***HELP WANTED***

Dog Sitter/Handler

Trained working dog in need of basic care while owner is away on travels. Feeding, watering, walking in addition to assistance with service tasks. 

Pay is $250/wk. If interested, contact Fate Presor at BR5-1212. Serious inquiries only. Allergic need not apply.

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Fate heard the knock at the door and hustled over to the chair where she'd be sitting. Her gun was stuffed down against the cushion, not that she expected to need it. But you never know. Shepherd was lying near the window until he heard the knock, at which he stood, stretched, and made his way over to the door with narrowed eyes. Another reason she probably wouldn't need a gun. The dog was still adjusting to life in the city; there had been a couple attempts to get him outside, but it seemed overwhelming. Anyone who caused trouble would no doubt be the recipient of several days of pent up canine energy.

Fate opened the door to reveal a young Italian man with his hands in his pockets. He was... perhaps 18? 20 at most? His eyes darted quickly, roving over Fate's face, body, clothing, and moving to her apartment. He flashed a grin and took Fate's hand, raising it somewhat clumsily to his lips.

"She's beautiful AND she's rich! Itsa freakin' miracle. Name's Ludo- only my mother calls me Ludovico- Ludo Bianchi. Where's the pooch, eh?"

Fate smiles politely at the young man, and she didn't want to project her uncertainties on anyone...after all, this was Shepherd's show and she truly believed him smart enough to pick his own handler. 

"Hello Ludo. I'm Fate. And this is Shepherd," she says, stepping back and revealing the dog. 

Ludo reached out nonchalantly and ruffled the fur on Shepherd's head. A slight growl from the dog led him to pull his hand back.  Chuffing slightly, Shepherd raised a single paw, which Ludo reached down and, surprised, shook a couple times. He blinked a couple times and seemed to regain his mental balance. 

"So uhhhh, we gonna go inside? Usually not so forward with a pretty lady ifyaknowwhatImean, right? But you know what I'm talking about. You probably got some questions and stuff."

"Of course, come in. I haven't been here long, please excuse the state of the place," she says, gesturing at moving boxes and blank walls. "Have a seat. Please help yourself to refreshments there on the coffee table. So," she says, watching as the young man poured himself some iced tea from a pitcher and grabbed a cookie. "Are you an experienced dog handler? Any background or training with animals, in particular?"

Ludo found himself in the middle of a crumbly cookie crisis. Did she wait to ask him a question as soon as his mouth was full? The cookie practically disintegrated and it fell down the front of his suit. He froze for a moment, unsure what to do, before flicking the crumbs in the direct of Shepherd, who just stared at him. 

"I-"

He paused for a moment, remembering his mouth was full. 

"... well, no. Never really had a pet. I mean I had an aunt who had a cat, but she's dead now. They're both dead, actually. But I figure I'm bright enough to figure out how to handle a dog. I'm tryin' to make my way in the world and 250 beans a week for a dog? That's a shit- I mean, that's a lotta scratch. For a thousand bucks a month I'll clean your place here with a toothbrush, ya know? Your ad said like feeding, watering, walking. I figure that with all my other irons in the fire I can make some time mornings, evenings, whatever. Although now that I know I'd be working for a freakin' knockout I can be over here all day and all night, ya know?"

He grinned widely. 

Fate fought the urge to roll her eyes. "I see. Well that narrows my questions down quite a bit...do you have references, of the professional or personal variety?" she asks, already filing this guy at the back of her mental file cabinet in a folder labelled 'In Case Of Emergency Only'. Glancing at Shepherd, she could see that he wasn't overly impressed, either.

"I mean, I do some good work all over this city. It's not like dog-work, but I've gotten a bunch of jobs done for a bunch of guys, if you know what I mean. Helped out some real big shot Earners, right? I'm sure they'd vouch for me. I'm sure I could handle the pooch there. Right, poochie? We'd be good friends huh?"

Shepherd turned his head and simply looked at Fate.

Fate opens her mouth to respond when a knock sounds at the front door. Smiling, she switches gears.

"We certainly appreciate your time today, Ludo. There are five more interviews to get through before a decision is made, but we'll certainly keep you in mind," she says as she stands and extends her hand. "You'd be available immediately, I presume?"

