The Marine's Pet (3 page)

Austin had promised that their lovemaking was the beginning of her new life and after she had recovered from his idea of sex, rules had been set. Rules about cleaning the house, walking Nunu, and maybe there had been something about not having loud parties anymore. She couldn’t quite allow herself to remember. There had also been the very firm reminder that if she broke any of his rules he would discipline her as he saw fit. But he was away for the night, and what he didn’t know certainly wouldn’t hurt her bottom.

Truth be told, Sarah couldn’t quite believe any of it had happened. He had been growling on at her for months, but what had finally taken place between them had been so swift, so primal, so completely out of the realm of her normal experience that she really wasn’t sure she hadn’t imagined it.

There was no time for wondering as her guests began to arrive, Seattle’s elitist of the artistical
parading in one after the other, stashing e-bikes and picking up glasses of wine. The evening passed quickly in a whirlwind of artistic revelry and gay abandon. There were shenanigans of all kinds, paint was spilled, sculptures were made out of various food items, discussions were held simultaneously in English, French, and Italian, or what people insisted was French and Italian, though Sarah insisted that reading the back of imported foodstuffs didn’t count.

Things were drunk and some things were smoked and other things were left to dissolve under people’s tongues and by the end of the evening Sarah was fairly convinced she was standing at the precipice of the end of the world, casting spells to the amazement of her compatriots.

And then it went dark.

“Sarah!?”

She roused herself from what felt like more death than slumber. It was as if she was trying to swim through molasses just opening her eyes. When she eventually managed to pry her lids open, she found herself on the floor, looking up into the very concerned face of her lover.

“Sarah, what happened?” Austin reached down and hauled her up to her feet. Unfortunately, her legs weren’t working so she slid back down his body almost all the way to the floor before he managed to catch her and pull her up against his hard frame.

“I don’t know,” she said fuzzily. “I had a few friends over… a few drinks…”

“How much did you drink?”

“Maybe three?”

“You had to have had more than three to be in this state.”

“I think maybe there was something else,” she said. “Maybe a pill or something.”

“Someone slipped you a pill?

“No.” Sarah shook her head. “Everybody was taking them.”

Austin’s eyes narrowed at her, then did a quick sweep of the room. “Where’s Nunu?”

“I don’t know.”

Austin propped her up on the couch like a ragdoll and went to look for the dog. Unfortunately, he was not successful. After several minutes of searching, it soon became apparent that Nunu was not in the house, her studio, or the garden for that matter. Nunu was gone.

“The gate was open when I came in,” Austin said. “He’s likely run away.”

“Nunu!” The word erupted from Sarah in a plaintive cry. She struggled to get to her feet, but failed in the act, plunking back down on the couch.

“You’ve gotten yourself in a real mess, haven’t you,” Austin sighed. He slipped his arms around her and hefted her to her feet.

“We have to find Nunu!”

“I’ll call some of my friends and have them start a search around here,” Austin said. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

He steadied her on her feet for a moment, then swept her up into his arms when it became apparent that walking was going to be fairly risky business. Sarah was present enough to be simultaneously mortified and worried as he carried her into the bathroom, deposited her gently in the tub, and began stripping her clothes off.

She could feel the disappointment coming off him in waves.

“I’ve upset you, haven’t I.” She looked up at him under her lashes as he began taking his own shirt off.

“Let’s not talk about that now,” Austin said, making her heart sink. He turned the shower on, dipping the showerhead to let the water run down behind her back as it warmed up.

“I want to talk about it,” Sarah said. “Because I really didn’t mean to go this far, the evening just sort of got away from us…”

“You don’t need to explain yourself,” Austin said, handing her the showerhead as he soaped a washcloth.

Her expression crumpled in the face of his detached displeasure. “I can’t stand you being mad at me right now,” Sarah sobbed. “Please don’t be angry at me. Please.”

