Olivia woke the following morning with the sun just creeping through the window. It was a Saturday thankfully and as they had the kids for the weekend they both thankfully had the day off with Olivia being on call if anything serious came in.
Stretching out she could feel something lay across her chest and nuzzling her ear.
"Elliot" she moaned softly rolling over towards the warmth next to her.
Opening her eyes she was greeted with a large wet black nose and two huge chocolate brown eyes staring right into her soul.
"What the hell!" she cried pushing herself up, as Mazikeen licked her face.
"Are you okay?" Elliot said, running into the room while holding the bottle of milk.
"The dog. On the bed!" Olivia said as Mazikeen forced her head into Olivia's lap looking up at her "how the hell did she get in here"
"She must have snuck in as I headed into the kitchen" Elliot said " do you want her off the bed?" he asked
"No it's fine" Olivia sighed, reaching over ruffeling the puppy on her head "what's with the milk?" she smiled.
"I was making a coffee, then I heard you yelling so I wanted to make sure you were alright" he said.
"Coffee" she sighed
"I will be back in a minuet" he said walking out
Olivia sighed as she watched Mazikeen jump off the bed and curl up in front of her dressing table. She had never really seen herself as a 'dog' person. Dogs required a lot of care and attention,Daily walks, constant attention and with a cat, they practically took care of themselves and only needed a human servant to put out fresh water and food and clean out the litter box. Cats also knew their own mind and if they didn't like you then they would basically ignore you. But somehow after a few hours this little pup had wormed her way into her heart.
He returned moments later carrying 2 mugs, handing one to her he walked round to his side of the bed sliding in to join her
"One coffee with hazelnut creamer," he said
"This is perfect" she smiled "What time is it" she asked
"Just after 7" Elliot whispered snaking his arm across her waist
"I should get up" she moaned as he slowly kissed along her neck
"It's still early and we both have the weekend off for once" he whispered in to her ear
"Yes but Mazikeen needs to go for a walk and she cant be off her leash in the park after 9am" she said, sliding from the sheets. "I thought I would meet Rollins and her dog, might be nice for this one to have some puppy friends" she smiled as Mazikeen trotted up to her.
Grabbing a pair of leggings from her wardrobe along with a T-shirt, pulling them on she grabbed a pair of sneakers and sat on the end of the bed pulling the laces sliding her feet into them.
"I won't be long" she smiled, grabbing her phone off her bedside cabinet.
"Come on Maze" Olivia smiled at the dog "Walkies"
Olivia watched as the puppy bounced around the apartment excitedly as she fetched the lead off the hook in the hall. Clipping the leash to the collar she grabbed her phone and the roll of poo bags Elliot had just dumped in a basket on the side.
Walking out onto the street Olivia pulled out her phone, shooting off a text to Amanda asking where she took her dog; Frannie, for a walk and if she could meet up. Almost instantly a text pinged back saying she was walking Franny around the lake but they could meet at the Bethesda fountain.
It was a glorious early summer morning, it was cool with a breeze blowing across the city cooling the burning sun. Walking along Central park Avenue Olivia was surprised how well behaved Mazikeen was on a lead. Her only experience of walking dogs was when she was in high school and she had been made to volunteer at a shelter to gain extra credit to graduate early, most the dogs were not very well lead trained and pulled on the lead but Mazikeen trotted beautifully alongside her at heel
She entered the park at Strawberry Fields following the path down to the lake she followed it around and past the Cherry hill fountain. Looking towards the lake she could see The San Remo rising high into the City skyline towering above the park. As she got closer to the water she smiled as a family of Mallard ducks waddled out from underneath the weeping willow that sat on the banks of the river. Almost instantly Mazikeen stopped in her tracks and cowered behind Olivia's legs whimpering.
Crouching down Olivia sighed, stroking the young puppy on her head. "They are only ducks Maze. They are not going to hurt you, they might follow you if you have a loaf of bread."
Standing back up she watched as the ducks waddled along the path into the grass sitting under the shade of a tree on the grass. It took a good 5 minutes to convince Mazikeen to walk along the path and past the ducks who were still quacking loudly to each other under the shade of the tree.
The path took her along the lake. The park was nice at this time, Most of the tourists were still in their hotels and the only people in the park were the runners, and people walking their dogs. Turning right at the Bow bridge it didn't take long to get to the fountain.
As she got closer she could see Rollins already standing by the fountain trying to keep Frannie calm as she didn't seem too happy her morning walk had been interrupted.
"Liv!" Rollins smiled as she saw the reason why Olivia wanted to meet in the park and know about dog walking spots. "When did you get a dog?" she asked crouching down to greet this new fluffy friend
"Elliot brought her home last night as a surprise. She was going to be in the K9 unit but she didn't quite pass her initial training so he brought her home to protect me" she said
"That's sweet. She is gorgeous" Amanda laughed as Mazikeen put both paws on her shoulders licking Rollins face almost knocking her to the floor
"Yeah, that would be good if she didn't just get spooked by a family of ducks on the path," Olivia laughed.
"Well those mallards can be scary especially when they are all in a big gang" Rollins said to Mazikeen scratching her behind her ears.
Shoving her head under her mistresses arm Frannie let out a low bark reminding everyone she was still there
"Looks like someone is jealous" Olivia smiled, reaching down giving Frannie a stroke.
The two of them walked around the lake to where they could take the dogs off their leads for a bit and allow them to run around.
Sitting on a bench Olivia and Amanda watch both dogs run around the field, the young German shepherd struggling to keep up with the older pit-ball, but when she did she playfully tackled her until she got a playful nip.
Trotting back over to where Olivia was sat Mazikeen whimpered softly at what had just happened
"Well Frannie did warn you" Olivia said, giving the dog a stroke, as Frannie walked over. "And you Misses need to remember Mazikeen is only a baby. She will get a little bit over excited" she said, giving the other dog some fuss.
Hearing her phone buzz from her pocket Olivia sighed praying it would not be work as she was on call this weekend. Smiling, she could see it was actually a text from Elliot.
I have got a brekkie on. 15 mins.
"I best go. Elliot has got breakfast on" she said, unclipping the lead from her belt she clipped it back on to Mazikeen collar.
"You have him well trained. Cooking breakfast on the weekend" Amanda smiled "wish I could find a guy who would do that for me"
"I don't think it's just for me. We have the kids this weekend so I think it's mostly for them" Olivia smiled "I guess I will see you later" she said.
"Yeah" Amanda smiled, clipping Frannie's lead onto her collar.
Walking back through the park the way they had come in Olivia was glad the ducks had gotten bored of their sunbathing under the trees and had headed back out onto the water. And were content in swimming around picking up the tasty snacks someone had thrown into the water. Walking back into her apartment she un-clipped the lead and put it back on to the table in the hall. She watched as Mazikeen trotted in and immediately went to find Karma and curled up next to her. As she got into the main living area she sighed as it seemed all hell had broken loose.
hope you enjoy.
just a note : yes i know bread is really bad for ducks but it just sounded better and i have fed ducks bread and been followed for it :D
