One Step at a Time

I\'m surprised the last chapter went over so well. I actually forced it, which is something I swore I wouldn\'t do, and I was even hesitant to post it the way it was.

I\'m afraid I don\'t know how it was like How I Met Your Mother either. I just saw it for the first time this week and even then I wasn\'t paying much attention. Hope it was a good episode for my sake, though.

===

It was Friday again and Jake was thankful to have the day off. Rather, he would be if he wasn’t so board at the moment. He had spent the entire morning glued to the couch watching morning news and eating bowl after bowl of cereal. In fact the only reason he could think of for why he actually stopped was that he ran out of milk. Now he was just lulling around the house looking for something to do, but nothing was sparking his interest.

At least tomorrow will be more entertaining, he thought. Nick called him the night before about going to the fair next week, but they all decided to go on Saturday instead. Even though it would be hotter and more crowded it was also the only day for the next few days that Alice had off. Though he made it a habit to complain about being dragged off to the fair whenever it was brought up he really was looking forward to it, and he did miss going.

Still, Jake had to get through this day first. After putting everything away from his breakfast he wandered over to the living room and opened the blinds for the first time today. Bright light shown through and blinded Jake for a moment before his eyes adjusted. As he stared out the window he was surprised as he realized just how well kept the back yard actually was. The lawn was soft and green with not many weeds and the flowerbeds around the yard were colored by different kinds of plants. Jake really didn’t know much at all about growing things, but he didn’t care to see dirt all the place, so he planted some flowers and vegetables and watered them hoping they wouldn’t die.

Apparently that’s all that’s needed in this case, he thought. He made his way through the house to the family room and out the sliding glass door to the yard. The grass felt good against his bare feet as he walked to the far end of the yard to see how everything was doing. A little dry he noticed. Jake turned on the near by faucet and small sprinklers lined around the beds sprayed out onto the plants. It was just a simple watering system he rigged up with cheap PVC pipes and misters that hooked to the hose. It wasn’t anything special, but it got the job done, and Jake was just pleased that it actually worked.

After a few minutes he figured it was enough and shut it off. Taking in the small of the damp air he made his way to the garage to get the lawn mower. He decided that he’d spend today touching up the yard and maybe plan out some other project for it. A bit into the mowing he thought he heard ringing somewhere, but every time he stopped to listen it would stop. Finally he stopped completely and definitely heard it again. He followed the sound over to the back porch and spotted his phone sitting on the wooden picnic table.

Jake nearly slapped his forehead in disbelief that he forgot it outside last night. He was sitting on the porch when he was talking to Nick about the change of plans for Saturday. Not knowing how long it was ringing he rushed over to answer it.

“Yeah? Hello?”

“Uh, hi. Jake?” He recognized the voice. “It’s Liz.”

“Oh, hey.” Jake wiped his face with his shirt and sat down on a lawn chair next to the table. “I guess you decided to call again after all.” He joked.

“Yeah, about that… I’m, um, I’m sorry about what I did the other night.”

Regret clear in her voice Jake shook his head to himself. “Don’t worry about it. It’s over with.” He crossed his ankle over his knee and realized that the bottom of his feet were stained green and fruitlessly attempted to brush some of it off.

“Thanks, still, I felt like I should apologize.”

“Then apology excepted.” He said with a smile that she could hear over the phone.

“I’m glad.” Liz bit her lip before continuing with the same situation she had with Jake earlier that week. Though she pretty much did the same thing before it still didn’t make it easier. She wished she had given him her number and had him call her instead because she wasn’t very good at instigating phone conversations, or conversations in general for that matter. “Um, I suppose I’m calling to take you up on your offer… again. If you want to, I mean.”

“Okay, did you have anything in mind?”

“Uh, I don’t know. I was kind of hoping you had an idea.” How stupid she must sound, she thought. After all, she called him. She should have at least had an inkling on what to do. “I’m free this weekend if you know of something.”

“Well, we could do something tomorrow. We could get lunch or catch a movie or… oh wait…” Jake suddenly interrupted himself when he remembered he was going to the fair the next day. “Tomorrow’s no good, actually.”

