This is in the same world as "Fresh Air," which I really need to get back to...
Public critique is fine.
The German Shepherd awoke to warm sunlight and birds chirping. Shiloh would have been eager to get up on his day off, were it not for memories of last night weighing him down. He and his friend Sherry had gone to a club and he met a vixen named Jasmine. She was laughing at all his jokes and he was intoxicated by her company. That great start was interrupted by his phone ringing. His mother was at home, drunk again. She had fallen and hit her head on her dresser, leaving herself with a nasty, bleeding gash and needing a ride to the hospital. However much he wanted to stay with the fox, Shiloh was not one to suggest to his mother that she call someone else for help. He had forgotten to get the fox's number when he hastily excused himself for the night. On top of that, some impressive-looking wolf had been hovering all night with his sights set on the same woman. So, even if he stumbled into her in the near future, Shiloh assumed the worst: She'd be unavailable.
He sat up on the edge of his bed and leaned his head into his paws for about ten seconds to collect himself. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." With that, he stood and walked to the bathroom where he brushed his teeth. He sighed, thinking of the red fox. As they had talked, he had fallen into her amber eyes, coaxed along by the sheen of her jasmine scented fur. He now missed both scents of Jasmine. He grabbed a brush, touched up his fur a bit, and stumbled to the kitchen for breakfast.
Shiloh was a fair cook, but he was hardly in the mood to put effort into his morning meal. He opened the fridge, looking for his leftover pizza. It was gone. Grizztof must have munched it before work today. The Malamute would almost always replace whatever food of Shiloh's he stole, but that didn't help the Shepherd now. Having not found anything easy in the fridge, Shiloh resorted to the freezer. Aha! Eggos! He'd toast four of those and drown them in butter and syrup. A few minutes later, his meal was ready, and he poured himself a glass of milk. He took it to the living room, set the food on the thrift-store coffee table and his self on their cheap cloth couch.
Monday morning is not exactly a good time to find something interesting on the television, so Shiloh popped a Blu-Ray disc of his favorite cartoon - Alpha Team - into the player, pushed play, and went to work on his plateful of waffles.
Once he finished his breakfast, he noticed he had gotten some syrup on his muzzle, so it was back to the bathroom to wash his face. He mixed the hot and cold for a nice warm water temp, doused a washcloth, and wiped all around his maw. He noticed he had some crustiness around his nose and eyes and took care of that, too. When he was done, he stared in the mirror for a bit at his sad face and wallowed in self-pity. He hadn't been in a relationship in six months and he just blew the best shot he may have ever had. Realizing sulking was easier when laying down, he dragged himself back to the couch.
With his sour mood and no more food, his cartoon wasn't able to hold his attention anymore. He shut things off and just laid on the couch staring at the ceiling. He knew he didn't have to do anything today, but he recognized that he'd have to do something. The clock on the wall caught his eye. It was 8:30. Grizztof drove a school bus and should have been back to the apartment by now. Shiloh got up and went about tidying up.
Grizztof came in the door about ten minutes later than his norm. He had stopped for groceries, including replacement pizza. Not being a fan of clubs, Grizztof hadn't gone with his friends last night and had been asleep when Shiloh did make it home. Naturally, then, he was curious this morning. "How'd it go last night. You must have got home late."
"Not as well as you'd think. I met this great girl - a fox, but I had to leave 'cause my mom cut her head bad enough to need a ride to the hospital."
Grizztof didn't care for Shiloh's mother. She was a bitter old shut-in whose best friends were found in shot glasses. Getting to what he cared about, he asked, "You going to call her?"
Shiloh gave a short nervous laugh. "Funny thing, I forgot to ask her number."
The Malamute's eyes flared in disbelief. "You what?" after smacking his forehead with a paw, he continued, "How could you forget that?"
"Um, look, don't bug me about it. I've been a zombie all morning because of it."
Grizztof's disapproving eyes softened to sad ones for his buddy. Shiloh was one of the nicest canines he'd ever met, but the guy was a little short, a little heavy, and pretty unlucky at love. "Hey, why don't you go out for a walk or something. A little physical activity always helps me unload stress."
