Yes or no - Book 4 - S.E.

Old dogs, new tricks

It had been a month since the opening night of Funny Girl and as much as Rachel had enjoyed her time there, she had started to realize that maybe doing the same show again and again every day of the week was not how she wanted to spend her days. So, when she was offered a chance to audition for a TV role, she took it. Even though she had to lie to her director, which then led to Santana having to fill in for her for a show since everything had gone wrong in L.A., which then led to a very serious conversation with her director and an almost dismissal, which led to, somehow, the Broadway blogs finding out about it and writing all about how unprofessional and immature she was, which then led Rachel and her friends to this kennel, in a desperate attempt to rebuilt Rachel's "good image" for the media.

"So they really just stay in these cages all day?" Rachel asked as she walked beside the owner of the kennel, looking at all the dogs around her.

"Oh, no, we give them five walks a day." The man explained. "We take them to a dog run for two hours of exercise every other day... We really do our best, given the limited funding that we have. You got to remember, these are rescue dogs, you know? Most of these dogs have been living on the streets, or they were abandoned, abused..."

"Oh..." Rachel frowned.

"So, you know..." Mercedes said. "What happens to them eventually?"

"Well, it depends on how old they are, really." The man shrugged, as Sam stopped in front of one of the cages, playing around with the puppy inside. "We try to get as many of them adopted as we can, but when we can't, not much choice. You know, it's... It's the worst part of my job."

"Well, that's why we're here, actually." Rachel smiled at him then, taking the opportunity to offer him her services. "We want to arrange a very public and great event for a cause that we are so passionate about: animals."

"Yeah, you said something about Broadway?"

"Yes. I am starring currently in the acclaimed Broadway revival of Funny Girl. I don't know if you've seen it."

"I don't really get into the city much." The man shrugged. "I'm not a Broadway guy. But I liked Cats."

"Okay, well..." Rachel frowned a bit, offended. "It doesn't really matter, you know... We just want to spearhead a benefit, guided towards the Broadway community... AKA me."

"I got it, I got it."

"Okay, well, you know, we'll take care of everything, hum..."

"Okay." The man nodded. "That's great."

"Really?" Rachel asked, surprised as the man shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm in for sure." He said. "I'll get the information together; let's do it."

"Okay. Amazing. Thank you."

And as Rachel and Santana moved to talk to the owner of the kennel, Mercedes walked over to Sam, who was still entranced with a particular small dog, talking to it in a baby voice as the dog wiggled his tail at him.

"I really wanted one." He told Mercedes as soon as the girl approached him, his eyes still on the dog as it barked playfully. "Look at you. Ooh."

"Oh, no." Mercedes shook her head then. "Sam, I love animals, but I've got my hands full taking care of you and Blaine. And Artie, who seems to always be in the apartment for some reason. You boys are more than enough."

And as Mercedes left with a small giggle and a pat on Sam's back, the boy pouted, turning back to the dog on the cage in front of him as he wriggled his finger through the cage to play with the puppy more.

"We would have been good buddies." Sam assured. "Yeah, we would. Right? We would."

***

Sam knew it was a bad idea, really, but who could blame him? He had made a connection with the dog and honestly, he had been feeling very alone ever since Emily left again four weeks before. Sure they still talked, but Emily was going through her last weeks in her first year of college, which meant more tests and more presentations and more assignments from the teachers. She was also very busy with her own job as a waitress, now that her mom's savings for her in college started to become a bit more scarce, so that meant less virtual dates and less phone calls and less texts.