"Marie, really?"
His boss's harried voice carried through the phone, high and tinny. "I'm so so sorry Soul. This wasn't my intention, but I am already told my mother I'd be there, and Stein took off of work specifically-"
"No, I know." He scrubbed his face with his free hand. "This has got to be against your rules."
"Not exactly. Certainly, she's bending them, but breaking them..."
Soul sighed. "Fine. Fine, whatever. I'll be there at four."
Marie sighed audibly. "Thanks, Soul."
At 4:10pm, Soul climbed the large marble steps of Medusa Gorgon's brownstone, hands dug deep into his pockets and shoulders hunched against the autumn chill. He pressed a cold finger to the small glowing doorbell, and large booming barks echoed from behind the ornate door. After a long pause, the lock slid back and the door swung open to reveal a thin woman in a short black dress.
"Mr. Evans," she purred, her lips curling upwards into a smirk. "How are you this weekend?"
"Fine," Soul tried to reply, but two large paws hit him squarely in the stomach, and he struggled to remain upright. "Hi, Oni," he wheezed, rubbing the dog's thick neck.
"I'm so very sorry this is so last minute," Medusa said, not sounding sorry at all, "but something came up. I am so glad Marie allows for dogsitting as part of her business. It makes it so much easier to make plans." Soul shot her a sharp look, but her face was inscrutable.
"Yeah," he said sullenly. "Well, lemme grab his leash and I'll get out of your hair."
"What a good boy," she said coyly. Soul felt a chill drop down his spine. She didn't move out of the way as he walked by her to grab the thick lead hanging off a hook in the entrance way. "I've got food and treats at my place, so no worries about that..." He clipped the leash to Oni's collar, and the dog started tugging on his arm, clearly expecting a walk.
Medusa eyed him, hands on her hips. "I do hope you didn't have any plans yourself this weekend," she said, looking almost delighted at the prospect.
Soul gritted his teeth. "Nope," he said.
Maka picked up after the first ring.
"Hi! I'm almost done here at the office, then I'll run home and change and grab my-"
"Maka, wait."
"-bags and we can hit the road! Wait, what?"
Soul closed his eyes, but this was a bad idea because he was still en route to his apartment with Oni, who was dragging him along, panting and wheezing as he strained against his collar. "Maka, I am so so sorry, but we can't go to the cabin this weekend."
"What?"
"The client from hell, Medusa, called Marie this afternoon and demanded that someone watch her dog this weekend. Marie told her mother she'd help her move into a smaller apartment, and her boyfriend took the weekend off for her, and we just fired Kim two weeks ago, so we're short staffed... I'm so sorry Maka, but I have to watch him."
"Does the timeshare not allow pets?"
Soul winced. "Yeah, the owners of the cabin are really strict about that. When we were kids, they didn't even let my brother bring his rabbit one summer."
"So we won't get to see the leaves change? And go to that wine-tasting party? And the corn roast?"
"I'm so sorry Maka."
She was silent, and Soul felt icy fingers close around his heart. He felt the knot in his stomach grow; he had wanted to take this trip to his parents' timeshare as much as she did. He had been looking forward to getting out of the city, he had been excited to show Maka the cabin he'd enjoyed so much as a kid, and he had especially been looking forward to getting laid (her not-so-subtle hints at bringing lingerie had gotten him more riled up than he cared to admit). But most of all, he didn't want to disappoint Maka, a woman he'd fallen in love with in a disturbingly short amount of time. He still hadn't said this to her, but a romantic evening in a cozy cabin with a bottle of wine might have induced him to; now he'd be spending the weekend in his apartment, alone, trying to keep Oni off the couch.
"White or red?" she asked suddenly.
"What?"
"For dinner tonight. We'll just have a mini-vacation at your place. We can always go another weekend, even though it won't be peak leaf season and the weather will be colder and this is the only long weekend until Thanksgiving. But it's fine! We'll make the most of it."
"Are you sure? I am so sorry, really Maka-"
"Soul, I know. It's fine. I mean, okay, yes, I am definitely disappointed and I want to strangle that woman because you know she did this on purpose, but my mother always told me there's no use dwelling in the past, and I won't. Besides, we've been meaning to watch all those movies, and now we finally can."
"You're positive?"
"Yes, definitely. So white or red?"
Soul felt a grin spread across his face even as Oni got himself tangled in a bush. "Whatever you like."
Oni tried to climb the stairs to Soul's apartment as fast as he could, but as he was still attached to the leash, he tripped and slammed his face into the carpet. Soul winced, but the dog seemed to be made of steel, because he just stood up and tried to leap up the stairs again. Following the dog's lead, Soul took the stairs two at a time, reaching the sixth floor landing with a thud. Oni strained against the leash, eager to explore new territory, but Soul dragged him over to his door. He struggled to remove the right key while Oni paced back and forth, nose to the ground and tail wagging quickly.
