The Roommate

Chapter 4

Once at the pound, we walked in with the dog.
"Hi, we were at the park, wanted to know if she's chipped or not? She ran up to me and wouldn't leave me alone." Harper told the guy. He nodded.
"No collar, so let me get a slip lead." He put the leash around her neck and she freaked out. "Honey, it's okay. Easy girl." She was terrified as she tried to hide behind Harper. "Can you take the leash?" Harper took it and the golden seemed to calm right down. "Weird." He said. "Come on back, and I will scan for one." We were brought back to a room and he scanned for one. "If she has one, it's news to me." He said, standing up.
"Would we be able to take her home?" Harper asked me. I looked at the dog. She looked at me, flopping her tongue out her mouth with a dorky smile.
"I guess I could use a running partner." She hugged me and the golden jumped up. "No no honey." She got down. "So do we fill anything out?" He shook his head.
"No since she isn't a resident here. But I will grab a baggie for ya." He handed us a baggie of stuff. Bowls, leash, collar, and a couple chew toys. "I would take her to a vet, get her checked out, but she looks outwardly healthy. A little thin, some matting. That tells me she's been out on the streets for a while."
"How old do ya think?" Harper asked.
"Maybe a year, no more than two." He said and we both nodded.
"I'm calling it now, her name is now Honey Bear." Harper said to me. I nodded, unsure if I wanted to fight this. I knew I'd lose the battle, if not the war. "Alright, you ready to go girl? Yeah? Let's go!" Harper cooed as she walked her out to the car. I chuckled as I followed. I called my mom as we were driving home.
"Yes dear?"
"I think I just adopted a dog." I said.
"What?! Oh what kind?"
"Looks to be a full bred golden retriever."
"Aww how cute!"
"We need to grab some things from the store, can we drop her off at the house?"
"Of course!" Once she was settled in at my parents, we ran to the pet store. While she was looking at toys, I called the Vet.
"Larry Wilcox Veterinary Clinic, how can I help you?"
"Hi, so I just found a dog on the street. Took her to the pound, no chip, no reports of a missing dog matching her description. Wanted to see if I can get her medically checked out before we take her home?"
"I just had someone cancel for two o clock."
"That works thank you."
"What's your name?"
"Jacob Matthews."
"Alright we will see you soon then."
"Bye." I hung up as I looked at her. "How many toys do you have?"
"Only six."
"Only?"
"We don't know what she likes! This one squeaks, this one honks, that one crinkles, and I've got a tug rope, and a treat ball, and a frisbee." I chuckled, smiling stupidly.
"Okay fine. No more than ten toys. I just booked a vet appointment for two."
"Okay." She said with a smile and grabbed her basket of toys, looking at some others. I put some tennis balls in the basket as she grabbed some treats for the ball. She smiled at me, grabbing a few more toys, and going to the food aisle.
"I'm going to grab a cart." I said and she nodded. Once I returned with the cart, she put everything in the cart, looking at the different food bowls. "Firecracker?" She looked at me. "There were bowls in the baggie."
"But they weren't cute." I sighed.
"Okay, I'm going to look at food." She nodded, smiling as she turned back to the bowls. Once I found a good food to start her on, I returned to Harper and she danced as she put two white ceramic bowls in the cart, as well as a dog bed
"They are so cute." She said, giggling. I shook my head.
"I assume you'll want to get a leash and matching harness." She nodded and I sighed. "Okay." She squealed and ran off to the correct aisle. The woman in the aisle with me chuckled.
"First dog together?" I nodded. "You two are cute."
"She's the cute one." I said, smiling as I went to join Harper. She was looking at a few harnesses. "I like that one." I commented, pointing at the harness that had a honeycomb design on it. "For Honey Bear." She smiled and nodded, getting the right size and matching leash and collar. "And a dog tag." She nodded and we went to the machine. "What are you putting on it?" I said in disbelief.
"Oh shit, I'm lost. Call my pawrents. My name is Honey Bear. And then on the back it has our names and phone numbers." I chuckled. "It's cute!"
"It's a lot."
"But it's cute!" I laughed and nodded. "And it's on a tag that is shaped like a honey pot."
"This tag is like 7 bucks."
"I'll pay for it."
"It's fine." I said. We went to check out, putting everything on the counter.
"That's going to be $127.45." I put my card in the scanner. "Okay you guys have a good day." We nodded and she giggled as we walked out.
"You are lucky." I said and she smiled at me. I rolled my eyes playfully and went back to my parents place. Honey was sitting at the door waiting for us when we got there.
"She hasn't left that spot." Mom said. Harper kneeled down and hugged her, petting her head.
"Hey Honey! Who's a good girl?!" I dragged the bags in, and put her in her collar and harness. Attaching the tag, I smiled at my handy work.
"Firecracker, we gotta head to the vet." I said and she nodded, getting her leash.
"Come on girl!" Honey wagged as she attached the leash to her harness. "Car ride Honey!" We went out to the car and headed over to the Vet clinic.
"Hi, how can we help you?"
"My name is Jacob Matthews. I hav an appointment at two."
"Yes sir. What is the dogs name?"
