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“Thank you. And thank you for storing it today. I’m sorry I couldn’t take it earlier. And I’m so sorry Norman was rude about it.”
“It’s fine. You don’t need to apologise. Norman had a point.”
“I… well… if you’re sure?”
“I am.” I stepped down off the back step, the light drizzle immediately making me regret my decision not to grab my hat. And shave my hair off. “Here you go.”
“Thanks,” he said as he took them carefully, having to tuck his umbrella into the crook of his arm to take both. I didn’t know whether to offer help or not. Would that be overstepping?
Instead, I said. “You’ll have to let me know what you think.”
“Oh, yes. Of course. I’m sure they’ll be delicious.”
“I mean, yeah, they’re the tits. But I still wanna know what you think.”
He nodded slowly. “I’ll let you know.”
Another moment of silence, which I deliberately snapped because I was desperate to find a way to keep this conversation going. I didn’t know why I wanted to. It wasn’t like we were friends. More like vaguely friendly acquaintances. But I was still fascinated by him, and now our animosity had started to cool, I was determined to find out more about him.
I knew I couldn’t force him to be my friend. But I could try.
It was how I’d made most of my friends. I’d met Darcy and Alfie in primary school when we’d all been playing in the little house-shop-thing in the corner of our reception classroom, and I’d decided then and there they were my friends. And that was it.
“Any nice plans for this evening?” I asked.
“Not really. I have to feed Lizzie. I mean, that’s not a bad thing, as long as she’s not feeling picky. But I suppose it’s not really a nice plan. Or special.” He must have seen my utter bewilderment because he continued quickly. “Lizzie is my royal python. A butter royal python, if you want to be specific.”
“You have a snake?”
“Y-Yes.”
“That’s so cool!” I stared at Rupert, shock and awe swirling through me. How did someone as uptight and fussy as him own something as cool as a snake? “Do you have pics?”
“Oh… yes. Hang on.” He opened his bag and put the two tubs inside, the top flap flopping slightly where it didn’t quite close. Then he pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened the screen, tapping it a few times and scrolling until he turned it around. “Here she is.”
“Fuck, she’s so cute!” She was too. Her scales were a soft caramel on top that faded to almost cream on her belly, with large butter-coloured splotches all across her body, round, dark eyes, and the cutest little snub nose. It was hard to tell how big she was from the way she was wrapped around Rupert’s arm, but she didn’t look huge. A cuddly sort of size. If that was even a thing with snakes. “Look at her little face! Oh, I just wanna kiss her little nose.”
Rupert chuckled, the sound warming my stomach. “She will let me do that sometimes. Mostly when she’s sleeping around my neck. And thank you, I think she’s gorgeous but not everyone agrees.”
“Well everyone else is wrong. How could you not love that face?” A million questions burst into my head, each of them fighting to be the first out of my mouth. “How long have you had her?”
“Nearly six years. I got her when she was six months old. She’s… is it weird to say she’s my best friend? I suppose it is.”
“No! People say that about their cats and dogs. Snakes can be your best friend too.”
“She is a good listener,” he said quietly. “And she doesn’t judge. Not really.”
“Sounds like a best friend to me.”
“Would you… would you like to meet her? Not today, um, it would have to be in a few days. Once she’s eaten, she needs about two or three days without being handled to make sure she digests properly. She can be a bit of a picky eater, so it’s very important she keeps down the meals she does eat.”
That gave me a million more questions to ask, but all of them faded into insignificance by the question Rupert had asked me. “I’d love that!”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
Rupert’s smile was so bright and pretty it reminded me of Christmas lights. “Amazing. Okay. How about next week then? Perhaps after work one day?”
