David
It had been a stressful week at work. All I wanted was to go home and rest. The every-weekend-barbeque had been cancelled due to sudden fluvirus outbreak in the kindergarten where the host family's children attended. It was okay though, I was more than happy to rest in my own way - go to an overnight hike to mount Grenich with Koda. The hike would help me forget about my work week - and hopefully distract me from thinking about my miserable loneliness.
I do enjoy my work most of the time. Sometimes, like this week when my business partner was on sick leave due to a minor dirt bike accident, it gets a little too stressful. I am a partner in a "small" business which sells ads for apps. I say small, because the company has only five employees and is managed by me and my business partner Sam. But it does quite well actually money-wise, we were one of the first companies in the market when smartphone apps came and we were able to catch few big app companies which still make us a decent buck every year. In just five years I have been able to buy a nice house, a cabin and change my old Volvo to a newer fancier model. Not that I need all that, but I decided to make some investments when I had too much money just lying around. At least I didn't buy a yacht!
Saturday morning I left early with Koda. One could hike to mountain Grenich in a day, but I had decided to take the long way and stay a night in a tent. I had all things packed in my backpack and I started the journey up the mountain. Koda was enjoying himself immensely. He was running around the trail, but stayed close enough that I could see him almost all the time. We had stopped couple of hours before for a lunch break and I was thinking of making some instant coffee and giving Koda a change to rest for awhile. I started to unpack my travelling cooker from my backpack so I could heat some water, when Koda barked a few times and tried to get permission to run to whatever he was barking at. He was restless but excitedly so, because his tail was going mile a minute. I guessed it was another dog he was sensing and sure enough, a beautiful husky came from around the corner and ran straight to play with Koda. Soon after the huskys owner appeared jogging the lane and shouting for his dog. He seemed to physically relax when he saw the husky with us and ran rest of the way.
"Oh, thank god she's here! I got so worried when Lila just took off and didn't come back! She has never done this before and I was worried something might happen to her if she got lost in the forest." The man explained and grabbed the husky and gave her a tight hug. He was crouching and petting the husky when Koda decided he wanted some attention as well. Koda put his head between the pair and licked the man's face.
"Hey, Koda, down!" I told my dog and he instantly backed away. "I'm sorry for that. He wants to be in the center of attention... always." I tell the man with a grin and continue. "I think your dog got excited when he smelled Koda here and couldn't resist. Is she still a puppy?" Koda was inviting the husky to play and soon enough they were running back to the forest together.
The stranger stood up and looked at me straight in the eyes for the first time and said something. For the life of me I couldn't tell you what he said because I was dumbstuck. Like in the sappy romantic movies I used to watch and laugh to with Matthew. I never believed in love at first sight but the feelings I was feeling when looking at this stranger were scarily close to those of love or adoration.
The man was simply gorgeous. He was a bit shorter than me but more muscular. His clothes fit him like a glove and I saw a little chest hair peeking from his V-neck t-shirt. I wondered if the hair continued to go all the way to his treasure trail. I wanted to know how would it feel like to run my fingers through his short black hair, and if his scalp would be sensitive to the touch like mine. His eyes were dark and telling me a story which I didn't quite understand. I could have stared at those eyes for an eternity and not get tired of them. I realized I needed to get a grip of myself and get the hell out of here as soon as possible. If I stayed there would be a change of me getting hurt or making a fool out of myself. My brains were shouting "flee, flee, flee!". It finally registered that the stranger was looking at me funny and I realized I had been staring at him for awhile now.
"Shit! I have to go." I muttered embarrassed and ripped my eyes off of this gorgeous man who was standing in front of me. I started to pack my things from the ground and shouted for Koda to come to me.
"Where are you going?" The stranger asked. Did I hear a bit of desperation in his voice?
"I'm sorry, I just need to go." I said not even looking at him. I didn't dare to look at him. I was making myself busy when I felt a hand on my arm stopping my movement.
"Did I do something, or say something wrong?" The man said and finally I let my eyes find his again and then he continued "I am sorry if I offended you, but I would like to chat for a while. I am new in town and I really don't have too many friends. I'm Joey".
Joey
*Please don't go, please, please don't go* I was chanting in my head while looking at the man in front of me. I had stretched my hand for a shake while introducing myself. I know I sounded desperate, but I didn't care for the time being. The man looked at my hand skeptically for a while and finally snapped out of it and took my hand. It was a warm and strong handshake and I could not hide my grin. He smiled back at me and exhaled loudly while letting go of my hand.
"I'm David. I'm sorry for going a bit crazy on you just now."
