| E•M•D•E•A•U•R |
“Okay… options… Gotta go over the options… Sure there may be two big freaking dogs in front of me…” Jergens’s mind was going all around in a blur. He decided to go over all the possible choices that he could make…
A. Scream bloody murder
B. Run like Hell
C. Continue with phase one and act as if the dogs don’t exist.
After carefully eliminating the various options he could take, Jergens decided to go with option ‘C’. It was his least favorite, but it was the only sure-fire way to go on with the plan.
Actually, the ‘plan’ really only had one phase. Jergens just thought that the idea of ‘phases’ sounded cool. No, the actual plan in order to land himself some employment was to seduce Bartleby. That was it, no strings attached. Ludicrous, yes, but it was the Jergens way. The Jergens way didn’t have to be sane. He stood up and walked out of the bushes, brushing stray leaves off of him.
The two dogs snapped their heads at him simultaneously, a vicious growl rumbling within them both. Jergens saw their black gums curl over their fearsome yellow fangs. Using every bit of composure to not piss himself in fear, he smiled rather suavely at Bartleby (or at least in his general direction, his eyes were completely locked onto the dogs).
Bartleby cocked an eyebrow at his new visitor when he came out of the foliage and eyed him suspiciously. A very light blonde lock of hair covered one of his eyes. “You again?” he muttered, almost in disgust before standing up and looking him over. “I’ll admit that it’s an improvement though…” he said, tapping his lip in mild thought as the two dogs sat on both sides of him, glaring at Jergens. Jergens himself, on the other hand, didn’t feel as thoughtful. With a very forced (but natural looking) grin, said, “Hey, what’s going on?” Hmm... a bit nonchalant, yes, but it would do.
You will have to wait until all is normal again 
Never before had Jergens felt so clean and refreshed (as well as sexually assaulted). Irene had given him a gift of some of her husband’s old clothes. Sure, they literally almost fell off his skin and bones body, but they were clean. Several people that he walked past no longer glared at him, they just gave him odd, awkward glances. It was quite an improvement, really.
As he strolled down the mansion gates he passed by a rather lovely rose bush. Jergens, who was quite impulsive when it came to matters such as these, picked one without even slowing his pace. He glanced over and happened to notice one of the nearby forests’s deer walking along on the other side of the street. Ordinarily, Jergens would have stopped and inspected it, but for this town, visits from the deer seemed pretty normal, and he wanted to blend in.
When he reached the rock wall enveloping the estate’s garden he considered how he would meet Bartleby again and begin phase one of his plan. Hide in the garden? No… he didn’t quite like that, did he? It also made him seem more like a creepy stalker. Go through the front door? He considered this, going through the front door… asking for some employment like a normal person? For shame! That wasn’t the Jergens way, no sir! But it was either that or the garden stalking…
Of course he went with the garden stalking, who wouldn’t?
He climbed over the wall and dropped behind some bushes, only to stiffen himself and bite his lip in fear. Right across the garden path, less than twenty feet away from him, were two black guard dogs. One had the oddity of a white muzzle; the other had dirtied white paws. Both of them were looking at him in curiosity.
Jergens had been terrified of dogs ever since his birth. No, he had no traumatic event that gave birth to his phobia, he was just deathly afraid of them. Even the small, puffy varieties were scary to him!
