Day 14: 28,004 words and a fetching running cape

Another day of writing done! Not much happened today, but I was able to get started on something that I had been thinking of happening for a while. It isn't a very interesting or amusing excerpt, but here it is:

After a couple of cycles of running and walking, Scottie noticed that Jake was looking behind them a lot. She looked too, and noticed someone walking behind them wearing what appeared to be a black Lululemon running cape, made with lightweight sweat-wicking fabric. It was very fetching. 

Was that why Jake kept eyeing the man? 

They slowed to a walking pace.

“Are you thinking that you might want to start wearing a cape while you run? I’m sure you could pull it off if you wanted to,” Scottie joked. Or at least she hoped that she was joking. She did not actually want Jake to wear a cape. There truly was not a way to wear a cape, aside from as part of a costume of some kind, that doesn’t make you look like an asshole. 

“It’s not that,” he said in an almost whisper. “I think he’s following us.”

Every part of Scottie’s body suddenly started screaming at her to run. And, at the same time, every part of Scottie’s body was screaming at her to not run, because she had already been running and as a result she felt terrible. It was very confusing. 

“Why do you think that?” she asked as quietly and casually as she could manage in those circumstances. 

“We’ve been alternating running and walking. So has he. It’s a dead giveaway,” Jake explained. “Why would anyone else be doing that in the exact same way as us?”

“It doesn’t sound like he’s very good at following people,” Scottie said. She looked back and added, “and he does not look very threatening either.”

“Not at all,” Jake replied.

“I mean, if I was alone, I might be worried. But since I’m here with Jake Kneiss, former power forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs, I kind of like my chances,” Scottie said. She thought about winking, but she didn’t think she could live it down if Jake tried to take her to the nearest eyewash station again. She also thought about finding some way to fall into his chest and say "Damn, your pecks are so hard I thought I was falling into a wall." But she didn't have time to die of shame.

So she just settled on giving him a flirty look, or at least what she thought was a flirty look. She wasn’t very good at flirting. 

Jake stopped walking and turned to face the man. The caped man, who had been trying to act detached and disinterested, stopped suddenly as well. He made eye contact with Jake, and quickly looked away, supposedly very interested all of a sudden in a flock of Canada geese who were honking loudly as if they owned the place. Probably because they did.

“I see you there,” Jake said loudly, although not too loudly. Fortunately, he did not have to act like an asshole to be intimidating. Being six foot three and weighing approximately 257 pounds (Scottie’s estimate) tended to do a lot of the work of intimidating people for you.

The man, in a way that was far too rehearsed and exaggerated, pretended to look around to find whoever Jake was talking to. Scottie could see that he was wearing full length black jogging pants and a long sleeve back running shirt, despite the warm weather. His black hair was slicked back underneath a black running hat. He clearly took sun safety seriously; he was so deathly pale. 

“Me?” he asked in a way that he probably thought sounded innocent. It just sounded squeaky instead. 

“Yes. You. I know that you have been following us. What are you doing?” Jake asked impatiently. As he approached the man, he tried to act brave. He failed.

“I’m out for my morning constitutional. I do not appreciate being harassed!” the man’s feigned outrage would have been funny if the whole situation, the whole town, had not become so unnerving. 

“Great. Enjoy your constitutional. In the other direction.” Jake gestured the other way, letting the man know that he would not be following them anymore.