How I Fell in Love on my Way to Newport: Part One

(Names are fictitious)

I have a friend named Melissa.  She is a lovely, gorgeous divorcée who spends her time principally between Washington, Palm Beach, Aspen, and the Middle East.  She is a dynamo, always on the go, and always on to the next high profile engagement.  Often she calls to catch up and on occasion asks if I can do her the odd favor.

Well, when Melissa called three weeks ago and proposed the following, “Sean, I need a favor of you and think it will be fun.  I need you to take my dog, Baby, a Coton de Tulear, up to New York City to live with a beautiful and intriguing advocate of animal welfare.  Because I am in transition so much and the way things are, I can’t provide a stable enough environment for her at the moment…”  “OK…  Hmm,” I said.  Whoa, this is hardcore I thought - I’m gonna’ transport a lap dog to New York City and meet a gorgeous girl, named Alexandra Sapphire.  Without hesitation I said, “Absolutely!”

So, last Thursday I picked up Baby.  After a long goodbye with Melissa and some instruction on how to care and feed Baby, I was off.  I had initially planned to drop of Baby in New York City that evening.  My widowed father just happened to call as I was leaving and I shared with him the hair brained adventure I was beginning.  He immediately said, “Bring that dog here, I want to meet her.”  “OK,” I said.  So I called Alexandra who immediately picked up and I told her that due to the late start I was getting I would not be in NYC until way too late, which was true and could we reschedule for Monday – done.  And so the adventure began …