Three days later

"Welcome Bella to my home," Dave greeted the Reiki practitioner. "Your tea is brewing and should be ready momentarily."
"This is a nice place, Dave," Bellamy told the man standing in front of her.
"Wait until you see the inside," Dave told her smiling.
"Well, the outside is definitely nice, as you have a nice big yard for Baxter to do his business and to romp in. I also like the color the house is painted, a nice dark blue with white shutters."
"I've been thinking of having it repainted in a lighter color because the dark blue tends to absorb the heat when it's really hot," Dave said, as he led Bellamy into the house, closing the door behind him. "While I have a top of the line heating and cooling system still painting the house and a lighter color would only help and also cut down on that cooling bill a little anyway if only because I won't have to turn it so high in order to stay cool."
"True, though it would be a shame to change the color, because that navy blue is so nice," Bellamy said. "The color suits you where a lighter tone might not. Still, I know what you mean about the darker color of the house absorbing the heat instead of reflecting it. It might not make much of a difference, but it will make some."
Bellamy studied the high ceilings, as they walked and noticed all the wood paneling in some areas while there was paint, wallpaper in others, and the furniture was also very nice and a lot of it was antique she was sure. A lot of the furniture had probably been in his family for generations if it really was antique.
All the furniture was polished until it glowed and there was no dust or dirt anywhere that she could see.
"It must take you tons of time to keep this place so sparkling clean," Bellamy said. "There isn't even any dirt in the corners that I can see."
"Oh, I don't do all this myself," Dave offered. "I hire a very efficient cleaning service that comes in several days a week to keep this place clean. I pay a lot for the service. If I tried to keep this place clean myself, I would never do anything else, run errands or spend time with friends."
"They do a very good job," Bellamy said, as she continued to look around.
"For what I pay them, they should be effective," Dave snorted with humor, lacing his voice. "In any case, I'll take you to Baxter. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."
"So how has Baxter been doing?" Bellamy asked
"He's been better, I can tell that his arthritis has been acting up again," Dave answered.
"Unfortunately, Reiki is only a temporary solution, not a permanent one, not for things like arthritis," Bellamy said. "I'll have to keep giving him treatments every few days for however, long he lives. You said he's nearly 13, so that means he doesn't have more than two or three years at the outside and we might as well make him as comfortable as possible for his remaining time in this world."
"It's clear that you love animals and that you went into profession to help them," Dave said.
"I also have human patients that Reiki helps, though I never opened a practice of my own, so it's more by word of mouth. I make enough to live on and that's all that matters. Being hired at the pet spa was something of a surprise but a welcome one."
"So you haven't been working there very long," Dave fast.
"No, just a few months when the spa decided to add Reiki treatments to their program, because they have become very popular for animals. I was recommended by one of my former patients. I have to admit it sure does bring in extra cash, which I always appreciate," Bellamy said.
"Everybody appreciates having extra money," Dave chuckled.
"That's true," Bellamy said, winkling her nose at him.
"So didn't you want to own your own practice?" Dave asked.
"Yeah, that would've been nice, but I wouldn't have had very many patients when I first learned reiki and became a practitioner. I had to learn from a master. The practice didn't catch on until a few years ago however," Bellamy answered.
"But you could've just become a general doctor and then just did reiki to those patients who were interested in alternative treatments," Dave said. "I mean you got your PhD for a reason and yet you've never had a regular practice.
"Part of that was money," Bellamy said. "I never wanted to work with other doctors in a noisy environment, like a hospital, because I know how arrogant and even uncaring they can be. I wouldn't have minded my own private practice, and perhaps if I had done a few years at a hospital somewhere I could've afforded to open one. A lot of doctors don't get into the profession, because they want to actually help people, but they get into the profession because it can be a lucrative one depending on what area of practice you go into."
"Wouldn't have been able to keep your mouth shut if one of the doctors say tried to come on to you in a slimy way?" Dave suggested with a twinkle in his eyes.
"That certainly part of it," Bellamy chuckled. "I probably would've hit him where it hurt and been reported, even if it was deserved. If that doctor was senior over me, then I could've had a black mark on my record. Too many of those and I would have been fired. Whoever wrote that report might not have bothered to have gotten both sides of the story before writing me up."
"You understand human nature, I see," Dave said. "I won't say there aren't a lot of good people that work in high stress environments like a hospital, but it's still possible that whoever that doctor reported you wouldn't even bother to ask you for your side and just going ahead and written you up."
"It was mainly my father that insisted I become a doctor," Bellamy admitted. "He is a very successful surgeon, but he refused to pay for my college unless I went into that profession. At least I don't have any student loans to pay back and that's a good thing, but if I had my way, I would have gone into a totally different profession."
"You might've got your degree, but you've never really practiced," Dave said.
"That was more my dad's doing than mine," Bellamy said. "Dad had a rather forceful and demanding personality. You couldn't really argue with them once he had his mind set."
"That's a common theme in some families," Dave admitted. "The father or the mother, force their child into going into a career that they have no interest in practicing, even if they have the aptitude. It might simply be that they don't have the aptitude for that particular field or it might be that that field bores them. There could be any number of reasons."
