The One and Only

Chapter 2: A Day at the Dog Park

Amelia stared into the man's eyes as they shook hands, something about them felt familiar. She froze within the second, her mind clicking and recognizing who he was. "Oh. My. God! You're Chris Evans?!" she asked in shock, letting go of his hand at the end of the shake. He gave off a soft chuckle with a nod, it was the first time someone didn't recognize him immediately, almost as if he was just a normal person for a second. It felt nice. Amelia immediately dismissed her attention from him, shooting her eyes over at the dog that accompanied him. "Oh!! It's Dodger" she fangirled. Somehow, she was a bigger fan of Dodger than she was of Chris. "May I pet him?" She quickly asked, Chris giving her an ok with a nod. She quickly kneeled down, reaching her hand out to allow the cute pup to sniff her hand. Once a little lick was given off by Dodger, she smiled and patted him. "Who's a good boy? Are you a good boy? Yes you are, yes you are!" She exclaimed, her baby voice slipping out here and there. Dodgers mouth parted, giving off happy pants as his tail wagged behind him. "Ugh! How are you so cute?!" She whined, overwhelmed by the fact that she just met the cutest dog in the world, in her opinion.

After a few minutes of fangirling over Dodger, she stood and smiled at Chris. "I'm so sorry for holding you up, you must be so busy" she shied softly, brushing off the dirt and debris from her clothes. "Oh no, it's fine. I'm just out for a stroll" He replied. Both dogs soon began playing after Amy had done her best to tie the broken leash onto Bandit's collar. "They seem to get along" He spoke, smiling down at how well they got along. Most of the time, Dodger got along with all the dogs he encountered but for some reason, he never cared so much to play with another dog before. His attention would eventually go back to Chris after a few minutes of playing.

"Yea, they really are." She smiled, watching the leashes tangle as they hopped around, both handlers doing their best to untangle the leashes. They both laughed softly at the sight of the dogs. "You think the owners would mind having a puppy playdate with Dodger? Like at a dog park some day?" Chris asked, loving that his dog was so happy to play with another of his kind. "Oh, of course they wouldn't mind." Amelia responded, looking up at the tall, handsome man. "I'm actually taking him to the dog park right now if you'd like to join?" She added. She was rarely ever this bold, but since it was for the dogs, she didn't mind.

"Oh, for sure! I'm sure he'd love that." He replied, referring to Dodger. Amelia smiled and nodded, "it's just a few blocks away" she clarified, beginning her journey over to the dog park. She loved that park, it was mostly empty for the most part. Maybe 1-2 other dogs there, which was better for her as she didn't have to worry about where the dog she was walking ran off too or if they've gotten themselves into trouble, especially Bandit.

Once arriving at the park, she noticed it was completely empty. She looked back at the dogs, "Guess you guys have the whole park to yourselves" She giggled softly, going into the gated area and untying the knot from Bandits leash. Bandit jolted into the park, immediately chasing after a squirrel. Chris laughed lightly watching Bandit, soon unclasping Dodgers leash, sending him off to go play. Amelia headed inside, walking over to a shady bench and sitting down crisscrossed. Chris accompanied her, sitting besides her as they both watched the dogs play. Bandit soon came over, handing a ball to Chris. His lips curled, taking the ball and tossing it as far as he could, both dogs dashing after it. "Quite the energetic pup, huh? Bandit, right?" He asked, turning to look at Amy. She smiled and nodded. "Yea, Bandit. He's definitely the most energetic client I have. Always getting himself into trouble." Both laughing at her statement.

They both tried breaking the ice, trying to get conversation flowing, both struggling with their anxiety. "So what made you want to become a dog walker?" Chris asked. "Actually, it was Bandit's owner. I had a friend who used to be their dog walker and sitter when he was a puppy. She'd usually bring him over to the house we shared when his owners would go travel so we pretty much bonded right off the bat. Unfortunately, my friend had to leave town and with no one left to walk Bandit, she suggested that I should since we were already bonded and I'd walk him with her from time to time." She explained, her words flowing out of her mouth more easily than before. "So I reached out, and sure enough, I've been walking him for 2 years now. And with a few other owners reaching out, I basically made a simple living for myself" She shrugged, knowing she still struggled to make ends meet from time to time.

Chris nodded, processing all she had said. It was nice having a conversation with a stranger that did not revolve around him. "That's amazing!" He replied, "It must be fun having different dogs to interact with daily" She nodded smiling, turning to watch the dogs playing. Both came trotting back to their owners, panting like there was no tomorrow. Amelia giggled softly, standing from the bench and going over to press the pedal on the doggy water fountain, letting the dogs lap at the water freely.

"How did you find this place?" He asked her, remaining a few feet away at the bench. She looked up, her attention going over to him. "Uh. I was roaming one day and ran into it, I guess. It looked nice, clean and at the time there were only 2 dogs in the park so it seemed like a nice place to bring the pups" She replied, referring to all the dogs as pups or puppies. "I came back every day at different times of the day to check it out and it was mostly pretty empty for the most part. And it was perfect, little to no dogs every day of every hour. I didn't have to worry about my dogs getting into trouble or disappearing into the sea of dogs like other parks." She continued. He nodded, "That's interesting. It's nice to find a place where you feel your dogs are secure and easily visible. I don't take this guy out to them much because of the same reasons, but hey, if you don't mind sharing your secret park, I'd love to bring him more often." She teased lightly, sending her giggling in return with a nod. "Of course, as long as you're willing to keep it a little secret too, or else we'll have nowhere else to go.'' She followed along. He smiled and nodded, "Pinky promise." He spoke, both smiling at each other.

"Do you come here with Bandit often?" He asked. "Just the days I walk him, 2-3 times a week" she informed him. "Would you be willing to have another playdate with him and Dodger?" Chris asked, looking at her as she was back to sitting on the bench. "Of course! I would never say no to this cutie" She spoke, petting Dodger, spoiling with pets and kisses. Chris smiled, seeing how she interacted with his dog. "What days or times do you usually come?" He asked. She scrunched her nose, "I don't have specific times or days. But! If you're comfortable with us texting, I can give you my number to set up dates?" She suggested. Chris thought about it for a few seconds. He agreed and exchanged numbers. Something about her not fangirling over him, treating him like a normal person made his mind at ease with giving out his sensitive information, hoping he wouldn't regret it later.

A/N: im not sure if its just a glitch but it shows people are skipping this chapter so just adding this in the refresh the chapter of some sorts to hopefully fix that problem.