Cam was sure that Rosha had forgotten about her shadow on her daily walks. The lioness had not attempted to speak to him in so long and lately it seemed that she did not even look at him as he walked with her. Had he done something wrong, he would have worried more, but he had not done anything wrong. He had actually done everything RIGHT. He knew that for certain. The seashells were still outside Rosha's den, and she was happy every time she looked at them, so that was definitely done right. He was the perfect gentleman with her, bringing her little gifts and often sharing his own food with her since he had noticed she seemed prone to forgetting to eat. Her growling stomach had given her away on more than one of the walks along the beach that the two lions shared in silence.
Cam would like to think that Rosha liked him, even with his inability to speak to her. He could be wrong, but he hoped not. Right now, though, he had his doubts. He had not seen Rosha for a few days. She was spending time with her friends, and even took some of her walks with other lionesses. He did not blame her for spending time with friends, he just missed their alone time. He also was afraid she might decide she did not want him around anymore. What if she found a mate? Then what would he do? The male was head over paws for Rosha and wanted so badly to tell her as soon as he could find his voice around her. If she found someone else before he got the chance, he would be devastated.
Cam wondered if he was going to lose his chance with Rosha. He did not know what was wrong with him even after all this time. He could speak about Rosha to others, could talk to other females, but could not talk to Rosha. He had managed a little stuttering but never even a full word to her. It was horribly embarrassing, but so far he still had no luck in doing something about it. If that did not change soon, he was really going to be in trouble on trying to get anything with Rosha. The realization suddenly hit very hard of just how much trouble his problem could cause. He could miss out on his chance with Rosha completely because someone ELSE spoke first.
Cam saw Rosha coming out of her den and rushed over to her. He did not care if she might already have plans to go walking with friends. He was not going to let her forget him or get some other male before him. He HAD to speak to her. He cleared his throat, waiting for the female to really look at him before he opened his muzzle. “I…” Well that was a start at least so he pushed onward. “I am sorry, Rosha.” Holy crap he was managing to get whole words out and even a sentence! He better keep going before his voice disappeared again. “My name is Camayo, and I think you are the most beautiful lioness alive.” There he had said the things he really wanted to all this time. And he no longer felt so strange around the lioness.
~~~~~
Rosha had been spending more time with her friends because THEY insisted on it. After finding out that she had this male walking with her every evening and “stalking” her den, they decided that she had to have company as often as possible. The bright lioness had not protested it out of respect for her friends, but really she saw no reason for it. So what if he had not spoken to her? How could her friends not understand that she felt safe with Cam? If anything it seemed like when she told them that, they were more worried. She guessed she could understand it, since she had worried a bit herself at first. But really, she had every confidence after the months of spending time with this male in silence that he would do nothing to her.
Rosha noticed that her friends kept her talking when they walked with her, pretty much forcing her to ignore Cam’s presence. She did not like that, and she felt that such behavior was horribly rude to both Cam and herself. It was like they were trying to decide how she should act for her. The lioness might have come from a pride were males decided everything for their females, but that did not mean she still thought that way herself. She had left that behind when she asked her brother for permission to settle in this seaside pride, and she was not going to let even her well-meaning friends force her to do anything she did not wish to do.
Rosha did not want to hurt her shadow’s feelings. She liked having him around, and she wanted him to stay around. After the day she had today, the lioness was NOT going to let her friends keep her from having a nice walk with Cam along the beach. It was much more relaxing with him than them. She had told the others she did not think she would be taking a walk today so that they would not hover, and then she waited to see if Cam would show up. She spotted him just as she was beginning to wonder if her friends might have scared him off, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She did not want to lose him.
Rosha noticed the worried look on the male’s face, but she was not expecting what happened next. He ran up to her, cleared his throat, and spoke… HE ACTUALLY SPOKE TO HER! The lioness’ heart leaped into her mouth at that. Not only did he say a whole word without really stuttering, but then he spoke a whole sentence and then another. If the fact that he spoke to her had not been enough, what he said certainly got the lioness in a tizzy. He thought she was beautiful. The lioness looked down at her paws for a moment and then nuzzled the male. “I think you are handsome, Camayo… and I am happy you are speaking to me. Let us go on our walk along the beach… we can talk more.” She gave him a warm smile and lead the way.