“Oh…” Liz said a bit dejected. After gathering up the courage to call him again just to be rejected didn’t settle well with her. “Well, uh, I guess we can do something some other time.”

“No, no, wait a minute.” Jake was silent for a second, toying with an idea that came to him. It should work out fine, he thought. “Um, I have plans tomorrow to go to the fair with a couple friends, but… would you like to come along?”

Liz was surprised some to know that he was actually willing to include her in an activity with his friends. I guess he really likes to rush into this friendship thing she thought to herself. “But wouldn’t they be turned off by the idea of some stranger tagging along? I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“Believe me, these two would be more than happy to meet you.” He said. His words threw Liz off. Happy to meet her? What would they know in order to be happy to see her? The phrase made her nervous, wondering exactly what she was getting into here.

“Well, okay… if you really think it’ll be alright.”

“It’ll be more than alright.” He assured. “Can you meet us at the fair grounds or do you need a ride?”

“No, I can meet you there. What time.”

“Is ten good?”

“Yeah, ten’s fine.” She shifted nervously on the couch before continuing. “You’re positive this isn’t a problem?”

“Trust me, it’s not.” He laughed. It was good to hear that he unwound some around her compared to the other encounters. Now if only she could do the same. “Um, so I’ll see you there?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you then. Bye” After hearing his reply she hung up and stared at her phone where she sat cross-legged. A small smile crossed her when she thought about the next day.

Right after Jake said goodbye to Liz he immediately dialed another number. “Hey, Nick? It’s Jake. There’s been a slight change in plans…”

***

Jake waited outside of the fair gates the next day, waiting for Liz. It was another hot day, but as usual he was wearing jeans, which Nick had already commented on, and a plain gray t-shirt. He would get the last laugh, though, when they all get on some hot metal ride and his legs get burned, he thought to himself with a slight chuckle.

“Something funny?” A timid voice came in front of him. Jake looked up from his thoughts and saw Liz in front of him. Looking at her he realize this was the first time he saw her without some sort of skirt. She was just wearing a pair of baggy jeans and an open, light blue shirt over a white tank top. Her hair hung down the same, though. Very casual as opposed to the other meetings, also kind of… He shook the next thought that was coming out of his mind and greeted her.

“Oh, no it’s nothing. Good to see that you made it.”

“Yeah, well, I said I would.” She said in a soft voice. When Jake didn’t respond afterwards she looked down at her feet nervously. “Um, where are the others?”

“Oh, they’re inside already, I stayed out here to wait for you.” He answered. “Plus I figured it would be less intimidating meeting up with someone you recognize instead of a group of strangers.” Liz had to nod with agreement. Though she was somewhat looking forward to today, she was tying her stomach up in knots thinking about the other two that would be here. “We already bought your admittance ticket, too.” He added as he handed her the pass.

“You didn’t have to do that, I could have paid for it.” She started to reach in her pocket to pay him back when he waved to her not to.

“My treat. I invited you remember.” Defeated she left it at that and followed him through the gate, stopping for a second so the keeper could tear her ticket. Once inside Jake stopped a few feet in and shaded his eyes from the bright sun, trying to see where Nick and Alice ran off. Finally he spotted them on a bench next to an ice cream stand already having their first meal of the day.

Jake guided Liz along to where they were sitting when Alice looked up and saw them coming, letting out a small squeal of joy when she noticed that Liz actually came. Jake had barely introduced them when Alice shot past him and threw her arms around Liz for a hug, still managing to hold her cup of half melted ice cream. She gasped with her eyes wide with surprise and looked towards Jake as if to silently ask what to do.

He tilted his head and shrugged before stepping over to Nick. “Not bad.” He commented with a smirk. “But God, she wears jeans in a hundred degree weather too? You must have been made for each other.”

“Oh, shut up.” Jake shot back jokingly as he kicked him in the foot lightly. “I wasn’t dragged here to take trash.”

Alice was just now letting go of the hug and Liz could only laugh nervously at the gesture. What an odd girl, she thought. The first good look at her she noticed she was wearing a bright pink belt around her shorts with a tie-dye shirt, and her hair was tied up in three spots. And here Liz was with plain old jeans and a white shirt. “I’m so glad you got to come!” She chimed again, the first time being when they were locked together. “So, what do you want to do first?”

