Mr. Beckham was getting ready to go to the woods and continue with his work and this time he was going alone because Chandler insists that he has to stay home and wait for anyone that comes over to drop their dog off for him. Mr. Beckham could see how excited Chandler was about this so he does not want to be the one to spoil it for him and tell him to lower his expectations because it might not work out as he has already envisioned it.
Chandler was at least helping his father to get the things he needed to the truck so he could drive off, Chandler picked up the chainsaw as he headed to the door but the doorbell rang almost as soon as his fingers touched the doorknob and a second there he was startled. He opened the door and there stood Alice with her cute little puppy, it was the Bichon Frise and Chandler stood there dumbfounded.
"Hi." Alice finally broke the silence as she smiled while she stroked her hairy dog on the head.
"Oh yeah hi." Chandler was finally able to say a word back after a few seconds, he wanted to say more because he promised himself that he won't suck like he did the first time he met her.
"So that's your dog?"
"Yeah." She replied as she looked at the dog while still stroking the hair.
"She's cute."
"I know right? I've never seen an ugly Bichon Frise though" She said with a wry chuckle.
"Well, this is the cutest Bichon Frise I've seen." Chandler smiled and looked at her as he watched her smile back then there was a brief silence before she spoke again.
"I hope she is safe here?" She asked as she gestured to the Chainsaw that Chandler was still carrying.
"Oh no no no!" Chandler dropped the Chainsaw on the floor nervously.
"This is my dad's...Like he uses it for..."
"I know, I was just kidding." She cut in before he could say anything further and Chandler was happy that she did because he was just going to continue saying gibberish, that's what he does when he's that nervous.
"Of course, you're kidding. Wheww!" Chandler replied with a dry chuckle as he smiled and looked at her standing there looking at him too.
"Alright why don't you just come in so I can go outside and drop this then I will be back so we can talk," Chandler said as he ushered her inside with her dog and picked up the chainsaw.
"Have a seat please." He said as he closed the door behind him and went outside with the chainsaw.
Alice sat down gently on the closest sofa behind her, she was now nervous but that did not stop her from scanning around the house. She saw a picture of Chandler when he was younger hung on the wall almost on top of the Plasma Tv that they hung on the wall too. The picture was not the only picture on the wall, there was another picture of Chandler, Mr. Beckham, and his wife, Tracy. On the left of that picture was another picture of just Mrs. Beckham in her nurse uniform, she liked how the house was neatly arranged with the glass table in front of her.
She did not have enough time to analyze everything in the house before Chandler walked back in smiling at her and she smiled back.
"So I'm here."
"Okay, so I have to ask though is this your first time starting something like this or you've had experience before?"
"Huh?"
"Have you worked as a dog trainer before?" She explained her question.
"Oh, that?" Chandler croaked before he answered. "Yeah, I was training one of the governor's dogs before we moved in here."
"Really?" She asked excitedly.
"No." Chandler chuckled and he could see a faint disappointment on her face before she smiled. "This is the first time I am doing this but trust me when I tell you that your dog is in good hands."
Alice looked at him for a while before she shrugs and drops the dog on the floor, it jumped on the sofa beside the one that Alice is sitting on.
"My mom was the one that insisted I should ask you that." She said as she looked at Chandler and he was looking at her already.
"Okay look, I might not have experience in this stuff but I have what other dog trainers don't have."
"And what's that?" she asked excitedly with a smile on her face waiting to hear what he has to say.
"Dogs love listening to me and they do as I say?"
"You think?" She asked as she chuckles
"Yeah for real."
"Okay look..." She looks at her dog which was still lying comfortably on the sofa "You see this my dog, there is nothing you could ever do to make it leave that sofa when it's that comfortable. It won't even leave there if you offer it food or any treat."
Chandler chuckled as he looked at her briefly and then looked at the dog for a while, he looked back at her and smiled because he knew that if he do this then she would be able to trust him with her dog.
"Okay so if I do this then you have to promise that I will be your dog trainer."
"You don't have to touch the dog to make it move."
"I won't even go close, she will come to me."
