Chapter 3- Love at First Sight
As Camille had predicted, it turned out to be a rather ordinary day. Once the hubbub of Elvis's discovery had died down, nothing really exciting happened any more. There were a few phone calls, the usual patrols, a lot of file work and some organisational matters that needed to be taken care of - altogether it was almost a little dull.
That gave her plenty of time to observe the budding friendship between Richard and Elvis. It was obviously a case of 'love at first sight' - for both parties! - so the next two weeks would definitely be very interesting. When Richard got up to do something, Elvis initially stirred to check if he was going away - after a couple of times, though, he had obviously understood that this wouldn't happen - his master wouldn't leave him alone.
Richard treated Elvis pretty much as if he wasn't there, but Camille knew him well enough to see that he made an effort not to disturb the little dog by making unexpected, hasty movements. He clearly was considerate of him. Once or twice she saw him looking at the little creature, his lips were twitching, as if he was suppressing an emotion or a memory, and she wondered what he might be thinking of...
As she was watching her boss from under her lashes, he was reaching into his jacket's pocket... there was a rustling noise – plastic wrapping foil, she assumed - ... and then Elvis was sitting up, pricking his ears and scampering closer towards Richard... who furtively passed him a treat.
With a tiny smile, she returned her gaze to the computer screen. She quite enjoyed this scenario. She had been besotted herself with Elvis from the first minute, and she could understand why Richard liked him, too. He was a clever little dog, and although there wasn't anything blatantly special or remarkable about him, he was friendly and sociable without being annoying. He just had that special something…
After Richard had made him stop yelping, he had been quiet, except for the occasional puffing and snoring, and he hadn't been as hyperactive as she had feared him to be. He had kept them all on the hop on the day before, and she had been worried he might be one of those hysterical, jumpy dogs that made a fuss of literally everything. She had known that Richard wouldn't tolerate that, so she had been a little apprehensive when Dwayne's dilemma had become obvious and she had allowed him - as the senior officer in charge - to bring Elvis to the station. She had obviously hoped that Richard wouldn't mind too much – or that he could at least be convinced that it was an emergency – but she definitely hadn't expected him to fall for Elvis like that…
In all honesty, Richard was smitten with Elvis. He couldn't quite explain his feelings - this was by far the most unprepossessing little dog he had ever seen - at least at first glance. He was small and plump, his proportions were slightly ungainly, he didn't seem to have anything to recommend himself, and the initial encounter had been tarnished by the incident with the puddle on the floor...
Yet, he had lots of character, and he was a very friendly little pooch. Initially, Richard had only found him somewhat amusing, but when Elvis had followed him outside, sat down and nuzzled his hand as he was petting him, he had really been touched, and the expression of absolute trust in his eyes when he had looked at him had won him over. He had been reminded of his childhood, about the many happy hours he had spent at his grandparents's home, idling about with his canine friend... he had told him about his life at school, shared his secrets and wishes with him, played with him... and when he had been sad for whatever reason, the dog's presence had comforted him. When he got hit by a car when Richard was eleven, he had been devastated… in hindsight that had been when his childhood had ended and he had become a lonely grown-up in a child's body.
It was funny how Elvis seemed to have taken to him instantly. It had been a long time since Richard had felt a connection like this with another creature. As he had grown up, he hadn't been exposed to animals any more - his parents never had had any pets, and although he had toyed with the idea of getting a dog every once in a while, he had always shied away from the responsibility. When he had settled down in the London area, he had consciously decided against having a dog. One thing was that London wasn't ideal for keeping a dog in his opinion, and another aspect had been the time span that he had to spend away from home due to his work. His commute hadn't been dramatically long, but he had often worked late, there had been weekend shifts, and overall, it had just seemed unfair to have a pet under those circumstances.
And of course, it wasn't very hygienic to have pets... Although he had never had any issues as a child when it had come to that aspect of pets, it had started to bother him a little as he had got older.
So, with time, Richard had forgotten about the idea.
Until now.
He didn't account to himself for his longing to make friends with Elvis - he just liked having the little chap around.
At around five, Fidel asked tentatively "Sir, is it okay if I clock off for today? Juliet and I are invited to see friends tonight, and I have promised to be home in time so we can hand over to Juliet's parents without further ado – they will come to look after Rosie. I'll have to take the bus, so if I don't go now..."
Richard looked up from the documents he was reading and said absent-mindedly "Sure, sure... just zoom off... all of you, if you want to... see you tomorrow, and have fun tonight..."
Fidel packed up and made ready to leave. Dwayne obviously wanted to tag along, but Fidel looked over his shoulder and reminded him "You can't just dash off, Dwayne - you've got the pooch to take care of..."
With that, he was gone - waving them goodbye and running in direction of the bus stop at the other end of the market square.
His colleague pulled a face and said "Oh, I almost forgot..." Scratching his head, he added "To be honest, I have no idea what to do with him. I'm supposed to be at the gym tonight, and I wanted to have a drink with a friend later on... I can't possibly take him along to either place..."
Richard felt anger rising up. That was just so typical... He opened his mouth, not entirely sure what he wanted to say, but he knew he would have to defend the dog.
Before he could come up with anything, though, Camille - who was bending down to pet Elvis - looked up and chimed in "Mind, Dwayne, isn't that a little negligent of you? It's not Elvis's fault that Prissy left him with you, and you promised to look after him..."
Dwayne shrugged a little helplessly and said "Yeah, I know, but I can't change my life for him, can I! I mean, I can deal with cats... they come and go as they want, and they'll let you know when they want to cuddle... other than that, they will just leave you in peace. I've never had a dog, though - and I can see now that this was a good decision! Elvis is nice enough and all, but I can't possibly stay home all the time just because he works himself into a frenzy when he's alone..."
Camille glowered at him and there was reproachful disapproval in her voice when she said "Oh, Dwayne, you should have mentioned this to Prissy when she asked you to take him in. I'm sure she could have found someone else then... I would take him myself, but I can't - you know that there are regulations when it comes to pets when you have a gastronomical service, and Maman couldn't allow me to keep him. It's one thing if guests bring their dogs - that's no problem, particularly when you have an outdoor venue, but keeping a pet is a whole different thing..."
She bent down again and stroked Elvis who gave a faint grunt and wagged his tail, oblivious to the drama going on around him. He obviously loved the attention he got from Camille – and Richard caught himself thinking that he quite understood that… it surely was special to 'be noticed' by Camille…
Just as he was pushing this thought to the side, she looked up to him and smiled. "He's cute, isn't he?" she remarked, and Richard raised his eyebrows and replied in a huff "Whatever that means. I guess he's okay, yes…" He watched Elvis turning over and offering Camille his belly – successfully so, much to his pleasure. Camille gave him a good belly rub, and Elvis made appreciative noises that were somewhere between a wheeze and a grunt.
"He's quite fond of you…"
Richard's voice sounded a little strained, and Camille looked up to him, curious now. But he wore his usual poker face. She gave Elvis a final pat and got up, straightening her skirt and saying "Yes, he is… good boy! But he loves you more, sir… there's no doubt about it."
Richard gave her a slightly scornful glance, then he bent down to pet Elvis – who obviously felt that he had somehow made it to paradise… all these people making a fuss about him!
Oblivious to his surroundings, he ruffled the dog's fur – he didn't notice Camille making a jerky movement with her head towards Dwayne, signalling with the urgent look in her eyes that it was up to him to make a move now.
Dwayne hesitated for a moment, then he cleared his throat and said "Chief…"
Richard didn't stop stroking and tickling Elvis, but he looked up. "Yes?"
His voice was gruff.
Dwayne knew there was no turning back now. So he pulled himself together and continued "Mind you, sir, could you… I mean, it's obvious that Elvis is totally dotty about you, and… and I get the impression that you don't find him all that appalling, so… could you… I mean… would you perhaps be so kind and look after Elvis for me? I mean, I'm not so great with that sort of thing, and he'd… he'd surely fare a lot better with you than with me…"
Richard's eyes narrowed, and he raised his right eyebrow at Dwayne. He knew exactly that this made the older officer terribly nervous, although he never would have admitted it.
"You mean, you're asking me to take him home with me?"
Dwayne nodded and added, mild despair in his voice "You know, Chief, it would be much better for Elvis. And you'd have some company in that shack of yours – I imagine it can get a little lonely at your beach sometimes…"
Silence.
Camille stood by Richard's desk, not saying a word. She had decided she'd only intervene if things went horribly wrong, but she wanted to make sure that Dwayne didn't have it too easy. She liked her colleague, but she felt that he had acted irresponsibly here, and he needed to suffer for his sins – at least a little bit.
Dwayne tried again and said "I'd pay for the food – I mean, Prissy left me some money, for the necessities, as she said… I would hand that over to you, together with his blanket and the toys… they're in the cells, so you can take them with you tonight already. It's not all that many, just a ball and a little squeaky rubber bone, that sort of thing… and then he could stay with you when he's not… when he's not here, I mean."
Richard's gaze was stony for a moment, and Dwayne thought he had blown it, but then his boss nodded curtly and said "Okay, we can try that. Get those toys out of the cells so we can wrap things up here and bring Elvis… to my house." He had almost said "home", but changed his mind in the last minute. The shack where he lived wasn't Elvis's home – it would be his interim asylum… He would have to keep that in mind.
Dwayne scurried off, and Camille let out a sigh of relief – she hadn't noticed, but she had held her breath.
"What?" asked Richard and raised his eyebrows. "Did you think I'd let him suffer a fate worse than death?"
Camille was about to answer his question with a question, but didn't want to do so with Dwayne being within earshot, so she just mouthed 'later!' and turned to her colleague to take the toys off his hands. She bunged them into her bag, than she put out her hand and demanded "Fork over the money!"
Richard was stifling a chuckle as he saw Dwayne's expression change from grateful to annoyed. The older officer had obviously thought he'd get away like that, but Camille had no mercy. Reluctantly, he took out his wallet and handed Camille a number of banknotes, giving her a reproachful look – but he was clever enough not to object.
Camille said sweetly "Thank you so much, Dwayne. You'll close down the station, okay? And we will take Elvis and his belongings to the Rover now – I'll drive the Chief and his new house guest to their residence."
Turning to the surprised Richard – who had been fully prepared to walk home - she explained "I think it's easier this way for you. You may have to bring back the blanket and one of the toys tomorrow, but maybe we can find a different way of handling it later on." Richard nodded – he had a couple of threadbare towels and a fleece blanket that he could spare for Elvis, but for the first night in a new surrounding, the dog would perhaps feel more comfortable with his old blankie.
"Get up, Elvis," he demanded, and the little dog jumped to his feet, wagging his tail and awaiting his next adventure. Dwayne grabbed the blanket, and Elvis began to protest, but Richard silenced him with a severe "Hush – quiet now. Sit!" Much to Dwayne's frustration, Elvis stopped yelping, sat down and looked expectantly at Richard.
It was really disgusting how servile this little dog was, Dwayne thought… But then again, it would save everyone a lot of trouble, and he really was glad to be rid of the responsibility. Strange, though, that he felt a little shoddy now… ah, that was all because of Camille's snooty behaviour and the Chief's smugness… they had really made him grovel!
Camille sailed out of the office, and slightly annoyed, Dwayne followed her, carrying the blanket and the toys. Richard grabbed his briefcase, called out "come on" – and left the premises, closely followed by Elvis.
