Selcouth

I sang at the top of my lungs, moving to the beat of the music. I sang about someone holding my hand and promising not to let go of me again. I secretly knew I was singing this towards Roman.

Roman walked out of the bathroom, dressed with wet hair. “You are enjoying yourself.” He used a towel to ruffle his hair.

I looked over at him and nodded, sitting down. “Of course, it’s fun. I need ways to entertain myself when I’m always home. Roman, I never asked this but what is your last name? Everyone has last names but I don’t have one...”

“And you want mine?” He chuckled. “Unless we’re related or married, I can’t give you mine. It would be quite strange. You can legally get a name and just make one for yourself. I’m sure a German last name would suffice to your first name.”

“Maybe... But I’m sure being named after lettuce gives me a unique name already so maybe I don’t need one. Wait, getting married... What do you mean?” I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I mean that maybe...who knows...we could be married someday. It’s a possibility.”

I swallowed. “That wasn’t what I meant. You mentioned being married and giving me your last name.” Roman admitted that we could be married. What did this mean? I needed to talk to Kara.

“Oh, that. It’s usually a tradition here for women to take the male’s last name after marriage.”

“And what would that last name be?” I leaned on my elbows.

He put the towel down and sat down on a stool at the counter. “Ahuja. Roman Ahuja. My parents gave me their last name because that’s generally how it works. Kids get the last names of their parents and males then pass on the family name. That’s why it’s important in some countries for parents to have males. It carries on the name. It’s like that in some places in China and India. A lot of those countries still want to have boys.”

“I bet your parents are happy they had a boy then.” I smiled. “Ahuja. That sounds nice.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Shall we pick a last name for you?”

“Why would we do that? Is anyone else named German lettuce? Besides, it’ll be easy when I have your last name.”

He choked on a laugh. “Oh damn, are you flirting with me?”

“Flirting?” I tilted my head.

“Nevermind.” Roman stood. “Come on. Let’s go to the park and get you some sunshine.”

I nodded and followed him to the park. Five minutes upon our arrival, the sun hid behind the clouds. I looked up at shook my head. “So much for that idea.”

“If you can get sunburnt, which you can on a cloudy day, you can get some sunshine. It’s also good to get fresh air.” He nudged me and sat down on a bench.

I saw someone fly by us on some board below their feet. I gasped. “Roman, what’s that? It looks so fun!” I pointed at it.

He looked at it and looked at me. “It’s a skateboard.”

“A skateboard... Wow.”

“Let’s go to the shops.” He stood up and walked us to some shops. I stopped at one, gasping loudly. “Oh my gosh, Roman! There are animals here. We have to go in.”

He stopped and looked back at the window. “Okay.”

We went inside the shop and I was drawn to one animal. “Roman, look at this little guy.”

“That is a chameleon.”

“He’s adorable.” I smiled but stepped back. “He’s gone!”

Roman looked in the tank and pointed. “He’s right there. He’s just changing his color to blend in and hide. Chameleons do that.”

“Whoa, they actually blend in and hide. They change colors. That is so freaking cool. I want him. Roman, I want him.”

He looked over at me. “Rapunzel, he may look cool but he’s a lot of work. And he costs a lot of money.”

I stood up straight. “I’ll get a job. I’ll do whatever I have to. I want him.” I looked at the employee passing by. “Excuse me, can I hold this chameleon? I want to buy him.”

The employee looked at us and shook his head. “Sorry, ma’am, we can’t allow that. If you bought him first, yes, but in general, chameleons are weird about being held.”

I frowned and looked at Roman. “Please. I’ll pay you back. I just want a friend to talk to when you’re at work and I can’t leave. He’s so cute.”

Roman looked at the price and winced. “Fine. But you have to make up for this. This is a lot of money.”

I nodded a lot. “I will, I swear.”

Roman sighed and rubbed his eyes. He looked at the employee. “Alright, we’ll take him.”

I watched the tank, humming to myself. “What should I name you?”

He just blinked at me.

I opened the top and carefully reached in. The chameleon changed colors but I found him anyway. I picked him up and pulled him out. “Oh wow, you’re even cuter when you’re not behind the glass.”

My hand tingled and I widened my eyes as his mouth opened.

“I would appreciate if you stopped calling me cute, Señorita,” he spoke to me in a thick accent.

I swallowed and nodded quickly. “I’m so sorry.”

Roman came over. “I thought the employee said they don’t like being held.”

I looked at Roman, letting the chameleon speak for me, “We don’t. This girl doesn’t listen very well.”

Roman screamed, stepping back. “Did that just talk to me?”

I smiled a bit. “I told you I could make animals talk. I’d introduce you to Bors but he doesn’t like you at the moment. Oh, what is your name?” I looked at the animal.

