It was a beautiful day, with just a few darker clouds in the distance. The prospect of rain didn’t damper Peter’s spirit much as he continued down the road that lead him away from the busy downtown area.
“But, right now it looks like a great time for a detour,” he thought, smiling to himself as he walked to the park that he often visited when he was alone.
He couldn’t wait to get to his bench. It was the one near the back of the park on the other side of the pond. His favorite bench was the furthest away from the entryway of the park, so he was almost always sure to be by himself. Not that he minded company; he just liked to enjoy the peace and quiet of the park where he could be with his thoughts, or maybe get inspired to write a song.
“A new song,” he said to himself as he passed a mother with her two young girls in the entrance of the park. He smiled at the woman and waved at the two little girls. The children responded to his dimpled grin with ones of their own, but the mother pulled her girls along side her and frowned at Peter.
He continued past them with a puzzled look on his face and then looked down at his clothing. His bright orange shirt, love beads, fringe boots, and pants with one leg light green and one leg dark green must be what earned the stares of the conservative types at the park that day. It hurt him that people could be so judgmental of the way him and others his age dressed.
He cringed a bit as he pointedly ignored a muttered comment of “hippie!” from a man in a dark suit eating lunch at a picnic table near a gazebo.
Peter continued his way through the park to his place of solitude. He passed the statue of the dove by the water fountain and smiled to himself.
As the walked along the path to the pond, his mind began to wander to the same subject that had been lurking inside him for days. Katerina.
His heart fluttered as he remembered meeting her for the first time just one week ago. He didn’t know if he believed in love at first sight, but he guessed it only really happened if the other person fell for you at the same time. All Peter knew was that he couldn’t stop thinking about her. If only he could find the guts to just talk to her more than the casual “hellos” and “good-byes” he managed to choke out whenever she came over to the Pad with Micky and Adriana.
When Peter finally reached his bench, he was startled to see someone was already there. He peaked around a nearby tree to see who the occupant could be.
It was her. It was Katerina. He ducked behind the tree again, hoping that she didn’t notice him.
Shutting his eyes, trying to be as quiet as possible, he leaned against the tree and listened to her strumming an acoustic guitar and softly singing a song.
Her voice was mesmerizing and he felt even more drawn to her. She continued singing and strumming the guitar on her lap. Her thick hair fell in front of her face as she played and Peter resisted the urge to reach out and touch it as she increased the tempo.
Katerina jumped, startled at the voice that had broke in at the end of her song. She turned to see who had spoken, just in time to see a flash of orange duck behind the tree.
“Okay,” she said loudly to the area by the tree, “I know you’re back there. Now, why don’t you just come out from behind there and prove you’re not some sort of spying weirdo.”
Peter peaked sheepishly out from behind the tree.
“I’ve been called a long-haired weirdo before,” he said quietly, stepping out, “but never a spying weirdo.”
“Peter,” Katerina said with surprise, her normally peachy complexion reddening with embarrassment, “I didn’t expect you.”
“I didn’t really expect you either,” he said.
“In more ways than one,” Peter thought as he walked over to the bench.
“I was walking through this park,” Katerina said as she moved her legs off the seat to make room for Peter, “and I found this neat little spot. It almost looks totally untouched by mankind, you know?”
“Yeah,” Peter said, glancing at the two ducks splashing around in the pond, “I know. Looks like “Bonnie” and “Clyde” are enjoying themselves as usual.”
“Oh,” Katerina asked, “you come here a lot?”
“Usually,” Peter said, looking back at Katerina. “Whenever I want to get away, I usually come here or the beach.”
“Please sit down. I really didn’t mean to take your place,” she said as she began to get up. “I’ll go and let you be.”
“Oh no,” Peter said, smiling shyly at her as he sat down, placing the bag at his feet, “you can stay. I don’t think I’d mind the company.”
“Alright,” said Katerina. She picked up her guitar again and began to play softly.
There was something about her that instantly put Peter at ease as he looked from Katerina to the scenery around them. She smiled brightly at him, feeding him the encouragement he needed to keep speaking to her.
“That was a unique song,” he said, watching her play the guitar.
“Yeah, it’s one of my favorites,” Katerina said, looking up. “Rolling Stones. I think it might have come out in the seventies. I’m actually not sure!”
