The Seat Filler: A Novel Page 5

  I knew that he’d joined the military when he was eighteen years old and had been discharged about three years later, after he was injured overseas. He didn’t talk much in interviews about what had happened, but he’d often discussed his respect for the organization and for his buddies who had gone on to serve without him.

  “What about you?” he asked. “Are you much of a reader?”

  I picked up the book next to me, a collection of plays by Sophocles. I let out a little laugh. “Yes, but probably nothing you’d find interesting.” For example, I adored the Duel of the Fae books that the movies were based on, and there was no way I could admit that to him.

  Given that I’d told him I had no idea who he was.

  “I doubt that,” he said as he stood up and took a step closer to me. “You seem interesting to me.”

  My eyes widened, and I leaned against the bookshelf for support. What the holy frack did that mean?

  So I decided to make a joke of it. “I’m not. I mean, while you’re reading Sophocles, Proust, and Mamet, I’m usually rotting my brain watching television.” I swallowed nervously, not liking the way he was looking at me. Or maybe the problem was that I liked it too much. “And you’ve definitely gone with some interesting decor choices here.”

  “I’ve been living in New York the last few years because I’ve liked the anonymity it affords me. But so much of my work is in Los Angeles that we moved here about six months ago. I wanted space for Magnus to run around in, so I planned on building a fence, but the homeowners’ association is giving me grief. Anyway, this house used to be owned by a ninety-four-year-old woman. Her husband built it for her as a wedding present back in the 1950s. So I want to honor that history and restore it to its former glory, but I haven’t found the right person to fix it up yet.”

  Maybe Shelby really was an all-seeing witch. “Actually, I happen to know the right person. It’s my friend Shelby. Because if I tell her the way that this adorable bungalow is the victim of decorating abuse, I’m going to have to drive her to the hospital after she has a coronary. She takes her interior design very seriously.”

  I took out the small stack of cards she’d given me and sorted through them until I found one of hers. I handed it to him, being very careful to make sure that our fingers didn’t accidentally brush, because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle the sensation.

  “Thanks for the recommendation.” He slid the card into his own pocket.

  That weird, awkward energy was back, and he was looking at me like . . . like he wanted to kiss me.

  Panicky adrenaline flooded through me, and I cleared my throat loudly. “We should probably get started. Let me tell you a little about the services I provide.”

  I ran through what I’d do with Magnus, the brushing and bathing, the organic products I used that were environmentally friendly and didn’t have any harsh chemicals, how I preferred towel drying and then stress-free toenail clipping. “I can also brush his teeth and clean out his ears, if you want.”

  “He probably needs the works. Let me get his leash in case he makes a dash for it once we go outside.”

  I nodded as he went into the kitchen. Talking about how I did my job had calmed me back down and made it so that I could appreciate Noah’s broad shoulders as he went through the door. I thought again about how strong he was and how easily he’d hefted his dog. Magnus looked up at me expectantly, and I said, “You’re the world’s luckiest dog, did you know that?”

  “Did you say something?” Noah asked when he reentered the library and attached the leash to Magnus’s collar.

  Other than a small part of me wishing I could switch places with Magnus? “No. I’m parked out front.”

  He led the way, which allowed me to walk behind him and enjoy the fact that his jeans were very well fitted and he filled them out nicely.

  I tried not to sigh. I did not have nearly as much willpower as I thought I did. I was crumbling like a sandcastle at high tide.

  To distract myself I asked, “So, you said they’re doing a feature on you and Magnus?”

  He glanced over his shoulder with a wry expression. “I know, it sounds pretentious. But yes.”

  It didn’t sound the least bit pretentious to me. Because I was totally going to read that article and would probably even cut it out and put it in my old scrapbook. I’d started it back when he was starring on the teen show Late for Class as Felix Morrison. He played the mischievous ladies’ man who was always getting in and out of schemes, to his principal’s great frustration. The show was originally intended to be a showcase for the actress who played his homeroom teacher, but they quickly discovered that the teen girls were much more interested in Felix and he became the breakout star.

  When I was younger, I used to clip magazine articles about Noah and the show, along with printing out stories and pictures of him from the internet, and put them all in my scrapbook. I wondered where it was. I hadn’t seen that thing in years. My mom would probably know.

  Noah opened the front door, and I made my way over to the van. He read the name on the side. “Waggin’ Wheels. Clever.”

  “Thanks.” I got out my keys to unlock the van.

  He apparently had no concept of personal boundaries, as he stood close enough to me that if I moved even a fraction of an inch, my back would be pressed against his front. Flustered, I dropped my keys not once, but twice.

  Shaking my head, I finally pushed the unlock and then the door open buttons to open the van. The lights popped on as I climbed in.

  “Wow,” he said. “This wasn’t what I was expecting.”

  “It’s nice, isn’t it?” The inside was a pristine white with different stainless steel stations for each part of the grooming process, along with white overhead cabinets to hold all of my supplies. It almost looked like the inside of a spaceship. “Come in,” I told him. “I call it my Hair Force One.”

  His expression didn’t alter.

  “Get it?” I said, just in case he didn’t realize it was a joke.