Ludo stood, smiling.

"Oh yea, I'm always around. Here's my number."

He pulled a pen from his pocket and wrote his name and number on the back of a small piece of paper. 

"Call me about the dog there- see ya buddy! We're gonna be pals, huh? Or hey, you know, call me for dinner. Or breakfast."

Winking, he exited the apartment. You could hear him talking to someone about there, but the apartment door swung shut behind him.

Shepherd looked up at Fate for a moment before trotting over to the door. As he reached the door he raised his nose and began growling. Fate approached the door cautiously. 

Opening the door, Fate is greeted by the sight of a very old man. He reeks of liquor and looks as if he's slept on a heap of trash. Fate can't help but stare at his yellow, tobacco stained teeth as he begins to speak.

'Well Goddamn, look at this filly! Ha! Newspaper ad says you need someone to let your dog out from time to time so he can take a shi..."
Without warning, Shepherd blows past Fate and launches himself at the dirty man, snapping up a mouthful of coat collar and shaking his head back and forth violently. As he does so, earrings, watches, and a heroin pipe go clattering to the walkway. Fate grabs Shepherd by the scruff and pulls him backwards and away from the man, but not before Shepherd has lifted his leg and urinated on the man's pants. Shoving the dog inside and pulling the door back closed, Fate reaches down to help the grimy guy up. 

"Sorry about that. Here, for your troubles," she adds, pulling $50 out of her slacks and tucking it into the front pocket of his shredded coat. His face is dark red and he looks as if he's about to start delivering threats, so Fate closes that avenue before he can travel on it.
"Judging by the jewelry that isn't yours and the pipe that clearly is, I think we both know how this would end if I called the cops. Have a nice day, Sir," she says, closing the door in his face.

Old Dave hocks a loogie and spits on the floor of the hallway.

"You'll be lucky Old Dave doesn't report you for that wolfayours! Menace to society, God damn it."

Standing, he sticks the money in his pocket before ambling off down the hallway. 

Fate sat with her legs crossed flipping through a newspaper. Shepherd lay contentedly at her feet. He'd been sleeping quite a bit, recovering from his time alone in the woods after his escape. Eventually, he would try to push the woman- "Fate"- to take him outside more. But for now? Shepherd rolled lazily on his side and happily exhaled. A gentle knock on the door roused him from his slumber. He stood up, stretched, and made his way to the door, waiting for Fate to open it.

A young woman in her early twenties stood outside. Her relatively short blonde hair was tied behind her head by a light blue ribbon that matched the simple dress she was wearing. Her eyes were a lush, vibrant green and they shone with warmth and intelligence. Her mouth immediately curled into a smile as the door opened. Her voice was bright and clear.

"Good afternoon, Miss Pressor. My name is Evelyn Waters. I hope I'm not too early for our interview..."

Smiling in return, Fate answers. "Not at all, come right in! You can call me Fate," she says, extending a hand and guiding the young woman inside. Shepherd didn't wait for an introduction; immediately besotted by the lovely girl, he emitted a single high-pitched whine, nudged her hand, and sat at her feet. 
"Well now, someone sure likes you," Fate says, relieved by the vast improvement over the last interviewee. "Shall we sit? There's tea and cookies, if you'd like," she offers politely.

The demure young woman seemed to brighten as Shepherd nudged her hand. Evelyn dropped down immediately to her knees in front of him to get on his eye level and gently reached out to stroke his face.

"My goodness! He's beautiful!"

Shepherd seemed to puff out his chest a bit as he turned his head to look up at Fate. His mouth opened, relaxed, as his tongue hung out of it slightly. After a few moments petting Shepherd, she stood and smoothed her dress down, which fell slightly below her knee. 

"Tea would be lovely, thank you."

Evelyn walked over to the couch and shrugged off the shawl she was wearing, revealing her bare shoulders. She didn't seem like a particularly powerful girl; her body had an ethereal quality to it that manifested in the grace of her walk. Evelyn sat down on the couch across from Fate's chair while Shepherd sat off the side, turning his head to look at each woman as she was speaking.

