Adore

Chapter 2

Archie and I began jogging down the path heading towards our favourite spot to visit.

We reached the park after a quick jog and we both slowed to a walk. I took Archie around the path of the park and he had his nose to the ground the entire way, picking up all sorts of scents.

Beyond the walking track of the park there was a large area of open fields covered in tall green grass. It was a perfect spot for letting him off the lead in. Not many other people used this area.

I steered us towards the lush fields so that he could run off the lead to chase the ball. I unhooked his lead and asked him to sit while I wound it up and stuffed it into my jacket pocket, only half of it fitting but it would do for now.

"Are you ready?" I asked the excited dog sitting at my feet, I pulled back my arm with the thrower ready to launch a tennis ball and let loose. Archie ran after the ball almost catching it mid air. He came running back over to me and dropped the ball at my feet, now covered in slobber.

I launched the ball over and over for Archie and each him he would bring it back to me, dropping it by my feet waiting for the next turn.

I was about to tell him it was time to go home when a gorgeous little staffy came padding up to us. I told Archie to sit by my side and I crouched down greeting the other dog. She had a beautiful coloured coat that looked kind of grey with a blue undertone.

"Hi pretty girl, whats your name?" I asked the sweet looking dog. She just looked back up at me panting and cocking her head to the side clearly listening to me. She put her paws up onto my knees and greeted me with a wet nose kiss on my face.

"I wonder if you're lost, is there a number on your collar" I talked out loud. As I was reading the numbers on the collar, the worried voice of a young man got my attention.

"Tessa!" He called out. I couldn't see where the voice was coming from, but both dogs turned their heads to where the sound was coming from.

"Tessa, where are you?" The voice said again, their tone sounding worried. The staffys ears perked up at the name and I assumed that was her owner calling.

From behind a huge tree emerged a young guy, probably a similar age to myself, with dark curly, he had a worried expression painted on his face.

"Hey" I called out, standing up from my position "Is this your dog?" I said pointing down to the other dog now sat near my feet.

The guy came jogging over to us with a look of relief as he recognised the pup who we had made friends with.

"Oh Tessa, you had me worried girl!" He spoke softly dropping to his knees as he stroked the staffy.

"Thankyou so much for finding her, she just took off all of a sudden." He said to me. Now he was closer I could see his facial features much more clearly.

He had wonderfully dark brown eyes. His hair was also a beautiful deep shade of brown with reddish tones throughout. He had a few freckles that danced along his cheeks and a killer jawline. All in all, he was a pretty gorgeous looking lad.

"That's okay, Tessa is very sweet, I think she must have heard us and wanted to make a friend" I said to him hoping to ease his stress levels which seemed pretty high at the thought of loosing his beloved pet.

"Oh, ah.. I'm Tom by the way" Freckles said to me with shy smile, extending his hand out to me.

"I'm Rhylee, and this is Archie" As I took his hand in mine, I noticed how warm his palm felt. Pulling my hand from his, I thought I could feel the buzz of electricity receding from my palm and fading from my finger tips.

As I spoke his name Arch let out a small bark to make his presence known. Tom leaned down to give Archie a scratch behind the ears which he seemed to love.

"It's nice to meet you Rhylee" Tom said.

"Yeah, you too" I replied back, brushing some hair out of my face that had gotten loose in the wind.

"Are you from around here?" He asked me while his brow was furrowed trying to work out my accent.

"I live about ten minutes from here but I just moved over from Australia, about a month ago" I said.

"Welcome to London" Tom said with a flash of a smile.

"Australia is great. I've been there before and I loved it. What brings you over here?" Tom continued while reattaching Tessa's lead.

"Well, I've always wanted to live overseas for awhile so I figured why not now" I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

There was a slight pause in our conversation, I didn't want it to be over but I wasn't sure what to say next. During those few seconds, his face became more known to me and I could have sworn I'd seen him somewhere or in something.

"Hey, you look kind of familiar you know, would I have seen you somewhere before?" I asked.

"Oh, um, possibly. I'm an actor. I play Spiderman in the Marvel movies" He replied, shifting on the balls of his feet. A blush started to creep up his cheeks and towards his ears.

"Thats right! I've seen a few of those movies, you started in Civil War right? The movies are great by the way." I spoke with a big smile. It had been awhile since I watched any of the Marvel movies but I do remember them being pretty incredible.

"Thanks, thats very kind of you. I had an amazing time filming the movies." Tom said looking up at me with an excited grin on his face.

While Tom and I were talking, the dogs had gotten to know each other and were playing gently near us. Archie had decided he'd had enough and rejoined me at my side and was nudging me with his nose.

This was his usual behaviour when he started getting bored and wanted to do something different. I didn't really want to leave just yet but I knew there was still so much to do back at the house.

"Alright Arch, hang on bud" I said to my dog.

"I best get going now, but it was great to meet you" I spoke while crouching down to attach Archies lead.

"Oh, sure. It was lovely to meet you . Maybe I'll see you around?" He asked.

"I hope so." I said, my face breaking into a smile.

"Bye" I waved to Tom.

"Bye Rhylee" He called out as I started to make my way back through the park towards home with Archie by my side.

The whole walk home I couldn't stop thinking about the freckles that painted his face, and his curly locks that framed deep brown eyes.