Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Saving Autumn

The ringing of her cell phone jerked Georgina out of a deep sleep.  She groped around the nightstand trying to locate it without opening her eyes.  Finally her hand touched it and she grabbed it up to answer.  “Hello?”  “Georgie, I’m really sorry to wake you up at this time of the morning but we’ve had a report of a dog found in someone’s yard.  All the guys on duty tonight are out.  But apart from that, she needs a gentle touch.  The house owner says she appears to be abused and is very traumatised.” Sherry said.  “No problem, Sherry.  I’m on my way”.  Georgina rolled over to look at the clock and grimaced.  She was never her cheery best at three a.m but as the owner of the shelter, she couldn’t very well refuse to go.  Climbing out of bed and into some clean clothes, she grabbed her keys and headed out.  As she got into her car, her phone beeped softly indicating an incoming message.  Sherry had sent her the directions to find the dog and she was on her way.  Finding the place easily, she hopped out of the car and walked up the path to the front door.  Lifting her hand to knock, the door swung open, startling her.  “Hi, I’m Georgina from The House of Hope Animal Shelter.  I’m here about the dog your reported.”  “Yes, thanks for coming so quickly.  I’m Eric.  Please, come through.  She found her way into my back yard but I can’t seem to get her to come out from where she’s hiding.”
Eric led the way through the house and Georgina asked him questions as they went.  “And you say she seems to have been abused?”  “God yes, the poor dog has wounds all over her.  Considering how she reacts to me and the kind of wounds she has I can only assume it was a man who abused her like that.  She cowers away every time I get anywhere near her.”  Eric pointed to a corner of the garden and Georgina had to go down on her haunches to find the dog.  When she spotted her, her heart ached at the sight before her.  She inched closer and the dog eyed her warily.  “Hello baby.  I’m not here to hurt you,” Georgina murmured.  She reached into her pocket and pulled out a doggie treat.  Going to her stomach, she held out the treat and continued to murmur softly to the dog.  Eventually the dog began to belly forward slowly, stopping constantly to assess whether she was in imminent danger.  After what felt like an eternity the beautiful young dog bellied up to Georgina and sniffed at the treat she held in her hand.  Delicately the dog took the treat from her and Georgina took the opportunity to stroke and pet her where she could without hurting the dog.  By five a.m. Georgina had finally managed to get the dog into a collar and leash; and coax the frightened animal into her car.  Turning to Eric, Georgina held out her hand to shake his, “Thank you so much for calling us.  We’ll take good care of her and make sure she finds a wonderful new home.”  “About that,” Eric replied.  “Would it be possible to rehabilitate her so she won’t be scared of me anymore?  I’d love to take her in.  She’s such a beautiful dog and she deserves a safe place to stay.”  “That would be wonderful; and completely doable.  I’ll need to work with her a bit but if you let our office have your details, I will be in touch as soon as she’s ready for me to start introducing her to you.”  “I’ll do that, thanks, but here’s one my business cards that you can hang on to.  I’ve put my personal number on the back so it’ll be easier to get hold of me.  I’ll look forward to hearing from you.”  Passing Eric one of her business cards, Georgina said, “Thanks once again.  I’ll be in touch.”
Having spent the last two hours watching Georgina gently win over the trust of the dog, Eric couldn’t get her out of his mind.  Standing at the window watching as she backed out of the drive and drove away, he wondered how long he should wait before contacting her again.  There was something in her gentle way with the animal that spoke to him.  And he would love to get to know her better.  Turning away from the window he went into the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee knowing there was no way he’d be able to go back to sleep now.  Thoughts of Georgina whirled around his mind.  Flopping down on the coach, he leaned back and closed his eyes giving his imagination free rein.  Imagining what it would be like to kiss her soft lips, what it would be like to roll her underneath him and make passionate love to her.  He couldn’t wait to see her again.
“Hi baby,” crooned Georgina, “How’s my girl today?”  The dog whined softly in answer and licked her hand.  Georgina spent some time brushing out the dog’s beautiful coat, checking the wounds to make sure they were healing properly.  Giving the dog a treat, she rubbed a hand over the satiny coat and softly talked to her, laughing as the dog cocked her head; almost as if she could understand what Georgina was saying to her.  “Georgie, telephone for you;” Sherry called over the public address system.  She gave the dog another treat and said, “I’ll be right back.”  “Hi, this is Georgina.”   “Hi, it’s Eric.  You rescued a dog from my yard the other night;” came the response.  “Yes, I remember.  Hi Eric, how are you doing?”  “Great thanks.  I was just wondering how things were going.  I know you said you would call when she was ready but I was wondering if there’s any chance I could come over today.” Eric replied.  Eric held his breath waiting for Georgina’s response.  Just hearing his voice, Georgina’s heart beat faster and she felt short of breath.  Taking a deep breath she replied, “Actually, she’s really doing well - a lot better than I thought she would so quickly.  It should be fine.”  “Excellent; I’ll be there shortly.  And, thanks Georgina.  I appreciate it.”
Georgina had butterflies swarming around her stomach.  She was looking forward to seeing the hunky Eric again.  She occupied herself by feeding and playing with the rescue dog.  Once more stroking a hand down the dog’s soft coat she wondered, not for the first time, what it would feel like to be touched by Eric.  Would he be a gentle lover or would he be rough and demanding?  Either way, she knew he’d be a good one.  The sound of the public address system interrupted her reverie; and she realised Sherry was calling her.  Eric must be here.  Her pulse accelerated and her heart beat just a little faster.  She wiped her hands nervously down her jeans as she made her way to the office to collect Eric.  Georgina opened the office door and there he was.  He turned from the reception desk where he’d been chatting to Sherry and smiled at her.  “Wow, he sure does pack a punch with that mega-watt smile,” Georgina thought to herself.  “Hi there” she greeted with a smile.  “Come on, I’ll take you out to see her.” Eric turned to Sherry and gave her one of his killer smiles.  “I’ll be in to fill the paperwork out as soon as I’ve visited our girl,” he told her.  Sherry smiled back and asked, “What will you call her?  I can get the detail filled in while you visit.  And you can make an appointment with Georgie while you’re here; for your home visit.”  “That would be great, thanks.  I’ve given it some thought and I’ve decided to call her Autumn.  With all those warm colours in her coat she reminds me of autumn” Eric replied before following Georgina out to the kennels, watching the sway of her hips and wondered why he found it so erotic.  He couldn’t stop thinking about her.  It had cheered him immensely to know that she would have to come over to the house to do a home inspection.  He couldn’t wait to have her back in his home.
After spending a couple of hours getting Autumn acclimatised to Eric; Georgina was happy with the progress they made.  Despite her being scared of men, Eric managed to forge a bond with Autumn fairly easily and Georgina had no doubt they made a good match.  Having been to his house once before, she was certain, from the brief glance she’d gotten, that it would be quite suitable for Autumn.  But still, it was an opportunity to see Eric again.  And she was really looking forward to it.  “Georgina, I would like to have dinner with you,” Eric began; breaking into her thoughts.  “Tonight, if you’re free.”  Mentally shaking herself out of her thoughts, Georgina wondered if she’d thought out loud.  Giving voice to her thoughts would be embarrassing but judging by Eric’s expression, she didn’t think so.  So clearly, it came from him.  “Well, my shift only ends at seven thirty; and I’d still have to go home after.  But if you don’t mind making it a late dinner that would be lovely, thank you.”  “No problem, I’ll pick you up at, say, eight thirty then.”  “Perfect, thanks.”  They walked back to the office so Eric could sign off on the paperwork, giving Georgina a chance to write her address down for him.  Sherry handed him his copies of all the documents and smiled at him, “Congratulations.  I’m sure you’ll both be very happy together.”  As he turned to leave, Georgina gave him her address.  “I’ll see you later then,” she smiled. Eric smiled back at her and said his goodbyes to both ladies as he headed for the door.
By seven thirty Georgina was finished doing her last round to make sure all the animals were settled for the night.  Saying goodnight to Nancy, the nightshift receptionist, she excitedly made her way to her car.  She only had an hour before Eric arrived to collect her and she wanted to look good for their date.  Mentally debating what to wear she hopped in the shower for a quick wash and shampoo.  Riffling through her wardrobe, she found the beautiful midnight blue dress she’d worn to her friend’s wedding a couple of months back.  It hugged her curvaceous body and she loved the way it made her look, and feel, wearing it.  Quickly blow drying her hair and doing her make-up she was ready to go with fifteen minutes to spare.  When she heard the door bell ring she made her way slowly to the front door, not wanting to seem overeager, although she was impatient to get the evening started.  Eric swallowed hard when Georgina opened the door.  She took his breath away.  But as good as she looked in her dress; he would give almost anything to see what she looked like out of it.  Smiling shyly, Georgina murmured, “I’ll just get my coat and we can be on our way.”  He nodded and a moment later they were on their way.  Eric scrambled to think of something to say but he couldn’t get past how breathtaking she was.

