"Jay?" Jay turned to see Erin approaching him, confusion all over her face. "What are you doing down there?" She laughed.
"Making friends." He stated matter of factly.
"He let you pet him?"
"No, not yet. We're just talking. Getting to know one another." Erin was surprised. Jay was sitting, cross legged, on the concrete floor of the roll up, less than two feet from a puppy that was terrified of men. When the puppy caught sight of Erin his tail wagged and ears perked forward but he didn't move. And he kept darting his eyes back to Jay to make sure he wasn't going to move.
Erin came and sat beside Jay on the floor and extended her hand to the pup. He hesitated but then leaned forward to smell then lick her hand. She gave him a little scratch behind his ear. He side stepped towards her not taking his eyes off Jay. Jay remained still but relaxed.
"He's not sure about you. I don't blame him." Erin laughed. Jay gave her an unimpressed look which made Erin giggle more. "Give him time. The trainer gave me some ideas on how to help him trust."
"Well, let's hear it then." Jay prompted. They sat quietly talking about everything the trainer had told Erin. While they talked the puppy slowly made its way onto Erin's lap but faced towards Jay. Erin stroked his back. As casually as he could Jay moved his hand closer to Erin's leg, just an inch or so at a time. Eventually his fingers rested against Erin's leg, just inches from the puppy's nose. The puppy stared at Jay's hand intently but again his curiosity won over and he bent his head to smell Jay's fingers. Jay and Erin pretended not to notice but Jay felt the cold wet tip of the puppy's nose brush against his knuckles. Seemingly satisfied the hand wasn't going to hurt him, the puppy curled up in Erin's lap and closed his eyes.
Jay and Erin made eye contact and smiled. "Wow. That was good right?" Erin inquired enthusiastically.
"Yeah it was." Jay laughed. "You come up with a name for this little guy yet."
"No. I have no idea what to call him." She frowned and looked down at her hand as it stroked the soft fur between the puppy's ears. "You name it."
"What?"
"You name it. Consider it my thank you present for getting Hank on board with this." Erin offered.
"I was kinda hoping for something else as a thank you." Jay teased wiggling his eyebrows at Erin.
"Name the puppy and I might just consider it." Erin laughed back at him.
"Well in that case, Alfie." Jay said quickly.
"Alfie?"
"Yes, and you can't complain because you said I could name it." He reminded her.
"I'm not complaining. But why Alfie?" Jay had seemed so sure of himself, like he'd already had the name in mind. Jay shrugged. "Spit it out." Erin demanded. Jay sat quietly for a moment and flushed with embarrassment. "Please don't tell me you have an ex named Alfie."
"What! No, no of course not." Jay couldn't believe Erin would ever think he'd do something like that. "It's..." Jay sighed. "It's the name I wanted to give my dog when I was little."
"You had a dog growing up?"
"No, yes, well not exactly." Erin looked confused. So Jay told her about the stray. "I was about eight years old I guess. I was playing in the backyard and heard a whining noise behind the shed. I went back to look and there was a dog, a stray. He was really skinny and scruffy looking. Scared too. I snuck in the house and got some roast beef out of the fridge, left overs, you know?" Erin nodded and watched Jay with fascination, as he spoke. "Anyway he was scared at first but he took the food. I got called inside after that but I went back to check on him in the morning and he was still there. So I snuck him some food and water. After school, same thing. After a couple days he let me pet him. I figured I could get him to trust me then clean him up and ask to keep him." Erin's heart swelled picturing a little freckle faced Jay caring for the stray dog. "But Will and I got in a a fight and in his anger at me he told my dad about the dog. Guess he's seen me out there with it. My dad got really mad. Next morning when I went to check on the dog, it was gone. Never saw it again."
"Oh Jay." She felt a pain in her chest for both Jay and the stray dog. "You must have been so upset."
Jay shrugged and looked at the sleeping puppy on her lap. He slowly stretched out his hand and gently pet the dog's back. The puppy's eyes opened. He looked at the hand on his back and up at Jay without lifting his head. After a moment his eyes closed and he went back to sleep. Erin felt tears well up in her eyes. Jay felt the swell of victory. They made eye contact and silently celebrated the small step forward.
"Alfie it is then." Erin announced.
