Chapter 6

I woke up Sunday morning nervous and excited at the same time. I’d turned down invitations to go out last night because I didn’t want to be hungover for my date with Sidney. He was picking me up for an early lunch/late breakfast and then we were going to the zoo. I hadn’t expected the invitation to the zoo, but was thrilled when he suggested it.

I showered and threw my hair up into a ponytail. I put on a pair of jeans and a sweater and went light on the makeup. I tried to think of what section I’d want to head to first, knowing that the bears would have to be last since they were my favorite and I’d spend the whole afternoon watching them if I had the choice. The doorbell rang and I opened it.

“Hey, we have hangovers in here!” I heard Grace call out in protest at the noise.

I laughed and shook my head as I walked out the door. We drove to a diner where I ordered a Belgian waffle with strawberries and whipped cream. I asked Sidney about the game the night before and he told me about their shootout win over the Islanders.

After we finished brunch we left the diner and at least half of the Belgian waffle I hadn’t been able to eat. We pulled up at the zoo, paid admission, and walked in the entrance. We headed in the direction of the Asian Forest first. When I saw the Amur tiger pacing I stopped and watched in silence for a few minutes.

“They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” I finally said to Sidney as we looked on.

“Yes, they are,” he replied. I smiled, but didn’t take my eyes off of the tiger.

“It’s a shame they may not survive in the wild much longer,” I said shaking my head in disgust.

“What do you mean?” he asked. I whipped my head around to look at him in shock.
“How do you not know?” I asked much more forcefully than I meant to. He shrugged and didn’t seem all that concerned.

“Hockey takes up a lot of my time. I don’t have time for much else,” he explained. I softened my gaze on him and looked back at the tiger.

“They’re being wiped out in Russia and in China. India’s the only country where they’re not being killed off on sight. In fact, the tigers hunt humans in the Sunderban in India. Fucking poachers hunt them for skins and body parts to sell to the traditional Chinese who think tiger parts cure diseases,” I said in anger.

I knew I shouldn’t go there, but I couldn’t help it. Thinking about ancient Chinese medicine or their “delicacies” at expensive secret restaurants really got my blood boiling. Sidney didn’t say anything and we stood in silence for a few minutes watching the tiger pace. I hoped tigers wouldn’t only be alive in zoos when I had children. Finally I moved on to another exhibit.

Things lightened up as we moved throughout the zoo. I threw out some fun facts for Sidney about each animal we observed and he made fun of me for being such a geek. I laughed it off knowing that he could probably rattle off the stats of any player in the NHL I asked about.

I was worried about seeing the bears. Short of the polar bear, I was afraid the others would have gone into hibernation. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a Kodiak and a black bear still out and alert. I laughed at just about everything the bears did and told Sidney he could go on without me, because I’d be here the rest of the day.

“You’re something else,” he said to me laughing as I pointed and giggled like a child when the polar bear dove into the water after a ball he’d just knocked in.

“Hey, it was funny,” I told him, giving him a shove. He rolled his eyes at me and I turned my attention back to the polar bear.

“So what was it about bears that attracted you to them?” he asked. I smiled as I thought back to that day at the zoo. I honestly think it was my first real vivid memory.

“Well, I saw the polar bears first. To my five year old knowledge bears looked just like the ones I hugged in bed at night, but they were huge. One was napping, but the other was doing laps around the exhibit. Every once in a while he’d make his way to a point right in the center where most of the people were gathered. Once there he’d stop, look out at the crowd, and then pick up a paw and hold it in the air like he was posing. Then he’d go on with his laps after the crowd laughed. I wanted to watch him do that all day.”

“A posing polar bear hooked you?” he asked. I glanced over at him and shook my head.

“The Grizzly was next. He was half sitting in the water and watching the fountain that was right in front of him. Periodically he would put his enormous paw over the fountain and block the flow of water. Then he would let go and snap at the water as it sprayed upwards,” I said laughing at the memory. He looked at me like I was crazy. “Trust me, it was hilarious.”

“I never know what to expect with you,” he told me giving me a half smile.

“Is that a bad thing?” He shook his head.

“Not at all.” I shivered and realized the sun was on its way down and the zoo would be closing soon.

