Rose is the only woman I'll ever need. Her name was chosen after she was born, she was going to be named Susan until her mom saw the hair on her head. Strawberry blond? It was all that and more. If you looked it up in the dictionary they would have her picture.
Rose's father died in a traffic accident 2 months before she was born. She got her hair from him. Her first marriage was a mistake. Her husband played ball and was never home during the season. She saw him almost as a father figure, until she arrived in town to watch him play and found him with another woman. They were divorced soon after and she took him to the cleaners.
I am Stuart, friends call me Stu. I met Rose when I moved into my new house after divorcing my cheating ex-wife. Before we married the ex and I agreed that there would be no cheating, running around, whatever you want to call it. We both had good jobs and an air tight pre-nup, at her request. You know the story, I came home in the middle of the day and all Hell broke loose. No one was hurt, I did not even yell, I calmly told her we were through.
When I walked into the room I had heard enough to know she was lying when she said it was; the first time, it's not what you think, she loved me and all the other excuses from page 1 of the cheater's handbook. In fact, I think she co-wrote the book.
She fought the divorce; I knew she would, so I had my attorney write into the paperwork that she was to be responsible for any and all of his expenses if she fought it. She wanted the house, it was in a good neighborhood, so I let her buy me out. She had to refinance it before I would sign it over. That was good thinking; as she lost her job 2 years later and lost the house shortly there after. Never knew who the guy was, he dropped her soon after they were caught.
I saw Rose the first time when the agent showed me the house next door to her, I ended up buying it. I just got a short glimpse from the back, and only from the shoulders down. She did not impress me that much. After moving in I saw her every now and then as I drove up the road, again not much of an impression either way.
I actually met Rose one Saturday, when she came over looking for her wayward dog. He would drop by to see Bebe, my dog. She was a yellow Lab; I told everyone that her name was short for Beautiful Blond. Her real name was Blond Bitch; my ex had bought her for me as a birthday present. Bebe was the only good thing I got out of that marriage.
Rose's dog Hershey was a chocolate Lab, and he was madly in lust with Bebe. No one bothered to tell him he was fixed. He would lie outside her pen for hours whether she was there or not. Usually he would go home when called, this time he didn't.
Bebe was not outside that day. She announced that someone was coming to the door, just before the bell rang. As I opened the door she snuck past me to investigate the visitor, she can tell if someone is of good character or not. Bebe decided she liked this one.
As I opened the door the first thing I saw was the back of Rose's head and that red hair. She turned around and introduced herself then asked if I had seen Hershey. I knew Hershey by name since I heard her call him all the time.
I asked Bebe to go find Hershey; she was off like a shot; ran around toward her pen and started to bark. This was not a happy bark, it was too intense.
As we approached the pen Hershey was laying on the ground, Rose screamed and ran toward him. I checked him out and discovered his collar was hooked on the chain link fencing. I had to take his collar off to free him and he ran into the pen to be with Bebe.
I have a one way door installed in the pen, she can go in but not out. She was usually in before he got there so he had not noticed.
He really got stuck well; it took me about 10 minutes to separate his collar from the fence.
Rose put his collar back on and tried to get him to go home, he was inside the pen and was not leaving. He was a good dog and gentle, so I told her he could stay for a while if it was OK with her. Both dogs were lying together enjoying a sunbeam, Rose hated to break up true love so she agreed.
I invited her to join me on the patio to enjoy a drink, she had a Pepsi, and I chose my favorite, Dr. Pepper. We talked and watched the dogs for about an hour, when she announced she had an appointment she needed to see to.
I couldn't see any problem leaving the dogs together and suggested we leave them as they were. They were both good dogs and played well together, too bad he was fixed.
Rose would be back around 6 and would get him then; I invited her to stay for dinner that evening when she came back.
We talked on the patio until dark, and then Hershey, Bebe and I walked her home. Before I said good night I suggested that since the dogs got along so well, I could put a gate on her side of the pen and she could let him in whenever she wanted. She wanted to think it over.
Let me tell you a little about Rose; she is not what you would call a raving beauty, She is tall, thin, her hips are larger than society would say is appropriate for her build. She is not ugly at all, but her face is rather boyish, if you know what I mean. She is a little shy, but is smart and I think she has a great sense of humor. Then there is the hair. WOW, I love her hair.
When I returned from work on Monday, Hershey was lying inside the pen . The next day I ordered a gate, with a one way dog door on it for the other side of the pen. She did not need to use it if she didn't want to. The installers put it on Friday afternoon.
Rose came over and gave me hell that evening, I was being presumptuous, and had not sought her permission.
I apologized and showed her that the door was locked so it could not be used without her permission, then I told her that if Hershey could go in that way he would not need to go out on the road to get around hedge of berry bushes that separated our yards. She had complete control over weather he went in or not, but I would hate to see him hit on the road.
The next morning she showed up with a pie and an apology for jumping all over me. I asked where Hershey was. She had unlocked the door on her side of the pen, and he was waiting for Bebe. I let Bebe out and she ran to her pen. We talked over pie and coffee for about 4 hours that morning. It was good pie too.
We know all about the dogs and some about Rose, let me tell you a bit about me.
I run a company that manufactures custom machinery, if you have a need we can help. We sell to companies all over the world. I let the salesmen find someone with a need and then the customer and I meet and decide exactly how to solve all their problems.
My right hand man and lead installer is Stewart, referred to in the shop as Stewtoo. He is older than me and he knows his job well. He loves to travel and he can repair anything, so he is the perfect man to send with the machine. Together we make a good pair; he even completes any statement I start. Someone once thought we would make a good couple and should get married; I like my wives without big bushy beards, thank you. Besides he is married.
His wife has been my left hand; secretary, girl Friday, conscience and all around 2nd best friend for about 4 years longer than they have been married. She knows what I want before I ask.
Sue, Stew's 2nd wife, is 5 months along with her first child. They met here at work. She will need to be off for a while after giving birth, and is not sure she wants to work full time afterward. I completely understand.
Sue has been assigned the task of finding her best replacement. After searching for 2 months she thinks she has found the perfect match, I told her to start training her replacement next Monday. Do I trust her? Hell ya!
The next week I needed to be out of town for a big convention. We make lots of new contacts at them, and of course new contacts can become new customers. Stew would need to be there also.
Thursday evening Rose came over and asked if she could start leaving Hershey in the pen all day for a while, until she got one for him. I was planning to put Bebe in a kennel for the week since I would be out of town, but she was welcome to use the pen.
She said she could look after Bebe at night and the dogs could be good company for each other, in the pen, during the day. It made sense to me, so we set it up. I showed her where Bebe's food and other needs were, and showed her how the automatic water bowl in the pen worked. We were set.
We were a big hit at the convention. There were too many good leads to count; we usually sell 10 to 20 percent of our leads, if we do that well this time we will need to hire more people.
I got home late Sunday evening, after breaking down, moving our displays and putting them back into storage. I was tired and decided to take Monday off to relax. When I got up both dogs were in the pen, they were happy. I called Rose to thank her but only got her machine.
