Love, From A to Z

by Robin Alexander

  “I’ve heard people say they’d rather see you than Dr. Hutchins because you put their animals at ease, and you’re gentle with them. They also say you’re much nicer than he is.” Alicia shrugged with a slight smile. “Of course, I didn’t believe it at the time, but you are gentle.”

  “Come see me when you’re due for your shots then,” Zoe quipped. She frowned when she saw a boat approaching in the distance. “I think our picnic is over.”

  “Mrs. Patty, thank you so much for helping us out,” Tony said as he walked into an exam room at the veterinarian clinic where Zoe was cleaning Alicia’s wound.

  Patty grabbed Tony by the arm when he took a step toward Alicia. “You might not want to go where you can see everything. You can kinda see her chin meat. That’s why my husband is waiting outside looking as pale as a ghost. We’re gonna go ahead and go, but if you need anything else just give us a call.”

  “Thank you so much,” Tony said with a warm smile. He watched Patty walk out and turned to Alicia and Zoe. “Okay, y’all tell the truth, did y’all get in a fist fight?”

  “She got too mouthy and I had to shut her up,” Zoe replied with a smile.

  “She’s still kicking my ass because she won’t give me a dog tranquilizer,” Alicia said from between clenched teeth with her eyes clamped shut.

  “I know it hurts, but I have to get this wound really clean before I close it. Have you had a tetanus shot lately?” Zoe asked distractedly as she gently scrubbed the gash in Alicia’s chin.

  “Needles—I can’t.” Tony backed toward the door.

  Alicia opened her eyes as she thought. “I had one a year and a half ago when Tony threw a piece of metal and hit me in the arm. He fainted when the doctor began to stitch me, so he wasn’t around for the shot. Do you have to give me one?”

  “I’m not allowed,” Zoe replied as she cleaned dried blood from Alicia’s neck. “I was going to suggest you get one if you hadn’t had one in a while. Why did Tony throw a piece of metal at you? Were y’all fighting?”

  “No, we were cleaning junk out of an old boat, and he didn’t realize I was behind him.” Alicia squinted at the light above her. “Can that thing get any brighter?”

  Zoe chuckled. “I thought it would soothe you since you have a thing for lamps, even though there’s no lava,” she said and adjusted the light.

  “Hey, Mom is kinda going crazy right now, Alicia,” Tony said as he walked into the room staring at the floor. “Mrs. Patty told her Zoe’s doing emergency surgery on you in a vet’s office on a table where she treats animals because your chin meat is hanging out. Dad didn’t tell her you destroyed his boat, and she’s maniac pissed. She kinda calmed down when I told her Zoe was just cleaning a scrape on your chin and it was no big deal, but she keeps calling every two minutes for an update. I just need to know how long this is gonna take in case I need to talk her out of sending an ambulance over here.”

  “About fifteen more minutes,” Zoe replied. “I need to take my time and get the closure strips on properly.”

  “She’s gonna have to use a six inch needle to—” Alicia grinned. “He ran didn’t he?”

  “Yeah,” Zoe replied with a laugh as she took off her gloves and gazed down at Alicia. “I’m about to start closing up your chin, so you can’t make me laugh and you can’t move your face at all.” She laid a hand atop Alicia’s where they were tightly folded and resting on her stomach. “Relax, this part won’t hurt like the cleaning did.”

  Alicia’s brow rose slightly. “You meant it when you said wanted to be friends, right?”

  “Yes, I meant it.”

  “I did too, and if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be lying on this metal table with a bone-shaped chew toy tucked under my head.” Alicia grabbed Zoe’s hand and held it tightly with both of hers. “I’m sorry about Angela and Liz, so be kind.”

  “I’m not going to close up your chin and mouth at the same time. Promise.” Zoe smiled when Alicia released her hand and she pulled on a fresh pair of gloves. “Remember what I said, no talking or moving, try to keep your face relaxed.”

  “I’ll raise a hand if I feel like I’m gonna sneeze.”

