give paw

It wasn't everyday that Stella didn't feel obligated to get herself dressed up nicely and look like she was expected to. It wasn't everyday that she could just casually walk around the city. Without anything to do, she could do these things. It was a rare day that didn't wasn't expected to show up to a club or a meeting. Today was just a say to herself. Well... kind of. She did have an obligation early that morning, but it was quick. They were supposed to be volunteering somewhere in the city, they didn't have requirements, she always went to an animal shelter (usually the one she adopted her babies from) or to a soup kitchen. There was nothing like serving food to the less fortunate to make her grateful for her forced life. Today went differently, one of the ladies showed up with two puppies, they had been handed off to her and she could barely take care of herself on a good day. Stella, being the person she was, can rarely say no to people without feeling horrible.. and well.. she loved animals. So, she was easily guilt-tripped into taking one of the puppies. She wanted the fluffy one. She wasn’t strong willed, plus the lady was a sweetheart and gave her first choice. She wasn’t sure how Phillip would react to another dog. She already had two dogs, they weren’t exactly small but she loved them anyways. Plus it wasn’t like he could get rid of her any time soon. She came back with the puppy, to their home, got herself un-lady like and grabbed the dogs to go for a walk. Quickly jotting down a message for Phillip to let him know she was going for a walk, just in case he came home early and expected her to be waiting there. Flynn, the Doberman had been with her only a few months before Phillip came into her life. Diva, the pitbull came just a year after they were wed. she couldn’t help herself really, she saw an animal in need and she had to save the puppy. she was a little nervous as she walked the dogs, but they seemed to be very careful with the new one. She stopped in the park, going to the fenced off area for the dogs, and she was glad to see that they were alone. She pulled her phone out and took a picture of the fluffy puppy. was it supposed to convince him to let her keep the little thing? She wasn’t really sure, but at this point did he have a choice? She sent him the picture before quickly typing a message for him. ”a new addition? @ the dog park." she looked it over, second guessing herself, but before she could delete it, she sent it. She put her phone in her pocket, sitting in the shade as she watched the dogs play, the fluff ball timidly trying to play with the older, bigger dogs. She had spunk, Stella could relate somewhat to that. 509 words for PHILLIP NICHOLAS LOVELL Flynn Diva new addition

tippy of caution.

You and I have something different And I’m enjoying it cautiously--------------------

phillip, now, rarely spent nights away from stella and their little canine family but last night, bethany had sent him a message that worried him and one thing led to another. it was the same routine these days. he had been trying to wean himself away from the fiery redhead but it was difficult. it was a challenge that was not just going to happen in one day. he needed his fix of her, a night away from the wife and to pretend that he was not responsible or punctual or that he had a life that he needed to get back to. it was nice to play pretend for a while but phillip, in the end, did have to return back to his house to change his clothes. he knew his wife’s schedule pretty well and he had called her with a bullshit reason as to why he would not be coming home last night. changing out of his clothes from the night before, phillip was adorning his usual attire of a suit and some boring patterned tie. he walked out the door, two dogs on his tail until the door shut and then he was off to the office. the day that he was having mirrored the blandness of his tie as phillip put in only half of his hours before his phone began to buzz on the desk. he furrowed his brows as he picked it up and chuckled to the picture message that his wife had sent him. guess three dogs now. shaking his head, he leaned back in his chair and looked out the window of his large office that had a view of the entire city. it was quite an sight to see but phillip, he would rather be back in the cozy town with his wife. calling his secretary in, he asked that his afternoon and evening be cleared and for everything to be pushed ahead to tomorrow so that he could go home. he wanted to go home, he wanted to be away from the temptation of another phone call of bethany’s and to avoid the usual drinking that came with the office workers after hours.

driving back into the town was a bit of a pain but he sent her a message to let her know that he was on his way. pulling up into the park a good hour later, he got out of the car and scanned the area. instead of approaching her, he pulled out his phone again and snapped a picture of her playing with the three dogs, ”gotcha ;]”, pressing send and then finally approaching. the two larger dogs came running up to him and he had to hold his hand out to stop them from jumping on him and getting dirt on his suit jacket. he decided to discard that on the bench by his wfe’s things and smiled as he approached her, ”so you adopted a dust bunny?”, he teased as he looked to the small, rambunctious dog who also appeared to be skittish because every time phillip got close to it, it bolted in another direction. giving up, he looked over to stella with a smile, ”where did you pick this one up from?”, as she seemed to have a habit of picking up strays.

