A New Chapter

2

I was in the barn taking Maximus out of his stall to bathe him when Arthur came to me.

"Hun are you mad?"

"No tio I just would appreciate it if you asked me if I was ok with things. I have a say so in my life too you know."

"I understand and I'm sorry for making you feel left out of your own life."

I couldn't help but laugh at how silly that sounded. "Its ok Arthur. Just ask for my permission before making any decisions for me."

"Deal." He kissed my head before sitting on a hay bell.

"So how long are we staying in Oklahoma?" I kept bathing Maximus as he nibbled at my shirt.

"Well at first it was going to be just a week."

"At first?"

"Yeah now it's probably going to be two or three weeks. Maybe a month."

"Why so long?" I rinsed off Maximus and let him loose as he walked back to his stall to eat.

"Well there is some people up there who want to be your sponsors so we have to meet up with them."

"Is it always business with you now Arthur?" That caught his attention. He sat up and looked at me curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"When was the last time you went out with tia Cheryl? When was the last time you took a day off or a vacation?"

"January..."

"What January?"

"January, 4 years ago." He mumbled. Arthur was a workaholic and I knew it wasn't good for him even though he convinced himself it was. Ever since Arthur served in the Navy he became very strick and a perfectionist. That was one thing I admired about him. He was was a perfectionist and I soon became a perfectionist like him. I had to thank him for all the medals and awards I had received from horseback riding and MMA fighting plus cheerleading. Arthur would always push me to practice and it made me become obsessed with it. That's why at times I dont really mind the busy schedules, but I knew that sooner or later we would both have to pay the price when it came to be work hungry.

"Arthur that isn't healthy."

"I don't recall being a perfectionist as a life threatening disease." He snapped back.

"No your right its not. But it does affect the people around you when you are a perfectionist AND a workaholic."

"Stacy I'm healthy as a horse."

"Sorry to break it to you Arthur. But even the boys get some days off." I went to go get Leonidas from his stall and brought him out to bathe him.

"Stacy you know I can't just drop everything and leave."

"I'm not telling you to."

"Sure sounds like it."

"I'm just saying that you should have a normal work schedule and take two days off a week."

"Do you know how much I can get done in two days?"

"Yeah. You can go to the zoo. Or the beach. Maybe even the carnival."

"Stacy why are you so worried about me?"

"Because you are a father to me and I want you stay long enough for you to be a grandfather someday."

"If this is your way of telling me that you pregnant, you need to try a different approach." He laughed at me as I threw him a hair brush.

"Shut up Arthur. I'm not prego. I don't even have a boyfriend."

"Hey nowadays girls don't need a boyfriend to have a kid."

"True but I wouldn't go that low a level. And I would never give up everything I worked for just yet."

"So you want a boyfriend?"

"It would be nice but I just can't have any guy. I do have standards and expectations tio." Leonidas nodded in agreement with me. Sometimes I think that my animals are like my babies. They seem so human.

"Hmmm."

"What's hmm for? You can't be getting anymore ideas Arthur."

"Well I got to go." He gave me a suspicious smile and kissed my head as he walked away from me. God I hate my big mouth.