I don't own Home Alone
Enjoy!
As Friday finally rolled around, Marv was glad that it was almost the end of the week. Thank God that Tom was decent enough to keep the diner closed for the weekends. It has been a rather interesting week. Besides working and going home, he had been keeping himself busy with Amy and her little 'Twelve Days of Christmas' advent. Besides from yesterday, he was glad that she allowed some flexibility than what she traditionally did.
Marv found it very strange that she was afraid of being on ice. Anyone could fall on ice! Who cares? Unless she was afraid to break a bone, but after all those traps that he had been through, he was surprised he hadn't broken anything!
The thought of what has happened those years ago became haunting. Now that the kid had grown up, imagine the kind of funhouse he would do if Marv tried to rob his house again. No, Marv wanted to keep his whole body intact. However, the urge to steal and get away with it had been tempting. Swiping a couple of tips, here and there, that the customers left had been fulfilling at first until he had seen the disgruntled looks on the waitresses' faces.
He had heard Anne muttering to herself, which reminded him of Harry, as she cleaned up after them. If it had been any other waitress, then he would have found a way to return it back to them. With Anne it was a different story.
As the last of the customers finished their meal and left for the night, Amy was quick to run towards the table and clean up. She hurried over to the kitchen and placed the dishes in the sink.
"You're in a hurry," Marv pointed out as he saw her speeding from one direction to the next.
"I want to get down to the local shelter," Amy said, "every year in December they do a Meet and Treat with rescued dogs, and you can even adopt one!"
A Meet and Treat Marv thought. Other than sounding like a cute event, it wouldn't hurt to go down and enjoy some time with a furry new friend.
"And it's going to close soon, and I was hoping we could go after work?" Amy asked as she looked at him.
Marv felt tired but the thought of spending some time with animals could make up for it. How could he say 'no' to that? "We'll finish quickly if you help me."
"Say no more," Amy smiled as she pulled up her sleeves and placed them into the soapy sink.
Each day it kept getting colder and colder and Amy made a mental note to buy some winter gear for herself and Marv. The old gloves that she wore had a hole in them and she didn't think that fingerless gloves would keep Marv warm either. However, it was nice to go to the shelter on a bus than having to walk there. She turned her head and looked over at Marv who was about to fall asleep.
"You alright there?" she asked him.
"Hmm?" Marv said before realizing that he had spaced out. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired, I guess. With today's service, I thought it was never going to end!"
"Tom likes to put out diner specials every now and then," Amy said, "apparently, they're good for business. Hey, did you see anyone taking tips the past couple of days?"
Marv blanched upon that question. Oh no! he thought, feeling both his arms and legs go numb. "N-No," he said, "why?" Better to play it off than show suspicion.
"Apparently, Anne thinks that someone has been taking her tips…or rather not being tipped at all. Everything is fine with me and Natalie. It's been happening for the past three days, and we can't make sense of who would do it, or why even. I mean, all the customers are happy."
"Or maybe they forgot?" Marv suggested.
"It's optional but they shouldn't forget," Amy said, "it shows appreciation for our work."
Why were his hands suddenly sweaty? He couldn't believe it, but he felt something in him that he didn't think he had ever felt before. A feeling of…guilt.
"Anyway," Amy voice broke him from his thoughts, "if you do see anything like that, please let anyone of us know. It's just unfair. We don't make as much as we like, and those tips help us along the way."
"Y-Yeah," Marv involuntarily nodded his head when she said that, "I'll keep an eye out." My God, what I'm gonna do? The thought that anyone could have seen him taking that money, and the thought that he could lose this job after Amy has helped him, he would be letting himself down.
Marv never had any high expectations for himself, especially when he had met Harry, but now that things were slowly beginning to turn around for the better, that obsession with stealing was hard to get rid of. Either he could let this slide and hope that Amy would get over the $15.46 tip, or he could find a way to pay her back with it.
The bus lurched to a stop as Amy looked out the window. "We're here!" she announced and got up on her feet. "Come on Marv."
It took a minute for Marv to move from his seat, before finally finding the urge to do it. He followed Amy out the bus and into the shelter, where he saw her talking with the receptionist.
"We are here for the Meet and Treat," Amy said.
"Are you here to adopt?" the receptionist asked.
"No," Amy said, "just to spend some time with the dogs."
The receptionist looked at a notebook on the desk and made a note. "I'll put you in room four. Someone will be in shortly with one of the dogs."
Amy turned around and looked at Marv. "Come on," she motioned for him. As they made their way inside the room, they took a seat on the bench and waited. "It's kind of exciting, waiting to play with a dog. Hopefully you're not afraid of them."
