She’d been doing her best to show Travis how to take care of Gregory, but it was hard to teach someone who was too busy for any sort of animal, much less an intelligent pig. She knew that Gregory liked to chew things when he was bored, so she took him on multiple walks a day to wear him out, but she wondered what it would be like when she left.
And she wondered why the thought made her so sad.
* * *
Risa checked her watch and drummed her fingers on the arm of the movie theater seat. She stared up at the small screen, willing Travis to show up.
His apartment building had a private movie theater that showed new releases. You simply signed up to have the theater for a few hours. Once Risa had learned about that, she’d been excited at the prospect of having an actual date night with Travis. And he’d agreed, once she’d talked him into it with kisses. He’d even moved a meeting for her.
Now date night had arrived and she had the room reserved, but he wasn’t there. The popcorn she’d popped had gotten cold, and she sat in the dark, waiting. She’d left him an hour ago in the apartment. He was reviewing a contract, and had promised to run down to grab them a few sodas at the corner store and meet her in the movie theater.
She checked her watch one more time and then stood up from the chair, worried. Surely nothing had happened to him on the way to the store?
On a hunch, she went to the elevator and punched the button for Travis’s floor. She slid her key in the lock and opened the door.#p#分页标题#e#
There was Travis, on the phone, his computer open in front of him. Exactly in the last place she’d left him.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Peters? Have you seen these suggestions they made? They’re a joke,” he said into the phone. “Did you see clause eighteen? No? Go look at it. I’ll wait.” He glanced at her as she walked in, and then turned back to his computer. His hand reached down to absently stroke Gregory’s velvety ear. “Did you see it? Exactly. That is absolutely not part of the deal.”
Risa felt cold. Little by little, her fantasy of him was crumbling. She wanted to have this time with him. So much. She wanted the memory of their short time together to be an incredible one that she could look back on with fondness. Her silly heart wanted Travis to grab her by the waist, nuzzle her neck, and beg her to stay with him forever.
But he was a busy man. Too busy for a pig. Much too busy for a relationship of any kind.
She’d been foolish to ever hope for one.
Very calmly, she went to his room and began to pack her bag. She took her clothes off hangers, folded them neatly, and then closed her small suitcase. She paused when she turned and saw that he had Pearl’s old photo album out on a nearby dresser.
So he’d taken a memento from his grandmother’s house after all? Risa moved toward it, compelled, and turned the pages. There was a picture of Travis as a young boy, with that same serious expression on his face, holding up a fish. Travis reading a book in a bay window. Travis playing fetch with a dog, a wide smile on his face. Her heart skipped a beat.
Travis with Pearl, his arm around her waist, as he wore a graduation cap. Travis and his grandmother sitting on her porch, smoking cigars as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Underneath the picture was a caption: First major business deal.
Where had that Travis gone? Suddenly sad for herself and for him, she left the photo album open to the picture of him and the dog. That was the Travis she wanted.
She picked up her suitcase and headed back into the living room, dropping it by the door. She suddenly realized that her car was still in Bluebonnet, still at Pearl’s house. Maybe she’d ask Travis if she could rent the place. Maybe there was a teaching job or two in Bluebonnet. She loved that little town.
“I’ll call you back,” Travis said suddenly, and she heard his phone click off. “Risa, what are you doing?”
She braced herself and turned around, a wide smile on her face. “I’m sorry, Travis, but I’m leaving.”
The scowl on his face was furious. “Why? Because of tonight? Something’s come up. There’ll be other nights to go to the movies—”
“No, there won’t,” she interrupted him. “You know why? Because you don’t have time for anyone in your life.”
He stared at her, his jaw set in an angry line.
Risa sighed. “I’m not telling you this to make you angry, Travis. I’m really not. It’s just become very apparent to me that you were right and I was wrong. You don’t have time in your life for a pig. You don’t have time in your life for a pig-keeper, either. I’ve really enjoyed our time together.” Her voice grew soft. “Really, really enjoyed it. I wish I could stay longer.”