"It's not so much that the field bored me, I just don't see the point of putting myself under a lot of stress dealing with doctor's, patient work related or otherwise. If I could have afforded my own private practice, it might've been different."
"I would think that your father would be willing to help you get started," Dave suggested.
"Oh dad and I don't communicate, at all," Bellamy said. "After I finished college, I've never contacted him again."
"What about your mother, though?" Dave asked.
"Oh, mom died while I was in college," Bellamy said.
"So you don't speak to your father. Any siblings?" Dave asked.
"Nope," Bellamy said. "I'm an only child. While I love my father, him forcing me to go to college to be a doctor and didn't listen to any of my arguments to the contrary just shows that he didn't really care about what I wanted. I won't say it's not a noble profession, because it is, it just wasn't what I wanted to do with my life that's all."
"Yes, being a doctor can be very rewarding, but it can also be stressful, even though I'm not a doctor. I do have a friend however that is, though he is not a medical doctor," Dave said.
"So what kind of doctor is your friend?" Bellamy asked.
"Psychologist," Dave answered. "He helps people work out their problems and he's very good at it. I believe he would say that it's your father that probably needs to make the first move towards a reconciliation, because he's the one that forced you to go to become a doctor yourself, a profession you've never practiced, because it isn't what you truly wanted. That's a waste of getting your degree and all the thousands of dollars it took, but on the other hand, you didn't get to choose what you wanted, because of your father's demands and the fact that he threatened not to pay for your education if you didn't become what he wanted you to. I understand not wanting to payback student loans, but still you might've been better off if you'd gone that route."
"Possibly," Bellamy admitted. "It's not even that I don't have an aptitude for that field, just that I don't want to put up with a sexual harassment or the stress that goes along with being a doctor at a hospital. Let's go see Baxter shall we?"
Dave got the message and lead Bellamy to where Baxter was laying in front of the fireplace apparently napping. Baxter opened one eye and looked at Bellamy. Then he opened both eyes and slowly got to his feet coming over to greet her like she was an old friend. He put his front legs on her upper body and licked her face when she leaned down to pet him.
"It's nice to see you too, buddy," Bellamy told him, as she petted him.
"Well, I've never known him to respond so well to most people," Dave said his tone amazed. "You're welcome back anytime, even if you're not going give him a treatment. He usually just lays there in front of the fireplace whether it is lit or not and if people want to pet them, they have to come over to where he is and lean down to do so. He must remember you from a few days ago and how you helped him."
"I'm assuming he used to be more active," Bellamy suggested.
"Yes, he was, but that was at least two years ago," Dave said after thinking about it. "We used to go for long walks on the trails in the woods no far from here. Now he barely moves at all, except to get up to go where his food and water bowl is and to go outside to do his business. There's a doggie door in the kitchen that leads to the backyard."
"You're just getting old, aren't you Baxter?" Bellamy inquired of the dog who was now leaning against her side with his tongue lolling out and a doggy grin on his face.
"Anyway, I'll go get the tea, as it should be ready while you're doing his treatment and then perhaps we can talk," Dave said.
"About what?" Bellamy asked, but Dave just shook his head, smiling, as he left to head to the kitchen to fix Bellamy's tea.

~~~Dave and Bellamy~~~

Dave headed for the kitchen and once there started pouring the tea that was ready for his mate. He had gone shopping at a specialty store and gotten several different kinds of tea leaves and also a nice kettle, as he wasn't usually a tea drinker at least not of the leaf variety.
He usually drank iced tea, not hot tea, but he had found out that Bellamy preferred the actual tea leaves and liked her tea hot.
He had tried some of the tea Bellamy preferred over the last few days and learned that he really liked the subtle flavor. Assam Gold Tip was apparently a favorite, but the Earl Grey was pretty good too. Earl Grey was recognized all over the world, as it was a very popular black tea with plenty of caffeine content. There were thousands of tea drinkers that drank this particular tea.
Finally, the tea was ready and the kettle whistled, and Dave already had two cups ready so he poured it into both of them. By the time the tea was ready, Bellamy was done with Baxter and she was sitting on the couch with Baxter's head on her lap and the rest of his body spread out on the couch. Bellamy was telling him what a good boy he was and Baxter was lapping up the attention like he was dying of thirst.
"Traitor," Dave muttered to Baxter playfully with a bemused expression.
Baxter simply looked at him and Dave thought he was probably rolling his eyes before closing them perfectly content with his head on Bellamy's lap.
Bellamy snorted in amusement at Dave's comment.
Dave handed Bellamy her tea while he went to sit on the end of the couch with his own cup.
"Thank you," Bellamy said politely, as she took a sip of her tea. "Hmm, Assam Gold Tip. My favorite. I didn't take you for a tea drinker. I thought you drink coffee only."
"I'm not usually much of a tea drinker Miss Bella," Dave admitted smiling charmingly "but I'm always willing to try something new and since you like the tea that require leaves I went out and bought several different kinds to try."
"That was really very thoughtful of you," Bellamy said smiling, as she sipped her tea.
