Of course his phone rings RIGHT at this instant. The kissing and caressing stops suddenly, as he calculates his next move. I take the liberty and do it for him.
"Yello! Uh-huh... yeah, he's right here... oh, no, you can... Tony? Karen."
His mouth is too amused, for my tastes.
"Yeah... yeah... oh, yeah, I understand that. No, of course, I get it... uh-huh... uh-huh... fuck you." The phone is pressed one last time before being shoved back into the coat pocket from whence it came. He starts for his clothes and up the stairs. "I'm not worried about me, it's my dog. We have to get PM outta there before she β"
"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait β she wouldn't hurt your... oh my God, Tony, I'm an
idiot
, I'm so sorry..."
"We have to go now. As in move it or lose it." I've never gotten dressed so fast in my life.
β
The car ride over is hectic and cold. That poor, innocent puppy. ...I don't care how old a dog is, it's a puppy to me, damn it β stairs notwithstanding.
"Please forgive me." His eyes dart to mine briefly before he goes back to ignoring me.
Suddenly: "You know what your problem is? You can't just mind your own business. Yeah, of course, I love you, obviously, but that's not the point. If you really love someone, you trust that they're not trying to fuck you over. Have I ever fucked you over?" Just as suddenly, a fire rises from my belly.
"I'm sorry β so fucking sorry β I forgot, I'm supposed to be your dirty little secret, just like I'm always EVERYBODY'S dirty little secret..." He goes quiet, and it occurs to me to say more. "You know, when you love someone, you make it a point to let them know what's going on, so they make less ignorant mistakes and more 'not putting an innocent pupper in danger' catastrophes."
Suddenly, he's crying.
Fuck.
"Babe, no, I didn't mean it like that. No, no. No, drive. We're driving, we're saving, we're celebrating. This, go."
Suddenly, hectic and cold becomes passionate and determined.