A Fateful Meeting
A story I wrote dedicated to My friends and mate.
It was a dark and stormy night; the sky flashed as lightning appeared casting the buildings in a blinding hue of white.
Mordicai made his way down the street hoping to make it to the local bar before the weather decided to take an even worse turn and add rain to the already dreadful events that were playing out in the sky above.
It's a good thing the bar isn't much farther, the collie thought to himself as he walked down the street towards his favorite hideaway. The Lucky Otter had been in business for about five years- the owner a tall hulking brute of a dobie was an all-around nice guy who generally treated employees and customers alike with dignity and respect for the most part. The bar was unusually quiet and there weren't as many people inside as was expected on a Friday evening.
Mordicai was tall and lanky, his arms and body had enough muscle on them to where he couldn't be considered a twig, his emerald green eyes twinkled with wonder at the world around him , his long light brown fur blew in the breeze bringing a certain comforting feeling to the collie who had walked quite a ways to reach the bar.
Mordicai opened the door and walked inside.It was just as he had thought. The place was eerily quiet with nary a soul in sight except a female Dalmatian sitting down at the table closest to the door.
"Good evening Mordicai. Please take a seat." The bartender smiled as he handed him a tall bottle of crème soda.
"Thank you I was just about to ask for the usual." Mordicai growled taking a swig of the delicious golden beverage; "I must say I've never had the pleasure of having a crème soda on the house."
"This is compliments of the pretty Dalmatian sitting over there by the door." Mordecai cast a glance in her direction and smiled. He thought he'd recognized her the moment he had walked into the bar, she wore a green bandanna around her neck, and her left ear was solid black while the right one was white as the newly fallen snow during the winter, her eyes were a brilliant shade of green and a splash of black ran part way up her arms and legs. "It's been awhile hasn't it Tracks?" Mordicai growled softly as he approached her table, " I believe the last time I saw you was the New Year's party that Kaz and Bella threw a couple of years back." A smile formed on his muzzle as he sat down across from her. He had missed his old friend and it really felt wonderful to be able to talk to her again.
"It has been a while hasn't it?" Tracks growled softly, "It's good to see you again Mordicai I see you have the crème soda that I brought for you." A smile formed on her muzzle as she watched him take another sip.
"Yes thank you very much for the soda." He barked, as he met her gaze, "That was very kind of you." He took a long sip from his bubbly and looked at her. "So what's new with you anything exciting happen in the last couple of years?"
"Do you remember back at the party that I said I was applying to go to school at the New York Academy of Art?" She asked her tail wagging happily behind her.
"Did they accept you?" He asked a smile forming on his muzzle as he awaited her response.
"They sure did!" she yipped excitedly, "Term hasn't started yet so I thought I'd come and visit this place, relive some memories."
"Well congratulations Tracks that's awesome I'm so happy for you." Mordicai growled as he held up his soda, "I'd like to propose a toast to new beginnings."
"To new beginnings and reuniting with friends." She replied tapping her glass against his soda. "Well I have to get going Mordicai it was so good to see you again."
"Same here Tracks I really enjoyed catching up, you take care of yourself alright."
"I will Mordicai, you take care ok I'll see you again sometime."
A smile crossed her muzzle as she gave him a hug goodbye, he wished that they could have talked longer but he knew that there would come a day when they would see each other again.
He waved good bye to Tracks and started the short trek back to his apartment, as he walked down the lonely dark streets he realized just how lonely he truly felt, he had never tried the dating game during high school simply because he had always focused on his studies. It was then that he saw her standing on the corner.
She was shivering whether it was from fear or the cold he did not know, but what he did know was that she was in trouble and needed help. Never one to leave someone all alone when they needed help, he walked up to her and lightly tapped her on the shoulder.
She gave a slight yelp and looked over her shoulder at him. Mordicai felt his heart melt as staring at him was the most beautiful pair of sea-green eyes he had ever seen. She was a sable with one black ear and one brown. She had a slight hint of fear in her voice as she spoke.