"Alright then, I promise." She said as she giggled excitedly waiting for Chandler to perform any magic or theatrics that will make the dog move. She was almost certain that there was nothing he could do because that was just how her dog is.
"Good girl, come on over here," Chandler said as he kept eye contact with the dog, Alice was amused.
"That's it? you think it would moe because you called her good gi..." She stopped talking the moment she heard her dog bark and ran to where Chandler stood, Chandler squat down to stroke her on the head as she wagged her tail.
"How did you..." Alice was dumbfounded, she expected more than just talking to the dog.
"I told you, dogs love listening to me.' Chandler said as he smiled and looked at her, he could tell that she now sees him differently. She now sees him as this interesting course that she needs to understand, he felt like she would want to know more about him now.
"Alright, a deal is a deal." She said with a smile still on her face.
"Yeah!" Chandler could not hide how excited he was.
"So how much do you charge?" She asked but Chandler did not respond quickly.
Chandler could not believe that all this time that he has been planning this, he has not thought about how he would charge his customers. He stood there confused about what to tell her, he has no idea how much would be too much or too little. He was wasting time coming up with an answer so Alice felt like she needed to explain what she needs him to do.
"You won't have to train her or anything though it's just that I need it to be with someone when we're not home. I usually go to school and then when school dismisses I have to go to the hospital to help my mom out with something over there and they don't allow pets. We usually leave her alone in the house from morning till night so I want to be able to drop her off her and come back in the night and pick her up."
She was saying all that but Chandler was not listening, he was still trying to figure out how much he was going to charge her for all that.
"Can you turn that up please?"
"What?" Chandler asked as he looked at Alice who was pointing at their television.
"Can you turn the volume up please?"
"Of course." Chandler cleared his throat as he picked up the TV remote and turned the volume up as he read the headline on the TV screen 'Attack on the Spring Haven Memorial hospital by a man on a hoodie.'
"What? My mom works there." Chandler said as he peered at the TV with his ears perked up to hear what there were saying and just then Mr. Beckham walked in. He looked at the TV and read the headline too as they all listened to hear what the young lady with the mic was saying.
"...So earlier today after the man that was bitten nearly to death by what the cops are saying might be a rabid dog was brought to the hospital, a man that was wearing a hoodie harrassed some officers and nurses on desk duty too. The man that was bitten by the dog was later found dead after the doctor said he was supposed to get better with new claw marks on him, the officers that were harrassed also said that the man in the hood had extra strong nails attached to his fingers so might he be the one that killed the man and if yes then why? we have the Sherriff here to answer all that. (The Sherriff walks in and started talking as the reporter placed the mic on his mouth) This is an ongoing investigation so no comment but what I have to say to the man in the hoodie is that he should turn himself in or face the full wrath of the law. (The Sherriff storms out of the camera and the reporter continued) Well, we have heard it from the horse's mouth, be careful out there folks because there might be a serial killer out there on the loose..."
"Chandler stay here, I have to drive to the hospital first and check on your mother." Mr. Beckham said as he was about to walk out but Alice called him back politely.
"Mr. Beckham please my mom works there too, can I follow you to the Hospital?"
"I'm sure she's fine, even if she's not there's nothing you could do for her. Don't you have to go to school today?" Mr. Beckham asked.
"I just want to check and make sure she's okay."
Chandler and Mr. Beckham could tell that she was looking very scared and worried, the poor girl needs to go and see her mother.
"Dad, you could just drive her to the hospital," Chandler said with pity in his voice.
"Alright, come let's go." Mr. Beckham succumbed.
"Thank you, sir." She thanked him excitedly, Mr. Beckham nodded as he opened the door and left, Alice turns to Chandler and smiled.
"Thank you too. Look after little Alice here, we can talk about the price when I come back."
"You named your dog your name?" Chandler muttered unbelievably. "Don't worry about the money, yours will be free because you're my first client."
"Really?" Alice asked excitedly and Chandler nods although he could not believe that he just said that.
She ran outside immediately after she heard the horn from Mr. Beckham's truck, Chandler sat down on one of the sofas as he kept on thinking about why he would tell her to not worry about the money for taking care of her dog.