  “Oh, I got it. It just wasn’t, you know, funny.” I realized that he was teasing me in that sardonic tone of his, and it both annoyed and thrilled me.

  Although the van had a high ceiling, Noah still had to duck when he got in and stand with his head slightly tilted. Magnus was sniffing everything in sight, and I shut the door behind us.

  And realized just how tiny the space was with the three of us in it. I felt pressed to fill the silence with words. Any words. “Part of the benefit of using a mobile service like mine is that Magnus will have a chance to check this all out and get comfortable before we do anything. I’ll also play with him for a little while and give him a belly rub and a treat, so that he’s comfortable with me, too. There’re no other dogs here, no scents or sounds that will stress him out. Hopefully it’ll be an enjoyable experience for him.”

  He nodded and reached for one of the knobs on the cabinet closest to him. “Sounds good. Did you always want to be a dog groomer?”

  “Like, since I was a little kid? No. My mom wanted me to be an accountant, and that’s what I was studying in college, and then Shelby, the friend I mentioned earlier? You met her the other night. Her fiancé’s mother is the one who ran the seat-filler thing for the awards show.” I was veering into babbling territory and got myself back on track. “Anyway, a few years ago, Shelby got sick with acute lymphocytic leukemia, and it changed everything for me. One day I was looking at her lying in a hospital bed and it just hit me—what was I doing? I didn’t want to be an accountant. Life was too short. I wanted to do something I loved.”

  “That makes sense,” he said.

  Magnus finished his exploration, and I sat down on the floor next to him and gave him a treat. I started scratching behind his ears, which he seemed to enjoy.

  Noah was watching me, as if expecting me to go on, so I did. “Anyway, I tried a bunch of different things for a couple of years. And I realized that I didn’t want to work in an office. I wanted to be my own
boss, making my own schedule. My mom owns a housecleaning business and I was temporarily working for her, and she had this client who had bought this van for his third wife who wanted to start her own business, but it turned out she didn’t like animals. And I’d always loved dogs. So I offered to buy the van and he sold it to me at a discounted rate. I pay him monthly installments.”

  “Was your mom disappointed?”

  “She was furious,” I said. “I think in part because she had given up on her dream to be an actress to take care of me and so she wanted me to have a sensible, reliable job, too. I think she finally realized that was more her issue, and she backed off.” I let out a little laugh. “Wow. Sorry to drop my whole life story on you like that.”

  “No, I like it. I was the one who asked, remember?” I tried not to read too much into his words. I also tried to ignore how disconcerting it was to have him towering over me as I attempted to bond with Magnus. He asked, “Do you have a dog?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t. My mom was allergic and I currently don’t because my landlord doesn’t allow it. But someday I will. Someday I’m going to have my own ranch with a barn and tons of land so that I can bring in as many rescue animals as possible and take care of them. For now I get my daily fix from other people’s pets. Don’t I, Magnus?” I was scratching his belly, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth.

  “I wasn’t allowed to have any pets growing up, either, and now I wonder how anyone can be happy without a dog of their own. I had no idea how much you could love one until I got Magnus. I have a hard time imagining loving anyone more than I do him.”

  “I bet your girlfriend loves hearing that,” I said.

  “I’m not dating anyone.”

  But what about Barbie Mummy? I wanted to know, but decided it was none of my business. Maybe we had different definitions for the word dating. Keeping it professional, remember? I reminded myself. “I should probably get started.”

  “Yes,” he said, handing me the leash. “I’m sure you have other things to do. I didn’t mean to pull you away from any plans you might have had this evening. Is someone . . . expecting you?”

  I led Magnus over to the table I used for brushing. He was a heavy beastie, easily 150 pounds, if not more. I did manage to get him up with the offer of another treat. “Expecting me? Other than Shelby? No.”

  “So . . . you’re not seeing anyone? No boyfriend?”

  “Uh, no,” I said with a laugh that was tinged with a bit of frenzy. “No, definitely not.” Never had, never would.

  Wait. Why was he asking me that?

  He immediately shot down any notion that he meant something more by it by adding, “Good. I felt bad about calling you over here last-minute, and I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t infringing on your time. I’m going to grab a shower if you’re okay here.”

  Maybe he’d felt obligated to ask me about my dating situation because I’d kind of asked him first. I went for some humor to relieve the tension I was feeling. “So what you’re saying is that you’re about to get groomed, too . . . Nope, I hear it out loud and I take it back. Too lame of a joke. I’ll just see you in a little bit.”

  That hint of a smile was there, and I wondered what it would take to get that dimple of his to reappear. Not that I was going to try, but I did wonder.

  He opened and then closed the van door, and I let out a sigh of relief. It was like my entire body tensed up around him, and I was glad to be able to calm down and focus on the job I’d come here to do. “We’ll get you clean and shiny and soft, won’t we, Magnus?”

  Magnus barked in response, and I concentrated on making him beautiful. Muscle memory made it easy to go through the motions quickly. That Magnus was so cooperative helped, too. Which left me time to think. Like, would Noah come back out here to the van? Or would he expect me to come to the front door? It wasn’t something I’d ever considered before with other clients, but it suddenly seemed important.

