Page 12 of Fight for You

Many animal owners don’t know the repercussions of overfeeding their animals. Especially when it comes to human food. Dogs are creatures of habit. Once human food is an option, they will always beg for it. “This is what’s best for Lana. I’ll go grab her. Call if you have any questions.”

I left the couple in the waiting room and go to the back and open her kennel. “It’s time to go home.” She sits pretty and waits. I know she is waiting for a treat and normally we did give them out at the end of an appointment, but with just having explained her issue to the owners, I don’t. “Come on, girl.”

She looks around, and didn’t move for a second, almost confused, but then she follows. Once she sees the Matta’s she runs straight to them, and then looks back, wagging her tail. Until next time.

“I’m headed for lunch at the diner. I’ll be back in an hour.” I yell to my office admin.

I take off my coat and head out the door, down the street. They are used to me coming in on lunch around the same time every day.

“Hey, Leo! We saved your booth. Miles coming today?” The waitress asks, bringing me my normal coke.

“Not sure. He’ll show up if he can.”

“You want your normal order for Wednesdays? Bacon cheeseburger and fries. Extra ranch?”

“Yes, please!”

After she walks away, I pull out my phone.Why hadn’t Brylee reached out?Maybe she has been busy. Or maybe she regrets that night. No, that can’t be it. We both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and the chemistry between us is off the fucking charts. She must just be extremely busy. I am not going to let my doubts fuck this up for me. They just keep creeping back up.

I pull up her phone number and open a text chain. The cursor blinking at me.What should I even say?

Me: What are you up to?

I erase it.

Me: Can’t wait to get together again.

Ugh.I erase it again.When did this become so fucking hard?

Me: Wanna go to dinner tonight?

The green arrow is pressed before I can think too hard. If she isn’t going to reach out first, I’ll gladly bite the bullet. We have things to talk about and being scared to face things isn’t going to do either of us any good.

“Hey! Sorry I’m late. Lost track of time.” Miles says, sitting down across from me in the booth. The waitress sees him and smiles. “Normal, please!”

Sometimes he meets me for lunch and other times he is too busy, but it makes it more enjoyable. Eating lunch or dinner by yourself gets depressing. All the prying eyes wondering why. “Still haven’t heard from Brylee.”

The waitress drops off his Mountain Dew on the table and he takes a sip. “Damn. I was hoping you guys would work things out. You might have had a rough patch, but it takes an idiot not to see how much you care for one another.”

Miles is good with words. His girlfriend has a lot to do with that.

“I know… waiting around to hear from her sucks, though.”

“Well, if you want to, we can play pool tonight. I’m free. It’s my night off and she has to work. It’ll be better than sitting around at home.”

The waitress brings the plates and sits them down. “I brought ketchup and ranch too. Anything else, fellas?”

We both shake our heads. “Thanks!”

It would be nice to keep my mind busy tonight. “Alright, let’s plan on it and if I hear from Brylee then I’ll call ya. But in other news, what do you think the big meeting was about today? I still hadn’t heard anything.”

“I didn’t go either. Had to get the bar ready to open for the day.”

“They act like people can just leave work with a half an hour notice. Ridiculous. The way this town spreads information, we will figure it out soon.”

My phone buzzes against the table and I jump. Not Brylee. Is this what it is like for women after going on dates? Just blindly waiting for a call or text message? I am not envious.

Miles and I eat in silence for the most part, except for the brief conversation about the new distributor for his liquor having upped the price by three dollars a bottle for his favorite whiskey. Inflation is a thing and always getting worse.

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