He sighed as he kneeled down next to the tub. “You know I don’t condone this lifestyle,” he said. “And I thought we had an agreement. You were going to stay relatively sober. You were going to keep the place tidy. You were going to be a more responsible owner for your dog. I come here today, you’re passed out in a pile of filth, and Nunu is God knows where.”

“I’m sorry,” Sarah said through tears. “I just got carried away. I had a drink and then another drink and then one more and then all of a sudden I was just…” She trailed off into tears as Austin took the showerhead from her hand and held it over her hunched shoulders, working the washcloth over her skin with more tender care than she really felt she deserved. Her head was pounding and her mouth was dry and her skin felt as though it was someone else’s. Only Austin’s touch kept her connected to the reality of the situation.

She began sobbing so profusely, her tears fell like rain into the bathwater, creating ripples of misery. “I’m so awful,” she wailed. “I’m the worst owner there ever was, I don’t deserve anything good ever.”

“Pull yourself together,” Austin said as he washed out the cloth. “There’s no point feeling sorry for yourself now.”

His words were harsh but deserved. She had known better than to indulge so recklessly. The activities of the previous night were the sort of things she would have done when she was first out on her own and completely irresponsible.

Austin was still cleaning her up, smoothing the cloth over her back and shoulders and subsequently over her breasts and stomach. He was not saying much, and Sarah was mostly occupied with trying not to snivel into the tub.

“Let’s dry you off,” he said when every inch of her was washed clean. “And then we’ll go out and see if we can find that dog of yours.”

Sarah was far too scared to look him in the eye, but she did as she was told and found her legs. All she could do now was try not to be too pathetic. All she could do now was find Nunu. She went and got dressed, not really expecting Austin to still be there when she was done putting her clothes on.

She emerged from her bedroom in jeans and a slouch sweater, her normally riotous hair tied back behind her head. It was all she could do to look decent.

“Hey,” she said as she found him in the lounge. “I’m sorry about this, I really am…”

Austin looked at her with a blank expression that was more heart-wrenching than any she’d ever seen on his face. “I’ll help you find Nunu,” he said. “That’s it.”

“What do you mean that’s it?”

“We’ll talk about it later,” he said. “We have to find the dog first.”

She could sense what he meant. He was done with her. Men like Austin didn’t hang around dealing with other people’s shit.

It was difficult to look for Nunu with her eyes fogged with tears. The world was smeary and messy and when she called his name it sounded like the high-pitched mournful wail of a cat. Austin had gone off in a different direction, leaving Sarah to her own devices in the search.

Unfortunately, it all proved pointless. She traipsed around the neighborhood for what felt like hours calling the little dog’s name to no avail. When she returned home she found a missed call from her friend Matilda on her phone, which had been hidden under an empty wine bottle and a discarded pair of underwear that were not hers.

She returned the call immediately, hoping against hope that it had something to do with Nunu, and not more bad news.

“Sarah,” Matilda said as soon as she picked up. “I have your dog.”

“You have Nunu!?”

“Sorry,” Matilda said in space cadet tones. “I thought he was my handbag.”

“How do you confuse a dog for a handbag?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time my handbag moved around all mysterious,” Matilda said. “Last night was pretty out of this world. Anyway, you can come get him if you like. He’s trying to eat my couch. And I think he bit Stanley. Or maybe I did. It’s a bit of a blur. Best party ever, Sarah!”

“I’ll be there right away,” Sarah said. “Don’t let him out, whatever you do. I’ll be right over.”

“Was that news?” Austin had just come in after his own fruitless search. He still looked thoroughly pissed off. Sarah hadn’t known that his jaw was capable of being set quite that hard.

“Good news,” she said, hanging up the phone. “My friend just called. She took Nunu home by mistake.”

“Good,” Austin said. “Let’s go get him.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure I don’t want you driving in your current state,” he said. “Come on, we’ll take my car.”

Sarah’s relief at having found Nunu was severely dampened by sitting next to Austin as they drove over to Matilda’s house. It was only twenty minutes away, but it felt like an eternity. He was stony-faced next to her, his eyes firmly on the road. For her part, she didn’t know what to say. She’d fucked up massively and he’d seen her in a way she had never wanted him to see her.