"I'm a thoughtful guy," Dave told her smiling, as he took a sip of his own tea. "Besides, I've always liked iced tea. I've just never tried the leaf variety before, so it wasn't that big a stretch really to try some now since you like it so much."
"Iced tea is not my favorite," Bellamy said winkling her nose. "I'll drink it, but still I prefer the leaf variety. So much better than brands like Lipton or Gold Peak."
"You've converted me, as I really like this Assam Gold," Dave said taking a sip of his tea. "I won't say I won't ever drink ice tea again, but still, I really like this kind of tea as well."
"It certainly better for you than that iced tea crap," Bellamy said, making her opinion known.
"If people lived life by only doing things that were good for them, life would be very staid. There would be no zest, no good food, just stuff that was either tasteless or tasted horrible. We can't live like that or at least most of us can't," Dave said. "If I couldn't enjoy a good steak cooked to perfection along with a stuffed potato and some vegetable like corn or peas, then what is the point of life? Eating healthy is all well and good, but if you didn't eat some fat and sugar or carbohydrates, then really, you might as well just kill yourself and be done with it."
"I admit the body does need a little fat and sugar to keep going. Yes, I enjoy a good steak as well, but still, you should eat such things in moderation," Bellamy said.
"I exercise so I can eat what I like," Dave told her with a shrug. "I have a gym in one of the upstairs rooms. It used to be several bedrooms, but I've never married nor had children, and there are still plenty of rooms to be used for guests. I had a couple of the walls knocked down on each side, so the room would be bigger for the gym equipment."
"This place is awfully big for one person," Bellamy said.
"It belonged to one of my ancestors," Dave said, telling a slight fib.
"So, you inherited it then," Bellamy said.
"What can I say? The only thing I had to worry about was paying the property taxes," Dave shrugged casually.
"So you said you wanted to ask me something before you went to make tea," Bellamy reminded Dave.
"True, I did," Dave acknowledged. "I wanted to ask you for a date actually."
Bellamy blinked in surprise then laughed. She admitted that David Rossi was a very handsome man and she'd been thinking about asking him out, but he had beat her to the punch.
"What's so funny?" Dave asked with a raised eyebrow is surprise.
"Just that you asked me out before I could ask you, as I've been thinking about it ever since we met at the pet spa. I was simply thinking that you beat me to the punch that's all," Bellamy explained.
"So is that a yes," Dave asked trying not to reveal how eager he was for his mate's answer.
"That's definitely a yes," Bellamy said. "It's clear you love dogs and that's one point we have in common right there."
"That's true and I have had several dogs over the years," Dave said.
"You don't look that old and dogs can live up to 20 or 25 years depending on breed," Bellamy said. "Large dogs tend to live the longest."
"I didn't get them as puppies, as I mostly got them at the pound," Dave said calmly.
"Oh well, that explains it," Bellamy said.
"I had one dog a few years ago that got run over by a car," Dave added. "He just ran out into the street and before I could catch him the car rammed into him. He was gone before I could even think about getting him to the vet. Died right there on the street."
"That is so sad," Bellamy said. "It happens, but that doesn't mean it isn't sad."
"That was before I got the invisible fence," Dave said looking melancholy, as he remembered Sydney that had been run over by a car. "Now, I'm immediately alerted if Baxter goes past the boundaries I have set, like trying to pee in the garden out front. Now though, he's so old that he's not about to wander past the boundaries, but when he was younger, it was a different story. Now he just lays by the fireplace or wanders over to his food and water bowl or goes outside to do his business, but doesn't go very far anymore, the arthritis you know."
"You wish you'd had the invisible fence when your dog was run over by a car," Bellamy said
"Sydney," Dave supplied the dog's name, "and yes, I very much do wish I'd had an invisible fence back then. It is what it is though and while it took me a few years, I got another dog after Sydney was run over by a car. To be fair the guy that was driving did try to stop just didn't do so in time."
"Accident or not that doesn't mean Sydney's death wasn't painful," Bellamy suggested.
"Very true, but I couldn't let Sydney's death never allow me to get another dog, even if it took awhile," Dave said. "Now about that date."
Bellamy accepted the change of subject as she didn't want Dave to be sad of the death of his dog Sydney, accident or not it was still painful for him to talk about.
The two discussed it and Dave said he'd make the reservations.
"Of course, I'd be happy to cook for you if you wanted to come for dinner," Dave suggested.
"You can cook?" Bellamy said in surprise.
"Yes, I can, because I live alone and eating out all the time isn't very healthy, as you just said not long ago," Dave snorted. "I learned how to look after myself sometime ago."
"Well, I suppose I wouldn't mind trying some of your cooking," Bellamy said, pursing her lips in thought. "I need to come to see Baxter again anyway, so perhaps next week."
"That will be just fine," Dave said with excited gleam in his eyes. "Prepare to be impressed."
"We'll see see if if you can back up your big words," Bellamy teased him.
"I'm up to the challenge," Dave agreed grinning.
"We'll see next week," Bellamy told him also smiling.

~~~Dave and Bellamy~~~