"Honey Bear. We checked for a microchip at the pound but they couldn't find one."
"It says here general check up?"
"She was in the park. We have no idea what she might have." She nodded. Twenty minutes later we were finally called back. Honey seemed excited to meet the vet. I say that, because she tackled him. Harper gasped in response.
"Oh my god, hi! Get down." She got down off of him. "Well hello. Is this Honey Bear?"
"Yeah, sorry. She's not trained yet."
"Bare minimum, her name fits. She's very sweet." Harper giggled.
"Honey come." Honey trotted over to her and sat beside her.
"Recall?" He asked.
"Um, well we found her in the park. And she tried to run into the road. There was a car coming so I tried calling her. She came right to me. But nothing else. She wouldn't leave my side."
"Oh. Well Honey, let's check you out girly." Honey looked at him. "Come here." She walked over and he picked her up. The nurse and his checked her out. "She seems in really good health considering. She looked like a pure breed so she could have had her shots before. I'd like to give her her shots though to be sure, and do some scans to make sure she doesn't have worms or any other issues. And let's get her chipped today."
"Okay." I said and she nodded. Twenty minutes later he brought her back and gave her a few shots. Harper distracted her with food and pets during that, so she seemed okay with it.
"Alright so no issues, other then being a little underweight she is in perfect health. Now she may hav some behavioral problems since she was on the street. I just caution you to that. Her microchip should be active now." He scanned it and it showed up. "That's your phone numbers?" I nodded.
"She doesn't like slip lead leashes. The guy at the pound figured that out pretty quick." Harper said.
"Could be from a dog catcher incident." He offered up.
"That's what I thought. But she was fine when I was holding it. Could it be male specific?"
"Oh definitely. Dogs and cats notice sex for sure. She probably had a female owner in the past that you remind her of, or a guy she didn't like, or even both. You said she wouldn't leave your side at the park other than that once?"
"Yeah and she came when called." He nodded.
"Well you have a good rest of your day, I think I'm done with her today. I'll call you with blood work results." I nodded and we walked up front, paying our bill, and heading back to my parents house. Honey bounded inside, grabbing her chew toy and shaking it around. A few days later, we went to the funeral, and then we started our drive home. It was tight, but we made it work. Honey made us stop twice to pee, but five hours later we made it home. Tyler headed home and we set Honey up in the house.the following day after I took her out to go to the restroom, I called my client for today.
"Hello?"
"Hey Karrie it's Jacob, just wanted to ask if you mind if my dog tags along on our run this morning?"
"I don't mind."
"Okay I will see you at the hill at 8:45 then."
"Okay bye."
"Bye." Harper came out, getting bombarded by a fluffy golden retriever. "Hey, I'm going to take her to the groomer, and then she's going on a run with me."
"Okay. I'm going to watch tv while you go sweat." I chuckled, kissing her goodbye, harnessing the yellow ball of happiness and leading it out the door. The groomer appointment went surprisingly well, and soon we were headed to the hill. I let her have a drink of water before my client arrived.
"You didn't tell me it was a golden! She's adorable!" Honey looked at my client, flopping her tongue out the one side of her mouth. "Hi!" She petted Honey.
"Her name is Honey Bear. My girlfriend's choice. I didn't want to die so I didn't argue." She laughed, nodding.
"That's wise."
"Shall we?" She nodded and we got to work. We were up and down the hill in an hour, which was record time for her. "Wow, good run." She nodded, smiling. "I'm serious that was a good effort."
"Thanks. I just hope my marathon time shows my work."
"I'm sure it will. You've been doing your normal runs?"
"Yeah."
"Good. You have a good day, I'm gonna get this girl home." She nodded and I got Honey in the car, taking her home before heading to the gym. While I was training someone I got a call from Harper. "Yes?"
"Guess who isn't potty trained?"
"Oh no."
"Yup. I can believe I'm saying this but thank god it was poop."
"Good to know. I will work with her on potty training."
"Me too." My day went by, and soon I was finishing up my own workout, before heading home. Harper was outside with Honey. "Hello ladies." Harper smiled, and I leaned in for a kiss. My arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her in closer.
"Hey there." She said and I smiled. I affected her more than I thought.
"Shall we head inside?" I asked her, a dark tone to my voice. I knew what I was doing to her. And she knew that. She nodded and I smirked, taking her and Honey inside. As we shut the bedroom door, we made sure Honey was out in the living room, before I turned to her. "Baby, you can't give me that look and not expect me to not want to jump your bones."
"What look?"
"That look you gave me when I stepped out of my car." She bit her lip and I growled. "That, look." I kissed her, pushing her onto the bed. I quickly crawled on top of her, biting into her neck. She moaned, her hand in my hair, and I knew I was gonna lose control in that exact moment. An hour later, I laid beside her as she collapsed on the bed.
"Oh my god, wow." She whispered. I chuckled. "You are, really good at that."
"What?" I asked. She looked at me, smiling.
"Sex." I chuckled. She kissed my cheek and I pulled the blanket over the two of us, pulling her close as I closed my eyes. It seemed like time flew after that, because pretty soon, four months had passed, and we were looking for a cheaper place. "Jacob?" I looked at her. "We never get to visit your family." She said. I nodded. "What if we moved to your hometown?"
