Stonetor, Canada.

Chapter 9 - Advice

Albert rings the doorbell to Dani's apartment, sending the two dogs she's holding for the rescue program into a melody of barking. He patiently waits at the door for her to let him in.

For context, He called her right after his morning shift at the arcade for advice on what to do about his Denis situation. Realistically, Albert knows that things would probably end up fine without her help... but he couldn't live with the constant suspense. In his car is a flower vase, so that he can buy Denis fresh flowers the next time they meet.

"Hey Albert! Get in here so we can sort this out!" Dani says as she opens the door, the smell of warm vanilla hitting him in the face. Dani's apartment ALWAYS smells like vanilla, no matter the day or occasion.

Albert steps into her house, closing the door behind him as he's met with Butterscotch, a collie, and Jazmine, the cocker spaniel who's blind in one eye. Dani also has a black cat to her own, who sits in the cat tree in the corner of the room, unfazed by the commotion.

Albert and Dani both get seated on the couch

"This is really interesting." Dani states. "You literally NEVER have boy problems! How come you're only telling me about this now?"

"Well.." Albert says as Jazmine hops on the couch next to him. "His name is Denis." He says, petting the dog.

"Okay, and?" Dani asks on the edge of her seat, waiting for the juicy details.

"Well, we met a couple weeks ago, and the energy between us is really... complicated." He says, looking at butterscotch who's watching the muted TV.

"Okay, I want you to just tell the whole story, I can't help you if you don't spill it already!" Dani pressures.

Albert laughs. "Okay fine, here's how it all went down. So one day when I was working at the arcade, this guy and his girlfriend come in." Dani rolls her eyes, but Albert keeps talking. "And I walk away for five minutes and they start arguing. Turns out the girl dumps him ON THE SPOT... RIGHT in front of me!"

Of course, Dani has pulled out her phone to a soundboard app, adding a comedically timed vine boom after the sentence.

"So she leaves him in the arcade and drives off. Turns out that was this man's ride, so I decided to take him home because why wouldn't I, you know?"

Dani nods in understanding.

"So he left his jacket there, and he goes back to get it when I'm working the next day. We decide to hang out and exchange numbers from there." Albert says.

"Okay, so you guys met with.. interesting circumstances." Dani says. "So when did the romance really start here?" She asks.

"Well, it started when we went to the park together, he was being sort of flirtatious with me? Like, he started feeding me.."

Dani presses another button on her phone, adding another sound effect to the atmosphere.

"And then I didn't see him for a week, and that's when I caught feelings." Albert admits. "But what really confused me is how he was acting towards me last night.."

"Well what happened?" Dani asks, beaming with excitement.

"Well, he took me to go to karaoke with him.. which wasn't a huge deal, but he was acting really.. weird to me. Like he kept getting close to me and he put his arm around my back and he just...." Albert trails off, and Dani plays an "ooh-la-la!" Sound effect from her phone.

"Maybe he's trying to hint something at you!" Dani says with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, but that's not all of it. He went on stage and sang a really romantic song, and I SWEAR he was basically singing it at me, like looking at me in the crowd and everything.."