“Thank you for taking me here,” I said as we walked back to his car.

“It was fun. You taught me a lot about animals that I didn’t know and never thought I would know. Unfortunately because of your obsession with the bears we only got to see about half of the exhibits,” he joked.

“Well, we’ll just have to go back and see the rest sometime,” I mentioned as I buckled my seat belt. I looked at him from the corner of my eye to gauge his reaction. He smiled and nodded to himself.

“We’ll have to go see the snakes though,” he said eyeing me.

“Wait until you see how big the anaconda is. It’s too bad they don’t have a reticulated python here. Those snakes are just enormous. It also kind of sucks they don’t have a king cobra. They’re giant also, and probably the most impressive looking snake you’d ever see, although not the deadliest.” I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn’t exactly expecting me to be okay with looking at snakes.

“You’ve surprised me again. I don’t know a single girl who wouldn’t freak out at the sight of a snake.” I just shrugged and looked out the window. Now that our date was over I was pretty bummed that it was ending. “So I know that we already had lunch, but I’m hungry again. Do you want to get something with me?”

“Yeah, sure. What’d you have in mind?” I asked jumping at the chance to keep the date going. He thought for a minute.

“I picked last time. It’s your choice,” he finally said. It was time for me to think.

“How about a Japanese Steakhouse?” I suggested. He agreed and headed to one. We pulled into the parking lot and he turned off the car. “Before we go in you have to promise not to argue with my next statement.” He looked at me oddly.

“I don’t know that I’m going to be able to promise that.”

“Then we’re not going in,” I said crossing my arms over my chest and leaving my seatbelt on. He sighed.

“Fine, I promise not to argue with you.” I smiled and got out of the car.

“Dinner’s on me,” I called back to him as I walked to the door. I could hear him laughing behind me.

We joined another group around the hibachi and looked over the menus. After we put in our order we started talking about his upcoming trip to Detroit. I hadn’t traveled much so I loved to hear what other places were like. That’s when he told me they’d lost to Detroit in the finals the previous year. I could tell he was still bitter about it by the way he talked about it.

The cook finally came and put on quite a show while making our dinner. Sidney and I spent the entire time laughing at the jokes and applauding the tricks. When we started eating we began to eat off of each others plates like we’d known each other forever. The food was cooked magnificently and I ate way more then I should have. When the check came Sidney tried to take it but I held my hand out to him. He sighed dramatically, but kept his mouth shut as he handed it over.

“How about some ice cream?” he asked as we got into his car. I looked over at him like he was crazy.

“You can still eat something after that?” He laughed and started the car. He wasn’t kidding about the ice cream. After he grabbed a cone and I refused one we just walked around downtown as he ate.

“I guess I should get back and pack up for the trip,” Sidney finally said.

“So you leave tomorrow?” I asked. He nodded.

“We’ll be back late Tuesday night though. It’s just one game,” he explained.

“Maybe I’ll tune in and watch this one,” I told him. He laughed. “What? I’m being serious.”

“You’re going to watch a game?” he asked bewildered.

“Hey, I liked the last game I watched. Maybe I’ll end up enjoying hockey. You never know if you like something until you give it a try.” He stopped walking and turned to look at me.

“Then I guess I better try,” he said.

I stopped too and looked at him, confused. I was about to ask him what he was going to try when the feel of his lips on mine silenced me. I was caught off guard for a minute, but I finally kissed him back when my brain registered what was going on. My stomach was in knots when he pulled away and I was struggling to catch my breath. I shivered and he took that as meaning I was cold even though the temperature was the last thing on my mind.

“Let’s get back to the car,” he said as he took my hand in his. We walked back to the car in silence. The ride back to my house was silent as well, and I couldn’t stop replaying that amazing kiss in my head.

“Thank you for everything today. I had a great time,” I told him before I got out of the car.

“I did too,” he replied. I smiled and opened my car door and got out. I heard him doing the same thing and he followed me onto the porch.

“I’ll call you tomorrow when I get to Detroit,” he said when we stopped outside the door.

“Okay. Have a safe trip.” He put a hand on my cheek and kissed me again causing my stomach to tie itself into knots all over again. At least this time I was ready for it.

“Goodnight, Tanner,” he said when he pulled away.

“Night.”