This is the one chapter of the story that is conspicuously missing sexy times in favour of storytelling. The future chapters will (I hope) more than make up for this.
Enjoy!
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Rachel was tragically late for her first day of work.
Fortunately her boss, none the wiser, arrived even later.
Rachel had suffered from a horrible restlessness during the night. Nervous tension filled her belly and her being and she was unable to silence or ignore the endless inner chatter. Rachel's pale limber legs squeezed the blankets closer before kicking them away. Feeling vaguely feverish, Rachel caught herself trying to check temperature of her forehead with the back of her hand several times just in case. As night became morning, Rachel wasn't sure if she had actually managed to get any sleep. Squirming and stirring endlessly, she couldn't seem to stay still long enough for sleep to come.
Rachel repeatedly glanced at the glowing numbers on the alarm clock patiently ticking away the minutes and hours next to her bed. The strange noises of a new city served to nudge Rachel awake from the brink of a light restless sleep again and again and she eventually punched her poor pillow in frustration before she resigned herself to patiently stare at her new slightly discoloured ceiling. The night sky slowly became light sky and Rachel struggled out from a deepening pit of resignation as the sun rose and her alarm clock started beeping at her.
So this was the working world.
Now that it was time to get up, Rachel wanted nothing more than to sleep.
Stupid brain, scumbag body.
Rachel groaned as she mustered up what little willpower remained and sat up, cocooned in an eclectic mix of bed sheets and comforters. Naked except for a pair of frilly pink panties touting a cartoon kitten on the front, Rachel sat hunched over on the mattress for a minute fighting to open her seemingly weighted eyelids. The first of what was sure to be many jaw-cracking yawns rolled through her, opening her eyes to the darkened interior of her cluttered apartment.
Rachel shook her head roughly and sending her hair fanning out around her as she stepped out of the blankets. She had never been much of a morning person.
Dogdog, Rachel's snoring dachshund roommate, had slept like a stone through the alarm clock, the strange city noises and the semi-frequent sounds of Rachel awkwardly shifting around on the squeaky springs of her bed all night. Rising to a lurching shamble, Rachel prepared hot instant coffee with too much milk and sugar while she looked for the matching piece to her underwear on the floor. Slowly, as the hot caffeine soaked into her bones, Rachel began to feel less tired and more human. Realization dawned on Rachel, staring around at her crummy apartment, that she wanted nothing more than to leave.
Aside from applying for jobs and fetching groceries, Rachel had spent an ungodly amount of time in this small place. Last night was clearly an indication that she needed to catch up on some much neglected exercise.
What the hell,
she thought, blearily draining the mug.
What's the worst that could happen?
Her job didn't start for a few long hours and Rachel's bed had become a black hole she would never return from if she went back to it.
Besides,
she thought as she covered her yawn with a fist,
some fresh air would do her some good
as she realized that she actually had a park in mind she wanted to visit.
Getting dressed, Rachel reached for Dogdog's leash which made the lightest possible distinctive jingle. With this, Dogdog immediately rose from his prone, snoring position with a series of chipper, yipping barks. Silencing Dogdog, Rachel was repaid with slimy kisses as she stooped down to clip on his leash. Rachel was painfully aware of the dark places that tongue had travelled and his rancid morning doggy breath almost made her gag. Wiping off her face with her sleeve, the two of them walked out into the great unknown.
Immediately after closing the door behind her, Rachel felt a great weight lift from her chest as she breathed deeply of the crisp morning air. Rachel felt invigorated as she set a brisk pace leading her dog to a small park she had driven past once or twice before while trying to find her apartment. The day was just getting started but it already looked it was going to be a cloudless, beautiful day. Rachel, like other corporate workhorses, would be passively denied the enjoyment of near perfect sunny days like today appeared to be. She would, however, also sheltered from drab, depressing weather as well. She absently chewed her lip as she mulled the idea over.
Rachel felt conflicted about the realization of what work really represented even as her and her pup entered the empty local dog park and she struggled for a moment with the squirming Dogdog to unclip his leash.
Dogdog was happy enough to smell everything and hose all the things with pee.
Catching sight of large black squirrels wandering away from the safety of their trees, Dogdog successfully managed to come close to catching exactly none of them even as he terrified and warned them away with his frenzied barking. The squirrels chittered what were probably obscenities at Dogdog and he responded in kind.
Rachel was content to enjoy the morning solitude as her puppy played and though she was standing upright, she found her eyelids drooping closed when the distant but growing sound of crunching footsteps forced her to, with an effort, open them again.
The footsteps belonged to a man walking a dog towards her.
A stocky pitbull was trying to pull the stranger in a beeline towards Rachel and Dogdog. Eyeing the pitbull with suspicion, Rachel called to Dogdog and was somewhat grateful when he listened to her without rebelliously dawdling in an adolescent manner as he sometimes did. Rachel stooped to clip his leash back on and discreetly crossed her fingers behind her back while looking up at the clear blue sky as the stranger and the dog approached.
Don't be ugly, old or creepy.
Please
don't be ugly, old or creepy.
"Morning" greeted the
surprisingly
handsome stranger with a friendly wave as Rachel decided, giving a cheerful wave in response that a neighbourly conversation couldn't hurt.
Both of the dogs were on a collision course anyways.
"Hi." Rachel responded simply with a healthy caution as she eyed and tried to assess the duo. Rachel, reserved and distant as she tried to appear, found her resolve cracking as her gaze was drawn back again and again to the stranger's eyes. They were a rich warm dark brown color that only served to highlight the effortless smile that seemed to follow him at all times. Though she tried to keep her glances discreet, Rachel caught herself running her eyes up and down the stranger in a somewhat, admittedly, lecherous fashion.
No sane person walks their dog at this hour,
thought Rachel with a tweak of suspicion.
After a slight pause, Rachel performed some mental gymnastics and firmly rejected the thought.
"Does... she bite?" Rachel asked politely, struggling a little to keep the excited Dogdog from tackling the squat bulldog. As fat as Dogdog was, Rachel was instantly reminded that his stubby little body was surprisingly strong when his interest was stoked. Rachel had to use both hands for a moment to keep her pup in check. The stranger accomplished the same with his own straining, larger, more muscular dog with one hand calmly resting in his pocket.
Bastard,
she thought.