With a mopey face, he replied, "Yeah, that's a good idea. I think I'll walk around a couple blocks and hit the Quick Paw store on the way back. You want anything?"
"Naw, I'll probably be zonked out when you get back. Cheer up."
Shiloh found it nice that Grizztof told him to cheer up, even though it didn't help. He put some shorts on, grabbed his wallet, keys, and phone, and left. What he didn't know was that last night, after he left, events unfolded much differently than he thought they would have.
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His time at the club had been going so well. This fox he had met was a peach. Unfortunately, he got the call from his mom and had to cut the night short. "Hey, Jasmine, it was great meeting you. Maybe I can see you again sometime, but I gotta go. It's a bit of an emergency." Shiloh hurried out the door and left for his mother's house.
With Shiloh gone, a tall wolf moved in on Jasmine. "Hey, babe."
The fox was still taken aback that her new German Shepherd friend had ditched her. She was in no mood, and her eye rolling showed it. "Really?"
"You're pretty hot." Peter thought he was off to a good start. "The name's Peter. I'm a chauffeur. I drive around some pretty important people in this town. Good to meet you, um....." He paused for her name.
"Gotta go."
Peter had never heard the name "Gottago" before. As he stifled his laughter at the girl's silly name, he noticed she was leaving. He didn't want that, so he grabbed onto her arm firmly to stop her.
Jasmine whipped around and glared up into the wolf's eyes, very angry and very afraid. "Take a hint, you creep!" She tossed her drink in his face.
He raised a hand as if to slap her, but his wrist was grabbed from behind by a tall white wolf. Sherry twisted hard and Peter winced. "Hey, hey, hands off!"
Sherry growled in his ear, "That's not how you treat a lady. Apologize."
"Hey, we was just making conversat-" he felt a sharp pain when Sherry kneed him in the back. He quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, lady," and demanded, "Now let me go."
Another growl in his ear instructed him to leave, and while Peter could be pretty dense, he realized he was outmatched and quickly made for the exit with his tail between his legs.
With that settled, Jasmine's benefactor introduced herself. "The name's Sherry. You ok?"
"Well, yeah, sort of. I was until about five minutes ago. I mean, you saved me, but my night still sucks. I met this guy. I thought he was pretty cool, but he just bolted. All I got was some good conversation and his first name: Shiloh."
"Shiloh? A German Shepherd?"
"Yeah. You know him?"
"I met him here tonight. Um, that doesn't sound right. Well, he's my friend. I've known him since we were pups. That doesn't sound like him, though - to bail like that."
"Well, he got a phone call and left really quickly. He said it was an emergency."
"I'd bet you anything he just spaced getting your number and is going to kick himself when he realizes what he missed."
Jasmine grabbed one of her darkly-furred arms with her opposite paw, looked away shyly, and said, "You think so? 'Cause I really liked him. He's a lot nicer than most the guys I meet around here."
"Think so? I know so. It's going to be great - giving him a hard time about this one." Sherry had to laugh a bit. The fox didn't really appreciate her chuckling. "But, yeah, he probably just forgot. Really. Hey, Hon, let me give you his number. Just in case you do want to give the guy another shot."
"Yeah...that's a good idea...just in case."
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Shiloh had just walked out of the Quick Paw with a bag of jerky, some barbecue potato chips, and a large Dr. Pepper from the fountain. As he started back toward home, his phone rang. He figured Grizztof had thought of something he wanted at the store, but when he looked at the incoming number, he didn't recognize it. "Hey, Shiloh here."
"Um, yeah."
It sounded like The vixen from last night. Shiloh's fur bristled with excitement. He gulped nervously.
"We were at the party last night. I was kinda mad when you left without asking my number. Well, I met your friend and we got to talking. She's a nice lady. So, she gave me your number. I don't usually do this, but you wanna meet me for dinner tonight somewhere?"
He wagged his tail and thought, "God yes!" but replied, "Yeah, that'd be great."
She was pretty happy, too. Jasmine said, "Cool beans," and they continued talking.
