Any Other Name

Chapter 5

Eliza was deep into chapter five of The Bell Jar while she was at the dog park. She was covered as much as the cool weather would allow and was self-conscious of the marks on her neck. She looked up every now and again to make sure Riverside was still nearby. At the moment she was chasing a small black poodle-looking-dog around a pair of trees.

She went back to reading and fixed her scarf, beginning to wonder about the time. She wasn't sure how long people usually spent at the dog park, but since River was already housebroken and trained, she imagined that being a little social wouldn't hurt—so long as they were back before Marshall got worried again.

After sitting up the night before trying to find the reason why Marshall had been so worried about her, she figured it was because she hadn't texted him when she was leaving and arriving. 

It made sense—her sudden ability to get out of the house created anxiety not only for her but for him too. It was why he made it clear that she was in the wrong, but his worry was different from what she remembered.

When she mentioned the bruises that morning he checked them over and told her he didn't see anything. "I don't know, Elly," he said and joked, "maybe you're crazy." She figured she was, at least a little bit. Why else would she remember things that didn't happen and see bruises when there weren't any?

Ah, she hadn't been paying attention to the last page she read.

There was a dog walker with five or six dogs dragging him along, and Eliza watched him for a moment. He seemed overwhelmed with their collective energy and split the leashes between his hands. He walked over to one woman and handed off two golden retrievers and picked up one of the smaller dogs up in his arm. The woman thanked him and let her dogs lick her face. With just two on the ground left, he seemed much more capable.

He also saw Eliza.

"Hey," he said. He was just a few feet away and coerced the two dogs closer to her. "I'm sorry, uh, Anne, right?"

It took Eliza a moment to recognize the name and face, but it clicked. "Tesey?"

"That's me!"

"I'm surprised you recognize me." She was surprised that she didn't immediately burst into flames with how hot her face got. Was she really that recognizable? But then again, she did create a scene last time he saw her.

He cast her a cool grin and motioned for the spot beside her on the bench. She was uneasy but scooted over so he had a spot. It was a small bench and had Eliza relaxed, their elbows would have touched. "I'd remember someone as pretty as you. You don't look like a dog person?" He adjusted the leashes so that the two dogs, a german shepherd and a husky mix, could go around the bench and smell everything.

Eliza was stunned by how quickly he had complimented her and smoothed over it. "I, um, got a dog recently." She looked down at her lap and rubbed her thumbs on the pages. Marshall had warned her of the friendliness of people at the dog park and promised he wouldn't get mad if someone talked to her so long as she didn't go along with it. She didn't expect it to actually happen so she hadn't thought of what not-going-along-with actually entailed.

"Which one?"

She whistled the way Marshall taught her and River came bounding over. She slowed as she saw the other dogs and they started to sniff each other. "Riverside," Eliza said. "We call her River, mostly."

"Wow, her coat's beautiful."

"Thanks, we got her at the pound."

"Really?" Eliza lifted her gaze to him but still didn't look him in the eyes. "You don't see dogs like that in the shelter often."

Eliza hummed and thought about it. She knew that breed mattered for dogs more than cats, and that the ones in the shelter were usually mixed breeds—probably. She was way out of her depth talking about this with an almost-stranger. She decided to change the subject. "Why do you keep them on leashes? And have so many?" Most people had their dogs loose here, so they could spend their time talking with each other.

Tesey smiled and petted the small one in his lap. A lap cat, Elly? Really? Is that the best you can come up with? "I'm a dog sitter, along with a bunch of other side hustles. When you have so many it's easier to just keep them on the leash in case one gets anxious."

She hummed an acknowledgment and watched River wrestle with one of Tesey's dogs so she could get closer to Eliza. River looked happy; Eliza wanted to know what a "side hustle" was.

"Hey, are you feeling better? You were looking pretty pale the other day."

Eliza made the mistake of meeting his worried dark green eyes. The moment she did he leaned closer, though awkwardly; close enough that had she lifted her head a few centimeters their noses would have touched. His eyes were intense and they seemed to peer through her and she had no choice but to let him. He reminded her of someone she once knew, someone that Marshall had made clear that he didn't like. He wouldn't like this if he saw them staring at each other. He'd never let her out of the house if he saw this.

"Sorry, just..." Tesey paused and licked his lips. "Your eyes. They're so beautiful."

Eliza felt herself bristle and Tesey leaned back immediately. He held up what little of his arms he could without losing his grip on the leashes or the dog in his lap. "Sorry, sorry, that was so out of the blue. I'm not a creep, I swear." He looked away and shook his head, then looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "But I mean it. Your eyes are beautiful. You should look up more."

This was wrong and Eliza knew it. She needed to get out of there, and fast. She called River to her side and stood up quickly. "I have to go," she said.

"Wait." She stopped, for some reason, and waited for him to find footing around the husky. "This sounds like a Hallmark movie, I know, but I'd really like to get to know you."

Eliza busied herself dusting off River's coat and attaching the leash back onto her collar. "I have a boyfriend," she said and raised her left hand. "A fiancé."

"Then as friends."

Friends. Marshall told her what guys meant when they asked for that and she felt disgusted, dirtied by proxy. "No," she said, then added, "Thanks."

Without looking, she could tell that his shoulders had slouched. "Alright, then I hope to see you around."

Eliza didn't respond. She looked down to River and tried to smile for her sake. She didn't know how she felt about Tesey, but she spent more time looking in his eyes than she needed to for the rest of her life. He was what Marshall always warned her about and she needed to be careful if he was going to be at the dog park often.

As she left she thought she heard her name called and looked back; he was watching her go, shoulders drooped and lips pressed together. There was something about him standing there, surrounded by pets that weren't his with that expression that made guilt tug at her heart. She turned back and spurred River on so they could hurry.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading so far!  The next chapter's going to be a doozy.