The Four Legs of Fate

Chapter 1: Lisa“When did I get a dog?” Lisa Fitzgerald raked a hand down her face in an attempt to clear her blurry vision and remove the slobber being generously deposited on her chin. Her head pounded as she tried to sit up. A small dog jumped onto her chest, leaving four parallel welts where the deep V of her top left her skin unprotected. Small, maybe, but Lisa was unsteady enough to lose her balance and resume her recumbent position on the hard laminate floor. “All right, all right. Get off me, will you?” The thing clawing at her resembled a sled dog in miniature, not much bigger than the hands she was using to push it away. He—no, she—sat back and c****d her head to one side, staring at Lisa with a wounded expression. Lisa would have laughed had her head not hurt so much. Judging from its size, the puppy couldn’t be more than a few months old. Great. Just what she needed. A drooling, shedding, whining, peeing, and pooping machine. Maybe she didn’t buy it. After all, she would never buy a purebred dog in her right mind. Maybe she had agreed to watch it for someone at the party. Damn it! Everything about last night was a blur. She never got drunk. Ever. One more thing to regret in addition to her failed relationship with Ashtonne. What kind of stupid name was Ashtonne, anyway? That should have been a red flag from the beginning. As pretentious as the woman herself. Lisa finally managed to stand and proceeded toward the hallway. Surely a hot shower would return her to a more functional state. “s**t!” Literally. The still-warm offering oozed between her bare toes as Lisa lifted her foot out of the offending pile. “Ew, ew, ew!” Hopping on her clean foot, Lisa made it to the bathroom and turned the shower on, hastily stripping off last night’s clothes and tossing them in the hamper as she struggled to keep her foot from depositing the disgusting mess on the bathroom rug. She ignored the scratching sounds at the front door. A little late to get the dog outside, wasn’t it? No point in rushing now. Lingering under the hot water, Lisa’s head finally started to clear. Carly Davis, her best work-friend, had nagged her incessantly all day yesterday, reminding Lisa she hadn’t been out for months, blah, blah, blah. She agreed to go to the gathering more to shut Carly up than from any desire to socialize. Ashtonne was the party animal, not Lisa. Her eyes teared up and she directed her face into the stream of water. No. Not another tear shed for that b***h! Lisa turned off the water and jerked back the shower curtain. There sat the puppy, staring quizzically at her again as she toweled off and then grabbed her bathrobe off the hook. “Don’t think your cute act is going to work on me. You’re only staying till I remember who you belong to. Then it’s back home for you, mutt.” Lisa walked past the dog, ignoring her plaintive whining. Once in the kitchen, she popped a coffee pod into the machine and added water, the dog jumping at her ankles as the water heated. Lisa bent and picked her up. The little furball snuggled against her chest. At least she wasn’t clawing Lisa at the moment and seemed content in the crook of her arm. “I meant what I said. You’re not staying. No, you’re not.” But the warmth of the dog was not an unpleasant sensation, and Lisa settled into a chair as the dog closed its eyes and its breathing deepened. * * * * It was busy all morning at work, and Lisa didn’t have a chance to corner Carly until lunchtime. She set her lunch bag next to Carly’s cafeteria tray, wrinkling her nose at the greasy mess Carly had paid good money for. How she managed to stay so slim was a mystery, though no one would question Carly’s high energy level as she darted through her days. Lisa smiled when she realized how much Carly had in common with the little dog at home, who was almost impossible to keep track of while she was getting ready for work. “Hey, girl. Holy crap, you’ve seen better days. Didn’t you sleep at all last night?” Carly moved her tray to make more room for Lisa. Lisa shook her head and immediately regretted it, as pain pulsated in her temples. “Exactly how much did I have to drink last night?” She frowned at the lunch she’d hurriedly packed that morning, the food completely unappealing. “More to the point, why do people do this to themselves? No wonder I’ve never been drunk before.” Carly’s loud laugh made Lisa