  “Good idea.” Zoe began the meticulous procedure and noticed that Alicia was staring at her intently after she applied the first strip. “I was at the top of my class when it came to suturing even though I hated sewing when I was a kid. Mom believed it’s an important skill that every woman should have and she made me and my sister sit with her every Sunday afternoon and sew,” she said as she began applying the second strip. “If there was a pucker in a seam we were working on she’d tear out all of the stitching and make us do it over. I learned to be a good seamstress so I could enjoy the rest of my weekend. Fortunately for you, the cut is along your jawline and that’s super easy to close neatly.” Zoe met Alicia’s gaze again. “You robbed me of another girl I didn’t tell you about, and you knowingly took her from me—don’t furrow your brow, don’t move. You don’t want a pucker on your chin. I’m willing to forgive you for the third girl too, so relax.”

  Zoe began applying the third strip. “That girl never knew how I felt, and at times, I wondered why I was so drawn to her. You stood between us and I knew that was never going to change. I put her out of my mind when I went off to college and met other girls. There were times I’d think about her though. When I would come home for holidays I’d see her around town and it always amazed me that the sight of her still gave me the butterfly feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was a grown woman when I came back here and started working with Dr. Hutchins, but I still had butterflies whenever I saw her. It’s crazy for a high school crush to still have that kind of hold on a person, right?” Zoe shrugged before she began to apply the fourth strip. “So weird. There you were, always in the way as usual with your smug looks and barbs, and I didn’t dare try to talk to her. Wren came along and kind of made me forget about her, and then, as you know, Wren tore my heart to pieces. Don’t move, I’m not finished.”

  Zoe stood up straight and stretched. Alicia’s eyes were big and followed her every move. Zoe met her gaze and smiled. “I’m babbling to keep you distracted so you won’t wiggle around. Want me to continue?”

  “Mmm-hmm,” Alicia replied, lying perfectly still.

  Zoe started on the last strip. “Today, you reminded me about my crush. Since you know her very well, I was tempted to ask you how she’d react if I asked her out. Suddenly, I was a kid again, and my stomach was all in knots, and I couldn’t even bear to talk to you about her.” She pulled her gloves off and tossed them into the trash. “Alicia, you need to pay close attention to this wound. It should itch as it heals, so if it starts to hurt, or if you see discharge coming from it, don’t play around, just go see your doctor.”

  Alicia sat up and watched as Zoe cleaned her work area. “Who is she?”

  “I can’t tell you. I’ve lost my nerve,” Zoe replied and turned her back to Alicia as she washed her hands.

  “Is it—okay, I get it. Our friendship is new and you don’t trust me yet. So, do you know if there’s dry land between here and your house? Tony and I can take you anywhere you need to go.”

  “My place is right across the street; it’s my grandmother’s old house.” Zoe kept drying her hands with paper towels though they were no longer wet. “You and your friends toilet-papered it once.”

  Alicia climbed off the table. “We didn’t know it was your grandma’s house, we thought it was where you lived.” Alicia inhaled sharply and she sounded somber when she said, “It’s Lindsay, isn’t it? She’s the only friend I stayed close to after school. She’s gay too, and she lives in New Orleans now. She’s not in a relationship but she’s been dating a woman. I don’t think they’re serious, so I could—”

  “It’s not Lindsay.” Zoe whirled around. “I was trying to…it’s you.”

  Tony walked into the room and said, “Good, you’re done. Mom was trying to make me go get her and bring her back here. She said it shouldn’t take this
long to clean a scrape so she’s maniac pissed again. Let’s go. Hey Zoe, thank you so much for putting my sister’s face back together. We owe you one.”

  As Tony tugged Alicia out of the room she stared over her shoulder at Zoe in stunned silence.

  Chapter Four

  “She just stared at me, and then her brother dragged her away. I haven’t heard from her since,” Zoe said with sigh and took a sip of her coffee.

  “Sis, that took some guts.” Ashley smiled. “It’s only been a week, don’t give up hope yet.”

  “I had her all alone in that boat for hours, and I could’ve told her then, but I was afraid she’d throw me overboard.”

  “Well, she did,” Ashley said with a laugh.