Matilda was glassy-eyed, but thoroughly amused at her mistake. She had Nunu wearing a little sweater, God only knew where she’d gotten that from, but he was wearing the pink and orange garment with some serious aplomb.

“Nunu!” Sarah called him and he came running, bounding and bouncing, tail wagging as he hurled himself into her arms. “I was so worried.”

“Sorry,” Matilda said. “I really did think he was my handbag.” She included both Austin and Sarah in her next comment. “You know how it is.”

Austin’s jaw tightened. “I can’t say I do, ma’am,” he said politely. “We need to be getting on, thank you for looking after Nunu.”

Sarah wrapped Nunu in her arms and picked him up. “I am never going to let you out of my sight again,” she promised the little dog, who rewarded her for her promise of vigilance with a lick to her nose. It was the first and last good thing that happened that day.

* * *

After driving them all home, Austin stopped the car outside her gate.

“Thank you,” Sarah said. “And I’m sorry. For everything.”

He nodded, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as if he was thinking about something. “I’m sorry too,” he said. “Why don’t you go and get some rest. You need it.”

“Yeah,” Sarah said. “I’ll do that. Thanks again.”

She slunk inside, her nonexistent tail between her legs. After making sure Nunu was secured inside, she set to cleaning the place up. Her head was still pounding and she couldn’t stop the tears flowing as she pushed general debris into an oversized garbage bag. Though her body was aching, she didn’t stop cleaning until the floor was clear and vacuumed, every surface wiped down, her home brought to an order she hadn’t experienced in years.

Only then did she drop down on the couch, pull her favorite crocheted blanket down over her, and collapse into sleep with Nunu at her feet.

* * *

She didn’t hear from Austin for the rest of the day, or the next day, or the day after that and she was far too ashamed of herself to make contact with him herself. Things were over. The best, most intense relationship she’d ever been in was over.

Sarah went into a strange decline. It was a very dry decline. She made sure not to do any drugs or drink anything; in fact, she cleared her house of anything that might remotely resemble an intoxicant. She would not allow those substances to destroy anything else. Even if she never painted another damn thing again.

Nunu was sympathetic to her plight. He spent most every moment with her, lying on the couch in their strangely tidy home, his head on her chest as she watched the ceiling and wished things had been different.

On the third day after the party that had ruined her relationship, a knock at the door roused her from her misery. She opened it to find Austin standing there, even more handsome than she had remembered.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been thinking,” he said. “I’m sorry it’s taken so long for me to come back to you.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “I get it.”

“No, you don’t.”

She looked at him, feeling completely hopeless. “You’re done with me, aren’t you?”

He reached out, took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and locked eyes with her. “Sarah, I haven’t even started with you yet.”

Tears began to brim in her eyes. She couldn’t believe what he was saying. “I saw the way you looked at me. You…” She had to press her lips together so as not to start crying at the memory.

“I was upset with you,” he admitted. “It’s not easy finding someone in the state I found you. I expected you to act up while I was away. I didn’t expect you to damn near destroy your life. That was dangerous, Sarah.”

“It really…” She trailed off when he held up his hand.

“May I come in?”

“Sure.”

She stepped back and let him come inside. He stepped into the living room and his brows rose.

“Wow,” he said. “I’ve never seen this place so clean.”

“I’ve been trying…” she said, losing her voice along with the sentence.

Nunu stayed on the couch, giving just a couple of experimental wags. He seemed just as cautious of Austin as she was.

“Why don’t you have a seat next to the dog,” Austin suggested, slash ordered.

Sarah did as she was told. Austin stood in front of both her and Nunu, hands behind his back like a sergeant inspecting his troops as he looked the pair of them over.

“First things first,” he said grimly, focusing his attention on Sarah. “You have terrible friends. They trashed your house, stole your dog, and left you for dead. You will not see them again. If I find one of them in this house, I’ll remove them myself and I won’t be gentle about it. Understand?”