For Tobias' Sake

1

I stared at the man in front of me, regardless of how uncomfortable he looked. I mean, I have every right in this world to stare at him. Even though my reasons don't quite involve the young lawyer, who is just trying to do his job.

"I'm sorry. I thought you said Misses Johnson inherited me her dog." I say, hoping I just misunderstood him, but he nods his head. I blink a few times, before taking a huge breath.

I have been taking care of Tobias when I was a teenager and he was too energized for the old couple. So every now and then, I took him to the park. But I haven't seen him since I graduated high school and moved out of my parents' neighbourhood, which was almost six years ago.

I look at the ground, where Mister Thomas, the young lawyer, build a little home for Tobias, Misses and Mister Johnson's little English bulldog. I smile sadly at him, feeling a lump in my throat starting to build at the sight of him. I don't know if it's because he's a bulldog and the skin under his eyes is always kind of hanging downwards, but he looks sad and I just want to hug him.

I walk over to the old pal and pet his head, before sighing and standing up to face Mister Thomas again. He looks at me with a small smile playing on his lips. Oh, he knows exactly what I'm about to say.

"It's okay. I'll take him with me. I mean how hard can it be to take care of a ten year old dog? He had his best years already." I say in a dismissive matter, making the young man blink in shock of my words. I frown at my own sentence after replying it in my head. That came out wrong!

"Oh god, I didn't mean it like that, I swear! It's just, he's old and slow. I meant that I didn't need to take care of him that much." I grimace when I realize that I just made it worse. The man raises an eyebrow.

"I mean, sure I'll take care of him, but not that much. You know, not like a puppy, who needs my attention every single-"
"I understand, Miss Summer. Just please sign this and you can take him home." The man sighs, completely uninterested in my pathetic attempts of covering my mistake. I take the pen out of his hand and quickly scribble my signature on the paper, he wanted me to sign. I didn't even bother reading it, knowing I wouldn't understand one word anyway.

"Thank you. His toys and other stuff are still in the Johnson's heritage. I'm assuming you know where that is?" He asks and I nod. Of course I do. I spent a lot of time there, talking to the old couple after I took a walk with Tobias.

"Very well then, Miss Summer. I wish you the best of luck and-" Mister Thomas hooks a brown leather leash onto Tobias' collar, before failing at dragging him towards me. I smile when I see Tobias taking his sweet time with everything. See, that's what I mean, he's old and definitely not a big problem to take care of.

"And yeah, take good care of him." The young man hands me the leash and I nod again. I take the purse that I placed on one of the office seats, Mister Thomas offered me when I got here and leave the small, but fancy room slowly, not wanting to pressure my new roommate.

I sigh when we successfully made it to the elevator of the high building and kneel down to pet Tobias again. He is so precious. I've always loved dogs, but my parents didn't want any pets when I was younger and I just don't have the time for a dog now.

He's changed since last time I saw him. Of course he's older and obviously gained a little weight, but his vibe changed. He doesn't seem like the energized, nosy and fast little raccoon he used to be. But that's okay, I'll show him the world out there.

The elevator doors open and we get in. The elevator makes a weird noise when Tobias places his bum on the floor, with a lot of force for a dog. But then again, he's an English bulldog. I chuckle and we makes our way downstairs towards the lobby.