Cecily POV

After walking for five minutes and being sure the police officer was nowhere near, I finally let myself catch a break. I released my hold on the dog and looked down in defeat. I had never been this tired ever. And that was saying something since I was always tired.

"You know I can't actually take you both home. That'll be way too much work and I'm already tight on money as it," I told them with a sigh. "Especially you, big guy. You look like you'd eat more than me and that's saying something," I directed at the older of the two. 

In response, the dog released the puppy and they both looked at me with what I could only describe as big puppy eyes.

"Ughhh. Don't do this to me. I can't. Not even an eaten report would cover the time and expenses," I told them, avoiding eye contact so they couldn't try to pull the puppy eye trick again.

Before I could let them convince me otherwise, I began walking again in hopes of putting the nightmare of a day behind me.

Starving and tired, I knew there was no way I was going to stay on my feet long enough to cook, so fast food it was. Plus, I think I more than deserved it after the day I had.

I quickly decided on my favorite burger joint, which was only a minute away and on the way home. Once I arrived, I quickly bought a meal and went back outside to eat it in the small outdoor seating area where it was empty and quiet.

As I sat down and laid out my food, I noticed the dog and pup sitting across the street just watching me. I could have sworn that when I made eye contact with the puppy, it licked its lips.

Looking down at my food and then back at the dogs, I groaned before waving them over.

"Come here you two. You are lucky I have the heart of an angel!" I called out to them, grumbling the entire time they happily jogged to my side. Who knew I had a soft spot for dogs?

With a sigh, I stood up from my chair and cursed at my aching feet. "Wait here," I told them, pointing at them and then the ground before going inside and buying two sets of 1-dollar burgers.

Coming back with their newly acquired meals, I immediately sat back in my chair with a loud thud before unwrapping the burgers and setting one in front of each them.

"Now eat before I finish my meal and decide I want to eat those too," I said, only half-joking, before digging into a much-deserved meal.

After finishing the delicious, greasy mess of a meal, I sat back in my chair feeling content for the first time that day.

"Now that hit the spot!" I declared while rubbing my satisfied stomach.

I looked down at the dogs and saw them both staring up at me with their mouths hanging open and tongues lolling out. It almost looked like they were smiling. I found myself grinning back before catching myself and erasing it as quickly as it had come.

Glaring at them suspiciously, I crossed my arms and pursed my lips. "Your cute act isn't going to change my mind. You're not coming home with me," I said firmly.

Without missing a beat, the older dog stood up and quickly grabbed not only the wrappers on the floor, but the trash laid out on the table in front of me and proceeded to throw them all away in the nearby outdoor trashcan. Mouth agape, I stared at the dog I was quickly deciding must be a genius.

"Y-you... the trash.." I stuttered, still not believing what I had seen.

I then recalled the time it had seemed like it had responded to one of my questions and how quickly both of them were at obeying my orders. In that moment, I came up with such a fantastic plan, I decided I must be a genius too. If I took them home, not only would I be able to use the pup as an excuse for the "destruction" of my essay, I could have the older dog do all my errands. If it could throw out trash, it could throw out other things, bring me items I requested, and even turn lights on and off! I had seen videos of it on YouTube so I knew it was possible and this dog was clearly smart enough to pull it off.

Sitting up with a huge grin across my face, I chugged the rest of my drink and held the now-empty cup in my hand.

"Throw this away too," I told the dog, and to my complete and utter joy, it did just that. Laughing like a maniac at the thought of all the wonderful opportunities to be lazy, I leaned toward the two dogs whose heads were now tilted in confusion.

"I've decided, you can come with me and be my errand dogs!"