“I don’t know.” She said pulling some strands of hair back behind her ear. “You probably know this place better than I do.”

“Well, we could get something to eat, or see the livestock, or go to the carnival…” She listed.

“No, no. No rides.” Jake protested. “If I must be here I’m seeing the exhibits.”

Alice looked back at Liz and leaned her head in Jake’s direction. “Gets motion sick.” He frowned at her for exposing him and Liz couldn’t help but giggle at his grumpy face.

“I agree.” Nick cut in. “For now anyway. The midway is better at night, so let’s wait on that. Let’s just wander around and see what catches our attention.”

They all agreed and left towards the buildings where the exhibits were held. The first thing they noticed was the stage between the buildings where there was a hypnotist performing, making a group of people do odd things like talking to their shoe or give a chair a massage. That didn’t interest them much, so they continued on inside where they had homeroom and shop projects from various schools on display. Jake particularly enjoyed this since it was an armature interest of his, though he really didn’t have the resources to follow it better. He had lost himself in his thoughts for a moment as he was staring at a finely crafted chess table when the sound of everyone moving on brought him back.

After an hour or so of exploring the different exhibits they decided to go to the area of the fair where they had the carnival games. Nick was the hesitant one this time since he knew it was nearly impossible to win and it was a waste of money, but Alice wanted to go anyway. They found themselves at one of the water gun booths where you have to shoot into the clown’s mouth or something along that line. In this case it was a sunflower and squirting it caused a bee to rise up. Nick figured out the trick to this one right away, explaining that they barely give you enough water to get the thing to the top, so unless you have absolute perfect aim it was another few bucks down the drain.

Jake only got his bee half way up when he started running out of water, so instead he finished the rest off by squirting it into Nick’s ear. Alice burst out into laughter as Nick took off after him after Jake dropped his gun and ran. Watching them weaving through groups of people cause both of the girls to crack up more and their chuckles lingered even after they were far out of sight.

“Kids.” Alice compared the two guys to. “Hey, let’s get something to eat while they end up getting arrested.” She grabbed Liz’s hand and dragged her to the food court that wasn’t too far from where they were. The smell of every possible thing that can be fried assaulted them and everything looked so good that it was hard to pick what to get. Alice finally settled on a couple corndogs with mustard and Liz got a cinnamon bun to gratify her sweet tooth. “So, how did Jake finally coax you into coming today?” She asked out of the blue.

She was a bit embarrassed to tell her the whole story about dinner and Jake approaching her at the college, but she tried cut out all the messy details. “Um, well, I kind of felt that I should make it up to him for leaving early on Tuesday.” She paused to take another bit of her food. “Then that’s when he invited me here.”

“Ah.” Alice scooted closer to Liz on the bench they landed on after buying their snacks. “So is this date number three?” She asked with a grin.

“No! I mean, no. We already settled all of that. We’re just doing this as friends.” She began swirling some frosting around with her plastic fork waiting for the next outlandish remark.

“Well, I guess that’s not too bad.” She said, leaning back against the railing behind them and starting on her second corndog. “Isn’t that how most great love affairs start in the movies? That or they’re bitter enemies.”

“Are you saying you might have something with him, then?” Liz was immediately surprised at herself for starting to play along with her joking around.

“Quick tongue!” Alice praised with a laugh. “But sadly for him I’m already taken.” She said, snootily raising her nose in the air.

“That happens in the movies too.” She said back. Alice seemed elated now as if she found a new playmate to play off of. Every way that she acted and spoke was so familiar to her. It was amazing, she thought. Who would ever imagine that there could be more than one Heather in the world.

Eventually, after Liz and Alice continued talking for a while, the two guys showed their faces again. “And where have you two been?” Alice asked as she stood up and placed her hands on her hips disapprovingly.

“Well, we went clear past the midway and came around and ended up near the stables.” Nick explained, scratching the back of his head. “That’s where we were stopped by security and told to cut it out.” He added, looking off to the side.

