Yaay! Chapter four is up and on its way to your computer/laptop screens now! Oh thank you all for your marvellous reviews for the last chapter. I'm glad you enjoyed it and please do enjoy this chapter =D We're back with Chadwick in this chapter, so do enjoy. Thanks for the reviews, faves, watchers amd those who are just reading. Thank you!
Enjoy!
It was a warm Spring day in the city of Melbourne as people bustled around the city to get to work, getting on public transportation to get to their destinations, grab a cup of coffee and a bacon and egg muffin from McDonalds and then go to work.
The time was nine o'clock in the morning and everyone seemed to be running late on this day. Strange considering the area. On this warm Spring morning were people walking their dogs to and from home and the park. The park was fairly large and always had a large population of dog owners with their canine companions having a run, play or just plain walking through.
Standing out from the dogs was a rather large reddy brown Siberian Husky puppy running wild off its leash with its owner chasing somewhat behind. The young man laughed as he chased his furry friend and caught them in a soft tackle. Once they stopped rolling, the puppy stood up and barked at its owner, licking his cheeks and wagging its boofy tail in the air.
"Okay, Sheila, not much longer, babe. We have to be heading off so I can hand in some resumes." Told Chadwick as he pulled out Sheila's blue leash from his belt hook and attached it to her large blue collar, chuckling as she barked and pulled at him so they could move from the park and go somewhere to hand in the sheet of paper.
With his crappy job at KFC out the window, Chadwick was in desperate need of finding a suitable job to support himself and his baby girl, Sheila. To him, Sheila was just as important as any other human being and deserved better than what she had at the moment. So he was determined to find himself a new job and just settle down. Heck he didn't care if he ended up working in another fast food place, as long as it had decent wages and he could support himself and Sheila.
As Sheila led him out of the park, Chadwick looked around at the mess of shops and stalls around the place that they walked. He did, however, spot a few places that were looking for staff and were needed urgently to start.
He smiled and led Sheila to a bakery. It didn't have a fancy name, wasn't owned by a massive franchise, but it looked as though it could make a decent bun and hot jam doughnut. He smiled once more and led Sheila inside, the manager squealing at Sheila and running from behind the counter and getting down on her knees.
Chadwick smiled and chuckled a little as the rest of the staff came out and each wanted a pat of the adorable reddy brown Siberian husky puppy. The manger went back into the kitchen and brought back a plain beef pie and placed it on the floor, watching as Sheila lapped at it and then began to chew at it.
Chadwick laughed at his friend and held out his hand to the manager, who looked to be in her early thirties. She had thick locks of auburn brown hair, light hazel eyes and a kind smile. She wasn't thin, nor fat, but just in between. The manager took Chadwick's hand and shook it, acknowledging him. "What can I do for you and your precious little friend?" She asked, sweetly.
Chadwick smiled and dug into his red folder to pull out his resume that he printed last night. "I'm looking for a job and I couldn't help but notice that you're looking for full time staff." he told her and smiled as the rest of the staff squealed and cooed to Sheila, the Husky wagging her tail and enjoying it. "Here's my resume and my availability." He told her as he handed the resume to the manager.
The woman smiled and took the sheet of paper and looked it over quickly, nodding and taking mental notes. She then looked up at Chadwick and smiled. "You seem like a very nice young man. Just what we need on this team. I have a bit of free time before we get swarmed with customers, so please do come around the back and leave that adorable sweetheart with the girls." She giggled and watched the girls hugging and rubbing along Sheila's neck and up and down her back.
Chadwick smiled. There was a shining light of hope for him. He followed the manager back into the back room and nodded to Sheila, who was pre-occupied with the attention she was getting. Chadwick sat in a plain wooden chair and looked up as the manager took a seat opposite him.
She cleared her throat and scratched the back of her neck. "So why would you like to work here, young man? Do you have experience with customers and serving?" She asked Chadwick, politely.
Chadwick nodded. "I had previous experience with customers, serving and for some strange reason, having experience with girls asking for my number…" He trailed off and coughed a little. "I would like to apply for this position because I feel that I would be suitable for the job and because, to be honest, I need the money." He told her, a large smile forming on the woman's lips.