"What? What about your job?" She blushed, pursing her lips.
"15% of my company was laid off three days ago." She wouldn't look me in the eye. "I was part of that."
"What?!" She nodded. "Oh my god."
"I've been looking but maybe it's time I got back to my dreams." I nodded.
"Okay. I've got money saved up that could last us. There's a place I've been looking at since I was a kid. It recently went on the market. We could look at it and if we like it, we could see if the owner would rent?" She nodded and I called my mom while she called the uhaul rental place.
"Jake my dear!"
"Hey mom. Could me and the girls crash at your place for a bit? We're going to be in town looking at places."
"Places?"
"Like rental homes." She squealed. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Yes honey! Oh my god yes!
"We need to pack our things up, so it might take us a few days."
"That's okay with me and your father! We will see you soon!"
"Love you mom."
"Love you too baby!" She hung up and I looked at Harper. She nodded, turning to look at me as she said goodbye to the man on the phone.
"Well mom gave an enthusiastic yes." I said and she laughed.
"Her little boy is coming home. Of course she's happy."
"Fair. Uhaul?"
"Yeah but the local place doesn't have a car hitch for their trucks right now."
"Okay then I can drive the truck and you ride behind with Honey." The dog perked her ears up, smiling as her tongue flipped out. We both chuckled and I kissed her cheek. "Let's go rent us a truck."
"Okay." She whispered, kissing me on the lips. I felt that familiar drunken stupor feeling, but pushed it away as I grabbed my car keys. She hopped in the passenger seat and we drove to the rental place. Once we had acquired one truck, we drove to the store.
"Hi this is a little weird. Do you have any boxes that you aren't going to use?" She nodded.
"I think so, let me look." She disappeared into the back, returning with boxes after about ten minutes. "Will these work?" I nodded as I took them.
"Thank you so much." She smiled and I walked out to the car, putting them in the back. While she started packing, I called my current clients. Almost everyone understood. A few were upset, but I gave everyone my buddies number. He was also a trainer and a damn good one. Two days later we were all packed up, and Honey was very confused. I didn't blame her honestly. "You ready?" I asked, pulling the door of the uhaul shut. She nodded. I locked the door, and gave her a kiss.
"The sign is painted on my back window so hopefully we don't get split up too bad." I read the window. I'm with the uhaul, that's why I'm tailing him so bad. I chuckled. "Gets the job done." I nodded.
"Honey, car ride!" I chirped and she bounced over to the front door of the car. I let her in as I called Tyler.
"Wassup man, you packed up?"
"Yeah, we can't find anything here so we are moving back home. Not sure where yet but that house on Cayman street is on the market." I started the uhaul up.
"Cool dude. Drive safe man."
"Will do bro." I called her and plugged my phone in.
"Let's do this."
"Phone plugged in, dog went bathroom, we went bathroom, and we have all eaten." I said and she laughed. She backed out of the parking space, letting me out and we got on the way. Four and a half hours later we pulled into a storage unit lot.
"How can I help you fine folks?" He asked.
"We need a storage unit."
"We'll you are in luck, I have a few available."
"You do monthly?"
"Yessir." I nodded as he smiled. "Go ahead and park, and we'll get your paperwork done.
"Okay." Once it was all signed and read, he hopped into the uhaul with me. "Down here, at the very end on the left." He opened up the unit, handing me the key. "Would you like some help unloading?"
"We'd love some help, thank you." She said. Once the uhaul was unloaded, we dropped the truck off and went to my parents. It was almost dark by the time we got there.
"Oh my god I got so worried." Mom said, hugging me.
"We took our stuff to storage." I explained. She nodded and we went inside, carried a few boxes and bags, setting Honey up with food, water, toys and her bed.
"Dinner is cold but I can reheat it for you." I nodded as Harper and I plopped down on the couch. We were both asleep before mom got dinner warm. When I woke up, it was dark out and Honey was asleep at our feet. I picked Harper up, carrying her to my childhood bedroom, and snuggling up to her. Honey climbed onto the foot of the bed, curling up before I drifted off. The next morning, Harper wasn't in bed with me. I got up, changing before I went out for breakfast. Mom smiled at me.
"I promise not to fall asleep this time." I said as Harper looked away from the tv to see me. I kissed her good morning.
"So the Cayman street house is up for sale. Why don't you take a loan out and buy it?" I shrugged it off, but Harper nodded.
"We could do that, Jacob."
"You're sure?"
"It's not like we haven't lived together before." I nodded.
"If we find a place we both like, we'll see." She smiled. I called the number for the Cayman house.
"This is Greyman Realty, how can I help you?" I gave her the street address, biting my lip nervously.
"Could me and my girlfriend get a tour of the house today?"
"Yes you could."
"Can we bring our dog?"
"Yes, as long as the dog is house trained. See you at noon?"
"Sounds good." We said our goodbyes and I smiled at Harper.
"Noon." She smiled as she kissed me. After a bank run, we headed over to the house.