STELLA JULIET LOVELL, outfit, dog park, 555, <3

Stella didn't know why Phillip didn't come home. She could speculate, she could worry, but she didn't... well, she didn't dwell on it because that would make her feel horrible. Only time she did worry was when he didn't tell her where he was... He was a big boy, he could make his own decisions. The stories from her brother, made her a little more worried..more than she wanted to admit... but it wasn't like she was ever going to admit anything to Phillip and it wasn't like she actually had friends that she could confide in, they all thought she was happily married. She sat there, at the dog park, the dogs were having a blast, and that made her happy. It took her mind off of things, off of the dwelling that would likely happen if she sat there and thought about all of the things that could turn her life upside down. She wasn't sure how long it had been, how long she had been sitting there, but she was alerted by her phone buzzing. she looked down at it as she picked it up, seeing that it was from Phillip. She picked up her phone, looking down at the phone as she opened the image. She was a little surprised that it was her, at this very moment. she twisted her body slightly, to see him standing there. She smirked softly at him, letting out a laugh as he tried to get the puppy to come to him, but she kept bouncing away from him. Finally, he just gave up. She smirked again, hearing his question, she let out a small giggle thinking about the puppy as a dust bunny, then he asked where she had gotten this one from. That was a valid question from him. She knew that. She had gotten Flynn before she even knew of Phillip, she wanted a puppy, and well, she had been pretty excited to get a puppy, it had taken her months to find the perfect puppy. When she had gone to the shelter, there was little Flynn, all scared and alone. No one wanted a cropped up Doberman. When she got in the "greeting" room with him, he walked over, put his head in her lap and his body started to wag with excitement. He was a year old when she found out about her engagement and he wasn't exactly thrilled with the new home or person that he found himself living in. Flynn was her baby and he was pretty spoiled, even three years later, he was her spoiled little baby. Getting Diva was the same way, she just got her at random one day working at the shelter. She playfully rolled her eyes at his question though. "I had a committee meeting today... and one of the ladies, who is so old she can barely care for herself... brought these two puppies in that she acquired from someone.. which is crazy because if she can't care for herself how can she care for two puppies..." she said, pausing realizing she was ranting a little bit. he knew her well enough now, he should know that she had a soft spot for anything baby. she couldn't help but smirk again. "we got the cute one... dust bunny over rat dog any day..." she teased playfully. Normally, Stella wasn't like this, not out and about like this. she was always taught to be so prim and proper no matter what. But, here she was out in public in a pair of boyfriend jeans, and sweatshirt, and her chuck taylors, she felt under dressed and hobo like next to him in his suit and tie combo. This was far from her pencil skirts and her pearls. This was Stella, dressed and acting like a regular twenty-something would be doing on a beautiful sunny day, with her dogs and her husband, just relaxing at the park. She knew her grandparents would die if they saw her dressed so "inappropriately", but that did't matter much at all. She was just so tired of trying to be perfect, she just wanted to be herself. Not to be the perfect house-wife that she had been shaped to be, she was tired of being the perfect daughter, the perfect granddaughter... trying to be a perfect person.... It was utterly exhausting. She just wanted to be herself. But, she also thought that she needed to play all of these roles because it was expected of her. If she just decided one day to not be the person people thought she was, who knows what horrible things could happen. She just couldn't go from prim and proper to laid back and comfortable. But, for this moment, she could take the pearls and pencil skirts off the table and go for jeans and chuck taylors. She looked up at Phillip as she sat on the soft grass, she patted the grass next to her. Maybe she missed him a little bit, she was used to him being there. Not having to have dinner by herself, it was getting better. But, she realized when he wasn't there last night it through her off. she had actually reached for him in the middle of the night and he wasn't there. They weren't perfect, not how people thought they were, but at least they both understood that they weren't perfect. They were better than they had been before, at least they didn't hate each other or resent each other. they weren't that good, but it was a good sign that he was here in the middle of the day. He left work to be here. Maybe she shouldn't think of it in that way, if he had been working all night he probably wanted to go home and sleep. She realized that it didn't matter why he had come back, but what was important was the he was here now, and he seemed okay with the newest addition of the family. 1002 words for PHILLIP NICHOLAS LOVELL Flynn Diva new addition

tippy of caution.

You and I have something different And I’m enjoying it cautiously--------------------

making his wife worry had not been on his list of things to actually worry about when he was with beth. when it was just him and beth, she was all that he could focus on. everything about her pushed him closer to her and away from stella but lately, it had been on the opposite effect. he had been excited to the thought of coming home to stella tonight and had even left his work early after they had been texting for a bit. reaching the dog park, he decided to be a little cuter in his greeting and snapped a picture of her sitting on the grass with two of the three dogs in the background. he smiled, sending it off and waited until he heard her phone chime and he smiled as she twisted around, obviously looking for him. he gave her a wave and then looked down at the little dust ball near her feet. he bent down to reach for the dog but it dashed away and phillip attempted another two times before giving up and turning to his wife with a smile. she was so beautiful with the light shining on her elated face. sometimes, he forgot just how beautiful of a woman he had married. he bent down and gave her a quick kiss to the cheek before smiling to her giggle. it was precious, it really was and it resulted in a small chuckle from himself—”no offense…but she is like a ..moving tumbleweed.”, he commented, looking over to the small canine that he had been referring to. turning his attention back to his wife, he nodded as she spoke, shaking his head with acute disbelief, ”that would be logical reasoning and so, you took the puppy in..”—ah it all made sense now. the lady asked this of stella and stella, being the sweet, generous woman that she was could not say no, ”dust bunny over rat dog.’, he repeated slowly with a chuckle, ”well alrighty, long as we got the good one…’.

