Freddy was still miserable that Michael had left him in Tom’s care. As Buddy approached the house, it continued to bother Freddy more and more. He couldn’t believe that he was not in his husband’s control anymore. Anything could happen to him and he wasn’t sure what, if any, plan Michael had for rescuing him. Accepting his fate for now, Buddy continued to walk, held tightly on a leash by Tom.
Before Tom went inside his house, a man came calling to him.
“Excuse me sir!” Josh yelled, as he ran up Tom and Buddy.
“Huh? Tom asked, as he looked up at Freddy’s brother approaching him.
“Oh no” Freddy thought to himself, as Buddy whined loudly. “It’s Josh. What’s he doing here? This is the worst time for him to have shown up like this.”
“Who are you?” Tom asked gruffly. “What do you want?”
Josh stopped and smiled. In the time since Freddy had paid for his rent for a year, he had been trying to get steady work, to no avail. Although he had cleaned up his act and stayed sober for the time being, no one in the town wanted to hire him. All of his past jobs in show business did not translate into skills he’d need to work a more traditional white collar or even blue collar job. He made his money as he could, here and there, but was struggling to fully get back on his feet.
“I like that dog you’ve got there!” Josh said excitedly, as he caught his breath.
“Thanks” Tom replied gruffly, tugging on Buddy’s leash “but he’s not for sale.”
“Oh God” Freddy thought to himself, as Tom tried to lead him into the house.
“No no no!” Josh replied. “I’m not interested in buying your dog. I wanted to offer you the chance to show off your dog to the entire world.”
“Oh lord” Freddy thought to himself, as Tom looked at Josh curiously.
“Oh?” Tom asked. “How would I go about doing that?”
In that moment, Buddy sniffed the air and felt something alluring hit his nose. He began to pant happily, taking in the pleasant scent. It caused a motion in his loins. Freddy had a feeling he knew what was turning him on in that moment.
“Oh no” Freddy thought to himself “I recognize that smell. That’s the smell Ellie and the stray bitch in the park gave off when they were in…”
Buddy nervous panted, as he looked down to see his penis leaving its sheath.
“When they were in heat.”
Buddy let out a quiet whine.
“Oh god. That’s not good. I wonder where it’s coming from?”
“You see, sir” Josh continued saying to Tom “I’m a producer for television and movies and I just so happened to notice your dog over here on my walk around town. I was wondering if you’d be interested in allowing me to submit him to the casting director of a commercial I’m working on.”
Josh had managed to keep in touch with some of the people he had worked with during his time in Los Angeles. One of his old friends, a producer for commercials, was looking to cast a dog food commercial. Josh had promised his producer friend that he could snag a tax credit from the town for filming it there; a promise he hadn’t been able to keep quite yet. The filming was to take place tomorrow and he was running out of time. That’s why he was so relieved to find Buddy in that moment.
“A commercial?” Tom asked inquisitively, not outright rejecting the offer at hand. “Tell me more.”
“So your dog” Josh said, as he bent down to look at Buddy more closely “kind of reminded me of this dog I used to have when I was a kid.”
Josh scratched Buddy behind the ears. Freddy felt humiliated in that moment, once again a dog in his brother’s presence. He didn’t want to be reminded of the last time he was a German Shepherd in front of his brother either.
“And I thought, if he knows some tricks and the whatnot, that he’d make a great star for this dog food commercial we’re shooting tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Tom asked excitedly.
“Yes” Josh replied, as he got up and looked at him. “I’m Josh, by the way.”
Josh extended his hand out to Tom.
“Tom” he replied, as he extended his hand to shake it. “This is my dog, Buddy.”
“Nice to meet ya, Buddy.”
Buddy whined at his brother, embarrassed in that moment.
“He seems a little nervous” Josh noted, as he let go of Tom’s hand.
“It’s ok” Tom replied, as he tugged on Buddy’s leash. “He’s a good boy when he’s had some time to relax. So how much would I get paid if I let you use my dog in your commercial?”
“That depends. The offered salary is $10,000.”
“$10,000?”
“Yup. $2000 upfront and then another $8000 when the commercial airs. Of course, as a recruiting agent, I’d get a 20% cut, plus there’s taxes you’d have to pay.”
“Do you think if the commercial goes well, that Buddy could potentially be cast in other commercials?”
“Very possible, Tom. If he does well, then I don’t see why other producers wouldn’t scramble to hire him.”
Tom thought for a moment about this potentially lucrative opportunity. He needed to move out of the house tomorrow night, but felt that this immediate cash could help put off his eviction for another month. He really didn’t want to move out of his home, if he could avoid it. This could be an opportunity to stave off eviction, at least for now.
“I’m interested” Tom finally decided.
“Oh god no” Freddy thought to himself. “This is going to complicate things for me even further.”
