Title: Murphy's Law
Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing at all.
Author's Note: I work with dogs for a living, the part about the corn is true. Please let me know what you think, I'm addicted to feedback. On with the story.
Chloe Sullivan was on cloud nine. She had finally landed a key interview in Metropolis at one of the local papers for a part time job. It wasn’t the daily planet, but they were willing to give her a shot at writing a few small articles. At least this would be a chance to work her way up the ladder.
It was strange really, she had been applying for every opening they had for the past year and never once got a return call until now, but she wasn’t about to question her good fortune.
Chloe gazed out at the long road in front of her, completely lost in thought when the sight of something small and furry skittered across her path.
The small animal which looked to be a gopher stopped directly in the middle of the road. As Chloe got closer it was obvious that this little gopher was actually a tiny puppy. She slowed to a stop in front of the ball of fur as it started to howl pitifully.
She glanced at her watch, less than two hours left to get to Metropolis if she wanted to be on time.
“Option A, pick up the puppy and be late for the interview, or option B, leave the puppy and incur a black mark on my soul...great, just great.”
Having decided to take the guilt free route she exited the car and approached the puppy, who was waiting patiently for her to pick him up. He was black and tan and looked like a German Shepherd. His soulful eyes looked up at her as she glare back down at him.
“Why me? You couldn’t wait for the next car?” He sat silently, as if defying her to leave him there.
“Fine.” Chloe sighed and picked him up, muttering something about Murphy’s Law under breath as she headed back to the car, puppy in tow.
Unfortunately that was a far as her plan went. ‘What does one do with a stray puppy?’ she thought. The animal shelter was the logical choice but that was on the other side of town, and there was no one at her house to watch after him. She assumed he shouldn’t be left alone to get into trouble.
That left only one choice, Lex. The mansion was only two miles to her right and if she hurried there was still a possibility of making it to the interview on time.
Chloe didn’t know if Lex was a dog person, but the thought of a puppy running rampant through the Luther Mansion made it more than worth it to find out.
***
Lex hurried to the door as the fourth ring sounded off the stone walls. He had given his staff the day off, hoping for a quiet evening. The sight of Chloe Sullivan standing on his door step holding a small puppy in her arms quickly washed away that idea.
“Miss Sullivan, what can I help you with?” Well that was his first mistake, offering help. He raised an eyebrow at her, trying to keep a straight face as the puppy squirmed in her arms, trying to break free.
“I need you to take this. Just for the evening” She said, holding the puppy out towards him.
“Why?”
“I found him on the road and like a good samaritan I scooped him up, but I have a really important interview and I’m gonna be late if I don’t hurry. Please Lex.”
She emphasized the last few words by thrusting the still squirming puppy towards him.
He looked at the offending puppy warily. “Is he housebroken?”
“Do I look like the Pet Psychic? I just found him five minutes ago and I didn’t ask. Come on Lex, he’s just a baby, how much trouble could he be?”
“Do I look like I run a boarding kennel?”
“Funny. Look how cute he is, he’ll probably just sleep the whole time”
“Just for the evening...” his sentence was cut off by Chloe practically throwing the puppy at him.
“Thank you, his name is Murphy. I’ll be back later to get him.”
In a matter of seconds her car was passing the gates and then out of sight, leaving Lex standing on his doorstep with a suddenly calm Murphy in his arms.
***
Lex had never had a pet as a child. He supposed all the expensive furnishing and oriental rugs his parents were so found of didn’t really mesh well with the idea of a dog. He could just imagine the look of horror on his father’s face if he knew there was an animal in the mansion. He suddenly had an urge to invite dad over for a visit. Maybe looking after Murphy wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Lex carried the dog into his office, placing him next to the sofa on the floor. The moment his little paws were on the ground he started to howl, raising his head all the way back with each new protest.
“What!? What do you want? Are you hungry?” Murphy glared at him, howling between each question.
That had to be it, normal puppies didn’t just howl without a reason, he had to be hungry. Lex scooped him up again, and the howling stopped instantly.
“Food it is. I’ll give you anything you want just please be quiet.”
Thirty minutes later Murphy had rejected nearly everything he was offered until finally accepting a whole cob of corn.
Lex held onto one end while Murphy chomped away at the pieces, seated on the kitchen counter in front of him. He could only imagine the amount of money any photos of this would go for to the tabloids.
From what limited knowledge Lex had about babies, he assumed they usually slept after eating. Murphy however had other ideas. Lex carried him from the kitchen trying desperately to avoid anymore howling.
