There are phrases that are sweet on the ears.\u00a0 The purring of a contented kitten.\u00a0 Things you don’t get tired of hearing, like, “I love you.” Things like, “I put an extra dollop in your hot cocoa,” which isn’t necessarily a euphemism, or, “I saved the last piece of baklava for you,” which is just another way of expressing your adoration for someone.<\/p>\n
Then there are words you are never prepared to hear, like, “Well, we could only hold one extra cone each, so we decided you were a man, and could just cowboy-up.”<\/p>\n
I blinked. “What does being a man have to do with not getting some ice cream?” I demanded.\u00a0 “Let alone being a cowboy?\u00a0 Which, I am most certainly not.”<\/p>\n
The girls, with the exception of Doloise, (who, as noted, might not count in that particular subgroup anyway) giggled.<\/p>\n
“It’s okay, pardner,” Maggie drawled.\u00a0 “I can buy you a double scoop,” she put a hand on my shoulder.\u00a0 “Ya like vanilla-r?\u00a0 Or maybe some rocky road?”<\/p>\n
I shrugged her hand off.\u00a0 I was not pouting.\u00a0 Sylvia gave Doloise her portion.\u00a0 The Realm looked at it with curiosity.<\/p>\n
“It’s for eating,” I informed her.\u00a0 If I sounded sarcastic, I had every right.\u00a0 “Like the shake from earlier, only not with a straw.”<\/p>\n
She tried her tongue on it, and found it good.\u00a0 Of course.<\/p>\n
I sighed.\u00a0 I could go get some ice cream.\u00a0 I could even send Maggie to go get some ice cream for me.\u00a0 Or I could just sit here and watch the girls enjoy their ice cream.<\/p>\n
I smiled.\u00a0 Oh, woe is me.<\/p>\n
“I think we should skip the movie,” Maggie said.<\/p>\n
Sylvia and Matana shared a glance that you didn’t have to be a woman to read.<\/p>\n
“How about you three go to the movie, and Doloise and I will head back?” I said, getting back up from the bench where I had found myself again.\u00a0 Honestly, I hadn’t been thrilled about the idea in the first place.\u00a0 Given how upset Doloise got about the goings-on of a bunch of meerkats, the intensity of a two-hour horror flick might give her the wrong idea.\u00a0 I kept getting little daydreams of an attack being launched by a character and her responding from the stadium seating.\u00a0 Whatever you called a daydream crossed with a nightmare, besides, “a spell.”<\/p>\n
“If you don’t think we’re trying to ditch you,” Maggie said in a hurry.\u00a0 That earned her a look from Matana.<\/p>\n
I bit my tongue anyway, in a figurative sense.\u00a0 Because, you know, ice cream would have gone far to soothe it had I done it literally, and there I was, pining away for a frozen confection.<\/p>\n
Ahem.<\/p>\n
“No, I have some work to do,” I hedged.\u00a0 “Go on, and have fun.\u00a0 Thanks for inviting us to dinner; it’s been real.\u00a0 Doloise, you have a hot date with National Geographic.”\u00a0 I ushered her close.<\/p>\n
“Let us purchase the tickets,” Matana said to Maggie.\u00a0 “I do not believe these vampires sparkle.”\u00a0 I waved in their general direction.<\/p>\n
“Hey, E?” Sylvia asked.<\/p>\n
I turned back around, my eyebrows asking the question.<\/p>\n
She pulled a card from out of her purse.\u00a0 “Here’s my number.\u00a0 Give me a call sometime?”<\/p>\n
I took the card, and realized I was probably looking at her strangely.\u00a0 “Um,” I finally managed.<\/p>\n
“You’re cute.\u00a0 Besides, I’ve already kissed you once.”\u00a0 She smiled.\u00a0 “I won’t tell Doloise I had dibs.”\u00a0 She giggled and then ran to catch up with the other two.<\/p>\n
I held the card in my hand for a moment, feeling very strange, before sliding it back into my jeans.<\/p>\n
“I like this ice cream,” Doloise said to me.<\/p>\n
“I sure hope you do,” I muttered.\u00a0 “Come on, let us go back to the car.”<\/p>\n
“I think you should consider removing the witch from your sphere of influence.\u00a0 I would be glad to do so as I was insufficient guardian to prevent her from striking you.\u00a0 We had consulted her likely behaviour and did not see it as a potential in time to protect you.”<\/p>\n
I stopped.\u00a0 “I used to date that witch,” I said.\u00a0 “It makes me feel illogically benevolent towards her, still.\u00a0 Just eat your ice cream, Doloise.\u00a0 We need to figure out how to give you what you want.”<\/p>\n
“As well as how to approach the Dragon.”<\/p>\n
“You know, I’ve changed my mind.\u00a0 I think I need some ice cream.\u00a0 Everything’s better after ice cream, right?\u00a0 Even dragons.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I sighed. I could go get some ice cream. I could even send Maggie to go get some ice cream for me. Or I could just sit here and watch the girls enjoy their ice cream. I smiled. Oh, woe is me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001002,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-four"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}