cringe. “For once, you let your hair down. Don’t be regretting it now! You were the life of the party.” “I was not! You’re making that up. Although I can’t honestly say I remember a lot of details.” “Okay, you didn’t do anything that will make the rounds on Twitter, but I seem to recall a bawdy song that came from your direction.” “You’re making that up. I would never have done such a thing.” Just then, Howard from accounting walked by. He uncharacteristically slapped Lisa on the back. “Loved your song last night, Lis! I can’t stop laughing.” “Shit.” “Well, I’m just glad to know you got home okay. Good thing you live close enough to walk.” “I didn’t quite make it home uneventfully.” Carly lowered her fork and turned toward Lisa. “What do you mean? Did something happen? If somebody drugged your drink, I’ll find out who or die trying!” “No, no. Nothing like that. But I woke up in the wee hours to a puppy licking my face.” “You fell asleep on the sidewalk?” “No, it was in my house, and I can’t for the life of me remember how it got there.” Carly frowned for a minute, deep in thought. “Wait a minute. I might know the answer to that one. I saw you having a serious conversation with Heather. I thought she was telling you about her latest breakup. She was showing you pictures on her phone, and you were smiling, which seemed a little weird. Does that ring a bell?” Lisa tried to clear up the foggy memories from the night before, and a vague image came into view: a picture of the dog that was, in all likelihood, now tearing up her home. “That’s it!” “What?” “Heather cornered me on the couch and started telling me about her ex. You’re right about that. Sounds like the guy was a real jerk, made a habit of pushing her around and occasionally smacking her, then trying to make it up to her with expensive gifts. She said that she had pawned most of what he’d given her, but one of the make-up gifts was this cute little dog. She knows I love animals, and…” “And?” Lisa put her head in her hands. “Tell me I didn’t.” “You didn’t.” “Oh, God. I did.” “Let me guess. She didn’t have the heart to take the dog to the shelter. Instead, she talked you into taking it.” Lisa moaned. “Heather left the party to go home and get the dog, thinking she could convince me once I saw how cute it was. While she was gone, I had more punch. Just another glass or two. She wasn’t gone long.” “I saw you leave shortly after she came back and thought maybe you weren’t feeling well. Somebody told me that they thought Heather was driving you home. It was a little weird when she didn’t come back, considering it was a party for her.” “I had followed Heather to her car.” The memories were coming into focus one after another. “There was the dog, such a cute little thing, jumping at the window. Heather opened the door and took hold of its—her—leash. She lifted the dog out and placed it in my arms. It was so soft and warm and kept licking my face. The last thing I remember was Heather driving off without the dog.” “Well, there you have it.” “But I don’t want to have it!” Lisa ran her hand through her disheveled hair. “Most days I can barely take care of myself. What am I going to do with a puppy?” “I know how you feel about animals. I can’t see you taking it to a shelter either. But maybe you can sell it on Craigslist or something. You said it was cute. What kind of dog is it?” “It looks like one of those Alaskan dogs that pull sleds. It’s still a young dog. Can’t be more than twenty pounds or so, but they get pretty big, don’t they?” “Um, yeah. My cousin has one. The thing must weigh sixty or seventy pounds. She can barely walk it. It walks her, come to think of it. I’ve tried to talk her into putting him in obedience classes, but she says that when she did, he attacked the other dogs and they got kicked out.” “Oh, that’s just great. I can’t have a huge dog in my apartment! Where is Heather, anyway?” “Lisa, weren’t you paying attention? That was a farewell party for her. She moved out of town to get away from the guy who kept stalking her. I guess getting rid of the dog was the last thing she needed to do. She must have been thrilled you took it. What are you going to name it?” “Name it? Name it? You’re the one not paying attention. I’m not keeping her!” Carly rose and picked up her tray, a big smile on her face. “Okay. Whatever you say. Enjoy your new dog.” “Terra is not my…” Crap.