Doggy

The alarm clock goes off and Jide stretches himself off his orthopedic bed, wishing he didn’t have to work again today. He has been the backbone of a newly established ICT Company he is working with, doubling as the Operations Manager and IT Unit Head.

“Oh! I thought I would be resting a little today but for that jerk of a boss who had to call to give additional inputs to that damn document!” Jide curses beneath his breath.

With the total lockdown within his city, he doesn’t need to bother about commuting to the office. At least that will save his wallet some stress. He thinks of just pulling out his laptop and working right there on his soft couch or better still from his very comfortable bed. He had recently purchased this bed under the advice of his doctor friend who said it will help massage his overstressed backbone. Even though he got it with almost all of his entire savings, he hasn’t regretted it. While he’s still contemplating, he remembers a workshop on ‘Work Ethics' that they attended in his office a fortnight ago.

…. Even if you have to work from home, make it have an office outlook….

“Yes, yes. I think they’re right so the distractions can be eliminated or reduced at the very least, right buddy?” He looks at Doggy, his companion as though he expects a response of confirmation from him.

“Hooo, hooo.” Doggy responds

“Oh! Don’t worry, I’m not stepping out of this house today. We’re going to work from here. Come on, let’s get started fixing the office space.”

Jide has been living with Doggy, his pet, a smart and intelligent German Shepherd for two years. Doggy has grown to become Jide’s most trusted friend and assistant. They go everywhere together except the office because it’s simply unethical. So spending the entire day from dawn to dusk is nothing short of a miracle for Doggy who out of excitement makes Jide stumble over him over and over again.

“Doggy stop! Stop this please. You’re making me lose focus…and patience,” he growls.

Oh! My master doesn’t know how it feels to have someone around all day having being lonely for eight hours or more everyday. I don’t blame him. And he shouldn’t blame me either.

Jide dresses in his navy blue shirt, the very one he had ironed and kept to wear today, should there had been work at the office. That’s what he does and is used to; preparing all his stuff for the week – shirts, trousers, underwear and shoes and arranging them accordingly in his closet.

Doggy tags along as Jide walks smartly to a corner of the living room they've just created an impromptu office. He pulls out his laptop from the drawer, places it on the table and connects the charger while Doggy helps to connect the plug to the socket.

He plays a soft music from his phone to keep him focus and just before his productivity skyrockets, the music goes off.

“What! What the heck is going on here!” He turns to check the phone he kept close to the laptop only to discover that Doggy has disappeared with it. 

“Doggy, Doggy! Where are you? Will you bring back that phone? Oh, no! This dog is really getting on my nerves. Doggy!”

Doggy emerges from behind the couch walking lackadaisically towards Jide as though he has done nothing wrong.

What’s all this ranting about? What wrong did I do now? Is it because I tried to save him from exploding? He's here Doggying me up and down. These humans think they're smart.”

“Please don’t do this again. You hear me?” He snatches the phone from him and goes back to work.

“I think this whole work at home thing is a wrong idea,” he murmurs, audible enough for Doggy to hear.

Yes it’s a whole wrong idea because it’s not favoring me either. I regret being excited earlier. I thought I would have someone to play with for a while but no, no difference from the other days you go to work in the office down town. Doggy snorts within him as he dogwalks to the balcony to take fresh air.

It’s already 3:10pm and Doggy strolls to the kitchen to check if lunch has been served. He sees his empty plate from where he is. He drags the plate to Jide and...

“Hoooo, ho ho hooooo.”

“Oh no! So sorry, I haven’t prepared lunch yet…by the way, what's the time?.” He checks the time on the laptop.

“What, 3:17pm!” He saves the work and rushes quickly to fix something for lunch. He realizes that he too has been very hungry.

No. You should have remained there. I thought you weren’t hungry. If I could go on a fast today, I would have ignored you completely. Nonsense!

Jide devours the food like he’s been starving for days. He gulps down a glass of water and quickly returns to work. Immediately he retrieves the document to start working, he hears groaning sounds from Doggy and then his phone rings. He checks, it’s his boss, probably needing the document.

“Hello, Sir. I’m on it, will be done in ten minutes.” He hangs up and rushes to check Doggy.

“Doggy, what’s it, now?” He runs his hand through the thick fur on his head and back. The groaning subsides. He tries to go back inside and Doggy starts again. The phone rings again.

You think you're smart. I'll make you stay with me here for at least 20minutes. It’s not too much to ask. At least I’ve been fair enough.

“Doggy, it looks like you’re playing some pranks with me, but you see, that’s not going to work now. My boss is already calling me and…”

The phone rings again and he rushes to take the call.

Doggy starts his smart game again but Jide ignores him because he has a feeling he's faking it. Then Doggy decides to up his game. He groans harder than ever before, crawling on all four as if a snake has bitten and paralyzed him. Seeing him, Jide jumps from the chair and with shaky hands grabs his phone and..

“Please, Sir, I beg to continue this work tomorrow because as we speak, my dog has been seriously hurt and needs to visit the Vet.”

“Okay Sir, thanks for understanding. I appreciate. Bye.”

Doggy didn’t hear when Jide mentioned visiting the Vet. It makes him hate being a domestic animal.

“Don’t worry, buddy, you'll be alright because we’re going to see the Vet right away.”

“Ho, ho, ho,” he barks shaking his head, knowing that his little game is over already.

As Jide goes into the room to pick some cash, Doggy seizes the opportunity to run out, nicodemously.

“Doggy, Doggy!” He yells, putting both hands around the corners of his mouth to make his voice travel farther.

After many yells and no response, Jide slumps on to one of the steps, not knowing what to think and fearing to think at all. His head aches, his heart doubles its beats, his eyes fight to hold back tears, his hair pores open widely, allowing every hair strand stand erect, his legs quiver and....he can't just understand what he feels. He hasn't known grief or something close.

"Do...ggy! Please....come... back."