My Life Revisited

        “Hey, I’ll be right down.” I grab my keys off the counter and lock the front door before I jog down the stairs. Mark, who also lived in the apartment complex, is coming up the stairs with a basket of his laundry.

“Hey, Selena.”

“Hey, Mark! Got up early, huh?”

        “Yup.” I pass him and my shoulder bumps into his basket. I apologize and we both laugh. Our eyes meet and I quickly look away. I realized I had forgotten the tinted moisturizer and I felt a bit conscious of it. Even though my skin doesn’t break out as much there are still a few acne scars left over from my teen years.

“See you around, Mark.”

            “Oh, Selena,” I look back at him. “I had some of that lasagna you brought over last night. Oh, and for breakfast,” He smiled. “Who knew I liked tofu pasta so much.” He looked down at his clothes shyly and then back at me. “Maybe I can cook you dinner tonight?”

            My heart does a flip. I like Mark, but I wouldn't have the guts to ask him out. We had talked a few times around the apartment complex. It wasn’t until yesterday that I brought over some food he might like. We were talking about my being a vegan and he mentioned he’d always wanted to try it. It was a perfect excuse to come over with food. “I-I’d love to.”

I think his eyes beam at that. “It’s a date. See you around eight.”

        I run down the rest of the stairs just in case I squeal out loud and he hears. I can’t wait to tell Janie about Mark. I spot her Prius park across the street. She rolls down the window and waves to me.

        “Hey! Aw, you brought Rex,” I tapped the back window where her lab was and walked around to the passenger door.

        “Yeah. I try to bring him out to the reservation when I can,” she glances at me before pulling out of the space. “You look cute. New shirt?”  

        “Thanks. Yeah, mall trip.” Rex licks my cheek and I giggle. “How’s David?”

      “He’s doing good. Did I tell you he entered a chili contest? He's downtown now setting up his booth. He was cooking all night yesterday. He let me try some. It’s tasty! Says it’s his secret recipe but it’s actually my secret recipe …”She trails off, laughing to herself a little. I smile and laugh,  too. I admire her relationship with David. They're high school sweethearts who had gotten married recently. Anybody who is with them could see the love they had for each other.

        I turn on the radio and tune in to a top 40s radio station. I lower the volume so I could tell her about Mark but right at the moment Rex started whining. “Hey, what’s wrong Rex?”

        “Car sick?” she grimaced. “That’s strange. He usually does good in cars.” She rolls down a window so he could stick his head out. I saw him from my mirror and laughed. His tongue was hanging out and slobber was flying from his jowls.

            “He just wanted to stick his head out, I think.” We were up in the mountainous reservation now. We were about to pull into the parking lot of the playground. There were little kids playing on the swings, running after each other. Some were playing in the sandlot and some mothers sat on the benches laughing and talking to each other. The others played with their kids or stood around talking on their cell phones absentmindedly waving at their kids.

            “Hey, so I have a date tonight with that cute guy who lives in my apartment complex.” I get out and watch as Janie takes Rex out of the car. For the first time I notice all the freckles she has on her arms and shoulders. Her flaxen hair is in a braid running along the length of her back, some wispy tendrils frame her face as they fall from the loose braid. She's wearing an white tee with cut off jean shorts paired off with a pair of heavy hiking shoes.

            “Oh my gosh! With Matt?” Her deep brown eyes light up and widen. We start head towards the nature trail.

            “Mark. He’s cooking me dinner tonight.”

            “Yeah, right! Well it’s easy once you get a hang of cooking vegan, right? You just have to omit meat, butter, stuff like that,” We stop for a few so Rex could relieve himself. “Oh my gosh! I’m so happy,” she squeal.

            “Me too, it’s been a while. Oh! How’s your sister? I saw pictures of the baby on Facebook.”

            “She’s doing great. Said it was her easiest delivery yet. The baby is just so cute I could eat it.” Rex tilts his head to look up at her. “Yes, Rex! I could just eat that baby right up!”