Sun & Moon

Erin was making an unsatisfied sound as she sank lower into Catalina’s passenger seat. Catalina grinned, knowing that Erin wasn’t exactly mad at her, but that she was certainly annoyed. Catalina had woken her roommate up bright and early- even though Erin’s alarm was about to go off anyways- and convinced her to come with Catalina to pick out a dog.

It had taken a full ten minutes to convince Erin that a puppy wasn’t a bad idea and that since the apartment allowed animals, they should fill it with animals. Erin already had a cat and though Catalina wasn’t fond of cats, she had to admit that the feline stayed out of her way and didn’t destroy anything. The same couldn’t be said about a puppy as Erin had pointed out, but Catalina wanted a dog.

Erin had relented on the condition that Catalina take full responsibility for it, which the girl was willing to do. Plus, it was a free adoption that Alice had told her about. Alice had told her in the office that her sister’s lab had a bunch of puppies and they hadn’t intended on breeding her, therefore didn’t want to make profit off of an accident. Catalina didn’t care- she wanted a dog.

Sunk down in the seat and in an oversized sweater and leggings, Erin sighed. Catalina smiled to herself. She was sure that once Erin saw a puppy, she was going to want it more than anything. No one could say no to a puppy, especially labs. They were impossibly cute, with their floppy ears and individual personalities.

“What if it chews my slippers?” Erin asked.

“You don’t have slippers.”

“Well, what if I want to get a pair?”

“You wear knee highs to keep your feet warm.” Catalina stopped at a stop light, looking at Erin. “You don’t need slippers. And if you get a pair, the dog ruining them will be doing you a favor.”

A disgruntled sound came from Erin but she said nothing more. It was a Sunday morning and it was bright in the windy city. Catalina successfully navigated with her GPS on, learning that she needed to trust in the navigational system instead of getting lost several times around. She hated putting her faith in something electronic but she had little choice. Chicago and Miami were too different.

After fifteen minutes, Catalina finally found the place, but had to park a block away, no available parking right in front of the suburban home. It was breezy but comfortable out, her loose t-shirt caught by the wind, rippling around her like the tide. Both of the girls easily made it to the front of the white gate that was open, balloons with paw prints on them to symbolize the correct house.

A note on the door said to just come in. Catalina looked at Erin who simply shrugged before reaching her hand out and opening the door, letting them in. It was a nice home, simple and neutral as both of them followed the sound of voices into the living room where there where four people an a large pen filled with puppies rolling over one another, both yellow and chocolate colored.

A woman turned around, smiling and offering her hand as she turned away from the mother and daughter talking to whom Catalina guessed was the husband. “Hi, I’m Annabeth.”

“Catalina and this is Erin.”

Annabeth shook both of their hands. She was a woman who looked to be in her early forties, hair cut short just above her shoulders and a light shade of blonde. “Interested in labs, obviously?”

“Absolutely.” The woman gestured for them to go to the pen. There were six puppies in the pen. Two of them were wrestling, one was sleeping and the other three pawed at the gate keeping them inside. “They’re beautiful.”

“Thank you. Roscoe and Reyna had them on accident. The proud parents are taking a well deserved nap!”

With her heart swelling, Catalina bent down, letting the three puppies at the gate nip her fingers as she smiled, playing with their ears. Erin crouched down too, a smile lighting her face as she let a yellow one of the puppies gnaw on her finger lightly. It was endearing and from the look on her face, Catalina knew that her roommate was sold on getting a puppy.

“Can we play with them?”

Annabeth smiled, waving a hand. “Sure, take a handful to the back yard. It’s enclosed so their safe.”

“Hell yeah,” Catalina muttered to herself.

Together, Catalina and Erin somehow managed to carry four wiggling puppies out to the back yard. Immediately Catalina sat down in the grass and put them down, watching as they tore off before doing a circle and coming back to her. Erin did the same, giggling as one of the puppies bit at the sleeve of her sweatshirt.

For ten minutes the two girls played with the dogs. Catalina was rolling around in the grass, getting dirt and grass stains on her white t-shirt as she fake growled at one of the dogs when the glass sliding door opened. She paid it no mind as she rolled over on her back and let two of the dogs jump on her. She made a squealing sound that earned laughter from Erin and someone else.

Turning her head into the grass to look at the door from an upside down angle, Catalina noticed two things. One that the grass was the sky and that Erin was upside down, looking dumbstruck at the new comer. The second thing that Catalina noticed was that said newcomer was Jonathan Toews and he was in jeans and a Chicago shirt, looking at her rolling around in the dirt.

“Oh hey,” Catalina said casually, as though she weren’t covered in dogs, grass and laying on the ground in front of someone she represented professionally. “Dog buying?”

“No, I’m here for the free entertainment.” Even from where Catalina was looking at him upside down, she watched Jonathan’s eyes slide away from her and over to Erin who was standing upright, fingers twisted in the sleeves of her sweater. It was a nervous tick Erin possessed for as long as Catalina knew her. “I’m suddenly very glad I came, though.”

