Page 188 of Merry Christmas, You Filthy Animal
“It was stupid,” I say. “And I’m going to tell you right now, it took about two interactions with her for my mind to change. I went from wanting to challenge her to wanting her around. I don’t know if she told you, but while you were gone, the power went out. And I’m not saying this to win brownie points with you. I’m saying this because I want you to know how much I care for her. I walked through that storm to get to her, from my house to her cottage. Through the snow, through the wind, I walked to see if she was okay. We tried texting and calling, and heard nothing from her. When I got to her cottage, she was nearly frozen, so I carried her back to my place, where I spent the night warming her up and keeping an eye on her because she was not doing well, Dwight. It terrified me. Seeing her like that, it was the first time I realized just how much I liked her, how much I cared for her. From there, I’ve just kept falling harder and harder.”
“You carried her?” he asks.
I nod. “And I even went back for her tarantula once I set her up in front of my fire.”
“You saved Buzz?”
“Yeah, hated every second of it, but I’d do anything for her.”
“He would,” Bob says, chiming in. “I saw him the night he took her out on a date. He was nervous, wanted to make sure she had the perfect night. He is being genuine. There’s no doubt in my mind that he has feelings for her.”
Dwight lets out a sigh and tugs on the cuffs of his shirt. “Then why... why did you have to hurt her?”
“I didn’t want to. Trust me, that was the last thing I wanted to do. My intention was to try to talk to you and get you to trust me, to hash out our differences like we are now so that I wouldn’t hurt her. I was ready to put aside all the animosity and fighting between us for her.”
He slowly nods. “This is... this is a lot to take in. Doesn’t change the fact that what your brother did was wrong. Duncan told me it was a Maxheimer; I just assumed it was you given our history.”
“Either way, should never have happened, and I will get to the bottom of it,” I promise. “You deserve an explanation on that.”
“I, uh, I appreciate that,” Dwight says, throwing me an olive branch that I’ll fucking cling to.
“Good,” Bob says. “Now, look at each other and apologize.” When we don’t listen at first, he booms, “Now.”
Startled, we both turn toward each other and say, “Sorry,” at the same time.
“Thank you,” Bob says, pleased with himself. “No more of this fighting, especially in the streets where everyone can hear you. You don’t have to be the best of friends, but you can at least understand each other.”
“I’d like that,” I say.
“Yeah, I mean, we’re not friends, but I don’t have to be a dick to you,” Dwight says.
“Thanks, man.”
“I still don’t trust you fully.”
“I get that,” I say. “That will take time. I’ll have to earn your trust. And I have no problem doing that.”
“Are you saying that just because you like Betty and want to be with her?”
“Honestly, yes,” I say. “If she wasn’t involved, I probably wouldn’t bother trying with you, but I know that she considersyou the closest thing she has to a brother, and I’d never want to get in the way of that kind of relationship. So yeah, I want to earn your trust for her.”
Dwight slowly nods. “That’s a truthful answer I can appreciate. If you said no, I wouldn’t have believed you.” He rubs his hands over his thighs. “I don’t know where to go from here.”
“What about Betty?” Bob says. “What are you going to do about her?”
“I need to talk to her,” I say in a panic.
Dwight shakes his head. “She’s not going to want to talk to you. Not right now at least. I think you need to let her sit in her feelings for a moment.”
“I can’t,” I say. “She’s never going to give me a second chance if I let her sit in her feelings, because those feelings will brew, and then she’ll just hate me even more.”
“She’s not going to believe anything you say,” Dwight says.
“He’s right.” Bob sits back in his chair and rubs his beard. “I think you need a bigger plan than just going to talk to her. You can’t just tell her you love her. You have to show her you love her.”
“As much as it pains me to say it, because I don’t like that you love her, he’s right,” Dwight says.
I shake my head. “No, I should have talked to her from the beginning. I went with a grand idea, and it came back and bit me in the ass. I’m going to do the thing that I should have done in the first place. Just talk.”