“Told me to stop, actually.” Jake corrected. “He never came within a foot of me.” He laughed, looking over to Nick.

Nick bent over to tie his shoelace that came loose during the chase. “Damn you and damn your high school track team.” He joked, standing straight again and heading over to sit on the bench next to Liz, who still had a smile on her face from their story.

“So, having a good time?” Jake asked Liz when he noticed her smile. He was glad that she appeared to be, but maybe that’s because he wasn’t around for the past few minutes, he joked to himself.

“I am, actually.” She said, swinging her legs slightly under the bench. “I’m glad you asked me.” There was a bit of a blush in her face as she said so, but was able to hide it when she brought her hand up to pull back some hair again. All of them finally got it together again and set off for the next thing to do. They ended up playing some more games with Nick, the pessimist of them, actually winning a small stuffed kangaroo with a zipper pouch. Then they found themselves back at the exhibits to check out some things they missed the first time around before heading for the stables to see the animals.

There they watched a best of breed horse judging and hung around afterwards to see some of the horses up close and feed them. Not far from that there were some people shearing sheep, some being more cooperative than others, and right next to that was a secluded area with a pregnant sheep. The four of them took turns touching its stomach and feeling the baby kicking around, finding out that it was due any day now. They continued on through the stables and when they finally came out it was already evening and the lights of the different attractions were being turned on.

“Rides!” Alice shouted out. “Come on, we’ve seen pretty much everything now. It’s time for the carnival.” Everyone gave in to her pleading and headed for the midway, the lights seeming to get brighter as the sky darkened over them. Now they were surrounded by the screaming of riders and the music on certain rides. Alice was determined to get everyone to come on every ride she wanted to, but Jake put his foot down on that.

“No way.” He started, crossing his arms in protest. “There are some rides I just will not go on. No roller coaster, no Kamikaze, no drop zone, and that weird-ass UFO thing isn’t even considerable. Anything that I can’t see before I get on is an automatic no.”

“So what do you ride?” Nick asked. “The merry-go-round? The train? Oh! Those spinning strawberries?” He jested.

“Funny.” Jake replied dryly. “I’m fine with the Ferris wheel, the tilt-a-whirl is fun. Those swings are as wild as I get…”

“Well, fine, you’re out I guess.” Alice said. “What about you, Liz? Are you up for some fun?”

“Actually…” She started, looking down at her feet quickly before looking up again. “I’m not too crazy about these things either.” She grew a little quiet, afraid that she was going to end up ruining the night for the two of them. She didn’t want to be in the way of them having their fun and regretting her coming along after all.

“That’s fine.” Jake said in defense of her before Alice had a chance to complain. “You two can go off and ride the things you want to and I guess we can check out some of the tamer stuff.” Alice slumped in an amusing huff of defeat before perking up again and accepting it. She then lured Nick away in the direction where some of the more extreme rides were and left the two of them alone to go at their own pace.

“Uh, thanks for that.” Liz said shyly, once again messing with some stray strands of hair. “I didn’t want to spoil any fun for them.”

“Oh don’t worry about them. They can make their own fun.” He reassured her. “So, um, what did you want to see first?”

Liz thought about it for a bit, knowing that she didn’t want to just give another ‘I don’t know’ and finally decided. “You said the Ferris wheel is okay, right? Let’s do that.” Jake smiled in approval and he bought a couple tickets before they could be let on. He let her climb in the basket first before he got on and sat across from her. They moved some and stopped a few times while the other baskets were filled until they finally met a fluid motion.

The ride for them was in silence for the most part, only broken by a comment here and there, but mostly they were enjoying the view from the highest point of the fair. Of course it apparently wasn’t enough as they nearly caught each other stealing glances once in a while, always trying to make it seem that they were taking in the sight from all angles. When the ride came to an end they took a couple seconds to get use to the ground again and decided to try out some of the others. At first they rode the ones Jake had mentioned, but later tried some new ones that were relatively tame.

After a while they both had their fill and decided to get away from the loud noises and headed near the entrance where they had small canals of water surrounded by grassy patches and settled there. They were enjoying the quiet and were winding down from the long day they had by watching the water and the occasional couple in a paddleboat drift by. Suddenly the silence was broken by Liz’s soft voice.