"That's very impressive. Not everyone has the courage to say that they need it for the money. Bravo. As for the experience, I am impressed and a bit humoured that girls ask for your number." She then grinned. "You're a very attractive young man, so I don't blame them." She told him and looked back at Chadwick's resume. "Why did you leave your last job?"
Chadwick then cleared his throat and blinked a couple of times. "I left because they were underpaying me, giving me junior wages instead of what I should have been earning. They were forcing me to stay back when my shift was over, especially on the busy nights when I needed to get back home and prepare dinner." He then closed his eyes and breathed in. "Most importantly, I felt that they were keeping me from my baby girl, and I left." He then opened his amethyst eyes. "I never felt so heartbroken when I left for work and left her at home alone." He told the woman, earning a warm smile and a hand on top of his.
"For them wrongly paying you, keeping you back after your finished shift and keeping you from your priorities was a nasty thing to do. I don't normally offer a job to people on the spot after the first interview. But I can see that you need this. You need this money to support yourself and your little sweetheart out there." She then beamed. "I would be honoured if you joined our team."
Chadwick gasped and stood up, bringing the woman with him and hugging her. "Oh thank you so much!" He exclaimed and shook her hand in a flurry, over-joyed that he had gotten the job to support himself and his girl.
The woman chuckled lightly and shook Chadwick's hand back. "You are most welcome. Now your first shift will be tomorrow, nine am, sharp. You can bring your precious little friend along with you and just keep her in our outside area. Plenty of grass, toys, etcetera." She then beamed and placed a gentle hand to Chadwick's shoulder. "And my name is Julia. Don't call me ma'am or Miss. Just call me Julia." She smiled and slapped Chadwick's shoulder gently. "Well, we'll see you tomorrow bright and early so we can show you the basics and the dos and don'ts of the workplace."
Chadwick nodded and followed Julia from the back office and back into the waiting area of the bakery, chuckling at Sheila as she played with the girls and barked up at Chadwick, glomping him and licking his cheek. "Haha, like it here, huh?" He asked her and took hold of Sheila's blue leash and smiled to Julia and then to the girls. "Thank you so much for this. See you all tomorrow." He waved to them, earning waves and squeals back as he and Sheila left the bakery and headed for home.
On the walk home, Sheila whined at Chadwick and he smiled down at her. "I don't have any money on me at the moment, babe." he told her as they continued on. The most Chadwick had in his pocket was three dollars. He was hoping to treat Sheila to a snack of some sorts, but that was all he could find in his wallet and around the apartment.
He sighed and continued on, hearing his stomach growl for the need of nourishment. He chuckled silently to himself and walked past a smelly alley-way that smelt of urine and fish guts. Chadwick gagged lightly and continued on, not noticing a gang of four males watching him as he walked by.
They left the alley-way and followed after him, slowing down when he did and when Sheila lift her head to sniff the air. They then stopped when Chadwick stopped and looked behind him, seeing the four males there. He swallowed silently and motioned for Sheila to continue on.
He gasped and stopped when two of the four males stopped him and stood in front of him, looking him over and then nodding to the other two males behind him. Chadwick looked from the front two to the back two and raised his hands, the handle of Sheila's leash around his wrist. "I don't want any trouble." He said carefully and grunted when he was pushed from behind, Sheila growling and folding her ears back, her tail wrapping between her hind legs.
One of the boys from behind stepped forward and forced Chadwick to face him. "You're that bastard that works at that KFC." Said the male, seeming in his late teens. He had thick dark blonde hair with hazel eyes and had a few pimples here and there on his greasy face. Thick eyebrows with an eyebrow ring in his left eyebrow. "The bastard that my girlfriend gave her number to."
Chadwick rolled his amethyst eyes. "First of all; I don't work there anymore. Secondly, I didn't take your girlfriend's number. I noticed you in the background and told her to keep it. I got handed a lot of date hints while I was working there and your girlfriend wasn't the first, believe it or not." Chadwick then felt Sheila lean against his leg. "Now if you don't mind, I should be heading off now. Good day." He finished and walked around the two boys.