  Zoe smiled. “What scared me the most was that she would laugh in my face or worse, look horrified and change the subject.”

  “You got a blank stare instead, and maybe that’s a good sign.”

  “Thanks for being optimistic for me,” Zoe said and took a sip of her coffee.

  Ashley gazed at her thoughtfully for a moment. “You once told me it was only a physical attraction and nothing would ever come of it, so why do you seem so let down?”

  “I’m mad at myself for being so juvenile and stupid. Even after we were adults I continued to pretend that I hated her. I should’ve just talked to her. We would’ve ended up being friends, and we might’ve…” Zoe shook her head and stared out of Ashley’s kitchen window. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter now.”

  “So, it was more than just a physical attraction.”

  “It had to be. What other explanation is there for me to be attracted to someone who despised me? Sometimes, I despised her too. When we really started talking I was immediately attracted to her…soul?” Zoe shrugged. “The butterflies came back.”

  “You’re not tempted to at least go to Jack’s and see how she reacts to seeing you?”

  “Ash, her silence has made it clear that she’s not interested in me that way.” Zoe said with a frown. “When they open the temporary bridge I’ll go back and get my car, other than that I’m not going to Jack’s anymore. I’m going to pretend that Alicia is really an asshole who needs to be avoided and hope I can make myself believe that.”

  *******

  Two days later, Alicia walked into Hutchins Veterinary Clinic and glared at the woman sitting behind the reception counter. “I need to see Dr. Rivers, I have an emergency.”

  “Name?” Gladys Hutchins asked curtly.

  “Alicia Sequin, the person who has been calling here daily and whose messages you have refused to give Dr. Rivers.”

  “As I told you, I don’t take messages from someone who refuses to tell me the reason for their call,” Gladys said as she peered at Alicia over the top of her glasses. “What is your emergency?”

  Alicia set a turtle on the counter with a leash wrapped around its shell. “She has distemper.”

  “We don’t treat wild animals.”

  “Oh, I’m about to prove you wrong.” Alicia grabbed the turtle, barged past the reception counter and went straight into the hallway of the patient care area. “This is an emergency, I need to see Dr. Rivers,” she yelled with Gladys on her heels trying to grab her arm. “You better back off, old woman, or I’ll turn this turtle loose on you and she’s vicious.”

  Zoe threw open the door of the exam room she was working in. “What is going on?”

  “I’m about to call the police on this idiot,” Gladys replied. “She forced her way back here.”

  “That’s not necessary. Alicia, if you’ll wait here in the hall I’ll see you as soon as I finish with my current patient,” Zoe said, staring at the leash dangling from the turtle Alicia held. “Gladys, it’s fine, really. This won’t happen again.”

  Gladys scowled at the satisfied grin on Alicia’s face before she turned and walked away. Alicia leaned against the wall as Zoe closed the door to the exam room. “Your performance was fantastic,” she whispered and petted the turtle’s shell. “I promise I’ll put you back where I found you as soon as we’re done here. I don’t know what distemper is, but it would help if you’d stick your head in and out and try to look depressed and mad at the same time.”

  A few minutes later, a woman walked out of the exam room carrying a small poodle. She gave Alicia and the turtle a bewildered glance before continuing on. Zoe stepped into the hallway, gestured to the doorway and said, “Come in, please.”

  Alicia stepped into the room and placed the turtle on the exam table as Zoe closed the door. “I think Speedy has distemper. She spends a lot of time in her shell, and when she does come out she’s in a really bad mood.”

  “What’re you really doing here?” Zoe asked as she joined Alicia at the table and folded her arms.

  “Your home number isn’t listed in the phone book, so I’ve been trying to call you here. That butthole at the desk out there wouldn’t let me talk to you and she wouldn’t take my messages because I wouldn’t tell her why I was calling. I had to wrestle this snapping turtle out of the wild just to have an excuse to be here.”

  “Alicia, I’m sure you know that’s a box turtle.”

  “Why haven’t you been coming to Jack’s anymore?”

  “The bridge is still out at Carter Bayou, and my car is still in Jack’s parking lot,” Zoe replied.

  Silence settled between them and then Alicia finally asked, “Did I dream what I heard in this room a little over a week ago?”

  “What did you hear?”

  Alicia cocked her head and sighed. “Come on.”

  “You know where I live, why didn’t you come over and ask me if you really heard…what you think you…might’ve heard?”

  “Well, when you didn’t show up at Jack’s like you usually do, I thought you might’ve regretted saying what I might’ve heard. I’m sure I’m not the only person you know with a boat, so you could’ve gotten to Jack’s if you’d wanted to. I also wondered if you told the ghost choker out there that you didn’t want to talk to me. I had to know, so I took this poor creature from its home.” Alicia petted the turtle’s shell. “I think you at least owe her an explanation.”

  “I guess you couldn’t borrow a dog or a cat without explaining why.”

  “Yeah, and I had to buy a leash because I know unrestrained animals aren’t allowed in vet’s offices. They’re ridiculously overpriced, and not made for turtles.” Alicia stabbed a finger at Zoe. “I tried to catch a stray cat behind the grocery store and nearly got my ass kicked. They don’t like a cardboard box coming at them even if there’s a chicken leg in it. That cat took a swipe at my face and nearly tore one of my strips off, and then it stole my chicken.”

  Zoe bent and gazed up at Alicia’s chin. “That’s healing nicely.”

  “Yeah, well it itches.”

  “I could fit you with a cone to keep you from scratching, but the strips are probably ready to come off,” Zoe said with a slight smile. “Do you want me to—”

  “You better start explaining or I’m gonna turn this depressed and angry turtle loose on you.” Alicia held up the leash. “I’m really struggling to hold it back.”

  Zoe pursed her lips. “If I was to tell Speedy I could’ve found my way to Jack’s, but I didn’t because I was afraid you wouldn’t be happy to see me, what would you say?”

  “Why would you tell Speedy when I’m standing right here?”

  “You told me I owed her an explanation,” Zoe replied with a laugh.

  Alicia shook her head with a wry smile. “You’re still so difficult. I would’ve been very happy to see you, and I would’ve bought you a drink. I definitely would’ve asked if you wanted to have dinner with me. But no, you put me through wrestling a dangerous cat, turtle-napping, shelling out money on a leash and having my ghost choked. Zoe, would you have dinner with me?”

  “Yes, as long as it’s not turtle soup.”

  “You were never on the menu,” Alicia cooed and petted the turtle’s shell while keeping an eye on Zoe. “May I
have your phone number, so I don’t have to talk to the ghost choker with distemper out there?”

  “Yes.” Zoe laughed as she grabbed a pen and a piece of paper.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything when you told me how you felt. I was lying here when you were talking about the third woman, wracking my brain over whom it could be. I never dreamed…” Alicia blew out a breath. “I swear, I almost yelled nine when you admitted it was me. I was so surprised—happily surprised, I couldn’t think, I couldn’t form words. I wanted to tell…I want you to have my number too.” Alicia tore off a piece of the paper Zoe handed her and plucked the pen from her hand. “Are you busy tonight?”

  “No.”

  Alicia handed the slip of paper and the pen back to Zoe. “Will you have dinner with me?”

  “I’d love to,” Zoe replied with a smile.

  “Good.” Alicia nodded with a grin. “Good, really good. What time do you want me to pick you up?”

  “You know how people talk around here. I could borrow my sister’s car and meet you somewhere. You pick the time.”

  Alicia thought for a moment. “Meet me at Sloop’s Marina, I’ll be at the gate. I want to take you out on a nice boat to see the sunset if that’s okay. It’ll be a dinner cruise and I promise I won’t hit anything this time. Is six thirty okay?”

  Zoe nodded. “Yes, I’ll be there, and please take that leash off Speedy before you turn her loose. I’ll show you to the back door, otherwise Gladys will try to charge you for an office visit. More importantly, I don’t want her to kill you and choke your ghost.”

  “What is distemper?” Alicia asked as she picked up the turtle.