Love Hate Relationship

Chapter 14

On Saturday morning, Clarke was having her coffee, and every once in a while, her mind wandered back to her dream from a few nights ago. She rarely had sex dreams. This was unfamiliar territory for her. God, those green eyes. So beautiful. Green eyes, green eyes. But why? Why this woman, at this time? She sighed and was startled out of her thoughts when her phone rang. "Hey Rave, what's up?"

"Dude, sunny day today, let's head to the park and take a walk."

Clarke thought about what she had planned today. Laundry, vacuuming, paperwork, "What time?"

"How about in an hour?"

"Okay."

"We're bringing the dogs, bring Oliver. That's why you have dogs, to walk on a sunny day."

Clarke was not sure she was ready for the workout of walking the dog, who usually just pulled her arm out of her socket. But, she didn't get out for any runs this week, so she should get some exercise. "Okay, I'll bring him."

"Cool, see you in a bit."

When Clarke pulled into the parking lot, she spotted Raven and Octavia waiting for her by the benches. She got Oliver out of the car and headed over to them. 

"Hey girl." Raven  gave her a hug.

"Hey, guys."

"What a wonderful day," O said, adjusting her backpack.

"A backpack, wow how long is this walk?" Clarke asked as she gave Octavia a kiss on the cheek.

"Best to be prepared, Clarke."

"What all you got in here," Clarke said as she unzipped and poked around, hoping for a bottle of water since she was already thirsty. She took an inventory. "Hm, juice boxes, energy bars, bibs, no water? Oh, but there's diapers, that's helpful."

"And that is our life in a nutshell, or a backpack. Juice boxes, bibs, and diapers, at least it's a clean one," Raven said.

"There's water in there, keep digging. I use this for work, when I take the kids out. You have to be ready for anything when you got three little ones running into things, and bouncing off pavements and stuff."

Clarke kept rooting around in the bag and finally found a bottle. Oliver started bouncing up and down, grabbing at the leash and holding it in his mouth, playing tug of war with Clarke. "Oh Jesus, calm down buddy."

"Get a hold of your dog there Clarke, you're the boss, not him," O said.

"Oh please. He is so the boss of me." Clarke reached down and gave him a nice scratch behind the ears. He sat down and began air scratching in ecstasy, making Clarke laugh.

"Did I tell you what happened when I tried to walk these two by myself last week?" Raven asked as they joined the multitude of other outdoor enthusiasts on the trail.

"Oh, this is rich," O said.

"No, you neglected to tell me that story."

"Well, I take the two of them to this very park, and you know I have a bad leg..."

Clarke looked puzzled. "You mean your knee?"

Raven nodded.

"The one you had ACL surgery on ten years ago? The one that causes no discernible limp?"

"Yes, that knee, it still aches my friend." 

Clarke rolled her eyes at her friend's exaggeration. "Oh please. Continue."

"So, I'm walking them, and there's this other dog about half a mile away, and my two monsters take off, just literally take off."

"How did they take off if you were holding the leashes?"