“Yeah, the view is great, isn’t it?” Catalina rolled over on her stomach. There was grass in her hair and a dog was pulling at another strand of her dark hair. She was now looking at them right side up, Jonathan smiling at Erin who smiled back, ducking her head slightly so that her dark hair created a curtain to hide her blush. “Jonathan, this is my best friend Erin. Erin, Jonathan Toews.”

“Hi,” Erin said, lifting her head and holding out her hand. He took it and instead of shaking it, kissed the top of it politely. Neither one of them said anything as he held her hand for a moment. Catalina watched the too before saying loudly, “Uh huh.” Both of them flinched at the sound and Jonathan dropped her hand. Erin instantly crossed her arms, both Jonathan and Erin turning to face her. “Care to play with puppies, Toews?”

If Jonathan was thrown off by her casual behavior, he didn’t show it. He shrugged and walked over, sitting down next to her. One of the chocolate labs ran up to him and he reached out, petting it with a smile. “Have you picked one yet?”

Catalina eyed the small black lab currently roughing up one of his sisters, rolling her over and biting her ears. “That one,” Catalina said proudly. “I want it. It is obviously superior.”

“Catalina, stop talking like that.”

“Like what, Erin?”

“Like you’re from Middle Earth.” Erin trailed over, bending down to pluck the chocolate male that Catalina had been talking about. He was smaller than the rest of them but he was relentless with energy, running around the yard and knocking over his siblings playfully. “It’s weird.”

“So you picked him, huh?” Jonathan hummed lightly, glancing at Erin again as he looked at the few dogs in the yard. “Who do you like, Erin?”

“Me?”

His smile spread across his face. “Yeah. Its obvious Catalina here likes the energetic rough type. I want to know what you think.”

Catalina was enjoying watching them. It was obvious that Jonathan instantly thought Erin was beautiful- and she was. Catalina was always acutely aware of how beautiful Erin was in the most classic way possible. Her face was heart-shaped and her eyes were a particular shade between blue and green that were to die for. And if her face wasn’t perfect enough, her soft words and passionate that exuded when on a particular subject.

“I think,” Erin said slowly, chewing on the corner of her lip. “That this boy here is very sweet and charming. He’s energetic but he likes to paw at your for attention instead of biting you.”

“So you don’t like biters?” Catalina raised her brows and looked the other direction as Erin flushed. Bold. Catalina wanted them to date instantly but she busied herself as Jonathan added, “For dogs, of course.”

“I think that biting means they’re going to chew my favorite slippers. He’s quite gentle and has eyes that are enigmatic.”

Jonathan let out a whistle. Catalina was listening to them as she played with the puppy she wanted. “Impressive word.”

“Thanks.”

When Erin didn’t say anything else, Catalina turned to them, gesturing to Erin. “She’s super smart. School teacher, loves kids. Uses big words and is always right on them.”

Erin was giving Catalina dagger-eyes. “Thank you, Cat.”

“Well, I’ve got my dog so I’m going to go… somewhere else.”

As Catalina picked up her dog and head to the sliding glass door, Jonathan said something to Erin that Catalina couldn’t hear but Erin’s trilling laughter followed her.

Talking to Annabeth and her husband who she introduced as Hector, Catalina convinced them to let her pay for the dog. She handed over money as Hector bent down and tied a blue ribbon around his neck just as Jonathan and Erin both walked in. Jonathan was in fact holding the puppy that Erin had told him was her favorite. Catalina hid her laughter with a cough.

“What are you naming him?” Hector asked, standing up to his full height. “If you don’t mind my asking.”

“Benny,” Catalina said, grinning as she picked up him. His small burst of energy was growing thin and he was blinking tiredly at her, yawning. Her heart was bursting at the seams. “Like Benny and the Jets.”

“Of course it is,” Erin rolled her eyes, smiling. She glanced at Jonathan. “What are you naming this little one?”

He seemed to consider it. “Puck.”

“Puck?”

He frowned at the way Catalina said it. “You have your passions and I have mine.”

“Should’ve named it Erin,” she muttered to herself.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. Puck is good. Probably going to make a few pronunciation errors when yelling at him but it’ll be fine.” Everyone shared a laugh at that. Hector went to tie a blue ribbon around Jonathan’s new dog. Erin was standing next to Catalina watching Jonathan with her light eyes, lashes fluttering every time she blinked, dazed by him. “Well, we’re going to go home now unless anyone has any objections or exchanges in the numerical sense to make.”

“I have to get going too. Going to get this guy to his new home. I’ll probably come by the office soon, I have a few random questions I think you can help me answer.”

Moving towards the door, Catalina wanted to smack him on the back of his had and make him give Erin his number. Unless he had given it to her outside, but as Erin walked with quite countenance, Catalina doubted it. “That’s fine. If I’m not there ask one of the people to call Erin, she’ll know where I’m at.”

“Sounds good.” Jonathan glanced at Erin, giving her a smile that was not at all like the one he gave Catalina. “It was nice to meet you.”

“You too.”

Catalina watched him walk away, pausing to look at Erin whose eyes were following him. Catalina made a sound that got stuck in her throat. “You two are the most clueless people I’ve ever met.”

“What? What did I do?”

“Nothing, but next time I try and get someone to exchange numbers with you, I’m going to use an airport landing strip and those glowy things they wave.”

"Traffic batons, Cat."

"Glow things is fine."