AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thor!”
He jumps all over me, licking my face, as Brady watches with a grin on his.
“Gemma told me when you were getting in. Thought I’d bring the li’l buddy over to greet you.”
“I’m so glad you did! Hi Thor! I missed you so much!” I pick up my heavy little friend. “How was he?”
“Good. He warmed up to me again.”
“Gemma’s waiting outside. We’re going to Baja Cantina. Wanna come?”
“Sure, I’ll grab the leash.”
“Let me put my luggage in the bedroom!” Putting down Thor after several kisses, I head off. “Oh and I have to use the bathroom! Back in a minute. I’m buying dinner! Or late lunch! Or whatever this is. The time change has me all wonky.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“You watched him for me.”
Brady rubs his head, looking sheepish. “It was fun.”
I laugh, “Oh, now he says that!”
Disappearing, I take care of what I need to do and on a whim, snag my camera from my suitcase, reappearing in the living room to find Brady holding up the wooden sign I left by the front door. “What’s this?”
“Um…more about that soon.”
He sets it back down and we walk outside, Thor leading the way to my elevator as Brady says, “I started seeing someone.”
“You did?” I push the button, look over to find he’s smiling a different kind of smile. “How?”
“How? That’s a weird question.”
“Online dating?”
We walk into the elevator. “Nope.”
“Then how isn’t a weird question.” I push the G-button for Garage.
He chuckles as the doors close. “I was walking Thor at the beach.”
“Ahhhhh, now I see. He’s a chick magnet.”
“Nope. She was drumming in the drum circle, and Thor went up to her. She stopped drumming and we uh…got to talking.”
That circle has been going on for decades at Venice Beach, a group of strangers bringing their hand-held and standing drums — like the djembe, Bongo, Conga, Timpani — to sit in a circle and make music as old as time. For free, onlookers enjoy a beat that surpasses ocean waves and thousands of passerby conversations; it’s so cool that I’m wildly impressed she’s a part of it. “What’s her name?”
“Elsa. She’s from Sweden, but she traveled to Africa volunteering at orphanages for three years, and that’s where she learned to play.”
“Come on now. She’s not real. You made her up.”
He laughs with all of himself, clearly crazy about her. The doors open and we discover Gemma waiting for us.
“Brady!”
“Hey Gem.”
She asks me, “Did you tell him?”