The boy he had spoken to had a frown on his face as Chadwick walked off. No one turned their back on him! No one! He motioned to his friends and they surrounded Chadwick again, the two tone haired teen sighing and rolling his eyes. He closed them and turned back to the boy he had just spoken with. Opening his eyes, Chadwick saw the pure rage in the boy's eyes.
He was advanced towards and didn't make a move to retreat. Sheila hid behind him and whined, her tail between her legs once more. "I don't think you're understanding me." The boy began and shoved Chadwick back a pace. "No body eyes my girl, got it?! I don't care if you tossed her number away, the fact of the matter is," he came closer to Chadwick and stopped just a few inches from him, "you gave her a look and then gave one to me. So now, you're going down." He looked to his friends and nodded. "Let's teach this punk a lesson." He said, the four boys closing in on Chadwick.
Chadwick looked from boy to boy, each one cracking their knuckles and advancing. Chadwick let go of Sheila's leash, the Siberian Husky puppy looking up at him with scared and confused eyes "Don't hurt my pup, please." He told them, the shortest of the boys pushing the scared puppy aside and moving back in with his friends as they punches kicks and slaps upon the surrounded young man.
Sheila watched from the side and barked at the boys to stop. She shook her head and ran out on to the street and began barking at the passer-bys, trying too gain their attention. She barked continuously until she decided to make a dash back to the bakery and get Julia and the staff to help.
She sprinted as fast as her puppy legs could carry her to the bakery and entered the strips of plastic, barking at the staff and gaining their attention. They squealed at her and went to pat her. She barked and bounced back and forth. She barked and then faced the door, Julia stepping out of her office and narrowing her eyes.
Julia's eyes went wide and she nodded to the staff. "Two of you stay, rest of you, come with me. I think our new recruit is in trouble." She said as her and three other girls ran after Sheila, still barking and leading them to an alley-way. She barked again, the four boys not looking up.
Julia ran to the boys and placed her hands on her hips. "I suggest you get away from him, now." She said warningly as the other three girls stood behind her.
The leader spat and laughed. "Yeah, what are you going to do about it? It's even, cow. So sod off." Julia narrowed her eyes again and gasped when Sheila stepped in between the boys, shielding her master and barking at the boys, her fur standing on end and her teeth bare with parts of her gums exposed. Her curved tail was raised and she snarled and barked again, two of the four backing away.
When Sheila barked and snapped at them again, the other two ran off, the leader looking back and gasping when Sheila looked as though she would make a dash for them. She continued barking and snarling until they were clean out of sight.
She then turned back to Chadwick and whined when Julia bent down and felt for a pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief and called the girls over to help her lift him. "Come on, we'd better get him home and clean him up." She looked down at Sheila. "Mind leading us the way home, sweet-heart?" She asked and smiled when Sheila barked in response and lead them back to the apartment.
Once there, Sheila felt in Chadwick's pocket for the house keys and whined when they dropped from his pocket. Julia picked them up and placed the key into the keyhole and turned it, opening the door and letting Sheila and the three girls in, who carried Chadwick. One had him by the shoulders while one had him by the feet. The other held Sheila's leash.
They walked inside and to Chadwick's room and set him down on the bed, taking his shirt off to examine hiss torso and abdomen. The three girls blushed at Chadwick's top half and looked to Julia. "Go and get a bowl of warm water, a cloth, some cleaning alcohol and then bring them back here." She said as the three went off to get the provisions.
Sheila hoisted herself onto the bed and lay down next to Chadwick, licking his hand gently and then whining for him to wake up. That usually worked in the mornings when he was late at waking up or just couldn't be bothered getting up. She looked up at Julia and whined at her, the woman pulling Sheila's collar off and placing it, with the leash still attached, on the bed and ran a hand across her boofy neck. "Now don't you worry, little dear, your friend is going to be fine." She smiled and tickled behind Sheila's ear. "You'll see."
