All characters are over 18.
I'd greatly appreciate a thoughtful editor for Angela Falls. Contact me if you're interested.
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We were laying in the living room, the glow of some kids cartoon washing over us. More accurately, she was laying on me, with her hair splaying across my lap while my one hand languished on her firm, upturned belly. In my other was a vanilla crème vodka I was slowly nursing.
My phone buzzed. She stirred as I shifted to set aside my vodka and extract it from my person. Glancing down, I saw a text indicating a postal delivery followed by an alphanumeric code. After a few moments, I stowed my phone and gently prodded her nose. Her eyes half opened and she nuzzled my hand as it came to rest on her cheek.
"Walkie?"
Her eyes shot open and she was up in a flash, dashing to our equipment room. In less than a minute she emerged, dressed in a luxuriously soft faux fur jacket and supple leather pants. Both were a pleasing shade of dark chocolate.
She also had put on a black leather collar with studded metal while a simple leash hung gently from her teeth.
"I'm afraid it's a no on the collar and leash this time, pup."
She wilted into an expression of deep, soulful sorrow marred her features. A sorrow so pure and raw it would melt even the coldest and hardest of hearts.
"Oh, Tootsie. You could do something more subtle for the collar, then. Hard no on the leash, though."
Perking up, she dashed in and out of the room in hardly anytime, this time emerging with a, comparatively, demure black collar. Despite waiting patiently by the door, her quivering body betrayed her excitement. It wasn't much longer for me to finish my mental checklist and proceed to open the door, wordlessly signaling her to heel.
Tootsie bounded in as soon as I opened the passenger door. Getting in on my side, I hunched my shoulders together to climb into my Volvo, the car creaking as I settled in. Glancing over as I started up the car, I was unsurprised to observe she hadn't buckled up yet.
"I think you forgot to buckle up."
Tootsie Sweet looked out the window, steadfastly pretending not to hear.
"Tootsie."
Nothing.
"Please buckle up."
I shut the car off and her head snapped around to meet my gaze.
"Buckle up, or no walkie."
She mulled it over, a slight snarl half crossing her lips before she relented and buckled up. I reached over and scritched the back of her neck.
"Good girl."
Starting the car again, I put it in gear and headed to the post office. Tootsie, previously lost in taking the world around her in my absence, perked up upon my return. She was particularly interested in the parcel and pawed on it expectantly.
"Oh, you think there's a treat in here?" I tease her by wafting the package under her nose. She stares plaintively in response, clearly unamused.
"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," I tease again. "Be a good girl today and you'll find out."
She scowls and looks away, pretending she was never interested in the parcel's contents to begin with.
With a chuckle I look at my phone, studying the alphanumeric code momentarily before starting the car up again and pulled out.
Tootsie observed the passing surroundings intently, before realization dawned own her and she began quivering in excitement once again. Pulling into a park, I leaned over to pull her passenger door open. Bounding out with a frantic energy, she bounded over to a flock of pigeons that took quickly took flight before rushing towards an empty playground. Keeping an eye on her as she played, I headed to a nearby bench, surreptitiously peeling a phone off the underside. Entering a passcode, I opened up the notes app and began reading the assignment. After a few minutes, I opened up the photos app and studied the features of the subject before swapping the phone with a pair of creamy beige woolen gloves.
Putting them on, I looked up to call Tootsie Sweet to heel, only to see she was already by my side. She saw the gloves and knew what they meant.
Playtime was over. Now was walkie time.
Wordlessly, I gave her the phone and we returned to the car. I waited for her to hand it back. With the phone safely tucked into my breast pocket, I started up the car and drove out. A grim silence smothered our more typical comfortable silence, as it often did during a job. I pondered the queerness of the distinction, as I often did, but as usual I had no answers.
We arrived at a dilapidated neighborhood and stopped at an even more dilapidated house, a dim glow flickering in one of the windows. It had surely been vacant for some time before its current occupant had taken up residence.
While we walked the perimeter cautiously, Tootsie froze and pointed. In the gloom I could see had espied the current entrance. Drawing my piece, I crept towards it and tried the door.