"I'm sure you have a few questions for me, but I have to ask before we begin. Is Fate your given name? Or did you choose it for yourself? It's very striking, if you don't mind me saying so."

Fate smiled at the compliment. "Thank you, yes, it's my given name. Did I hear yours correctly? Evenlyn? That's a lovely take on the traditional 'Evelyn'. So tell me, Evenlyn, what makes you the lady for the job? Besides the fact that Shepherd takes a shine to you," she says, laughing a bit as she pours tea and tosses a stray cookie crumb over to Shepherd. He sniffed it disapprovingly, and proceeded to ignore it, as it had flown out of the first gentleman's mouth.

Evelyn laced her fingers in her lap and glanced down.

"I- oh goodness, I must have misspoken on the phone. I'm afraid it's just the traditional Evelyn. I don't think I could pull off something like "Evenlyn", although now that I hear it out loud I can see your point. Perhaps it will be my alter ego someday... but I'm rambling."

Taking a breath, she earnestly smiles again.

"Well, I do have good experience with dogs. My aunt actually runs a kennel and I used to spend quite a bit of time there when I was a girl. I don't have any official experience or certification or anything; I don't want to mislead you on that front. But we used to visit the kennel quite a bit to help with grooming, feeding, exercising, and training. Not that this boy here looks like he needs anymore training!"

Shepherd sat up and puffed out his chest proudly again as he looked from Evelyn to Fate.

"Unfortunately, there's been a falling out with my mother's side of the family. My mother remarried a few years after my father died and... well, let's just say my mother's family didn't approve. He's not at all what they wanted. And my mother's side is where all the money is. Well, my stepfather got hurt a couple years back and can't work anymore, so now Mother is trying to have her cake and eat it too; the money's just not there. There's no way I'll make enough to keep up the way we were living before, but at least we'll have something."

Evelyn raised a hand to her cheek and smiled coyly.

"And here I go rambling about family history. I just thought you should know why I want the job so badly."

Honesty was rare in New York, and even more rare in Fate's line of work. "I have to admit, Evelyn, that you're a very strong candidate. I have three more interviews but in the event that they don't work out, are you available immediately?" Fate asks, quite pleased to find someone with so much potential, and whom the dog clearly approved of. It wasn't a difficult job, and if Shepherd were a more typical dog, Fate would have dismissed the girl based on her small frame. But Shepherd wasn't typical. 
No, not at all.

"Yes, immediately would be great. If you don't have any other questions for me, could I ask one of you? It may be a bit... prying, so you certainly don't have to answer if you don't want to."

She waved a hand, gesturing toward Fate.

"You're a young woman, living alone here in the city in this relatively simple apartment but paying a substantial amount of money for someone to watch your dog. Now he's obviously a fantastic dog, not trying to say he isn't worth it... part of me thinks that you're family is wealthy. But then why live in this simple apartment? And if you're from a wealthy family here in the city, why haven't I heard of you?"

Her eyes were shining, curious. There was an intellectual tenacity to her, even if there did seem to be a lack of physical toughness.

"So then I was wondering if you make all this money yourself. And what kind of business you were involved in, if you were."

The silence hung in the air between them for a moment.

"I can obviously think of a few things. I'm not disapproving, mind you. There's a few things I wouldn't do for money, but depending on what exactly you do, maybe it's something I could help with? If it's an adventure? And if it's none of my business I'm sorry. I just figured I would ask. I really need this job, but I wanted to know who I was getting in bed with."

Her pale cheeks immediately flush bright red.

"Met-metaphorically speaking, of course."

Fate's cheeks immediately match Evelyn's shade of red. She coughs into her hand and forces her brain to move away from the fact that the woman was a looker.

"Uhm...Yes. Well," she stammers before collecting herself. "I wouldn't call Shepherd a service dog, per se...but he is a working dog. He's trained to do tasks, which you could most assuredly assist him with," she says, quickly calculating what she should and shouldn't say. 
"Let's put it this way. You know what the base pay is, and what the base job entails. There are...opportunities...for advancement in both areas, although not everyone out there would care to...hmm...dabble in such things. I believe, as a local, you are familiar with the various 'businesses' here in New York?" She asks, leveling a knowing gaze on Evelyn.