Another short one-shot revolving around my favorite character, Mr. Herriman. Out of the blue, no strings attached. Enjoy.
As long as I exist here…
Maybe he didn't have to ask for this feeling.
But sometimes, things just happen on their own accord.
The other day, when he talked to Madam Foster, she had only this to say to him,
"Well, bunny, you'll never know until you can arrive at that decision for yourself. You have to understand bunny, that the world is full of what-ifs and would've-beens, but you're never going to get anywhere by hesitating. You've got to act now, bunny, before it's too late."
He had to admit that was some solid reasoning. There was no denying the points: if he didn't act now, Frankie would've found another suitor by now, and he'd never get another chance. Mr. Herriman had a whole eternity of an existence, but Frankie did not. To be alone in that world without someone to love, well, he didn't even want to think about it.
He went to her room. Standing in front of her door, the normally composed and determined financial director of the house waited till his courage started to flow back. He was disappointed; whatever fortitude coming back to him came flooding back was like a trickle. He didn't even have the guts to knock on her door. He was afraid.
"Mi-" he barely got out. His voice was about as audible as the hum of a fly. He wanted so badly to try again.
"Frank-" his resolve to see her was betrayed by the overwhelming fear of rejection. The old rabbit was frightened out of his wits. But he had no say in wanting: he had to do this. And he could never rest again if he backed away.
"Miss Francis?" he desperately tried once more.
The door opened, and great was his surprise when he saw Frankie stepping out the doorway to see his face.
"What do you want?" she asked irritably. Mr. Herriman said nothing. Right now, all that was, and ever would have been flowing through his mind was the beauty of her face. Then it all went in a cold shock of fear. Her face got closer to his, narrowing the distance between their lips. She noticed the blush in his face.
"Miss frances… I, uh, oh goodness, well…"
"Is there… something wrong?" she noticed his blush but she didn't trace the reason this occurred. She leaned in to get a closer look at his face and he suddenly jerked away as if he was bitten by a snake. She was really caught off guard.
"I have to go." He ran. Ran far away. Well, technically he hopped away. When Frankie found him, he was in his office, and there was no mistaking that he had been recently been crying. This was a first, because whenever someone like Mr. Herriman had left to be alone, he grinned and pretended that nothing was wrong. But he couldn't hide it anymore.
"There something wrong, Mr. H?"
He couldn't turn to face her. He was too ashamed. But that was when Frankie walked up to him and said:
"Don't cry, man, that's not like you."
"I wasn't crying," he lied. "Now, I would kindly appreciate it if you just left."
She didn't leave. The one thing he admired about her the most, was her fiery will to be stubborn. But now, more than ever, he badly wanted to say something.
"I don't want to leave you. Just tell me what's wrong."
"You should," he responded, "you hate me. You always have, but I'll accept that."
"What?! I don't hate you, well, maybe sometimes when you give me a lot of work to do, but I think…" and here her sentence died out. She wasn't sure what to say next.
But the old rabbit perked up upon hearing this. "You think…?" he asked, his hopes rose. But just as quickly as they did, they almost deflated at the thought of her answer being "no." It was just too horrible to think about.
"I think… Well I think that you're really bossy and snobbish, old-fashioned, weird, but believe it or not, I worry about you," she said. "Sometimes, you do a lot of stuff you think you can handle by yourself, and you end up screwing yourself. But that's because you never accept any help or help anybody."
His breath caught in his throat upon hearing her say it. Like what Madam Foster said, he knew it was sound reasoning.
"You know you can always come to me for anything, anything at all. I'm here for you."
"Well I-"
Indecision struck over him; he was just too overcome with a feeling of happiness in his mind, and almost wanted to stay that way, to enjoy the feeling he hadn't known existed. Just a little longer because time was short in that life. He wanted to always relive that moment forever.
Forever didn't seem to reach Frankie, and she looked him over, her brilliant emerald eyes saw his dazed, distraught eyes. She wondered if he was becoming ill.
"You okay?"
"I er, uh," he stammered.
"Hmm?"
"T-thanks, Miss Francis."
She smiled. "Anytime." Then left him alone. She didn't notice how he stared after her after she started walking up the stairs. Then when he snapped back to himself, it was a surprise to Mr. Herriman when the blood rushing to his face was gone. He really missed that.
"She said, anytime didn't she?" he quietly asked, then felt abashed when he realized, that he wasn't talking to anyone. He didn't mind. He went back to his room because it was getting late. He fell asleep instantly.
As long as I exist here…
End story
There you go. Another bonafide one-shot to add to the collection. Review Please, and thanks!