Sheila looked back down at Chadwick's face, looking over what the boys had done. He had abrasions on one cheek and scratches on the other, a bruise just below his left eye and a scratch on his forehead. She didn't quite understand what had happened, but her master had been harmed and now he had these… cuts as they called them on his face with abrasions and a bruise. Why did they hurt her master?
Sheila whined again and looked up as the three girls brought back a bowl of warm water, a white cloth and some cleaning alcohol. They set the bowl and alcohol on the bedside table and stood back as Julia dipped the cloth into the warm water and squeezed it out, wringing the cloth and then flapping it about. She scrunched it a bit and placed the cloth to the abrasion on Chadwick's cheek, the boy hissing a little and opening his amethyst eyes to look into Julia's light hazel ones.
He blinked a couple of times to clear the confusion from his mind and looked back to Julia. "W-what happened?" He asked slowly, his voice a little croaky after falling unconscious. He remembered walking with Sheila, being stopped by those idiots and then beaten to a pulp. He had heard Sheila barking and growling at them, he heard her snarling and the voices of worried people around him. But before he could look to them he fell unconscious.
Julia placed a finger to her lips and hushed the boy. "Don't worry, you're alright now and so is your little sweet-heart of a puppy. She rescued you." She then smiled and looked to Sheila. "Your little pup is a hero. You should be proud of her." She finished and began dabbing the wet, warm, cloth over Chadwick's cuts and abrasions. He hissed each time but knew that this was going to help them heal faster.
Chadwick smiled and turned his eyes to Sheila and raised his hand, patting along her thick, soft fur and sighed. "Where would I be without you?" He asked and chuckled when Sheila nuzzled her wet nose against Chadwick's. He smirked and rest his head back into the pillows and looked up at Julia and the girls. "Thank you." He told them, earning a smile from each of them.
Julia smiled and finished up on cleaning his cuts. "No trouble at all. You mess with one of us, you deal with the lot of us." She told him and then ran a hand through his slate bangs. "You can take the first few days off of work. I'll pay you for it though. Call it sick pay." She told him and knew he was going to protest, she saw it in his features. "Don't you dare protest. You're part of the bakery family now. We look out for each other and give each other fair work and respect."
Chadwick closed his amethyst eyes and smiled, feeling the back of his eyes sting from tears that he felt coming forward. "You're too kind. Thank you." He said and blinked the tears away and grinned up at Julia and the three girls. Julia then slapped his shoulder gently and rubbed the alcohol on the abrasions, hearing him sting and smiled.
Once she finished, Julia stood up and ran her hand through Chadwick's two toned hair and smiled warmly, her feature soft like a mother's. "I'll see you on Monday morning, sweet-heart. Feel better." She told him and slapped his cheek softly.
Chadwick waved to the four girls and watched as they left, Julia leaving Chadwick's house keys on the bed-side table. Chadwick closed his eyes and puffed his chest out. He couldn't believe what had happened today. He nearly got mauled by a gang of four jealous guys and his baby girl saved his life by retrieving the new colleagues of his that he would be working with.
He could help but smile and wrap his arm around Sheila's boofy neck as she rest her head on his chest and closed her ice-blue eyes. She was his little angel and would always be there for him. Chadwick, though, couldn't wait to get online to Tala tonight and tell him what happened and how his baby girl saved him. He ran his hand through Sheila's boofy fur and smiled contently. "You're my angel, Sheila. You know that?" He asked and earned a happy whine in response as they both dozed off and would probably not awaken until dinner time.
As Chadwick fell into dreamland, his red-haired lover was on his mind and he blushed in his sleep, dreaming of himself and Tala together for the first time and beings close that it almost felt so real. Chadwick sighed at his amazing dream and drifted further into dreamland with his Russian lover.
Omgosh! I can't believe those meanies did that! *hugs Chadwick and cries* well, he's okay now. And yayy! He's got a new job and his little Sheila is a hero. She's a good girl. Don't you just wish you had a puppy like Sheila? I sure do! Heehee.
Thank you all so much for reading and please do review!
~SD