By the time they made it back to the office Murphy was struggling in his arms and upon being put down flattened his ears and took off like a rocket, running frantic circles around the room.
If Lex didn’t know any better he would have sworn the dog was on a sugar high.
He quickly picked up his phone and dialed Chloe’s cell number. She may be busy, but this was important, and he needed help.
“Hello?”
“Chloe, thank god, Murphy’s running laps around my office, he won’t stop, what should I do?”
“What do you mean he’s running laps?”
He sighed, rubbing his temple with one hand. “I mean he’s bouncing off the furniture, knocking over everything in his path and he looks like he’s high on speed.”
“Did you feed him anything?”
“Corn”
He could hear Chloe snickering in the background. “Is that all you had?”
“No, that’s all the little bugger would eat, I offered him chicken and even defrosted a steak and he gave me the doggie version of the finger, so corn it was. He was howling, I had to feed him something.”
“Lex, giving a dog corn is like giving sugar to a hyper child. Just wait it out he’ll wear himself out eventually, in the mean time just relocate all your breakables and try to remember that he’s too cute to be mad at.”
“He was cute for the first two minutes, the whirling dervish doing vaults off my sofa is not exactly cute anymore. When will you be back to get him?”
There was a pause on the other end as Chloe tried to determined how long she’d be. “Maybe a few hours, don’t worry, you’re doing a great job.” And with that she was gone, leaving only a dial tone and an annoyed Lex on the other end.
Just as Chloe had predicted Murphy was worn out within a few minutes and collapsed after throwing himself onto the sofa next to Lex. He couldn’t help but shake his head an smile at the little dog who was already acting like he owned the place. A few seconds later Murphy had positioned himself onto lex’s lap and soon they were both sound asleep.
Lex was awoken hours later by the doorbell. He glanced down at the puppy who was far too tired to wake up before making his way to the door.
“Miss Sullivan, come in.” He motioned for her to enter, closing the large door behind her. “How did your interview go?”
“It went really well, I start my first article next week.”
“Congratulations.”
“Ya know it was weird, they said they received an anonymous tip that I would be a good candidate to consider...you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that would you?”
He looked at her, just barely able to contain a grin. “Of course not, but whoever sent them that tip has a good eye for talent.”
She smiled, holding his gaze for a few seconds before looking away. “So I see you survived hurricane Murphy. How’d it go?”
“He’s been sleeping in the office for the past few hours, I wouldn’t be surprised if he slept through till tomorrow considering the acrobatics he did beforehand.” He paused for a second, doing his best to look unconcerned. “If you don’t mind me asking, will you be keeping him?”
“No, I don’t have the time for a dog, I’m going to drop him off at the shelter tomorrow.”
Lex considered this, letting the small traces of a frown show up on his face. “ Why do you suppose he was on the road to begin with?”
“I don’t know, I’m guessing no one wanted him, he’s a shepherd and sometimes people are afraid of them, they have a reputation for being mean.”
“But he’s just a baby.”
She nodded. “I know, but people are afraid of the unknown, of what he could be when he grows up, that he may be too much trouble or too aggressive who knows, there are a million reasons why someone would cast him away.”
“Do you think that’s true? That genetics can determine a personality?”
She knew what he was asking, that he wasn’t just talking about the puppy anymore. For all his attempts at remaining detached from the world, Lex was still just looking for acceptance and he would take it wherever he could get it. For a moment he almost looked fragile, like the next words she spoke could shatter him into a million pieces if she didn’t choose carefully, but the moment faded just as a quickly as it had come.
“No. It’s not always about the genes Lex, no matter what the species.”
He seemed satisfied with her answer, nodding in agreement before leading her down the hall to retrieve the puppy, pausing just outside the doorway. “He’s already asleep. He’s welcome to stay here for the night...unless you want him back.”
“He can stay, but only on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“When you decide to keep to him, you are not allowed to hire a servant for the puppy.”
He grinned at her. “I think I can live with that, but I never said I was keeping him.”
“I have faith that he’ll have you wrapped around his paw in no time.
“I may need some help with this, I’m not exactly dog savvy.”
“I think you'll do just fine, but I'll be happy to dog sit anytime.” She turned to leave, stealing one last glance at the sleeping puppy on the sofa. This would be good for him, the pitter patter of little paws could just add some life to this place.
“Why did you name him Murphy?” He called after her, just as she reached the door.
“After Murphy’s Law.”
Lex shook his head, “Of course. That makes perfect sense.”
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks