"hello?"
"hi. is this the person who owns the dog called.. uh, taffy?"
"yes! have you found him?"
"yep. he's at my house and he's perfectly fine."
"oh, thank god."
"yeah, just one question. who the hell names their dog taffy?"
• • •
two days after l...
i walk to the house where roman supposedly stayed, looking around curiously. i have driven by this part of the city before, but i have never stopped to actually notice anything. it is a pretty place, mostly consisting of white independent houses with at least three floors.
finally i reach the end of the street, seeing a house almost exactly like the others, except for the fact that it had the top floor painted bright teal. i take a step back in surprise, looking at the oddly painted house. slowly, i glance inside. there is an iron gate keeping unwelcome visitors away from the house. suddenly, i hear the familiar beep of my phone, signalling a new text message. i look down: it's from roman.
if you're at my house, or on the way, go towards the back. there's a smaller gate there, which i left open.
~smarty pants
d e l i v e r e d 12:04 p.m
hmm... did he know i am here? or is it just a coincidence? i don't believe in coincidences, but i can't just send him a message accusing him of lying to me about something that doesn't matter at all. i walk to the back and see the gate roman described. on the door is a handwritten note, stuck to one of the bars with double-sided tape. it's written in messy handwriting and takes nearly five minutes for me to understand what is written.
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what the note says:
"if azzy's seeing this, hello! taffy's tied to a tree straight inside and to the right. if it's NOT azzy, then, uh... please don't enter and steal my friend's dog. no, that's not an invitation to steal the dog, Mr. Cahill. :(
~roman ツ
p.s: don't worry, azzy. no one's stealing your dog and the leash is long enough for taffy to run around. :)
p. p. s: i suck at drawing faces.
p. p. p. s: not my problem if you can'tunderstand anything i wrote."
i can't help but laugh at the note, mentally taking a note to make fun of his handwriting when i get the chance. and to ask who mr. cahill is. for some reason, i take the note and stuff it into my sling bag. i walk inside, following his instructions and see taffy, who starts to bark loudly when he sees me. i can't help but smile, kneeling down in front of him as he licks my hand.
"aw, hello, my baby. i missed you," i say, taking off his leash and hugging him as much as it was possible to hug a pug. ha, that rhymed. i grab a hold of his leash, looking up to the windows. for a second, it feels like there is a head peeking through, but i'm probably imagining things. i look away, walking out of the house with taffy trailing behind me.