"No," Marv chuckled, "I remember having a dog back home. Played with him every chance I could get."
"Speaking of," Amy said, "I've known your present self but not your past self. You're gonna have to tell me who you were one day."
"I wasn't a bandit, I can tell you that."
"Oh, stop it," Amy chuckled as she gave him a gentle bump with her elbow. She stood by what she said. He needed to stop thinking about what he had done and move forward. It was just a step-by-step progress where they both needed to be patient with it.
After ten minutes had passed, the door to the room opened and in walked an animal attendant carrying a black Labrador puppy in her arms. "Hi guys," the animal attendant smiled as she bought the puppy over to them, "this is Oliver." She placed the four-legged canine gently on the floor and looked at Amy and Marv. "He's seven weeks old. Quite shy but loves attention when he gets to know you. I have a bag with some treats to feed him. Any questions before you guys get acquainted?"
Marv didn't hear her question for his eyes were stuck on the puppy. He couldn't believe how something small could be so cute! The dog from his childhood certainly didn't look like this little guy but it bought him a memory where he used to be very happy playing with that dog.
"No questions," Amy said, anticipating for the moment where she would get to meet the dog.
"Alright," the animal attendant smiled, "you will have twenty minutes with the puppy. Have fun."
Once the door closed behind her, the puppy turned his head and looked behind him. Amy slowly got up from her seat and knelt before the puppy. "So," she spoke in a gentle tone as she looked down at him, "you must be Oliver, isn't that right? Quite the handsome name for a handsome puppy."
Marv leaned forward and watched the interaction between them. He was quite the shy dog. As Amy bought her hand towards him, he noticed that Oliver cowered and slowly backed away from her. From what he remembered with his dog, the first time they had bought him he had been so shy and wouldn't interact with any members of the family. It wasn't until Marv found a way to get acquainted with him that they became inseparable…until that fateful day.
"Here," Marv said as she got up from the bench and joined Amy, "you gotta hold your hand out first and let him come to you." Marv demonstrated by holding out his hand towards Oliver, who only glanced down at Marv's hand, not knowing what to make of it. "Come on little buddy, come here."
Amy reached inside the bag and pulled out a small treat. "Maybe he'll come for the treat. Come on, baby, come on."
After long minutes of coaxing the puppy, Marv was about to give up when he noticed the puppy walking towards him! The moment Oliver got in proximity of his hands, he gently sniffed Marv's fingertips and then walked into them. As if on instinct, Marv gently picked up the puppy and held him close.
"Awh," Amy cooed as she looked at the interaction before her, "looks like you've found yourself a new friend."
Marv didn't think that it would even work with such a shy puppy. He held Oliver at eye level, and it wasn't long before Oliver gave him a tiny lick on the nose. Well, he hadn't expected that, and it was quite adorable.
"And he gave you a little kiss," Amy chuckled as she gently placed her hand on the puppy and gently patted him. "I wish I had my camera for this."
"I don't think he'll like getting pictures. This lil' guy is camera shy," Marv said. He loved having this animal close to him that he didn't want to let him go.
"Are you hungry?" Amy asked as she reached inside the treat bag and pulled out a kibble for Oliver.
"Not really," Marv answered her.
"Not you Marv, the dog!" Amy giggled as she held the kibble towards Oliver, who sniffed it gently and then devoured it from her hand. She looked at him after he finished his food and then frowned. "It looks like he's been through something. His eyes look very sad."
"He's a puppy, they're all like that," Marv said before deciding to place the dog in front of them. Amy was right. He did look a bit sad but being in a shelter and waiting to be adopted by a good family was like waiting for a better life to come…and sometimes it was difficult.
After a couple of minutes passed, the animal attendant arrived at the room to collect Oliver. "Did you guys have fun?" she asked them.
"Oh yeah," Marv said as he got up from the ground and helped Amy, "where did you guys get the pup anyway?"
"He was found on the street," the animal attendant explained, "he was found wandering around a garbage can. No name tag, no contact information. So, we took him in, hoping that someone would adopt him."
"How long do you keep 'em?" Marv asked.
"We found him yesterday, so six more days," the animal attendant explained, "like I said, hopefully someone adopts him. Thanks for visiting. Hope to see you two again." With that, she walked out with the dog and back to performing her duties.
As Marv and Amy walked out of the building and into the cold air, the two waited at the bus stop. Marv hoped it would take too long for the bus to come and he couldn't wait to get home.
"I miss that dog already," Amy spoke up.
"Me too," Marv replied.
Hopefully, they would have another opportunity to come back and see him again…and a part of Marv hoped that Oliver wouldn't be adopted until then.