  Shelby sent me a text.

  I took a picture of myself and Magnus’s tail. Noah had always come across like a private person in his interviews, and I got the feeling he wouldn’t want me to be taking pictures of his dog.

  I saw the three dots as she typed.

  I wasn’t going to get into an argument with her over it, because the last time I did that, she had turned out to be right.

  What if she’s right this time, too? a little voice whispered. Okay, universe, I said. If he likes me, he will come back to the van. If I have to go to him, he doesn’t.

  It was childish, but now that I’d set up an imaginary test, we’d just see what happened next.

  And I’ll admit that now I was taking my time with Magnus, because a part of me was hoping Noah would come back to the van, but he didn’t.

  Giving in and acknowledging the sign the universe had just given me about Noah’s lack of interest, I asked Magnus if he’d like a bow. I held up a blue one and he sniffed it, and so I took that as approval.

  I tied it on him, and since he didn’t rip it off immediately, I considered it a win. “Come on, boy, let’s get you back inside before you mess up all my work.” I attached the leash to his collar again and led him to the front door. I rang the doorbell, and even though I knew what was going to happen, even though I’d been expecting it, I still felt bowled over when Noah answered it.

  Especially since his hair was wet and slicked back from his strong face. Although I’d always had definite opinions regarding what I preferred in men’s haircuts (clean-cut), when it came to him, I didn’t care what he did or didn’t do. I was a fan of it all.

  He’d changed into a different pair of jeans and a black hoodie. He smelled clean, like soap and shampoo, and I stopped myself from dragging in a deep breath.

  “All done!” I said, too brightly.

  “I can see that.” His burning gaze floated down over my soaked clothing. Self-conscious, I pulled the wet cloth away from my body. “Do you need to come in and dry off?”

  Heart pounding loudly in my chest, I said, “No, I’m good. It’s all part of the job. Thanks.” Not to mention that if he kept looking at me like that, my wet shirt was going to catch on fire.

  And despite my saying it was fine, he stepped back to let me into the living room. My feet moved of their own volition so that it surprised me a little when he closed the door. Stupid, traitorous feet. I gave him the leash, which he undid.

  Then he asked in a disbelieving tone, “Why is my dog wearing a bow?”

  “Magnus likes it.”

  “He also likes to eat his own vomit, so he’s not really my go-to guy when it comes to judgment.”

  “Well, I like it, too.”

  And despite his tone, he left the bow. It surprised me. Magnus yawned, apparently bored by us, and padded out of the room.

  “How much do I owe you?” Noah asked.

  “For a dog Magnus’s size, I charge sixty dollars.”

  He pulled out a black leather wallet from his back pocket. “Sorry, I only have this. I spent the last month in Europe.” He handed me a bill that looked like fake money. Like something from a board game. Was it real?

  The only way I knew how to verify money was either by holding it up to the light or biting on it like they did with coins in old cartoons. Either way, I had no idea what I was looking for. “What is this?”

  “Five hundred euros.”

  I didn’t know what the current exchange rate was, but I figured that was much closer to five hundred dollars than fifty. “I don’t have any change on me.”

  “Keep it. As a tip.”

  This was too much. “You can’t tip me four hundred and forty dollars.”

  “They’re not dollars. They’re euros.”

  “You know what I mean,” I said in frustration. “You can’t tip me that much.”

  “Why not?” He seemed genuinely puzzled.

  “It’s extravagant and, I don’t know, kind of . . . demeaning.”

  “Or it’s incredibly generous.” Now he was s
tarting to sound annoyed.

  I handed the bill back to him. “You can just Venmo me or something.”

  “I don’t have any apps on my phone.”

  “You don’t . . .” I was dumbfounded. “What do you have on it?”

  “An actual phone. Email. Sometimes I text,” he said defensively. “My fingers are big and those screens are small. It’s annoying. Besides, I’ve never been much into social media.”

  That at least I understood. “Me neither.”

  “I know.”

  My lower jaw dropped slightly. “How do you know that?”

  But he didn’t answer. He went back into his wallet and pulled out a different bill. “The smallest denomination I have is a hundred euros.”

  “You say that like I’m being the unreasonable one. I’m not the one trying to pay for services rendered with Monopoly money.” That got me a half smile, and my heart fluttered happily in response. Uh-oh. Time for me to go.

  “Consider it hazard pay for coming over so late.”

  Nodding, I took the hundred euros, and even though it was definitely too much, I didn’t want to prolong this whole encounter. “Okay, well, I should get going. Thanks for the opportunity. Magnus is a great dog. Enjoy your interview tomorrow.”

  “Wait.” His hand was on my arm, and it was like being pumped full of thousands of volts of electricity all at once. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Oh?” My voice actually squeaked.

  He took one step closer. “So, about the other night. When we met.”

  My brain rushed in to say something, to change the subject from wherever this was going. “Why did you call me to take care of Magnus? There are a thousand other mobile groomers in LA that you could have called.”

  He put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Most people in my life want something from me. Or they are blinded by my fame and treat me differently. You didn’t. And I realized I could trust you.”