“Great!” Josh exclaimed. “Mind if I take a few photos with my communication device to send off to the casting director first?”
“Sure” Tom replied reluctantly.
“Great. Just stand out of the way for a minute and let me get a few shots of Buddy by himself.”
Tom nodded, as he stepped out of the way to allow Josh to take some photos. Buddy reluctantly posed, not wanting to make his experience with Tom more stressful than it had to be. On the one hand, he was wondering where Josh had gone off to, as his brother had ghosted him for the last six months. However, hearing his latest project seemed to suggest that Josh was trying to make it on his own without Freddy’s help.
“It shows initiative, at least” Freddy thought to himself, as Josh took more photos of Buddy. “If this will help him get himself steady on his feet, then maybe I can wait it out for one more day before I change back. I don’t mind acting the part of a show biz dog, if it’ll help open doors for my brother to get steady employment. I just wonder how Michael is going to feel about this and how I’d even tell him I want to do this commercial for my brother.”
After Josh got some photos, he sent them over to the casting director on his communication device.
“It’ll just take a few minutes” Josh said. “I need to wait to hear back from the casting director with his approval first before I can give you the ok officially.”
“Ok” Tom replied nervously, as he fidgeted and waited to hear a response.
Tom would normally get angry with waiting so long, but he was determined to get this money and turn his fortunes around. As long as they didn’t say no, then he didn’t care if it took a while to hear back from the casting director.
“Maybe he’s a busy person” Tom thought to himself. “I’m sure he’ll get back to this guy Josh soon enough.”
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Josh got a message from the casting director on his communication device.
“Great news, Tom!” Josh exclaimed excitedly. “The CD liked your dog and you are officially booked for the commercial tomorrow! Congratulations!”
“That’s wonderful!” Tom exclaimed.
Buddy woofed happily, as he circled around on the front steps of Tom’s house.
“Isn’t this exciting?” Tom asked Buddy, as he bent down to pet his back. “You’re going to be on TV. This guy can make you a star.”
Buddy barked happily, as Tom continued to rub his hands through the dog’s fur.
“I’ll send you over a copy of your details” Josh replied “but I’ll tell them to you now. It’s an 8:15 call time tomorrow morning. Do you need the directions to the location?”
“Uh” Tom replied nervously, as he got back up to look at Josh. “I…uh, my car is in the shop, so I can’t drive myself now.”
“That’s ok. I’ll have the crew van come pick you up and bring you to set. Though…”
Josh finally noticed the sold sign in front of Tom’s house.
“Are you sure you’ll still be here tomorrow?”
“Positive!” Tom replied insistently. “I will still be here tomorrow.”
Tom rubbed Buddy on his back.
“And hopefully Buddy will too.”
“Uh…what?”
Tom let out a nervous chuckle, before he responded.
“You see, my dog has been having this little problem with running away lately.”
“That’s not good. That dog Fido I had as a kid had that problem too.”
“Oh man” Freddy thought to himself “I really can’t leave now, not if I want to help out my brother Josh. But what if Michael and the others try to rescue me tonight? How can I communicate to them that I want to stay as a dog until the commercial is finished shooting tomorrow?”
“He kept running off” Josh continued “until one day he disappeared into the woods and was never seen again.”
“Oh wow” Tom replied. “That’s where Buddy first disappeared to all those months ago. I wonder if it’s something about the wilderness that causes dogs to get lost?”
Josh shrugged his shoulders.
“Who knows. Just do your best to keep Buddy locked up here until the van comes to get you two tomorrow at around 8 o clock in the morning. Let me give you my number so I can stay in touch with you in case anything changes.”
Josh gave Tom his number. When Tom saw Josh’s last name, he had a thought in his mind.
“Your last name” Tom remarked. “It seems so familiar, but I can’t quite remember where I’ve heard it before.”
“Oh” Josh replied “I’m Freddy Benson’s brother. Haven’t you heard of him? He’s running for mayor of this town. He might actually beat the incumbent next month.”
“Can’t say I’ve ever heard of him.”
"Josh seems to remember me" Freddy noted to himself. "I wonder how powerful Sofya's amnesia spell really was."
“That’s odd" Josh said. "He’s been all over the national news and stuff. Are you living under a rock or something?”
Tom growled, as Josh tried to calm him down.
“Just kidding, Tom. It’s ok, man. Relax. I’ll keep in touch. Looking forward to seeing Buddy in action tomorrow.”
Josh waved them goodbye, as he walked down the street.
“Benson” Tom thought to himself, as he walked Buddy into his house. “Why does that last name sound so familiar? I swear I’ve heard it before, but I can’t quite put my finger on why.”
Buddy felt a sense of dread, as he walked into the house. The smell of a female bitch in heat became stronger to his nose.
“Is it coming from the house?” Freddy wondered to himself.
At Michael’s house…..