Chapter 10

“So you’re telling me that you’re actually enjoying watching him play games?” Squeaked Sara incredulously.

“He’s only played the one so far,” I clarified. “Sometime he’s just running around and that’s not very interesting, but the story is really quite good. So yes, I have been enjoying watching.”

“Ok, whatever floats your boat,” she said with a laugh. “Anything else new that I should know about!?”

“He’s making dinner tonight. Some sort of soup.” Her jaw dropped.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. I’m looking forward to it. If it’s as good as the pie he made it should be wonderful.”

“Wow. If I was single, I’d be putting the moves on him at this point!” It was my turn to laugh.

“Hey, Sara,” called out Jenny, “you might want to get to work before the manager sees you!”

“She’s right,” I agreed. “I’m going home now.”

“Bye, Ruth.”

A bus ride and short walk later and I’d made it home. The moment I opened the door I was hit with a delicious aroma.

“Hello David,” I called out. “That smells wonderful!” He stepped out of the kitchen with a big grin.

“Good!”

Before coming in further I glanced at my hooves in the floor-mirror and groaned.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve got gum in the cleft of my hoof...” I answered with a sigh.

“Ah man, that sucks!”

I leaned against the wall and awkwardly lifted my leg to try and look at the mess directly. However, since my legs didn’t bend in that manner very well, it was rather difficult.

“Uhh ... do you want something to sit on?” Asked David.

“Yes please, That would be helpful.”

“Ok, I’ll be right back.” A moment later he came back with a chair from the dining area and put it right behind me.

“Thank you,” I breathed in appreciation as I sat down. I struggled for a moment to try to maintain some measure of decency while positioning my leg, but I wasn’t able to manage it. I glanced at David. “Could you ... perhaps go back into the kitchen? I’m not ... comfortable with you watching this.”

“Um, ok...” David started to turn away, but then stopped. “Actually, Do you want me to get it?” He asked sincerely. I was torn. On the one hand it would be incomparably easier for him to do it. On the other hand, having him touch my hoof and lower leg might be just as awkward as him watching ... however, I sighed in resignation and I decided to take the easy route.

“If it’s not too much trouble,” I answered demurely. David smiled kindly.

“No trouble at all, I’ll be right back.” He left for the kitchen and my stomachs started knotting themselves. The sink could be heard running for a few seconds, and a moment later he was back with a wet washcloth and a paper towel. “Alright, let’s see what we’ve got,” he muttered as he knelt down in front of me.

His fingers made gentle contact with the back of my ankle and I gasped lightly through my nose.

“This alright?” He asked.

“Yes.” He lifted my hoof and warmth from his hand started seeping into my leg. It actually felt rather nice.

“Oof, you’ve got a bit of a mess here,” chuckled David and he started pulling strings of the sticky goo off with the paper towel. I just sat and stared blankly ahead while he worked, but after a minute I heard a ‘click.’ When I looked down I saw the glint of a knife.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed as I pulled my leg away. David dropped the blade and clamped down on my ankle with both hands while I started kicking, trying to free myself.

“Hey, HEY! Ruth STOP, PLEASE!” He looked up at me and to my surprise, there was fear in his eyes. I stopped kicking and he let go. When he did I pulled my hoof away quickly while my tail thumped repeatedly against the chair.

“What was that all about!?” He gasped.

“I saw your knife and panicked,” I uttered breathlessly.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sorry about grabbing your leg too, but I didn’t want to get kicked.” He pointed at my hoof. “You could do some serious damage with that!” He took a deep breath to calm down. “I hope I didn’t hurt you.”