Fingertips

City of Lights

I woke up to the sound of my alarm. Ugh. I forgot to turn it off when summer began. 

I quickly hit the snooze button and tried my best to fall asleep, but to my dismay, was unable to.

I decided to just get ready for my plans for the day and began by taking a warm shower. 

When I got out of the shower, I put on a pair of light, denim jeans, a black shirt, and some black shoes. I grabbed the book I was currently reading and head out the door, making sure to tell my parents I was going to the park again.

It had been two weeks since the incident, and they were still hesitant to let me go out by myself. I assured them that I would take a new route home this time before the sun set. After hours of begging and compromising with them, they finally let me go, but not before my dad handed me a bottle of pepper spray to hang on my key ring.

I smiled and hooked the small bottle onto my key ring and kissed them both goodbye. I made sure to give Mikey an extra long scratch on his belly and chest before leaving since he looked sad about me not taking him to the park again. After struggling to keep him from running out the door, I finally began walking toward the park crowded with joggers, energetic children, familiar faces from school, and dog-walkers.

As I walked along the trail leading to the shaded, grassy area, I lay down the blanket I brought and used my bag as a pillow. I grabbed my phone and placed it in the front pocket of my bag to make sure I heard the alarm I had set to go off before the sun would begin to set. 

I grabbed my book and flipped to the page I left off on. 

_______

I was halfway done with my book when all of a sudden, I felt something land next to me on my blanket. It was a worn out tennis ball. I looked around trying to find the owner and was about to stand up until a small puppy came into view, charging at me. The poor thing lost its balance and started rolling down the hill. I quickly scooped it up into my arms to stop it from falling. 

It looked up at me and cocked its head to the side. He looked so familiar, but I couldn't seem to figure out why. I looked at the silver, bone-shaped name tag hanging from his collar and saw that his name was Bubba. I laughed at the odd name and began petting him. "Hi, Bubba! Are you lost? You're such a little baby! Why are you running around all by yourself?" I said in my high pitched voice. Dogs make me so happy. They love you until the very end, unlike people who come and go. Bubba began licking my hand and jumped up onto my chest to lick my face. I started laughing until I heard a voice calling out Bubba's name. 

"Bubba! Where are you? I have another ball!" I heard a guy from afar shout out.

I scooped Bubba into my arms and grabbed the ball and walked toward the guy.

As I approached him, I recognized the owner. 

"Maverick?" I smiled.

"Phoebe! How have you been?" He said, smiling widely.

"I'm ok. I've just been bored lately. You?" I replied.

"I'm well. I usually come here every day to play with Bubba," He replied, holding up the bag of toys in his hand.

"Yeah. I seem to have run into your little friend here. He's adorable. I was considering taking him home," I joked, placing Bubba back into his arms.

He laughed and said, "Please, take him! He uses everything as his toilet! I can't seem to train him. He won't listen to a thing I say."

I laughed at his offer and said, "Well he is a dog. He can't speak English. Try some German. Maybe he'll understand you better."

A look of confusion came over his face until he realized my awful joke regarding the dog's breed.

"He's a German Shepherd," I giggled. My sense of humor is rather dry. I mentally slapped myself, a reminder to quit making such awful jokes no one found funny. To my surprise, however, he started laughing, startling Bubba and causing him to leap out of Maverick's arms and come running into mine. I didn't know if he felt sorry for me, or if he genuinely found my awful joke humorous. 

Once he gathered his emotions, he attached Bubba's leash back on and set him down onto the cool grass. 

"Do you have any plans today?" He asked. 

I excused myself to grab my phone from my spot on the grass a few feet away and saw that it was only half past three. I quickly folded up the blanket and stuffed it into my bag along with my book. I ran back to the two and saw that Bubba was now doing "number two" behind a tree, while Maverick was scrunching his nose, taking a plastic bag out of his pocket. 

"Need any help there?" I asked. He nodded and asked me to hold Bubba's leash while he picked up the waste and tossed it into the nearby bin.

"So, do you have any plans today?" He asked, repeating his question.

"No. I still have a while before I have to head home," I replied.

"Would you like to catch a late lunch with me and Bubba?" He asked, a goofy smile spreading across his face.

"I'd love to. Just let me text my parents to let them know I'm ok. They're worried something is going to happen to me again," I answered.

He nodded, looking a bit sympathetic when I mentioned the incident.

_______

We walked into the dimly lit restaurant decorated with candles and lanterns. The place was called City of Lights. It was a fancy restaurant that was mostly outdoors, filled with pictures of various cities around the world. We waited to be seated, and he suddenly said something that surprised me.

A.N.

Thank you for reading once more! Please vote, comment, and follow if you enjoy the story so far. Please stay tuned for future chapters!