Life by The Page 5
5
Leon paid for the book that Nathan had accidently taken when he left the store. Leon explained everything to the owner. Dave was a light hearted Hyena so he laughed and said it wasn't a problem. He was in high spirits the rest of that afternoon. He walked about town taking in the fresh air and watched as other people went about their daily lives. Leon sometimes did this for days on end in the hopes of finding something. He never knew whatever it was he was looking for, but when he found it he would rush home and go into a frenzy at his computer. When he watched people it didn't really matter what they were doing so much as the thoughts they put in his mind that lead to other thoughts that lead to the ideas that made up his novels. It seemed like there were less people around than usual but then again that was normal for a Sunday. He noticed that people tended to stay in on Sundays not including himself evidently.
After a few hours of silent observation his head began to hurt. There was a couple he kept seeing perpetually, a panther and German shepherd that walked up and down the street arm in arm as they went window shopping. Occasionally they would stop and face a window and chat about something that piqued their interest. They were a young couple and they looked happy. That made Leon happy, but it didn't give him any ideas. As he walked he came across Miss Putney sweeping the front steps to her pastries shop. He waved and she waved back from across the street. Miss Putney was a kind old woman. She had never married. "And I never will neither!" She would always say with a little old frown and pretty laugh afterword. Though she was old, age was never getting to Miss Putney and Leon felt like it never would. Unfortunately she didn't give him any ideas.
Leon walked home after an unsuccessful day of people watching. He found himself desiring to smoke again. Everyone he came by told him to quit and he always said he would one day but in reality he didn't want to. He liked to smoke, the problem was the money it cost him. Leon was by no means a cheapskate but he was conscious of what things cost. But even that wasn't the real reason why he didn't pick up a pack at the general store on the way out of town. The real reason was because it was too much of a luxury in the state he was in. His biggest problem right now was that he couldn't think. Whenever Leon really wanted to work he needed to focus solely on work itself. He would become easily distracted by music, television, or reading.
When he got home he took off his jacket and placed it on the coat peg near the door. As he headed toward the kitchen to grab something to eat he remembered he had forgotten something in his coat pocket. He took the tiny piece of paper he had gotten from Nathan from his breast pocket. In shape it was almost a perfect rectangle but one could tell it was ripped from a bigger piece of paper rather than cut. It was folded and creased in the middle very neatly. The seven digit number was printed very hastily but it was clearly legible. Leon smiled to himself as he looked at the piece of paper.
Deep down Leon wondered what he was doing. He wasn't sure how he felt about calling him, and if he did what would he say? He would start off with "Hi this is Leon" but then again he might have forgotten his name so he would say "I bumped into you at the coffee shop". It seemed natural enough in his head. But this was different wasn't it? He wasn't calling a girl he had run into or even an old friend. This was a young man like himself who wanted to go out and do something with him. The fox's face flashed quickly in front of his eyes and naturally he thought of whether it appealed to him. Admittedly he was curious, but he just wasn't sure. He left the piece of paper on the counter below the phone inside the kitchen. In the meantime he checked his answering machine. Martha had called twice while he was away.