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"Elsie guess what!" Beryl Patmore called, waving a magazine at them as Charles and Elsie stepped outside the office together, exchanging small talk.
"What is it?" Elsie asked, leaving Charles's side to see what was going on.
"If I win the group today I finish the year as top toy. Rosamund is five points behind me." Beryl explained, shoving the magazine under Elsie's nose so she could see the leader board
"That's fantastic Beryl, well done!" Elsie exclaimed patting her friend on the back "I suppose I had better wish you good luck for today then."
"So does your judge today know anything about toys? Or at very least pugs?" Beryl asked seriously
"He has chihuahuas so he is a toy person. But he might give it to Ivy, she is doing quite well with the long coat of hers." Elsie mused
"Even if he does, that'll put her in third place. I just need to beat Rosamund in the group placings today." Beryl told her frowning slightly "Mrs P, I've run out of bacon" Daisy called and Beryl swore loudly before hurrying back to her catering stand
"I swear, the introduction of that points system will be the death of the dog game" Charles grumbled as she joined him again, having overheard Beryl
"You're probably right." Elsie agreed "its just made everything so much more cut throat."
Just then Charles was tugged backwards by Bruno, who was trying desperately to cuddle up to a small child.
"Bruno, gently" Charles said "its only a baby."
"I'm four!" The child answered reproachfully causing Elsie to have to duck her head to hide her smile.
"Fine" Charles sighed "gently Buno its little."
"Does the doggy want a lollipop?" The child asked, producing one from its pocket and offering it to the bloodhound
"No, doggy most definitely doesn't want a lollipop." He answered with a look of horror, trying to hold the dog away from the sticky, fluff coated sweet.
"Its not good for him sweetheart" Elsie explained to her "it'll make him sick."
"Mommy says lollipops are bad for me too" the child said wisely "she says they'll make my teeth rot."
"Your mommy is right." Charles smiled. Much like his dog, he looked scary but when you got to know him he was a big old teddy bear.
"Where is your mommy?" Elsie asked, wincing as the girl rubbed her sticky fingers all over the dogs ears. Bruno on the other hand, was loving it and was now leaning heavily on the small girl
"She told me to wait here while she unpacks." The girl replied, now smothering the dog in kisses
"Charles, give me Bruno and I'll go and put him away for you while you wait here with her." Elsie suggested taking the lead from him
"Alright" he agreed "give it a go. I doubt he'll follow you though, he loves children."
"Bruno" Elsie called, tugging very lightly on the lead "let's go boy"
Bruno gazed soulfully at her before giving the child one last lick on the cheek and following Elsie through the crowd
"Amazing" Charles muttered, shaking his head as he watched his dog trail at her heels.
Elsie walked into his gazebo and shook her head, even at a show everything had its place and everything was incredibly neat unlike her own tent where she managed to shove her scissors into her cooler box instead of her grooming box. She grabbed a wetwipe from his box and wiped Bruno's ears down getting rid of the sticky residue. The dog groaned and leaned into her, his eyes closing in delight as Elsie massaged his ears
"Come on you dozy thing" Elsie laughed "let's put you back into your crate." Bruno gave her a heart broken expression until she bribed him with a piece of chicken which he settled down to savor
She made it back to the office in time to see Charles battle with the microphone and welcome everyone to the show. She ducked behind someone's tent and let his voice wash over her. One of her little guilty pleasures in life was to listen to him speak, without having to pay attention to what he was actually saying. God that voice! Tom Branson walked past her and smirked, he being one of the two people who knew she had feelings for Mr Carson. Elsie rolled her eyes at him.
"...going to be a scorcher of a day, so please keep all your dogs in the shade with water but we are expecting a storm this afternoon so please make sure all gazebo's are firmly pegged down." She heard him finish and she stepped out from her hiding spot. He caught her eye and mimed a over exaggerated sigh of relief. He hated doing speeches over the mic, preferring to boom at people individually.
"Okay, be honest" he said as he came up to her "how bad was it?"
"Bruno's ears? Not too bad actually." She answered, knowing full well what he meant but pretending to be ignorant
"Bruno's ears?" He repeated "what is wrong with Bruno's ears?"
"Nothing at all, they just got a bit sticky with lollipop residue." She smirked as he relaxed slightly
"Very funny Ms Hughes." He replied rolling his eyes while she chuckled.
"Listen, I better go and sort my dogs out." She told him "I'll come and watch you in the ring"
"You don't have to do that." He blushed slightly as she walked away.
"Of course I do." She called over her shoulder "and your speech was great. Couldn't have done it better myself."
"Of course you could" he murmured to himself as he watched her vanish round a corner.
He remembered the shy girl that had shown a Scottish Terrier all those years ago. She had never shown a dog before in her life but she went at it with gusto and had nearly made him laugh out loud when he asked her to do a T. How far she had come since then, having been top dog for two years running a few years back and had even exported some of her breeding to some of the top kennels overseas. He kept an eye on her as she grew into one of the top handlers and eventually they had become firm friends, running this club together and supporting each other in the ring. They had even become friends outside of the dog world, discovering that they liked a lot of the same things such as classical music and butterscotch biscuits. He couldn't pinpoint exactly when he had fallen in love with her. All he knew was that he had.
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