Ellie looked down. Her nails were chipped again. Her profession or her nails? Decisions, decisions! The pandemic made her order pretty much everything online, but sadly what looked pretty on a screen seldom translated into pretty, once it was applied in real life. Now that she was closer to thirty than twenty, she had to take better care of herself, maintaining the good looks she had genetically inherited from her parents. She still got carded if she went to a strange club or bar with friends, only now it was reassuring rather than embarrassing. She’d graduated from an Arizona State and was a qualified Certified Public Accountant.

Being a CPA, she’d been able to save a bunch by closing her expensive office in Phoenix’s central business district. Now, at a fraction of the price, she only needed to rent a post box in the same uptown stylish and upscale address that at one time been her plush office. Her clients were happy to email their spread sheets to her, knowing her work was professional and accurate, as were her insights and opinions. She’d bought the business from an elderly man, inheriting his clientele. Those older clients still preferred to fax or courier their ledgers to her.

To exhibit an air of professionalism, she also sat through various video conferences wearing carefully understated make-up, an underwire bra and a smart, businesslike blouse. On those occasions she had her long hair swept back in an easy messy pony tail. However out of, and well below the camera’s view, sometimes she was only clad in sweatpants or panties. Sometimes she wore even less, with her bare ass on the soft tan leather of her of her expensive high backed executive chair, and a secretive smile on her lips. Today had been the latter.

She’d finished her schedule for the day, and sat staring at her chipped nails. She’d worked steadily, such that the last two conference calls went through a lot faster than she’d expected. Naked from the waist down, she felt deliciously naughty, letting her left hand cup her mound even before she shut her computer down.

Almost languidly, her fingers teased her loose warm lips. She blushed, smelling the scent of her own arousal, which now excited her to the point of no return. Touching herself stoked a sudden onset of heat that emanated from her vulva. This increased the scent of arousal in her nostrils. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on reaching the magical bliss as fast as she could. She rubbed her clit faster and harder with each rhythmic stroke until the circle of heat enveloped her pubic region, almost like someone had put a warm donut over her pubic mound. Her breath came in gasps, her inner thighs began to make tiny jerks and a tickle in her belly exploded! This sent spirals of intense pleasure into every nerve of her being, as a slight gush of fluid spurted onto the soft leather of her chair.

Afterwards, she lay back, enjoying the feeling she’d given herself. It’s been over a year since she had experienced an orgasm that wasn’t self generated. Well, quite honestly, she wasn’t prepared to go back there – her emotions were still too raw and the betrayal lodged too deep. The pandemic had seriously affected her love life anyway. With a constant lock-down, there was extraordinarily little chance to re-establish it, even if she felt like it. Her fingers and her clit were firm friends and although emotion seemed lacking, she was content with self-pleasure for now.

Hunger ruined her delicious reverie. A rumbling growl in her belly reminded her she hadn’t had anything to eat all day. The coffee she’d speedily swallowed at breakfast wasn’t going to cut it – she needed sustenance. Mentally, she went through the contents of her fridge. “Hmmmm… maybe a chicken and mayo on rye?” She’d gotten a loaf earlier in the week from the little convenience store a block away, and even closer if she used the narrow service road behind her apartment building. “Yes, that sounds like it would hit the spot,” she murmured. Standing up, she moved into her kitchen. She pulled the chicken and mayo from her fridge. Sliding the loaf of bread from its cellophane wrapper, she was dismayed to learn that the sliced bread had a green tinge. “Damn! I’m hungry, and I can’t eat this moldy bread. But I want that sandwich now!” She shoved the chicken and mayo back into the cold, but was determined to complain about the bread going bad so quickly.

In her bedroom she quickly pulled on the skirt that semi-matched the no nonsense blouse and found a pair of lowish heeled pumps. Grabbing her purse and the bread, she decided to take the alley short cut to the store. She locked her door and jogged down the three flights of stairs to the apartment lobby. On the wall there she spied a computer-generated advert. It read, “Covid Nails? Have case, mask, gloves and mad skills. Call for your personal manicure and pedicure.”

It sported a set of tear offs with “Anastasia or Alina 815 452 5169.”

“Convenient!” she thought, tearing off a phone number. Spirits rising, she skipped out the rear door into the alley service road.

The alley itself was stinky with dented dumpsters and filled trashcans. Peering into the shadows, Ellie noticed a stray dog at the far end of the alley. She had to maneuver around a large stagnant puddle and litter as she moved past a dingy side street. “This is an altogether unpleasant little shortcut today,” she murmured. “But it sure saves time getting to the convenience store.”

