Lucy sat behind me, watching me carefully, her ears back as ifshe knew what had happened.
She had to have known.
I had to pay to have someone come by and take care of her while I was at Steven’s. Take her on walks and feed her. She was probably bitter. “Do you want to go on a walk?”
One ear lifted, her tail tapping once.
I offered a small smile. “I can’t run today, but we can take an extra-long walk, eh?”
She watched me for a long time before huffing, getting up, and going out to the living area.
I watched after her, tracking her with my eyes as she walked over to the hooks beside the door and sat down, waiting.
Yeah, she was definitely mad at me, but a walk would do us both some good.
I finished up at the mirror and stood. I pulled on some black leggings, a bright pink sports bra, and a thin white jacket before pulling my hair up and heading out.
By the time we reached the bottom floor, Lucy’s mood had shifted, and I was relieved. I hated when she was angry with me. Everyone else in this world was always so disappointed in me, I couldn’t handle it coming from her too.
I slid my headphones on, and we headed for the park, the music sliding through me as I let my mind wander to my book. I needed so many more ideas. I owed Katie two chapters now, due in five days. A minimum of 10,000 words. Even thinking about it stressed me out.
But what was I going to write? I had a few different scene ideas, but none seemed to fit in at this point in the story.
Maybe I should just quit and find another passion.
Extreme, but what was this life if not chaotic moments of extreme decisions made out of reckless abandon?
Made things interesting.
We made it to the park and headed down the trail, my mind sofar away, I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings. Not even a little bit. I needed to figure out what would come next in the book, or I needed to find something else to occupy my time.
I loved art. I had a Van Gogh in my place. A replica, of course, but one all the same. I loved paintings from the French Renaissance. They were always so elegant and filled with such tragedy. Maybe I would make a trip to the museum soon. That would give me plenty of inspiration, I was sure of it.
I felt a hand slide around to my stomach, a body pressing against mine.
My heart skipped a beat, a flutter of fear spreading through my core as I fell against the stranger.
I was too shocked to move as he moved my headphone from my ear and leaned in until his breath whispered against the shell of my ear. “Hello, little writer,” the familiar voice sang just before a prick pained the side of my neck.
My eyes fell to my dog who was just standing there, staring at me. What was she doing? She was supposed to protect me! “Atta…”
7
Everett
April 18th, 2022
Igave Lucy a bowl of steak and eggs before heading into the backroom. Can’t let the pretty little loyalcaninesuffer for the owner’s transgressions.
This backroom ofmysecret little club was one only Evelyn and I knew about. Malachi had his where we did our business, but this one? Well, sometimes I just needed to let off a little steam.
I was sure Malachi would approve if he knew about it, but hell, he didn’t have to know about everything.
The dog was happy enough. I had spent the last two weeks getting her used to me, feeding her, taking her on walks, paying that dog sitter to stay at the apartment for two days to allow Lucy to feel more comfortable around me before I got rid of her.
Sent her home, not killed her.
Olivia may have spent years training that dog, but the thing about dogs was that they recognized power when they saw it.