“ Alice and Nick seem nice.” She said, awkwardly trying to start some conversation.

“Yeah, they are.” He replied simply, not averting his gaze from the water.”

“Um, have you known them long?”

Jake turned his head and faced Liz and cleared his throat before beginning. “Nick I have, kind of. I met him about four years ago when I was hired at the video store. Alice, though, I’ve only known for a few months.”

“Oh.” She said with surprise evident in her voice. “You guys seem close, I figured they were childhood friends or something.”

“No, no. The funny thing is, this is the first time I’ve truly hung out with them.” This surprised Liz more. A good opportunity to get to know them better and he invites me, a virtual stranger, along? It didn’t make sense to her. She turned to see he already returned his eyes to the water and was about to ask why he asked her along when they could have easily planed something some other time, but her thoughts were interrupted by a loud banging. She looked up and the sky was painted with colors from the fire works that were being shot up now. Jake let out a small chuckle. “I forgot about this. They set them off every night when the fair is in town.” He explained.

The two of them just sat there and watched the spectacle from their comfortable spot on the grass. Amazed at the show and wondering how exactly they got them to explode in different shapes like stars and hearts. Then the night was assaulted by several blasts at the same time as the finale brought the show to an end. They continued to stare up at the sky, watching the smoke clear away when they heard a voice speak up behind them.

“So there you guys are.” Alice stated accusingly. “We were looking all over the midway for you.” Jake stood up first and brushed off his pants from the ground and then offered Liz a hand to help her up. She accepted hesitantly and blushed when their skin touched and felt his hand on her back to steady her once she was up.

“Well, did we all have our fill?” Nick asked with a yawn. He was obviously tired, but would have stuck it out if anyone wasn’t finished. Everyone agreed to call it a night and followed each other through the gate and to the front of the park. Nick and Alice had come in the same car and after saying how nice it was to see Liz said their goodnights and left the same way.

“Here, I’ll walk you to your car.” Jake offered as he started for the parking lot, but when Liz didn’t follow he stopped. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Um, I just didn’t come in my car. I took the bus. I was planning on taking one home too.”

Jake gave a small laugh. “How about I give you a ride instead? It’s nearly midnight and probably a bit safer. Not to mention free.” He finished with a smile.

“I couldn’t have you go out of your way to do that.” She said. “You probably want to get home, anyway.”

“It’s no trouble. I’d really feel a lot better if you let me.” She looked up at him and for the first time truly looked him in the eyes, realizing they were a stunning green hue that immersed you if you stared directly into them. She also noticed they were filled with genuine concern and she couldn’t do anything else but accept his offer. She followed him to his truck and he opened the passenger door to let her in before getting in himself and driving off. It only took a few minutes, all in silence, to make it to her apartment and he was gracious enough to even walk her to her door to make sure she got in all right.

“Well, this is it.” What a stereotypical evening topper phrase she thought to herself. She took out her keys and opened the door a crack before looking back at Jake. “Um, thanks… for today, it was really fun. And thanks for driving me home.”

“It’s no problem. I’m glad you had a good time.” He looked around the hallway and rubbed his temple nervously. “Well, I guess I should let you go.”

“Yeah, okay.” She said with a slightly drowsy tone. “Um, hold on a second.” She snuck inside for a few second and returned with a small slip of paper. “Here. It’s, uh, my number. Since I have yours I figure it’s only fair that you have mine.”

Jake gave a small smile as he looked down at the digits. “Thanks. I’ll give you a call sometime later, then. Maybe we can do something else sometime.”

“That sounds fine.” She said with a small smile. “We’ll I guess it’s a night then.”

“Right. I’ll talk to you later. Have a good night.” He said with his trademark wave as he started stepping backwards down the hall.

“Night.” She called back softly. She stayed in her doorway and watched Jake walking away until he turned the corner and was out of sight. Once inside she closed the door and leaned against it placing her hands on her face. She realized that her face was hot from a blush and the only thing she could think of was she hopped Jake didn’t notice it. Not in a long time has she had this reaction around someone and she was starting to wonder if there was something more here than she would let herself see.