Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
RORI
I make it to the fifteenth floor before re-evaluating my game plan. Someone will have to see a golden retriever roaming the halls and call security. I need to head down to the lobby and speak to the front desk to see if they can send out some staff to walk the floors until he is found or until we get a call that he has been seen. I step out of the elevator, pressing the down arrow. I wait for the second elevator to stop on this floor. I get in and try to breathe as the elevator slowly descends to the first floor.
I exit the elevator and walk back to the front desk where my keys and wallet are still on the counter and my suitcase still stands next to the front desk.
"Mam, you can't leave your things here," The young lady behind the counter shouts as she sees me start crossing the lobby floor. She is not yelling at me but her voice is raised.
"I know. I'm sorry." I quickly grab my things. "Is there anyone I can talk to about getting help locating my dog? He went up one of the elevators and now I have no idea what floor he is on. Her eyes widened for a brief second before picking up the phone and calling someone.
"Hey, there is a dog loose somewhere in the hotel. Can you spare anyone to start searching? We don't need anyone getting hurt or any property damage." My heart sinks when I hear that they are worried Wrangler is dangerous. I would say he could never hurt a fly, but he does like to catch those in his teeth sometimes. He is the sweetest boy you will ever meet.
"We have a team looking for him, what is his name?"
"Rocky. He is really sweet, I promise, I'm so sorry. His leash broke. He never runs off like this." My tears start to fill with water as I try to hold back the tears.
Eli
We make it to the first floor. I tried stopping at the other landings, but he just kept going. I followed. He looked like he was on a mission, and I was not going to stop him.
We make it to the bottom door and he is just circling waiting for me.
"Is mom out here?" I ask as I grab the door handle.
He responds with an excited "woof!". The sound reverberates up the entire concrete stairwell.
We exit into the back side of the elevator bay. He takes a minute to assess his surroundings before running out into the hall and heading toward the front lobby. I run right behind him. This guy is not leaving my sight until I know he is safe. If we cannot find his family, I will take him home. This guy is too good of a boy to be sent to a random shelter. He stops as the hall opens into the lobby. He looks left and right a couple of times before noticing something and taking off like a rocket.
Moments later, he knocks over a young woman. I gasp and begin running toward her to apologize. Before I reach her, I see arms thrown around this guy's neck. I was right, his mom was crying. I was wrong though, they were not ugly. Even with tears running down her face she is beautiful. I slow down to a walk and straighten my posture as I approach her.
"I take it, this good boy is yours?" I ask.
"Yeah, I'm not sure how good of a boy he is right now, but yeah Rocky is mine." She says, wiping her tears on her sleeve. "I'm Rori. Thank you for finding him."