I had nothing planned. It was supposed to be my normal Sunday afternoon – put the TV on, find some sport to provide some background noise... and catch up on some work, maybe even have a beer or two. I'm not saying I had my priorities right but life had been that way for a few years now, not enough hours in the work week to keep up, so my Monday morning started on Sunday afternoon.
I didn't quite live alone, my faithful, ageing, companion was a Black Labrador called Ben who I'd had since he was a puppy and I was just out of college. Ben was nothing like as energetic as he had been in his younger years, but he was my faithful companion and when I was at home he was never far from my feet. He and I shared the same house I'd owned since Linda and I moved out of our city apartment to suburbia, thinking about the days when we'd be married and started a family.
That was just one plan that had failed miserably in my life at that time, mostly precipitated by Linda never quite adapting to suburban life, and eventually moving out six years ago – back to the city and out of my plans. Since then it had mostly been Ben and I. A few girlfriends had come and gone over the years, but I had predominantly sunk myself in my work and had my eye on a partnership in the law firm where I worked, hopefully before I was forty... still 6 years away.
So that Spring day had started like so many others, finish the weekend chores before getting some work done and crashing late at night. What did I know?
I had barely started looking at my first brief of the afternoon when there was a loud rap at the door. Sighing, I laid my sheaf of paper on the sofa and went to the door. Ben slowly raised himself up and dutifully followed.
The smiling face that met me belonged to Abigail Kenner, my next door neighbor's daughter. It had been a few months since I'd seen her and she bounced into the doorway and gave me a firm hug. "Abigail," I hesitated, I was still getting used to her being old enough and confident enough to greet me that way, "how are you?"
"I'm great... Rob." Her hesitation showed that she was still adjusting too, from the more formal "Mr. Grogan" to using my given name as I'd insisted on since she started college a couple of years back. "Everything's pretty good for me right now."
Abigail fell away from our embrace and immediately kneeled down to acknowledge Ben, whose tail was wagging and defying his age. "Hey boy," she cooed enthusiastically while she stroked under his chin, "how are you doing?"
Abigail had been walking Ben since she was 14 and never failed to drop by and take him out when she was home for any college holiday. As I watched her make a fuss of my dog I realized it must be Spring Break. I tried to remember if her mother had told me she was coming home, but only had a vague recollection that she'd mentioned Abi (as they called her) was coming while they were out of town for the weekend.
I watched as the old friends' greeting finished and Abigail stood up to address me again, this time a little sheepishly, "I came to see if Ben would like to go for a walk." Her face wore a slightly embarrassed smirk, like she thought she should have grown out of asking to walk her neighbors' dog, but still wanted to do the things she'd done for years.
"Of course he would." I felt my own smile warm as I remembered so many days when the happy teenager had skipped off with the enthusiastic dog. "Let me get his leash for you."
In truth, Ben didn't need a leash anymore. He was very obedient and just plain didn't have the energy to go running off. Words of encouragement to go beyond a couple of blocks were more the order of the day with him these days.
I explained to Abigail that Ben probably wouldn't want to want to walk too far but she was intent on attaching his leash and getting started. "I thought we'd go down to the river a ways, should be nice down there today."
I looked up at the blue sky and felt the spring heat of the day for the first time. It was a nice day. "Have a good time." I waved the duo off as they padded towards the sidewalk.
I watched them head down the street from the window, more through habit than anything else. Abigail had grown into a beautiful woman and it was nice to see her still take an interest in Ben, something she'd always been passionate about as her parents never had a dog and she loved animals. It was slightly sad as I knew this scene wouldn't play out too many more times, but reflected that they had both got a lot out of it over the years.
****
They were gone for over two hours. I didn't notice the time as I was working and was almost startled when the door sounded again. Without thinking to tidy up any of the paper mess that my living room had become, I rushed up and got to the door.
Ben looked exhausted. As soon as the door was open he padded in and headed for the kitchen, no doubt looking for a drink. Abigail was beaming. She had Ben's leash in her hand and followed him into the house.
"Can I get you a drink?" I offered her as followed them towards the kitchen.
"That'd be cool." Abigail called back. She knew where the leash was kept and hung it up while I pulled open the refrigerator door. "He is slowing down," she sounded a little sad but tried to mask it with positive comments, "but we kept stopping to rest along the river and got a good way in the end. It was beautiful out there. You should have come with us."
I hadn't thought about it, but she was right, I would have enjoyed the walk in the spring air. "You want some water... a Coke... orange juice... or..." I remembered she wasn't a teenager anymore, "a beer?"
Abigail looked over as the offer resonated. Her face couldn't hide a slightly impish grin. "A beer, if you don't mind. I am old enough." She reassured me.