The Maître D led them to a secluded table in the back, where they would be undisturbed.  Once the waiter had been and their orders placed, they settled back and got to know one another; asking questions back and forth.  But both of them could feel the rising awareness of each other, the sexual tension that was building between them.  “So tell me, have you been in a committed relationship?” Eric asked Georgina.  “Once,” she replied, “but he turned out to be nothing like the man I thought he was; the man he pretended to be.  I wanted more from him, and our relationship, than he was willing to give.  How about you?” she asked.  Eric cleared his throat and looked a bit uncomfortable for a moment.  “I had a similar experience.  Let’s just say she had no interest in taking our relationship in the direction I wanted, needed, it to go.  At first she tried, but it simply wasn’t what she wanted.  So one day I get home from work and she’s gone.  She took only what belonged to her and left without a word or a trace; leaving everything I ever gave her behind.  I haven’t had a serious relationship since then.  I guess I’m still looking for the right girl.”  “And what exactly do you consider to be the ‘right girl’?”  “Hmm, I’m not sure this is first date material,” Eric grimaced; then laughed.  “Oh come on, you can’t just leave a girl hanging!” Georgina responded.  “Maybe this is a conversation we should have in a less public venue, if you really want to know.”  Georgina was intrigued, “Well then, shall we head back to my place and you can tell me over coffee?”  Eric called for the bill.

To read the rest of this short story follow the link:
Saving Autumn

Copyright © 2013 Angelé Wells

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