Chapter Text
Chapter 13
When the work day was over, Ron reminded Flip of their conversation at lunch. Not that he needed it since he had it in the back of his mind all that afternoon. He called Cherise from the station to let her know that he was heading her way. The whole drive he was thinking of was he could tell her how he felt. Maybe when she opened the door. Or at the park. Or when they got back to her place. He was disappointed in himself when he reached her apartment door and still hadn’t come up with a plan.
He could hear barking from the other side of the door while he knocked. After a few moments he wondered if she even heard him over the dog. It wasn’t until the sound of claws scratching the door on the other side reached his ears that he heard Cherise fussing.
“I know, I know. I’m coming.”
She opened the door and Flip couldn’t help but laugh at the sight before him. Her locs seemed disheveled, like they were escaping her ponytail. Her eyes told him that she had a long day even though she was smiling. And under one arm was a golden yellow ball of fluff with large brown eyes and a panting mouth.
“Hey!” Cherise beamed.
“Hey,” Flip smiled back.
The pup, feeling left out of the exchange, began to squirm in Cherise’s grasp. “Come in quick so I can put him down.”
Once the door was shut she put the puppy down and enveloped Flip into a hug.
“Thank you for coming. I really appreciate it,” Cherise said as her arms were wrapped around his waist.
He felt warm inside his chest and started to enjoy how she felt pressed against him. He was about to wrap his arms around her to continue hugging her when she released him and stepped back.
“You don’t need to thank me,” Flip smiled. “It’s nothing. Besides, I want to help. Can’t have two trouble makers running around town.”
Cherise huffed at his joke. “Well you came at the perfect time.” She gestured to what looked like the remains of a pillow on the living room floor. “Any longer and he might have destroyed my whole couch.”
The fur ball in question came bounding in from the kitchen at full speed and ran smack into Flip’s leg, unable to slow down in time. Flip squatted down to let the dog sniff his hand. “What’s his name?”
“I . . . Haven’t decided yet,” Cherise answered sheepishly.
“What?” Flip looked up at her. “He needs a name if you’re gonna keep him. Especially if we’re gonna train him.”
Cherise chewed on her lip before asking, “What about Baby? That’s what I’ve been calling him this whole time.”
“Sure if you want him to be spoiled.”
“Well, what’s your suggestion?”
“Hmm,” Flip contemplated while scratching the dog’s ears, taking a long look at him. The name of his father’s hunting dog came to mind. “Bubba.”
“Ew. Sounds too Southern,” Cherise joked as she squatted next to Flip to rub the puppy on the head.
“No it doesn’t,” Flip argued.
“Hey there Flip,” Cherise mocked with a thick Southern, country accent. “My name’s Bubba Joe. But you can call me Bubba. My pa goes by Bubba Joe. See, Mama named me after him so technically I’m a junior. People started callin me BJ, but mama said that’s a dirty name.”
Flip couldn’t hold back the laughter that erupted out of him. “Fine. Bubba is out.” While Flip was thinking, the pup started to nibble on his fingers. After a few moments, the puppy bit him too hard. “Oh shit!” he yelled as he pulled his hand away.
“Baby, no!” Cherise fussed as she pulled the dog towards her. “Sorry. Do you need a bandaid?”
Flip examined his finger. He could see the indentation of teeth marks but the skin wasn’t broken. “No, I’m fine. Just caught me by surprise. He’s still teething, I think. It happens. We can come up with a name later. We should head to the park soon to get as much time in before dark. When do you think you’ll be ready to go?”
“Here in a little bit. I need to pack his things.”
“I’ll help you. We can ride in my truck if you’d like.” In a few minutes, they were on their way.
. . . . . . . . . . .
Flip could tell that Cherise was going to have her hands full with this dog after the first twenty minutes. As soon as they had gotten the dog on the leash, he had gone wild with excitement. Yanking this way, pulling that way, tangling his leash around his and Cherise’s legs. Chances are this was his first time outside, let alone a park. When the dog had tangled himself around Cherise for the third time, nearly choking himself from pulling, Flip decided that enough was enough.
“Okay. First thing’s first. You’re giving him too much slack. You need to shorten his leash. He has to learn to stay close to you instead of wandering around.” Flip showed Cherise how to bundle the leash so that she wouldn’t tangle her hand but she still had control. The pup seemed disappointed that he didn’t have as much freedom anymore as he sat by Cherise’s side. But the disappointment melted away as Cherise bent down to pet him.
“Such a handsome boy,” Cherise cooed. “Who knew a face this cute could destroy a pillow?”
Flip chuckled, “If you think about it you two are perfect for each other.”
“How so?”
“Both of you were making a mess when I met you.”