he smiled as she patted the spot next to her, looking down at the grass and scrunching his nose. he was not used to this, not used to being this unformal and this relaxed. it bothered him but it intrigued him. he pulled the tie from his neck, giving it a small tug and then pulling the knot until it fell away, dropping it onto the ground next to her and then his jacket was the next thing to come off and dropped onto the tie. he rolled his once ironed sleeves up and tried to positon himself close to her as he sat down, feeling the squishy grass under him. he used his hands as anchors behind him, even brushing his fingers against hers as he had missed that physical contact that she sometimes gave or allowed him to give. turning his head, he looked over to her, ”this is kind of nice…kind of perfect…”, and then he made a daring move and leaned in. his lips met his wife in a sweet kiss before pulling back to the sudden bark of the small dust bunny dog. apparently even that dog knew that this was not a normal thing to see between them. he breathed out a sigh as he turned his head to look at the dog, ”i can’t kiss my wife?’, addressing the dog playfully. he dropped his head with a sigh, ”what if i …got her permission to?’, turning his head to look back at her, ”would that be okay?....to kiss her suddenly, passionately…”, his lips hovering over hers but that damned dog barked again. grumbling, he moved back into his own space, chuckling as the dog seemed satisfied and ran off, ”so did you give the dust ball a name yet?”.

STELLA JULIET LOVELL, outfit, dog park, 647, he's trying!

stella couldn’t stop herself from smirking at his comments, honestly this wasn’t the kind of dog she liked. she liked her dogs with a little substance, like Flynn and Diva, this new one was little, and she knew she didn’t look like that “tough” dog kind of girl, but she was. she knew that it would all sound really strange, here she was, taking this puppy in, when she could have easily put up a fight and resisted the temptation of the old lady and the puppy. but, that wasn’t stella, she was tough, but she still had a hard time telling people no. especially people like that, people that knew nothing about her, that thought she was perfect, that everything in her life was great. she knew that this wasn’t anything like what they were used to, stella did love the park though, she came here quite a bit, at least once a day, if not more. she playfully stuck her tongue out as he wrinkled his nose. she didn’t know if he didn’t like the idea of the grass, or being so close. but, she watched as he essentially stripped away everything that made him into the man he was shaped to be, the tie, the jacket, he was even rolling his sleeves up. it was all so casual for the both of them. she smiled a little feeling his fingers brush against her’s, it was a very…. simple thing to do, but it felt almost natural. she smiled, listening to his voice, as he spoke about this being all kind of perfect. now it was her turn to playfully wrinkle her nose, that word, she was really starting to hate it. he was right though, it was a kind of perfect moment for them. but before she could speak he leaned in for a kiss, her hand came up to rest lightly on his cheek, but before she could even get into it, he was pulling away. that dog. it had to bark at him. she couldn’t help but think along the same lines, this puppy knew something was different. she smirked when he started talking to her, was he really talking to the dog? she was a little surprised where the whole conversation was going, even if it was only one sided, well kind of, every time he got close to her or started to make a move the puppy would bark. she was so intrigued by what was being said, she was delayed when his lips were so close to her, she could feel his warm breath on her face. she started to lean in, but the thing barked again and he moved away from her. she was surprised and disappointed all at the same time. was he really going to play a game like that? she looked at him with disbelief for a moment before realizing the conversation had moved from him and the dog, back to him and her. she shook her head softly at his question. ”not yet…” she said softly. she couldn’t let him get away like that, they always did this. it seemed like they would take a few small steps forward in the right direction and then something happened or something was said and they pulled away from each other. she thought for a moment before deciding she was tired of thinking. ”the day a fluff ball starts ordering you around is the day the world’s gone mad.” she said teasing him. she didn’t let him think about it either, even though she had no control of his thoughts, but it was in the moment and she was the one making a move now. something she was going to start working on. she took another moment, her fingers stretched out to find his before she leaned in, pausing over his lips, hovering, like he had done with her, before she closed to gap. her hand came up again, this time making it too his face as she kissed him, softly at first, sweet, but there was a reason she repeated the word passionate for him. her fingers traced up his jaw line, raking into his blonde hair, disheveling it some as she went. 704 words for PHILLIP NICHOLAS LOVELL Flynn Diva new addition she made her move.

tippy of caution.