"Excuse me can you help me I seem to have lost my way."
"Where are you headed miss?" Mordicai inquired kindly, offering the Sable a warm kind smile. Wow she sure is beautiful he thought to himself as he looked into her eyes.
"Please call me Angel." She said chuckling softly, "I was on the way home and then I realized I got turned around."
He could tell she was not used to this part of town and would probably get even more lost if she ventured off on her own; the safest thing to do would be to invite her to his apartment for the night and then help her get home in the morning.
"Hey Angel why don't you come over to my apartment, I think that would be the safer option instead of having you trying to find your way this time of night."
"Thank you very much that's so kind of you, I never caught her name." She stated matter of factly; she gave him a warm tender smile never before had she felt as safe as she did in that moment even though they had only just met moments before.
"Oh, my name is Mordicai." He growled softly as he offered his paw for her to shake, "It's really nice to meet you Angel, my apartment isn't that far away."
She grasped his paw and after a firm handshake they departed for Mordicai's apartment, it was a nice condominium located up on the fifth floor of a high-rise building. Mordicai for the most kept his apartment pretty clean, if there was one thing he prided himself it was keeping his apartment clean and neat.
"Well it's not much but do make yourself at home." Mordicai growled softly as he unlocked the door. He walked inside and threw his keys on the coffee table and breathed a sigh of relief as he kicked his shoes off.
"Angel you can help yourself to anything in the fridge, there's a Caesar salad I made the other night as well as some mashed potatoes."
"Thank you very much, that sounds wonderful." she replied grabbing the container from the fridge. She reached up to the cupboard above the fridge and pulled down a bowl, putting some of the salad into it she walked over to the sofa where Mordicai was sitting and started to eat.
A calm silence fell over them the only sounds that could be heard was the crunch of the salad being eaten by Angel, wow she is so cute he thought to himself as he watched her eat. A few more minutes passed before Angel spoke.
"This is really good Mordicai, it's delicious." She gave him a that look that he had seen earlier that evening, the look that said thank you so much for all you have done, i hope to repay the favor someday. He couldn't help but be captivated for a short time. He shook himself out of his trance and cleared his throat.
"Thank you Angel, I never made a caesar salad before last night. Was actually the first time I have ever made one." He chuckled remembering the events of the previous night. Of course the very first time he had attempted to make it work it had ended in complete disaster. It took him another couple of tries before the salad came out the way he wanted it to.
"Your welcome." She replied chuckling warmly, "I think that is the best salad I've ever had in quite a while." She scooted closer to him and smiled, "I just wanted to say thank you for being so kind to me tonight."
"It's no problem really, I just couldn't leave a lovely lady like you out there all alone." He smiled warmly at her and went to grab some Mountain Dew out of the fridge. He sat down next to her and handed her one of the cans.
"Here, do you like Mountain Dew?" He asked warmly as he sat down next to her, she had been awfully quiet ever since she had thanked him for the salad, he hoped that he hadn't offended her in any way.
"Oh thank you, actually there is something I really need to tell you" Angel growled.
"What is it, is everything ok?"he asked in a concerned tone of voice, there was something that was really bothering her and he knew was about to find out what it was exactly.
"Well the reason I was standing on that corner is quite simple, I was being chased by a group of really suspicious people, luckily I lost them and then I made my way to the corner."
"Can you think of any reason at all as to why they would come after you?"
"Not really, i don't understand what they would want with me." She then began to cry tears fell down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around Mordicai.
"It's ok Angel I'll protect you from whoever comes after you, they will never be able to lay a hand on you as long as I am around." He felt a gaze of appreciation coming from her and smiled.
"Thank you Mordicai I do feel much safer with you around." She said giving him a friendly lick on the cheek, "You really are a sweet guy, Thanks again."
A small sheepish chuckle escaped his muzzle and he returned the lick, his nose touching against hers, "Your welcome Angel, I'm just glad I could help."