Q Street Query

Hello and welcome to the 2020 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! I’m writing one new meet-cute per day as part of my “Sacramento Love” theme. Read along as couples find themselves falling for folks in lucky locations across California’s capital city. In this time of social distancing, there’s no need to fear a little fictional fun, so get your romance fix here and enjoy!

P.S. Today’s story was inspired by Writer’s Block Coffee, who really are donating 100% of their sales today to Feeding America! They’re aiming to raise $1,000 for the hunger charity, so if you need to stock up on coffee (or just want to try something new), today’s the day.

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Quentin knew he’d seen her somewhere before, but he couldn’t remember where. She looked strangely familiar. Her long, dark hair was blowing in the wind as she wrestled four muscular dogs, each attempting to pull her in a different direction.

“Joachin, no! Sebastian, heel! Rogue, this way! Plimpton, down!”

She must be a dog-walker, he reasoned. Had she ever taken Drusilla for a walk? He couldn’t remember any of the names of the folks whose services he’d used over the past three months – not that he was particularly good with names anyway.

“Ruff!” Drusilla scolded, bringing him back to reality.

“Sorry, princess,” he apologized to the tiny chihuahua. “What’s the plan?”

“Ruff!” she repeated, tugging him toward the woman he’d been daydreaming about.

“Oh no, miss missy, you stay away from those dogs. Remember what happened last time you tried to tangle with dogs ten times your size?”

“I bet she gave them what-for!” the woman called, overhearing his one-sided conversation.

“Drusilla does like to boss men around,” Quentin admitted. “See how she’s got me talking to myself in public like a crazy person?”

The woman laughed. “I guess you’ve got your hands full.”

“Me, what about you? Is this business or pleasure?”

“A little bit of both,” she said, as her four dogs suddenly sat down in unison, like troops awaiting Drusilla’s review.

“Oh my, you’ve got them trained.”

“I think they’re just sweet on Drusilla,” the woman whispered.

“She’ll do that to you,” he replied. “I’m Quentin.”