Posted by General Calvin Alexander Harris (Commandant - Colonial Customs and Defence Authority) in An Unexpected Date

Posted by General Calvin Alexander Harris (Commandant - Colonial Customs and Defence Authority) in An Unexpected Date

Posted by Civilian Molly Holloway (CEO, Holloway Heavy Industries) in An Unexpected Date
The day had been a busy one.

It had been a good thing that Molly had used the week that it had taken her and Lucas to reach OED V as a vacation, as when she finally walked into the office the next morning after landing, her job had swamped her. Sure, she had changed offices, even changed planets, but HHI didn’t care. It was business as usual, the moment her feet had walked into the company’s lobby. Even more so, with all the people that had wanted to welcome her back, which on one hand had been nice, but on the other, an incredible waste of time.

So, when 1700 hit, Molly had walked out, rolled her eyes at the fact that her uncle had left early for the day (could she even had done that too? Or had that been why there had been more on her plate in the afternoon?), and walked out of the building, hoping to get maybe a hot bath before Calvin got home.

The thought accompanied Molly until the moment she opened the front door to her and Calvin’s house, only to be greeted by Boomer, Cal’s old black Labrador, who uncharacteristically barked at her.

Halfway across the house, Calvin heard the bark and swore to himself. “Of course the damn woman is early!” He smiled, shaking his head. While relieved that the old dog seemed to understand his assignment, it didn’t change the fact that she might see something.

“Hey buddy, what’s wrong? It’s just me you goofball.” Molly said with a smile as she tried to get past the large dog, only for him to step in front of her and bark at her again. Was something wrong? “Is everything okay?” She tried to kneel down and pet him, but the action only resulted in more barks, and in Boomer pushing her against the door, scratching his front paws on the wood of the door frame. “Boomer? You’re scaring me buddy.” But the barks continued, although Molly could see his tail happily wagging on his backside.

“Calvin?” Molly shouted to the seemingly empty house, hoping that her husband could at least help her in the door, if not even explain to her what was going on. Her gaze scanned what she could see of the other rooms in the house past the foyer, hoping for a quick answer, as Boomer barked once more and nuzzled her against the front door again, not letting her through. Until her eyes landed on what seemed to be a wicker picnic basket on the kitchen table. Molly could barely make it out through her position the living room, but she wondered what it was doing there. The basket, the blanket next to it, all seemed oddly familiar, until she finally caught on.

“Wait… do you want me to step outside again?” Boomer barked excitedly and wagged his tail faster. “Alright, alright.” Molly said, shaking her head in disbelief. Opening the front door, she stepped back outside, closing the door behind her.

The second the door shut behind Molly, the pocket door from the foyer to the kitchen suddenly hissed shut, blocking her view. Molly heard the sound of running feet across the oak wood floors from the kitchen into the back of the house.

There was a smirk on her face when she begrudgingly pressed the doorbell.

Molly

Moments after Molly hit the bell, she would hear Calvin shout from across the house. “Hold on a minute, I’m…” There was a loud thud; the door leading into the family room exploded with around three dozen of what Molly would recognize as Boomer’s assortment of balls, and the sound of Calvin swearing. “Dammnit, Boomer! Are you TRYING to kill me?! Stop leaving your fracking toys all over the…” Harris stumbled into the foyer at that moment and, seeing Molly through the window, tried to immediately move more smoothly than when he first appeared.

“Oh…” The man actually blushed. “… you can come…” He paused and looked down at the dog. “Did you seriously kick her out!?! Boomer, it’s her house too!” Without another word, Calvin reached over and opened the door. “As you can see…” The former Marine began as he motioned to the room and the corresponding mess. “… the best laid plans of mice and men don’t mean jack when they meet the incredible destructive force that is a 16-year-old Lab and his crap. I swear, your boy there is trying to knock me off!” Harris glared down at the salt & pepper pup… who smiled back proudly, without a care in the world.

When Calvin opened the door he was met with Molly’s raised eyebrow and a side smirk on her lips. “My boy?” She replied in a mock serious tone. “If I didn’t know any better Calvin, I’d say you’re trying to blame your clumsiness on Boomer.” Molly crouched beside the old dog. “Isn’t that right, Boomer?” She said, petting first his head and then behind his ears. “I know. He’s being mean to you, isn’t he? Yeah… I kno–” Molly’s word was cut short by a small shriek followed by laughter as the Boomer licked her nose.

“So… um…” Calvin said with a smile before kissing his wife. “… you’re home early, Sweetie. We didn’t expect you for another 20 minutes.”

Calvin & Boomer

“We?” Molly’s eyebrow was raised again, as she stood up and dried her nose on the sleeve of her coat. “Oh, so is that why your dog kicked me out of our house? Because you were not expecting me this early?” She said with a smile. “Did you put him up to that?” Molly turned to the old Lab. “Did he put you up to that?” Boomer wagged his tail happily and barked again. “I see.” Molly said playfully glaring at Cal. “Can’t a girl be home a little early after being away for so long, anymore?” She said with a wink.

Molly