Adore

Chapter 1

I was woken by the touch of a cold wet nose against my cheek. My eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the brightness of my bedroom. I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and stretching my arms up high feeling my body start to wake up now too.

I looked over and on the pale grey coloured carpet sat Archie, looking up at me with his big dark eyes and perky ears. How could I be mad at him for waking me up when he's so cute?

"Morning Arch" I said to him as his tail starts wagging excitedly. I pulled back my covers and shoved my feet into my fuzzy slippers.

"Shall we go get some breakfast?" I asked ruffling his ears as I let out a yawn.

I grabbed my phone from my bed side table and slipped into my dressing gown. Archie followed me from my room to the kitchen eagerly awaiting his breakfast.

I grabbed his bowl from the cupboard where I stored his food and filled it with his favourite biscuits. Archie was spinning around in circles at my feet as I placed the bowl down on the mat near his water.

From the kitchen I switched on my tv to the music channel as I made myself a large cup of coffee. The aromatic scent of the coffee pod pouring filled the kitchen. I grabbed some milk from the fridge to top off the mug of currently just black coffee.

I'd also pulled out a saucepan and half filled it with water, switching on the heating element of the stove. They say a watched pot never boils so I took some long sips of my coffee and half watch the tv. Soon after, I could hear the soft sound of bubbles popping.

While I was waiting for my breakfast to finishing cooking I started unpacking another box that was half unloaded on the island bench. I put away some more glasses and baking dishes.

Moving from Australia was a pretty big deal for me. I had always wanted to live over seas for awhile and after working my ass off and saving up, I finally had the finances to make my dream come true.

I picked the UK because my family were originally from here. Although, the relatives who were still here lived hours away and I was not that close to them.

I had moved into this townhouse almost a month ago but I was still making my way through the unpacking process. It wouldn't have taken me as long to finish off if I really stuck to it but some days I just needed to get out of the house and so did Archie.

I was one of those people that got a bit stir crazy if they stayed at home for too long. I enjoyed being outdoors, especially out in nature doing things like bush walking or camping.

Archie and I had been on a few solo camping trips before and I was so much fun. I wanted to invest in some new camping gear once I had established a new job so Archie and I could go again.

After finishing unpacking that box I broke it down and stacked it neatly with the others to return to some sort of recycling centre when everything was unboxed.

I scooped the eggs out of the boiling water and put them on top of the toast with some smoked salmon and avocado on the side. Taking my cutlery with me I took a seat on the couch to catch up with the morning news.

Archie padded over to me and curled up on the floor. He knew he wasn't allowed up on the couch. Archie has been in my life for going on three years now. He is a tri-coloured beagle who had infinite energy levels. I was careful in my selection of where to live. I wanted to be somewhere that had space in the backyard, but also wasn't too far from some sort of park or walking track.

He was also my first dog so there was no way I could have moved without bringing him with me. The process of international travel for an animal was a nightmare, but after many set backs I was able to pick Archie up from the airport after a week of living in London.

My townhouse was on the outskirts of London. There was a lot of hustle and bustle but there was also the calmer side I enjoyed so much. We lived close enough to the heart of the city that it could easily be reached by bus or train but not too close that it felt as though everyone was living on top of each other.

After I had finished eating I put my plate into the dishwasher and headed back upstairs to get dressed for my morning walk with Archie. I swear that dog could tell the time, whenever it started getting close to 10am he'd star to wag his tail and nudge at me with his nose as if to tell me to hurry up.

I picked out a long sleeve black top that fit snuggly to my body. I paired it with some black and dark grey leopard print gym tights and my all black nikes. I pulled my long red hair up into a messy ponytail and fluffed it up a bit.

I added my watch to my wrist and of course my headphones.

"Where's your lead Archie?" I asked him after getting my socks & shoes on.

Archie's ears pricked up at my question and he went bounding off to the front door. He sat down like I asked while I got him all harnessed up.

I grabbed my jacket from the coat rack and zipped it up close to my chest. I knew it was going to pretty crisp outside. I also picked up the bright red tennis ball thrower from the entry table, this was one of Archies favourite things to do.

I stepped out of the dark grey door and pulled it shut. I took my keys from my pocket and locked the door behind us.

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A/N - feel free to leave questions, comments or concerns!