“Shut up,” Cherise replied, then rolled her eyes playfully and elbowed Flip. “Now that he’s got less slack what do we do?”
Now he has to learn not to pull on the leash.”
For the next few hours, they practiced walking the golden pup. Slowly but surely, he was getting used to the short lead and was less jittery. He would even stop walking as soon as Cherise did and look at her, waiting for a signal that it was okay to start walking again. The sun had started to set and they decided it was time to stop for the day.
“You know,” Cherise started as the three of them walked together, “you’re a good teacher.”
“Really?” Flip asked, surprised. He didn’t think that he was doing anything special. Just what he would tell any friend that had an untrained dog. Any friend with brown eyes and plump lips, a smooth warm voice and long dark locs going down their back. Any beautiful friend that made him smile, that got him to laugh and enjoy small moments. Any friend that he thought about the past few nights before he fell asleep. Yeah, any friend.
“Yeah,” Cherise answered, breaking Flip’s train of thought. “You could start your own business training dogs.”
Flip shook his head. “No. I wouldn’t have the time. Too busy with work. Got cases to solve. Nothing would get done if I’m training dogs all day.”
“Yeah it would. You could train them as police dogs. Help you solve crimes. Like that cartoon with the dog and the kids.”
“You mean that show with the talking dog and that ugly hippie van? Hell no.”
“Oh come on. It would be cool. You‘d be in a truck with the dog in the front seat. You’re both wearing shades to look cool. I’ve even got a name,” Cherise said with a mischievous grin.
“Oh god. Let’s hear it,” Flip sighed dramatically.
“Flip and Beau.”
“Beau?”
“I don’t know, it just came to me.” She looked down at the puppy between them. “Beau.”
“Better than baby,” Flip joked.
“Better than Bubba,” Cherise retorted. “I like the sound of Beau. What do you think?” She directed her question at the puppy. He wagged his tail enthusiastically. “Beau it is.”
They had made it back to the parking lot.
. . . . . . . . . .
Once they had made it back to Cherise’s door, Flip remembered what he wanted to say earlier. He didn’t want to leave without saying anything. “Can I use your bathroom?” he blurted. Not what he wanted to say.
“Sure,” Cherise answered. “The door on the right.”
As soon as he entered the bathroom he shut the door behind him and groaned inwardly, so Cherise couldn’t hear. It took him five minutes of pep talk in the mirror to work up the courage to walk out and complete his mission.
Cherise was on the couch watching tv while Beau lay on the floor, drifting to sleep. “Hey,” Cherise called, “They have that cartoon with the dog and your favorite van.”
“Ha ha. I’ll drive that thing when hell freezes over.”
“Wanna watch with me?” Cherise asked. She was looking at him. Big brown eyes he could get lost in.
“Y-yeah,” was all he could mutter while heat spread up his neck. He sat on the couch next to her, so close that their thighs touched. He raised his arm over the back of the couch so that it stretched out behind her. His hand resting on the back next to her other shoulder, almost touching.
They watched as the kids in the cartoon ran around with their talking dog. Being chased by ghosts, groovy music in the background. They laughed together at the jokes the characters made and commented on the ending, learning that the ghost was a man in a mask. Flip made a few jokes of his own about how terrible the kids’ detective work was and how he would’ve solved the case.
“You talk about work too much,” Cherise joked.
“Maybe,” Flip smiled. Maybe now was the right moment. He turned his head to look at her. “Are we going to talk about this?”
Cherise turned to face him. “This? What do you mean?”
“Us.” They stared at each other for what felt like too long to Flip. He didn’t like how quiet she was being. Maybe he read things wrong.
“ Are we an ‘ us ’?” Cherise finally broke the silence.
Fuck. What do I say? Does she not want this? “Only if you want to be.” Flip hoped this would save him from total embarrassment. The heat from earlier had returned and reached his ears.
“What do you want?” Cherise asked, staring Flip in the eyes.
She seemed closer now. Was she closer? When had she moved? If I were to lean in, I would be kissing her. Does she want to be this close? His talk with Ron came back to his mind. He didn’t know if he would get another opportunity like this. “I think it’s obvious.” That sounded good, right?
Cherise moved closer. She looked down at his mouth then back up to his eyes. “What if I need you to spell it out for me?”
The heat was all over Flip’s body. She was so close to him. He wanted to grab her waist and pull her to him. It took every ounce of control to keep himself from doing it. He had to hear her say that she wanted him to. He didn’t want to fuck this up. “I’ll name each and every letter if you ask me to.”
Cherise nodded before whispering, “Please.”
It was all he needed. He gently cupped her face with one hand and caressed her hip with the other. Pulling her to him. His lips met hers and it felt like a sunset after a warm day. The kiss deepened when she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. He felt like he was in heaven.
Thank you, Ron.