What's Wrong with Tuesdays?

The Mystery Behind the Closed Door.

DALL-E/Max M. Illustration.

This is my first attempt at flash fiction about… well, that's a secret for now ;) But don't worry, it's hardly spanning more than a page, so you will know soon. I hope it brings a smile to your face.

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What’s wrong with Tuesdays?

Jess closes the door right in font of me. If I had been only a few steps faster. How much I crave to be in that room. 

Every Tuesday, Jess comes out of it in a state of frustration and anger. Sometimes she takes me out for a walk afterward. It seems to calm her. Other times, she walks straight to her desk and lumps into her seat. While she likes to chat with me at home, in the office we limit ourselves to touches. It would make her colleagues uncomfortable if she talked to me. 

I avoid talking to her as well. On my first day at the office, I was very excited about everything and everyone. I let the people around me know. One guy gave me a mean look. I don’t know what had happened to him. My cheerfulness and positivity didn’t make it across the room to him. Somehow, he must have infected Jess, too. She hushed me. I learned quickly that at the office I had to keep my excitement to myself. ‘You are welcome there as long as you are quiet.’ Jess had told me the evening after my first day. Since then, I only speak up when I can’t hold my pee any longer. It’s the only exception. Even hunger and thirst I ignore to make Jess happy. She deserves it. 

She doesn’t deserve whatever happens in that room every Tuesday. I wished she would tell me about it. But she never speaks about it. So I’ve started my own investigation. Here is what I know so far. 

The meeting always happens at 2:30pm. 

As soon as her friend Amie exits the room, Jess walks from her desk to the room. 

A man with blond hair whom Jess calls Bill, but everybody else calls Jerk, is already inside. From what I have observed, he does many meetings one after another. By the way, he is the one who gave me a mean look on the first day.

You cannot hear anything that is said inside the room. 

The room has a big window with milky glass. Only silhouettes are visible inside. 

Jess is in a worse mood on Tuesday than usually. 

Amie once had water running down her cheeks. I’m sure it was what humans call tears. My gut tells me they weren’t caused by happiness. 

From all these observations I have drawn the brilliant conclusion that something unpleasant is happening inside. I’m determined to find out what. 

Today is the day. When the door shuts in front of me, I put my paw on the glass and very slowly scratch with my nails. It makes an excruciating sound. I can hear Jerk’s muffled voice from inside the room. The door opens and Jess looks at me with a mix of bewilderment and annoyance. I don’t know what is going through her mind. Before she can say something I pass her and make myself comfortable in the corner of the room. 

‘Get him out of the room. This room is dog-free zone.’

‘Sorry, Bill. I don’t know what’s wrong with him today. He has been jittery all day. He won’t make a noise. Please, let’s just continue with our one-to-one.’

‘Fine.’

Jerk doesn’t sound pleased. I hardly can hide how pleased I’m at myself. While my mouth stays shut, at least my tail has to wag a bit. I made it into the mysterious room! One-to-one. That must be a secret code for whatever was about to happen. As Jess and Jerk continue their conversation, I find a rare sensation rising in me. Maybe it is the words coming out of Jerk’s mouth. Maybe it is his tone. I don’t know. I just feel the urge to protect Jess. This man is so mean to her. Every day in the office, she has hardly any time for me. Only for her laptop. All day long, she types away at it. Interspersed by deep inhales and exhales, and a coffee break every once in a while. A colleague once even told her that she works too hard. And here is Jerk criticizing everything, telling Jess about all her shortcomings, even dropping that a child could do her work better. She doesn’t defend herself. Just nods and promises to do better the next day. ‘You better do!’ he says with a raised voice. That is too much for me. Nobody talks like that to my Jess. While I’m well-trained and know how to behave myself, I have no problem with letting my natural instincts take over when the situation requires it. Like this one. All I have to do is imagine that Jerk’s leg is a tasty pork ear to chew on. Oh how much I’d like to have that right now. The new vegan dog food Jess is giving me doesn’t really satisfy me. Oh dog lord, what would I give for that pork ear right now. Saliva starts to run down the corners of my mouth. Just one bite of that tasty pork ear. 

‘Ouuuuuch. Ahhh. Get that FUCKING DOG off me!’

‘STOP IT Bob!’

Before Jess can pull me off the pork ear I let it go. The denim taste of Jerk’s jeans had immediately destroyed my carefully envisioned pork ear illusion. Jess grabs me by my collar and drags me out off the room and over to my little sofa underneath her desk. I can hear her chuckling. In a booming voice that the whole room can hear she tells me ‘Stay here, you bad dog.’ Then she bends over and puts her lips on top of my head. Her whispered words confuse me. ‘You are the best Bob. You made my day.’

The rest of the day passed in a blur for me. I just couldn’t decide if I had done something good or bad. No other dog was around to ask for an opinion either. Jess settled it for me that night, when, against my new vegan dog diet, she bought me a huge pork ear. While I spent the evening chewing it on the carpet in front of our TV, Jess was on the phone with Emma. I had never seen her in such a happy state on a Tuesday evening. ‘You won’t believe what Bob did today…Yes…that jerk totally deserved it…’ 

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What do you think about the story? Should I write more of it? Tell me in the comments.

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