"Okay buddy," Soul said as the lock clicked open, "I need you to behave yourself. Maka's coming over, and my landlord will kill me if you break anything in here." He opened the door and unclipped the lead.
Oni burst over the threshold, scrabbling across the hardwood floors like a russet blur. "Oni!" Soul shouted, but to no avail. The crazed dog scrambled against the floor, and Soul rushed forward and threw open the door to his closet. He frantically dug through the pile of hats and scarves that littered the floor. Finally he unearthed four little red booties, and he ran to intercept the excited animal.
They flopped to the floor, Soul struggling to get the boots on his feet and Oni struggling to keep running, but in the end, Soul won. Oni shook himself as Soul released him. He looked down to stare at his feet. Soul watched him blink confusedly at the boots for a full minute before the dog threw himself to the ground and began to wiggle across the floor, picking up where he had left off in his race around the tiny studio apartment, except this time shuffling on his side. Briefly, Soul debated the situation, but as Oni was no longer threatening to scratch his floors, he let him wiggle across the floor.
He walked to the fridge. There was nothing too special inside: some Chinese leftovers, a few beers, a large bowl of pasta he'd been slowly chipping away at, and a half empty carton of milk. He thought he might have a few instant meals hidden somewhere, but his appetite was suddenly and soundly put off as Oni vomited at his feet.
At 8pm precisely, a buzz rang out through Soul's apartment. He raced to the intercom. "Hello?"
"Let me up!" sang Maka's voice through the gravelly speaker. Soul pressed the button, and she hung up on her end. Soul turned around.
"We're having guests," he told the dog sternly. "We're done playing tug-o-war."
Oni merely panted at him, rope at his booted feet.
There was a knock on the door, and Soul opened the door to reveal his flushed girlfriend, slightly winded from the stairs.
"I got a bottle of rosé instead," she said, stepping into the studio. "I just couldn't make up my mind."
"Sounds good," grinned Soul.
"Hi baby!" Maka cried as Oni pounced, wiggling and whining his pleasure. "How are you? Yes baby hi! Hi there! Yes I am here! Yes we are gonna have a great weekend! Hi! Hi! What's with the boots?" she asked, turning to Soul.
"He was scratching up my floor," he grumbled.
"Were you scratching the floor? Were you doing that?"
Oni was grinning his sloppy puppy grin, and Soul couldn't help but smile; Maka's arrival usually provoked that kind of reaction in him too. She set her bags down so she could properly massage the dog's face, and his tail wagged in big happy circles.
After a very thorough hello that took about half an hour, Maka and Soul prepared a makeshift dinner (half of which went over Maka's shoulder and down Oni's throat) and took their plates and their wine glasses to his coffee table, settling themselves on the couch. Oni followed closely, ears pricked towards the plates.
They scrolled through Netflix and found a movie. It was somewhat difficult to watch the screen and eat their dinners at the same time, because Oni kept nosing into the plates, trying to steal bites while they were distracted. Maka gave in and put the mostly empty plates on the ground, and Oni set to work on them, determined to get every last molecule of food.
Soul leaned back and flung an arm across the couch. Maka snuggled into the crook of his shoulder, and they settled in. The movie seemed far less interesting now that they were alone in the apartment together. Soul found himself idly playing with her hair, twirling the strands around his fingers and watching it cascade down her neck. She put a hand on his knee and gave a small squeeze.
He turned to her. A small smile played at her lips, so enticing that he had to put his own over hers. She tilted her head to deepen the kiss, and Soul felt a thrill run through his stomach. Maka's tongue ran across his bottom lip and he parted his lips to allow her entrance. She tasted like the wine.
Soul felt something warm on the top of his thigh. He reached down to take her hand, but instead was met with something cold and wet. He jumped, breaking the kiss.
Oni had wormed his head between their legs, peering up at them mournfully. Soul pushed on his head, but the dog was 90 pounds of pure muscle, so it was futile. Maka giggled, and Soul leaned back over to nip at her smiling lips. She grinned wider, and they kissed again.
A padded paw smacked Soul in the face. He grunted, and saw that Oni had propped himself up, looking at them and using his front paws to get attention. Soul tried to nudge his chest away, but to no avail. Maka closed the gap between them, and they tried again.
No such luck. Oni seemed to have decided he was done waiting for an invitation, and climbed up between them, using his massive shoulders to push them apart. He turned around, tail lifted into Soul's face, then settled in with a sigh, having separated the two humans by about three feet. Maka giggled and played with his ears.
So much for sex.