He leans down and plants a kiss on my hair. My hands are too full to swat him away. “I have to leave. Have a team meeting. Are you going to the clinic today?” he asks.
“I wasn’t sure I’dbe back by the weekend, so I have nothing scheduled,” I tell him.
“Huh, did you leave the conference early then?”
What conference? I turn to look at his confused face. Fuck,conference. “Yes, I left the conference early.”
“Alright,” he frowns. “I’ll just leave Mickey with you then. I’ll be back by the evening,” he informs.
Wait, what was that now? But Nicholas is already back in the kitchen. Did he just dump all those waffles directly into his stomach?
No wonder I don’t leave my bed for at least thirty minutes after waking up unless I’m startled awake by the nightmares. I haveno ideawhat’s happening right now.
“See you in a few hours,” Nicholas shouts from the door, then I hear it close behind him.
Mickey pads over from the front door, where he had disappeared to see his annoying dad out. Which reminds me, did he leave shirtless? I look down at what I now realize is his T-shirt.
Mickey nudges his head against my knee. I keep my mug down and give him a few scratches, keeping my plate firmly out of reach.
Breakfast, two hours in the gym, and a shower later, I’m just as confused. Thankfully, not about what’s happening around me. I’m very well aware that Nicholas just pawned off free dog-sitting on me. But I like Mickey enough to forgive him for that.
No, I’m confused about what to do now. Maybe I can clean my house? But I’ve been doing too much of that since Nicholas started showing up with no notice.
I don’t remember the last time I had free time. All the time I wasn’t in the clinic or in bed was spent hunched over a computer, familiarizing myself with my next target or physically being around the target.
Now that Sam has refused to send me any more work, I’m completely at a loss. Yes, I texted him and begged him to reconsider.
He was completely heartless about my predicament. He suggested joining a craft group,the sadist.
I look at Mickey snoozing peacefully on his giant bed. It’s so big and doesn’t go with my living room at all. I pick up my phone to order one, surrendering to this becoming a regular thing. Might as well deal with it now and get this cartoon character-covered monstrosity out of my house.
But that only takes up twenty minutes, and I have a nice monocolor appropriately sized dog bed coming my way in three to four business days. Maybe I can get lunch started? I look at the time. No, too early for that, especially since I’m just going to whip up a salad.
I switch on the television. People waste hours on that thing, right? I can find something that’ll be entertaining enough to make me forget about my complete uselessness. Maybe sports? They have sports on weekends, don’t they? The fact that I can’t name a single one I want to watch isn't a great sign for this experiment.
I’m proven right after half an hour of surfing through the channels. I even looked through the subscription platforms Nicholas has logged into on my television. The sitcom he likes to watch is good, but I don’t want to watch it without him in case he wants to continue from where he left off. He started with episode one the first time we watched it together.
I look at Mickey again. He may need a walk. I’m sure Nicholas took him to one before I woke up. But exercise is good for dogs.
I nod and nudge Mickey awake. He’s cranky but quickly gets on board with the plan when he notices the leash.
Mickey is surprisingly calm on the walk. With all that chaotic energy, I expected him to cause some serious trouble. I guess I was right about Nicholas being really good at this.
I take him to a park near my place. I prolong going back home for as long as I can. But then Mickey gets tired, and we have to start the trek back to the sad, empty place.
Mickey goes back to snoozing as soon as he’s finished with his lunch, while I pace around the house looking for something to do. I scroll through my phone on the forgotten clinic's social media page. It’s boring.Everythingis boring.
Animal videos of any variety typically work well at lifting my mood, but I only catch a few between tasks. Watching them when I have all the time in the world, and no stress, dampens their effects.
No stress.That’swhat has changed. I’ve been trying to pinpoint this feeling of freedom and the sudden onset of boredom all day. I’m notworried. About anything. Huh. When was the last time that happened? Probablynever.
I keep scrolling through videos absentmindedly until one catches my attention. A quick muffin recipe. I can make that. I cantotallymake that. Maybe I should? What’s stopping me, really? I’m sure Nicholas will finish it even if it comes out badly as long as it’s sweet, considering his coffee order.
I quickly place an order for everything I need, and get to work.
***
“Oh my god,did the Pillsbury Doughboy bleed out in your kitchen?” Nicholas says when I let him into the house.
