Here's my entry into the Callen's Corner Challenge #2. I didn't like Tracy and thought she was very manipulative. I haven't read any other entries yet. I didn't want to be influenced by any of the awesome stories.
Callen needed to get out of the house; this new assignment was taking its toll on him. He generally didn't mix business and personal, but Tracy was different. He hasn't figured her out…yet. He wants to trust her, but he can't, not completely.
Anyway, he needed time to himself, to clear his head and gain perspective. So he did what he always does to clear his head, he runs. One of the only good things about this assignment is that it is near the beach. Everyone has that one spot that they can retreat to; that makes them feel safe. The beach was Callen's refuge, the one place that calmed and grounded him. He isn't sure why he has this connection with the beach and the ocean, but he is glad that he does.
The cover house was about a ½ mile from the beach. He walks to the beach to warm-up before beginning his run. Callen is about 2 blocks from the beach when the he feels like someone is watching him. He feels like he is being followed. He stops at a sunglass vendor at the entrance to the beach. He tries on a couple of pairs and looks at himself in the mirror to try and see who is following him. He doesn't see anything out of the ordinary.
He shakes his head and continues to the beach. He starts to run, but he is apprehensive and hypersensitive to his surroundings. This continued for the next 15 minutes. Callen is becoming frustrated, this run is supposed to clear his head, but it isn't working; he just can't shake this feeling. He finally stops and takes a good look around, but he still doesn't see anything or anyone out of place.
He walks a little further down the beach and stops to look at the ocean and the waves. He feels something brush up against him and something wet and rough against his leg. He looks down and sees a dog staring up at him. Callen looks around to see if the dog's owner was coming to claim him. Nobody was calling the dog or walking towards them. He squats down to pet the dog and realized that the dog doesn't have a collar and that it is pretty mangy.
As he is petting the dog, he is looking him over. The dog is a mutt, but you could tell that it had some lab and shepherd in him. He is tan in color and very friendly. "Are you the one that has been following me around? Well, I guess it's better you than one of the bad guys. Ok buddy, I'm off – back to my run."
Callen starts to run again, this time the dog is right by his side keeping time with him. Callen looks down and stops again. "Hey buddy, you should go find your family. They are probably worried about you. Go on, buddy, go on." Callen tries to shoo the dog, but he just stands there wagging his tail.
Callen sighs, "Alright, if you want to run with me come on. Let's go. But I'm not changing my distance because you are here." With that, he starts running again, with the dog right by his side. Callen ran three miles down the beach before he turns around to head back. Once Callen started running with the dog, he began to relax. He still was aware of his surroundings, but he wasn't as tense as he was before. The run was starting to do its job, his head was clearing and he was gaining perspective again.
Callen makes it back to his starting point. He worked up quite a sweat. He still didn't want to head back the cover house. So he sat down on the beach. The dog sat down next to him. Callen unconsciously started to pet the dog. A few minutes later the dog got up and ran down the beach a little ways away and returned. He nudges Callen's arm and when the dog had Callen's attention, he drops a stick by Callen's leg.
Callen chuckles, "Hey Buddy, I can't believe you still have energy. You want to play now?" In response to the question, the dog barks and wags his tail. Callen picks up the stick and threw it into the water, not too far. The dog runs into the water and retrieves the stick and brings it back to Callen. This game goes on for a while.
Finally, Callen realizes the time and he has to head back to the cover house. He stands up and starts back to the house. His shadow by his side. Callen stops again. "You can't come home with me. Don't you have a home?" The dog just wags his tail. Callen sighs, "You really don't have a home do you? Alright, you can come home with me. Let's go."
The two walk back to the cover house. Once they get there, rather than head inside, Callen opens the car, "If you are living with us, we need some supplies. Come on, let's go." The dog jumps in the car.
Callen stops at a vet's office to make sure the dog is ok. After the dog gets a clean bill of health, the two of them head to a chain pet store to get some supplies. On the way back to the safe house Callen talks to the dog. "I guess you need a name. Let's think about this one." The dog leans over the seat and licks his face. "Ok buddy, enough. Hey, that sounds right. That's your name – Buddy."
He is quite for a few minutes. "Ok Buddy, when we get back to the house, there is going to be another person there. It is very likely that she is not going like you being there. But it's ok, because I will be there. But word to the wise, I suggest that if you happen to be alone with her, just stay out of her way."
They soon arrive, Callen carries all of Buddy's supplies into the house while Buddy stays in the car. Callen gets Buddy out of the car and instead of going into the house, they go around to the back of the house. "Sorry Buddy, you cannot go into the house in your current state. You smell pretty bad." Buddy sits patiently while Callen gives him a bath. When he is cleaned and dried, they go into the house. Tracy is not yet home.
A couple of hours later, Tracy comes in. It takes a few minutes before she realizes that there is dog in the house. She points, "What is that thing doing in the house?"
Callen looks over at her, "If you are referring to the dog. That's Buddy. He found me on the beach today. He doesn't have a home, so I took him in. He's ok – he was checked out by a vet this afternoon. He is really friendly. He won't be any bother."
Tracy rants for the next hour. She tries to threaten, cajole, and seduce Callen into getting rid of the dog. Nothing works. Once Tracy started yelling, Buddy ran under the coffee table to hide, which puts him closer to Callen, who is sitting on the couch.
Half way through the rant, Buddy looks at Callen from the safety of the coffee table. He has this look on his face, 'She's crazy." Callen chuckles quietly, "I agree."
Tracy finally stops when she realizes that Callen is not responding, nor is he giving in. Once it is quiet, Callen gets up, "Come Buddy it's dinner time." Callen walks towards the kitchen, Buddy carefully gets out from under the table, and takes the long way to the kitchen to avoid getting close to Tracy.
Callen feeds Buddy, "Tracy, I'm ordering dinner do you want anything in particular." Tracy huffs, turns, goes up the stairs, slams the door. "I'll take that as a 'no'." He looks over to Buddy, "I guess we are both in the dog house tonight."
For the remainder of the operation, wherever Callen was, Buddy was by his side.
Hope you enjoyed. Please review - I really enjoy them.