Page 62 of Olivia's Only Pretending
what are these hot young bf duties?
duty number 1 is to make your day easier
duty number 2 is to make you laugh
duty number 3 is to be a good copilot
duty number 4 is to distract you with my charm and good looks
You mean distract me with your goofball antics?
goofball antics and good looks
we probably look like highschoolers passing notes right now!
Hey, Dr. Rhodes needs a distraction every now and then.
Eighteen
Me
I’ll be there to pick up Watson in an hour
Victor
I think you’ve walked him more in the past six months than I have in his whole life
Me
that’s sad, Victor
he needed me
Victor
we both needed you
Watson and I had our walking routine down. I would pick him up a couple times a week. He’d jump in my car, his furry golden tail wagging against the leather seat. We’d drive to the walking trail along the river with the windows down.
We had our favorite stops with the doggy water fountains. We walked slowly, so he could peruse the path and sniff everything his heart desired. I’d take those moments asreminders to slow down my breathing, to look up at the sky, and notice the sun on my skin. These walks were easy to skip before I had a walking buddy in Watson. Now, when I considered pushing it off my schedule, I thought of how excited Watson would be to see me walk in the door with a leash in hand.
Sometimes, Victor joined us and he’d stop to look at things—the ducks in the river, the weird thing in the sky, the cooing baby in the stroller—nearly as often as Watson.
Other times, Lucy joined me. We took no time to notice the sun on our skin, instead talking a mile a minute. This time, LucyandGracie met us there.
“Mom has another date,” Lucy said, almost like an announcement. She looked at Gracie and me expectantly, her wavy red hair piled atop her head in a bun.
“When?” I asked.
Gracie asked, “Who with?”
“Jeff, probably,” I said, moving out of the way of a mom chasing two toddlers, my black hoodie falling from my shoulder.
“No, not Jeff,” Lucy corrected me. “Some new guy.”
“What?” I frowned. “I liked Jeff for her.”
“She said she’s not putting all of her eggs in Jeff’s basket,” Lucy said.