The convenience store clerk was ambivalent about exchanging green bread for brown. To mollify him a little, Ellie impulsively bought a few sticks of jerky and a bottle of water, helping to re-balance his profit margin. Since she was a regular customer, the stoic clerk relented and smiled, replacing the loaf. She waved as she left the store, and started heading back home with her fresh loaf of bread and purchases.

Walking out the quaint corner store towards the alley she noticed that the gathering evening had darkened her little shortcut dramatically, so she hurried. When she reached the spot where the liver-colored dog was still rooting through the trash for food, she knelt poured the bottled water into an empty broken little blue lunch pail, Next to that, she spread out the jerky sticks as a meal for the dog who was watching her actions warily.

A husky voice behind her, startled her, semi whispering. “Shuddap and don’t move! Give me the purse…… Purse, bitch now! Don’t say nothing and don’t look round!” Something sharp and cold pricked against her shoulder. Ellie froze, and started to push her purse backward.

Like an enraged demon, the dog erupted from the trash! He shot past her as she knelt, growling and barking as he slammed into the person robbing her! The sharp pricking at her shoulder disappeared in a flash. She heard soft guttural cursing and hurried footsteps splashing through the puddles, along with the pursuing dog’s ferocious barking and growling as it chased the would-be mugger away from her.

The dog reached the far end of the filthy alley and barked ferociously, not venturing into the street. As the thief fled the dog stood his ground, defending both his turf and the female that had been kind to him. Still dazed, and her knees wobbly as jello, Ellie felt unable to rise. Moments later, she felt a wet warm nose pressing against her kidneys as the dog whined and licked her through her clothing. Slowly she stood, her breathing more like sobs than actual intakes of air. She’d been so frightened, and now her body was flooded with adrenaline. The dog had saved her – he was her knight in shining armor.

She blinked tears from her eyes and looked more closely at her savior. The dog had no collar on, and stood looking up at her with his entire body wagging, not just his stumpy six-inch tail. He was about as big as a Doberman but seemed slimmer and his coat while dusty seemed a silver brown. His eyes were intelligent almond brown and seemed to indicate friendliness. He looked neglected, after all, the poor guy had been rooting through trash for his sustenance. The few sticks of jerky and small pail were obviously not going to be enough for him. Ellie decided to take him home, feed him, clean him and find his owners. Maybe she’d even reward them for having such a brave dog, – one that saved her from a mugging and maybe worse.

She walked slowly, calling him softly, patting her butt as a hand signal. “Come on, boy… cummere!” The dog obeyed her, seemingly quite happy to follow her as she walked into the lobby and up the three flights of stairs and to her apartment door.

Once inside, she threw her shoes into the bedroom, went straight to the kitchen and made herself a sandwich and filled a dessert bowl with cool tap water before slicing the rest of her chicken into chunks and putting them in another bowl beside the water.

She and the dog ate in a companionable silence. Gradually, the adrenaline generated by the harrowing experience left her. She watched the dog who, after finishing the chicken, lapped up the entire bowl of water. That accomplished, he began to lick her knee, almost as if he were thanking her.

She patted his head and kneaded his ears. He seemed to enjoy her touching him. She called to him again as she walked to the bathroom, wrinkling her nose because, not to put too fine a point on it – he stank. The dog happily followed her. She stood by the bathtub and patted it. He apparently trusted and understood, hopping into the tub. Ellie gripped the shower head, waited until the water warmed and she rinsed him, He grinned at her as he was rinsed off. She then took her apple fragrance body wash, and soaped him down, before rinsing him off again. Once he was clean, she toweled him off with her large fluffy bath towel. As she finished, he gave a rapid shudder, sneezed and finally stood in the empty tub with clean fur, bright eyes and a wagging tail.

Ellie stepped out of the bathroom followed by the dog. Moving into her office, she logged into Amazon and spent ten minutes deciding on a collar, leash and dog dishes. “I’m not sure how long it might take to find your owners, if any, boy. So I’m stocking up on supplies,” she explained quietly. The dog made sounds indicating happiness to be near her. Once her online purchases were complete, she reached down and stroked his sleek head, reading about short haired dogs and how to groom them. She understood that human shampoo isn’t good for dogs but he smelled like apples, and didn’t seem to mind, at least this time. Diligently, she sought a natural fragrance canine shampoo and changed her Amazon order to include a Canadian brand.