Leo looked amused.  "I blinked for as long as it took you to walk your dog, then go away, then come back?  I don't think so.  Plus, where is your dog now?"  Think Delilah think!

"My mom picked Sheila up because she has a vet appointment," I said.  Yeah, that was a good excuse.  I mentally high-fived myself.

"Your dog's name is Sheila?  I thought it was Buster," Leo said.

"Right.  Buster-Sheila.  I didn't know he wasn't a she, and so I named him Sheila.  But then I found out, so now he's Buster.  I switch back sometimes, because you know, I forget," I said, making this all up on the spot.  I could be an actor!

"Right," he said, unconvinced.  I sighed and thought about telling the truth.  I rehearsed it in my head.

"Okay, so here's the thing.  I really just wanted to see why you were staring at this tree yesterday.  Like, if you're going to spend your life doing something, spend it looking for unicorns, not staring at trees.  Also, I may have been looking for you.  But I also probably wasn't.  It's possible, but maybe I'm just saying that."  That made me sound like a stalker....

"Yes it did," Leo Clarke agreed.

"Aw snap.  Did I say that out loud?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied.  

It's safe to say I started hitting my head on the tree again.  Weirdly, Leo just stood there and let me.  So I was hitting my head on a tree, and he was watching me.  I could almost feel all the weird looks being shot at us.  I'm used to it, but I did stop hitting my head, because I didn't need to lose more brain cells.

"You're done already?" Leo asked me.

"Why yes Mr. Clarke, I am," I replied, tossing my hair.

"Shame.  That was interesting to watch."  He grinned.  I blinked.

"If you say so.  So, when you said this was your tree...." I trailed off, hoping he answered the implied question.

"Ah," he said, looking red.  "I didn't mean it literally, just you know, I'm here a lot.  I'm using it for a project type thing."

"I thought you said it was an experiment," I said, confused. 

"Yeah.  Maybe I'll tell you about it some day.  I've got to leave now.  Goodbye Delilah Livingstone," he said.  "It was nice seeing you again."

"I would say the same, but this meeting started with me hitting my head, which wasn't very nice," I informed him.  He just grinned and started walking away.  After looking at my watch, I realized I was going to be late for supper, and ran.