“Oh,” Peter said with a chuckle, “maybe that’s why I’ve never heard it before.”
“I do write my own songs, but I’m going through a bit of a dry spell right now,” she continued. “I was hoping that being out here with nature would bring me some new ideas.”
“I know how you feel,” Peter said as they began a conversation that would last for nearly two hours, “I’ve been have a dry spell in my writing too.”
“California is just so different from anyplace I’ve ever been,” Katerina said, looking around at the park, “It’s hard to believe that you could hit a dry spell out here.” “I guess you could hit one anywhere,” Peter answered, smiling.
“What would you say is our general the problem then,” she asked with a laugh, looking at him, her green eyes shining.
“Maybe a lack of inspiration,” he answered, looking into her eyes.
“You think so,” she asked, resting her cheek on her palm, looking at him.
“I do,” Peter confirmed, smiling a dimpled smile.
The two of them just sat there for a few moments, smiling at each other.
“Katerina…” Peter started, breaking the gaze for a second.
“Why don’t you call me Kat,” she said with a laugh, “everyone else does.”
“Okay…Kat,” he began again, “I wanted to ask you something...”
Suddenly thunder rumbled in the distance. The two looked up and saw that the formerly light blue sky had been replaced with dark gray rain clouds.
“I guess we have been talking for awhile,” Katerina said, gazing up at the bleek sky, “I think that storm’s finally coming.”
“Maybe we should head back,” Peter suggested, moving to get up.
“Or maybe not,” Katerina said after a brief moment. With a mischievous look, she picked up her guitar, put it in its case and set it beneath the tree. She then walked over to Peter as the rain began to fall.
“Come on, let’s go for a walk,” she said above the sound of the rain, offering her hand to pull him up off the bench.
Peter looked at her questioningly and then accepted her hand as she lead him through the other side of the park. The two walked and laughed through the rain until they came to a bed of daisies.
“Oh! Don’t you just love daisies,” Katerina questioned as she bent down to pick a few, her damp hair clinging to the side of her face.
Peter just looked at her in awe. He’d never met anyone like her. Something about her just seemed flow to him, and he wasn’t even sure exactly what it was. She was free spirited and they found they had so much in common that he felt like he could talk to her about anything, almost as if they had known each other for years.
When they finally made their way back to the bench, the sun started to break through the clouds and the rain ended.
“Peter,” Katerina asked as they sat back down on the bench, “I want to ask you something, but you have to promise me you won’t laugh or think I’m crazy.”
“Look at me. I’ve got drowned rat syndrome,” he began before answering her question, reaching out to smooth her watery hair “Did I laugh or think you were crazy at any of the other things we talked about today?”
“Well, that’s debatable,” Katerina said, twisting her long hair to get some of the water out of it.
“Okay,” Peter said, running a hand through his own hair, “shoot. What’s your question?”
“Do you believe in love at first sight,” she asked. The words just fell out of her mouth just as smoothly as if she had just asked him what he felt like eating for dinner.
Peter caught his breath as it registered what she had just said.
“Why…why do you ask,” he questioned nervously.
“Because,” she said quietly as she slowly took his hand and placed a single daisy in his palm.
Peter didn’t even look at the flower as he watched her face as she came closer to him. He closed his eyes and felt her soft lips touching his cheek.
“I gotta run,” she whispered in his ear.
Suddenly emboldened, Peter opened his eyes, turned to her and said, “Go out with me. Tomorrow night.”
“Alright,” Katerina agreed with a smile as she picked up her guitar case and walked away backwards for a moment, holding his gaze until she disappeared from view.
Peter finally looked down at the flower in his hand and smiled.
Later that afternoon, Peter arrived home at the Pad. Opening the door he was met by a questioning Mike and Davy.
“Where’ve you been Pete,” Mike asked. “I thought you were just going to the drug store. You’ve been gone nearly all day.”
“I took a detour,” Peter said, smiling and walking right past the two, absentmindedly handing Mike a very damp bag of goods.
“Did you get my ‘air stuff,” Davy called after him.
“What happened to my magazine,” Mike asked as he pulled out his soggy copy of “Car and Driver.”
“Never mind that,” Davy said, watching Peter head off. “Wha’ ‘append to you Petah?”
“I think it just rained on my dry spell,” he said simply as he walked to his room.
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