He cleared his throat, lifting his little arm and gesturing to himself. “I am Esclados. I come from the coastal region of Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea.”

“Esclados. That is a beautiful name.”

“Gracias, Señorita.”

Roman grabbed the counter. “Holy shit, you’re talking to a chameleon.”

“I told you I wanted to talk to someone when you’re gone. What did you think I meant?” I showed him Esclados.

Roman looked at him. “This is something else.”

“Of course, you would assume such a thing. But I think it’s wonderful.” I smiled and looked at Esclados. “Oh wow, you can talk to me. You have a really thick accent. Where is Spain?”

Roman was too busy trying to process this to answer.

Esclados spoke, “Spain is in Europe. It’s towards eastern Europe, down towards Africa. It’s by Portugal and France.”

“She isn’t going to know where that is. She’s never seen a map,” Roman answered.

“Then why am I answering such loco questions?”

Roman shook his head.

I sat down. “You’re such an interesting little chameleon. Animals are so strange. They have such personalities and lives. Maybe talking animals will help people care about them more. Bors told me that humans don’t care about animals a lot of times.”

“Bors is a moron,” Roman stated.

I giggled. “Funny. He said the same thing about you.”

Roman’s eyes landed on me. “What have you been telling him? Why are you telling a horse about me?”

I turned red, looking away from him.

Roman sat there, tapping his fingers on the couch arm while waiting for my answer.

“I just told him that we kissed and you don’t like women like me.” I shrugged and scratched my head.

He shook his head, sighing. “Oh, Rapunzel.”

Esclados looked between us. “I see what’s going on here.” He walked around on my hand.

I stood. “Okay, time to go back in your tank. I have to go eat food anyway.” I put him back, closing the top. I turned to Roman. “I’ll make my own dinner.”

Walking into the kitchen, I got out a pan and some different ingredients. I stirred them up and poured in the pasta noodles. Once those were soft, I poured the sauce and mixed it.

I dished a plate and sat down. I let the food be the thing I chewed instead of my lips.

Kiss. I kissed him and we still didn’t talk about it. I could say that he definitely listened to me about the promises he made. He respected my wishes, too.

I looked at my phone, looking at Kara’s contact. I wanted to call her but I knew she didn’t want to be bothered today. I didn’t want to bother her.

I finished my food and washed my dishes. I peeked at Roman as he still sat on the couch.

The front door to this apartment was in the kitchen, technically. The kitchen was to the left of the front door. It has dark wood cabinets and dark countertops. The kitchen made a U-shape, and across from the door, the cabinets and counter had an open space where a wall would be. This space allowed a view of the living room.

The living room was made up of dark colors as well, mainly gray, brown and black. The sofa sat against the wall, a straight shot from the front door. The TV was across from that while to the right of the sofa sat two windows, looking out over the city.

There were some other things like lamps and little stands as well. Esclados was on a stand by the counter of the kitchen, but still in the living room.

The stools for the counter were on the other side of the counter I was standing at, just outside the kitchen.

Behind the stools and counter was a small hallway, leading to the bathroom and bedroom. The apartment was small but I wasn’t complaining. Roman couldn’t afford much and I didn’t mind it. I didn’t know much about the cost of living but I had no right to say I knew better than him.

I walked around the counter and sat on the stool. “So, Roman. Why don’t we do something fun?”

“Like what?”

“How should I know? You lived in this world and I didn’t. You know what would be fun.” I nodded, smiling.

“I just spent hundreds on your pet. What we do better be free.”

“Dancing. Let’s go dancing. Do they charge people to dance now?” I shrugged.

He looked at me. “No.”

“Then let’s go dancing.” I stood up and went to the room. I got changed into a nice dress, one that was a light purple shade. I was finding purple to be my favorite color.

I brushed my hair and put on some black flats. I went out and looked at him. “I’m ready.”

Roman looked at me. He seemed quiet for a moment. “Alright, let’s go.” He got up and got hit keys.

We went to his car and got in. Roman drove us to a nice place, which turned out to be the park. He looked at me. “Parks are free.”

We got out and I walked in the park, smiling. “Well, I’m not complaining.” I spun around and looked at my phone. “I have a lot of music. I’ve never really danced before.”

He looked at me and chuckled. “I guess I’m here to teach you.”

I put my music on and set my phone down. I looked at my feet. “So where do they move to? How do they move?”

Roman grabbed my hands, pulling me close to him. My breath hitched in my throat. He put one of my hands on his shoulder while he used his hand to hold mine. He put his other hand on my waist. “You follow my lead. This is called slow dancing. I can show you some other moves soon.” He moved his feet, swaying alongside the dance.

I didn’t know how to feel. He was close to me. We kissed and never spoke of it. He said we could get married someday. He was close to me at this moment, and now, I was beginning to question everything. Did he feel the same? Was Roman finally returning my feelings?