Love You to Death

Love You to Death Chapter 4

 I was in shock that I didn't have to go searching for Peter. Peter came to me. I found that so weird. He bent down beside me and started helping me clean up the carnage of spilled groceries. I looked at him, still in shock by his entrance. The man was helping me when I was a complete ditz. That's pretty charming.

"You should be careful where you're going. I saw you grab all four of your grocery bags out of your car and I knew that was a recipe for disaster." He said as he grabbed the now mangled loaf of bread.

He spoke like a stereotypical New Yorker. I laughed inwardly to myself at this revelation.

"I know, I didn't want to make multiple trips to my car." I lightly laughed as I picked up the rest of my groceries and put them back in the bag.

He looked at me quizzically as he repacked the rest of my bags.

"You're not from around here, are you?" It came off as a statement almost.

"Yeah, I'm not. I'm from PA. Just moved into the neighborhood today." I stated as I motioned towards my new home.

He nodded and smiled lightly.

"I can tell. You talk funny."

"Well thanks for pointing out the obvious. I thought you talked pretty funny, too, mister...?"

"Peter, Peter Ratajczyk. And you are...?"

"Rosie Ivanov." I smiled and put out my hand to shake his. He took my little hand in his and shook it firmly.

"Ah, a fellow Russian I see." He chuckled.

"Yup, I am." I smiled at him, tucking my disheveled bangs behind my ear.

He looked down at the newly re-packed bag of groceries and then at my house.

"Do you need help carrying these in at all?"

I pondered the offer. Why the hell not? The more contact I have with him the better.

"If you don't mind? That would be a great help."

I grabbed two bags and he grabbed the other two. I put the two bags in my left arm as I got my keys out. We walked up the stairs to the door and I unlocked it. We got through the vestibule and walked into the kitchen. We set the bags down on the counter and I saw him looking around.

"You've got a nice little place here, Rosie."

"Thank you." I smiled at him. "You know, you didn't have to help me out back there. I wanted to thank you for that."

He shrugged.

"If I see a lady in distress, I feel compelled to help."

"Well, that's very kind of you. To be honest, you scared the daylights out of me when I was trying to clean up the mess out there. You look pretty daunting." I laughed a little as I took in his height in person. This man was as tall as a tree.

He chuckled at my comment.

"Who me? Daunting? You're kidding."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, a chuckle escaping my own lips. He looked at me when I did this and I saw a flicker in his eyes, like he was just noticing something interesting about me.

He then looked down at his watch.

"Well, I've got to get going. Got work in a few minutes."

"Okay, well thank you again for helping me out."

"It's really not a problem at all."

I walked him to the front door. He traipsed down the steps and he turned back to wave goodbye to me. I glanced at him as he walked away.