Horsin' Around

Alan’s Outfit but don’t forget this snazzy cool hat

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Getting settled into Salem was amazing to Alan. Upon moving he got to meet Josie’s friends! And for the most part, they liked him well enough. Aside from Rosalie, but Alan got the impression she was difficult to impress. Cecily liked Metric well enough, and their parents has finally stopped hounding Alan for daily update about her well-being. Work came with its ups and downs – much to Alan’s disappointment he heard from Dixie she was talking fairly regularly with one of the seniors, Victor. That got on Alan’s nerves since he saw no goodness inside of the kid. Not even remotely!

Alan had wanted to take Josie to dinner but she told him she was working. Unsatisfied with that response, Alan took it upon himself to go to her work. He missed the horse he’d ‘claimed’, anyway!

He took his truck down to the stables, the sun bright in the sky above. Sunlight was twinkling down and he saw many hard at work.

Alan adjusted the baseball cap on his head, tucked his jeans into his boots, and walked through the grass. He missed Arizona, but the vast stable and farm here almost reminded him of their rural town. He spotted Josie doing the dream job: shoveling manure. He grinned. He leaned against the fence, on the outside of the stable, but just barely.

”Hey, Josie!” He said, ”Or should I call you Cinderella? You’re naïve if you think the lame excuse of work is enough to prevent me from spending tonight with you.”

Alan grinned, wide, his teeth barred. ”I’m not a stalker! I’m just visiting you at work. In a completely non-creepy way.” He said. When she said this was a movie kids might not watch, Alan snorted. ”Clearly, you don’t know kids like I do. Kids love poop.” He said, very seriously. ”When you were little, you once announced to me that you’d pooped. It was the proudest moment of your life.” He nodded firmly.

When she bumped him in the side Alan grinned and looked after her. He smelt the manure, and held a finger to his nose in mock disgust. ”Ew, you need some perfume, Jos.” He said. At the prospect of his date, Alan glanced over to the horse he’d basically claimed (though it was owned by the ranch itself). ”Ah! There she is, my beauty!” As he spoke, his horse let out a monstrous fart followed by a rain of shit. He paused. ”...ah. A woman who is unapologetic about pooping. That’s what I look for in a woman.”

”Hey, your grandma didn’t trust him, and neither did I! And you weren’t mad about it when you found out he picked his nose!” He chastised, sounding very much like a dad. When she defended her potty adventures Alan grinned. ”Yes, it was. And I was very proud of you. But that doesn’t change the fact it makes a great introductory story to give when meeting your new girlfriends.”

Eau de Stable... delicious. Alan snorted and looked at Josie after his horse made a nice dump. ”Hey. A woman’s got to poo when she’s got to poo. I respect that.” He said, grinning when she kissed his cheek. ”Aww. If you’re after my heart, just say it and it’s yours,” he said, following her. ”’Course I want to ride! Girl, I’m here!” He waved his hands towards the horse, who had let to acknowledge him.

Alan laughed at Josie’s comment, giving her a little half-nod when she mentioned embarrassing stories she had on him. ”Hey, you may have stories on me, but you’re the one who I have to look out for! I have to make sure that any girlfriends are willing to put up with your weirdness.” He said, ”Plus, you don’t know baby stories from experience. And we all know, what my mom says, hardly ever counts because she makes half of it up anyway.”

Alan snorted. ”Nope! My heart is still here and safely intact. No one’s stolen it yet!” He thought of Roxanne, briefly. She was the closest he had ever had to having someone steal his heart... but that was over and done.

When she teased him for his inability to get a horse’s attention he rolled his eyes. His horse turned at the whistle and he waved, wildly. The horse noticed and began to trot over, looking neither impressed nor particularly enthused to see the weird man flailing. But, she still came. ”Here, girl!” He whistled and she came faster. He turned to Josie. ”We should go on a ride together!”