TITLE: A Man's Best Friend
AUTHOR: Iona
SUMMARY: Liberty missing scene
DISCLAIMER: Nope, I don't own any of them, only the story. The rest I'm just borrowing.
A.N. This is my first ever posted fic, so go easy on me, please. But I do love feedback.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clay put on his coat, turned off the lights in his
office and left. He was about to meet a good friend of
his at the Chateau restaurant for dinner.
He checked his tie in a mirror. It was a little
crooked, so he set it. Now he looked presentable after
a long day of meetings.
He was about three blocks from the restaurant when he
saw her. She looked beautiful. He ran up to her.
»Mac!«
She turned and smiled when she saw him. »Webb, hi.
Looks like we won't meet in front of the restaurant
after all.«
He reached her and they began walking together. »So, I
hear you defended a dog this week,« he teased her. But
it was true!
»Not only a dog, also a sergeant in the Marines. He is
an important dog.«
Clay just laughed quietly at her flat tone, and
stared, urging her to tell the truth.
»To be honest,« Mac continued, »I felt like I was
trying to get Jingo into college.« Clay laughed again.
»Well, my mother wouldn't find that strange at all,«
he told her. »Have I ever told you about Theodore?«
Mac shook her head.
»He was our old dog. The only dog we ever had. He was
a german shepherd. It was me that named him. That was
my first official decision.« Mac saw him smile at the
memory. »Anyway, he kinda took charge of the rugs in
our house. Every time he saw, I have no idea how he
managed that, that a rug was dirty he pulled it
through the whole house to alert my mother and started
barking loudly.« He laughed quietly again. »You can
only imagine the parties we held. Naturally, Theodore
would always spot all the snack crumbs that fell off
our guests and we all had to pull the rugs back to the
reception room in the middle of the party. Well, that
happened only a few times. After that we always locked
him in the upper floor for the duration of the party.«
Clay looked Mac straight in the eyes. »So you see,
dogs can have missions. And I'm sure Sergeant Dutch is
a loyal Marine.«
»Only when there are no ladies present,« Mac
commented.
»Aren't all Marines that way?« Clay asked her
playfully.
»Not all!«
Then they walked in silence for a couple of minutes.
Without any prompting Mac started telling her story,
quietly. »When I was a kid I'd often run away from
home. Not for long, or very far, but I did it often. …
One time I got lost even though I knew all the streets
in the town. I got stuck in some dark back alley,
scared to death. I got even more scared when I touched
something soft. Something that moved. Something that
squirmed when I leaned on it. I was so scared I ran
far away, but I was curious so I went back. I felt so
stupid when I saw it was a small dog. A terrier. He
must've belonged to one of the people in that part of
town – he had a collar – but he was obviously roaming
those streets all the time. When I came back he
whimpered, then slowly approached me and sniffed my
sleeve. I immediately felt better. At least I wasn't
crying anymore. He was so cute. He'd play with me.
When I felt better I dared to come home and he
followed me all the way. He lead me at first, going on
… I don't know … his familiar route. We came to a
street I knew and I went home. He followed me right up
to the door of my house. I was glad to hear that my
mum and dad were quiet now. Before I went back, the
terrier licked me and left. It seemed as if he knew my
house was safe enough for me to come back. I never saw
him again. I didn't even know what they called him.
I've adored dogs every since.«
Clay didn't let the tears out of his eyes, but he was
touched.
»Well, it looks like we have better experiences with
dogs than we'd admit.«
»Yeah,« Mac agreed. »Now that I think about it, I
don't feel so stupid defending that dog.«
»Yeah, but it still sounds… weird,« Clay added.
They just looked at each other and laughed again. Then
they saw they were in front of the restaurant. They
stopped a little, though. Without either of them
having to say it, they knew they didn't really feel
like a dinner in a fancy restaurat anymore.
»Should we go somewhere else?« Clay asked her. She
nodded.
»There's a nice little place nearby. It isn't fancy,
but their dead animals are excellent,« she smiled
affectionately at her joke.
»Mike's Place?«
»Yeah, you know it?«
»Of course. I like their 'dead animals' too.«
Mac already turned to go when he stopped her. »We
can't go there looking like this!«
»Like what?« Mac sounded surprised.
»Dressed like this.« She looked at the two of them.
While her red dress might still look okay in Mike's
Place, Clay was certainly dressed much too much like a
wealthy businessman.
»Oh,« she nodded and stepped towards him. »I'll have
it sorted out in a moment.« She carefully took his tie
off his neck. Then she undid the top few buttons on
his shirt, pulling the collar slightly apart.
He checked himself in a nearby mirror. He did look
better. »I think I better take this vest off too,« he
smirked. He did so, while the vest hung in his hand.
»Where should I put it?«
They were both quiet for a moment, scrutinizing
themselves in the mirror. He was holding his vest like
a gay model while Mac held his coat and suit jacket.
Then she extended her other arm, taking the vest. She
put it on.
»Looks good,« Clay commented. It really did.
»Yeah. I think so too. Can I borrow it?«
»Sure.« He put his jacket back on and took the coat
in his hands. »Now we look good.«
They continued their path towards the cheaper
restaurant, happy with their looks and with their
memories.
A dog barked in the distance.
THE END