THERE! Jason felt it – the reassuring touch of a tongue caressing his ankle.
We’re ready, he thought, placing his toes against soft fur. Without looking, he knew that Gail, his devoted dog, had taken her customary position stretched beneath the breakfast table.
Clad in pajamas, Jason sat across from Carrie, his new wife. After deciding to marry, they’d “eloped” to Niagara Falls, sealed the deal and returned home a week ago. Ever since, the faithful Gail had rescued Jason from a predicament each morning.
Grasping a favorite coffee mug, one with a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey logo, Jason sipped and peered through thick spectacles at his spouse. Carrie stopped sawing on a bacon strip and gave him an approving nod, rippling the golden locks around her smiling face.
“Eat,” she urged. “Otherwise your eggs will turn stone-cold.”
“Sure,” Jason murmured, feeling his fleshy belly flinch. Stalling, he nibbled at a slice of toast. On his plate, the three eggs looked greasy, drippy and toxic. They’d been fried in a blend of “secret ingredients” lovingly taught to Carrie by her mother. No wonder her mom had married four times, Jason realized. The first three husbands probably died from bad food.
Jason finished the final bite of toast. Only the hazardous eggs remained.
Carrie forked up the last of her own eggs. “Delicious,” she declared.
“You said it.” Jason sipped more coffee. Like a wine connoisseur, he swirled the liquid in his mouth.
Carrie checked her watch. “Time to put on my makeup.” She rose, adjusted her housecoat and strode to the bathroom.
Thank goodness! Jason sighed. Once the bathroom door closed, he pushed back his chair, gripped the plate in both hands and placed it on the floor.
Gail pushed to her feet, advanced a step and devoured the three eggs in three quick bites. “Thanks, girl,” Jason told her as on previous mornings. “You’re a better friend to me than I am to you.”
After returning the plate to the table, Jason reached down to stroke his pet’s ears. Gail licked his fingers and offered to “shake hands”.
Jason gripped her paw. “Agreed,” he told her. “Same deal tomorrow.”
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