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04-10-02 - 8:30 p.m. Tonight I dined with Rob. Because he stopped growing up when he was six, he brought with him a toy. It was this little Tic Tac Toe set called Chick Tac Toe, an Easter-oriented game consisting of a lavender egg-shapped playing board and ten pieces (five pink bunnies, five yellow duckies). We played a few games and then set it aside as he went to wash his hands before eating. He's sort of germaphobic. It's really cute. Before he came back, I snatched one of the bunnies and stuffed it in my bra. (I was wearing a somewhat low-cut top and it slipped easily between the cups. And with my long jacket to pull around me, it was the simplest thing to hide.) He noticed it was gone as soon as he sat down and immediately questioned me. I denied the allegation at once, emptied my pockets, and falsely helped him look around for it. As we both searched ("searched"), I stuffed another bunny in my bra and a duckie down my pants�right at my hip, you sicko. When we both came up from under the table, I made sure not to be the one to notice they were gone. That would have been too obvious. He again accused me of thievery but after emptying my pockets a second time and locking eyes in an honest sort of way, he seemed to believe my innocence. So he asked our waiter. There were children around, of course, so eventually, Rob decided to blame them. He asked around us, interrogating every patron, and I helped him, so as not to give myself away. Later on, as we were leaving, we stopped by the hostess' podium to leave a note asking any employees to contact him if the missing animals were found. She asked his number, he gave it to her. "And I'll need a name," she said. "Okay, well, one of them's Flopsy, one's Peter, and the duckie's name is Boethius." I nearly died. "Oh, you meant my name? Robert." She clearly thought he was cute and charming (surprise surprise, he's fucking Zack Morris!) and flashed him a flirty smile before we exited. "She liiiiikes you!" I teased as we made our way to his car. "I'll buy her a drink if she finds my damn bunnies." "You're actually upset about that?" "It's the principle of it." "Yeah, I know what you mean. Who would take innocent little defenseless toys?" "I'm still not convinced you didn't!" "You doubt my innocence?" He grinned. "Honey, I think the whole world doubts your innocence." I smacked his arm for that one, called him a jerk, and allowed him to open my door for me. "I don't steal." "Sure you do." "Not bunnies and duckies." "Sure you do." As he closed my door and made his way around to climb in the driver's seat I reached into my jeans to remove the duckie, which had been digging painfully into my hip for some time. He must have been watching me through the windshield as he walked because when he opened his door, he zoomed in, grabbed my hand and tried to wrestle the duckie away from me, exclaiming, "I KNEW IT!" We struggled for possession of the duckie for a while and eventually he won out, then demanding I hand over the bunnies. "I only took the duckie, I swear!" After many minutes of doubt, he believed me, and we were on our way. He walked me to my door, telling me he hoped to hear from the restaurant tomorrow. I said I hoped he would, too, and promised to keep my eye out for a replacement game set. Then he leaned in and kissed me, full on the lips, for a long time. And I kissed him, but then thought better of it and broke it, pushing him back. "We shouldn't even kiss." "Sorry." "I'm not." "I have to touch you in some way or other." "Well, I think a hug is okay." So we embraced, and he patted my stomach and asked how I was feeling. I asked him in, but he declined. "If I come in I know I'll kiss you." "Good point." "Well I better�" "Hug?" He held me again and for a few moments I remembered just how much I love the way he smells. It's not so much his cologne, it's just his scent. Only Rob smells like that. It's comforting. It's the one I'd choose if I were only allowed to smell one thing for the rest of my life. And as I smelled his sleeve, I wondered if I was making a mistake by not being with him. I decided not to think, just to enjoy. When we broke apart I smiled at him and stepped backwards into my apartment, nearly tripping over the threshold. He started down the stairs, first pausing to blow me a kiss. "Oh, shit, am I allowed to do that?" "Yeah. Definitely." I blew him one in return. He skipped down the stairs and I closed the door behind me, leaning against it, catching my breath. I reached into my bra and took out the two bunnies. I will Fed-Ex one of them to him tomorrow, the other the following day.
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