DOG SITTING FOR THE WEEKEND

Enobaria walked into the kitchen to see a small shiba inu. It was about four and a half inches tall, weighed about twenty-three pounds, and was medium sized. The dog had a double coat of light orange hair and short hair that went down to the paws. The tail was slightly longer than the hair and curled up at the end. The dog's face seemed to have a foxlike figure.

"Brutus?" she called. He came seconds later into the kitchen where Enobaria was calling for him. "Why is there a dog in our kitchen?"

He walked over to the dog and picked him up. "This is Paul."

"That's great, but why is he here?" she asked. Obviously, she was not happy with the accommodations.

"I'm dog sitting for Nero," he explained. Nero is a previous victor from District 2 – about seventeen years ago he won. Brutus petted the dog and was congratulated by slimy kisses. She gave them both a look of disgust. She never liked animals; more like she never had a pet so she just assumed she wasn't an animal person. "Oh, come on. He's adorable."

She scrunched her nose. "If you say so. How long are you dog sitting him for?"

"Don't worry. By the end of the weekend, he'll be gone," he assured her. Brutus put down the dog and he walked over to Enobaria, tripping over his paws once while doing so. The medium sized dog stood on his two paws while his other two were resting on Enobaria's thigh.

She rolled her eyes. "This is going to be a long weekend."

"It won't be that bad," he said. "He already likes you."

XXX

The next morning, Enobaria woke up to find herself laying on the couch. Then she remembered that the dog took up almost half the space on the bed, so at three a.m. she went downstairs to sleep on the sofa. Brutus walked into the living room looking fully rested while on the other hand, Enobaria looked like she was lacking a lot of sleep. Enobaria smiled at Brutus, then glared when the dog sat up on the sofa next to her.

"Sleep well?" teased Brutus. He knew she didn't sleep well last night; he just wanted to mess with her.

"Like I've never slept before," she answered sarcastically. "What are you doing today?"

Brutus put a leash around the dog's collar. "I have to walk him."

"Have fun with that," she said to him. "I'm going to sleep." She put the cushion on top of her face so the sun's rays didn't bother her while she napped.

"Oh no you're not," said Brutus as he took the cushion from her face. "You're coming with us."

Enobaria grabbed the cushion back. "In your dreams. In my case; nightmares."

"Please," he begged. "I'll reward you later…"

"What kind of reward?" she asked; curious about what Brutus might get her if she went and walked the dog with them.

"Whatever you want," he said.

She gave him a mischievous look. "Let me get changed." She walked upstairs to their bedroom and came down five minutes later ready to walk the dog.

Brutus walked the dog deep into the mountains. She asked him if he knew how to get back, and he told her to just relax. She was too tired to fight with him now.

"What's that over there?" he asked her, pretending he saw something flash by.

"Don't know, don't care," she told him in a bored tone. "Can we get back now? We've been walking the dog for almost an hour."

"Fine," he told her. "But first, I'm going to see what that thing was." He handed her the dog's leash and jogged over to the weird thing he insisted on seeing.

Five minutes later, Enobaria called for him. No reply. She walked over to the spot where Brutus was and found no trace of him. Of course he would do something like this to me, she thought. It was just her and the dog. Worst part is, she doesn't even know the way back.

"Come on," she said to the dog. "The sooner we start walking, the sooner we get home."

They walked for fifteen minutes until she was positive that they were lost. She sat down on a boulder and the dog sat next to her. Out of boredom, she petted the dog's short hair. It was incredibly soft. The dog seemed to like it, so he gave her some kisses on her face. She was surprised she didn't pull away from his slimy tongue. She actually liked the dog giving her kisses. A few minutes later, she took off the dog's leash and they played catch with a tree branch she found. She was actually happy. The dog made her more joyful and energetic.

After they got tired of playing catch, they decided it was getting pretty late and that they should head back home. Enobaria didn't put the dog leash on Paul because he seemed to follow her around everywhere she went. The dog led the way. When she caught sight of the victor's village, they both raced to the front door, both out of breathe.

Brutus was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper when he saw Enobaria enter through the front door, followed by Paul. She went into the kitchen and put water on the dog's water bowl. He drank out of it while squat next to him and petted him.

Enobaria walked over to Brutus and dropped the leash on his lap. "Maybe we should get you a leash." She collapsed next to him on the couch before Brutus put his arm around her shoulder, the other holding the newspaper.

"Was it fun?" he teased, expecting her to rant on about what a terrible time she had with the dog. He was surprised when she said she enjoyed it. Then, Paul jumped onto the couch and settled himself in between him and Enobaria. Enobaria giggled and set him on her lap, snuggling, kissing, playing, and practically doing everything with him. Brutus groaned.

"Don't be jealous of him," teased Enobaria. "After all, you were the one who decided to dog sit him for the weekend."

That night, Brutus didn't have a cuddle buddy because he was being replaced by Paul, who slept in the middle of the bed, although a little closer to Enobaria. Brutus decided not to go downstairs and sleep on the sofa like Enobaria and put up with it.

XXX

Enobaria was sad when Nero came to pick up Paul in the morning. She didn't think she'd get so attached to a dog. Paul whimpered when he was taken away, but happy to be back with Nero. Not even Enobaria could replace Nero, but Paul loved her. She laid on the couch, looking out the glass window.

Brutus picked up her legs, sat down, and set her legs down to rest on his. He handed her a big box. "Your reward."

She took the box from his hands and untied the ribbon. All of a sudden, a small cardigan welsh corgi popped out and attacked Enobaria with kisses. "Brutus! How did you –?"

"I knew you were going to miss Paul," he stated.

She smiled and played with the new dog. "What's his name?"

"Ace," he replied. "Do you like him?"

"I love him," she said. "But not as much as I love you." She kissed him on the lips. And in that moment, they were in complete bliss with each other.