Page 5 of Christmas Shelter

"Where were you traveling to?" Charlotte asks when Patricia puts down her phone.

Her intention isn't to pry, or maybe it is a little, because somehow she feels very curious about what happened to Patricia's life, but mostly, she's trying to create a more pleasant atmosphere between them, because she's certain they'll be spending many hours together.

"Gibraltar," she answers without looking at her.

"Are you hungry?" Charlotte changes the subject. "Luckily, I brought several things, and there's enough for both of us to have dinner."

Patricia's whole body tenses when she hears how easily Charlotte assumes they'll both be staying there together all night, something she can't seem to accept.

"No, thanks, I don't want anything," she says and sits in a chair, facing the window.

The dog sits next to her and rests its head on her leg. Charlotte sighs and decides to bring up the topic she's tried to avoid at all costs because it makes her uncomfortable, but it's much more annoying to endure Patricia's curt and distant behavior.

"Are you really still mad about what happened?" Charlotte asks.

When Patricia turns to look at her, the volunteer again has the sensation of facing a possessed doll.

"Of course, wouldn't you be?" Patricia snaps.

"It's been a decade, Patricia, or more," Charlotte responds, shocked, "and no, of course I wouldn't be. We both applied for the same job with equally good resumes."

"You're wrong," Patricia attacks, standing up from her chair and pointing her finger at her. "It's true we applied for the same position with the same qualifications, but not with equal opportunities because I didn't have any family members working on the veterinary hospital board. They gave you the position because you were Gabi's niece, and that wasn't fair."

"What's not fair is you blaming me for that. We'll never know if my uncle had anything to do with the decision or not, he only has one vote, but even if he did, it's not my fault, Patricia, and it's not right for you to be angry with me."

"I'm not responsible for them giving it to you either, but while you secured a permanent position at the veterinary hospital, I was bouncing around various clinics with awful contracts and schedules for more than five years," Patricia rages.

"I'm very sorry that happened to you, but what did you expect me to do? Give up the position so they'd give it to you? Would you have done that?"

Patricia opens her mouth ready to say yes, of course, but bites her tongue at the last second because she knows it's a lie. Had it happened the other way around, she would never have given up her position to give it to Charlotte or anyone else.

"That's what I thought," Charlotte says. "I'm not asking us to become best friends, in fact, I'm fine with us just continuing to say hello when we cross paths in the city like we sometimes do, but out there a terrible snowstorm is falling and although it's hard for you to accept, you know you're going to spend the night here with me, so I'm asking for a little civility between us. I stayed here so the dogs would be okay, not to be uncomfortable because a former college classmate can't get over not getting the job she wanted and having to find another one."

"I have gotten over it, I'm not a child," Patricia defends herself, indignant.

Charlotte raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms, the dog barks at Patricia.

"You have two options, Patricia," continues Charlotte who, although she's a person who doesn't like conflicts and tries to avoid them, isn't going to overlook this one, "you can stay sitting there in that chair by the window while your body slowly grows numb from cold and hunger makes your mood worse, or you can swallow your pride and come by the heater and have dinner with me, I'm sure you'll have a better attitude with a full stomach. Besides, it's Christmas Eve, you should get into the Christmas spirit a little."

Patricia wants to protest and continue the argument, but she's aware that every word that has come out of Charlotte's mouth is loaded with reason. Right now, she's dominated more by rage at her current situation and hunger than anything else, so she takes the chair and drags it to where Charlotte's is, right next to the heater.

"Much better, what would you like to eat?" she asks, pointing to the cans and containers she has on the table. "If you'd like, prepare whatever you want while I feed the dogs."

Charlotte leaves her in front of the table and walks away to tend to the furry ones while Patricia, grateful for this truce of silence, watches her out of the corner of her eye.

Chapter 5

"Good night, beautiful," Carlota says to one of the small dogs after draping a blanket over her and closing the cage.

Patricia, who seems less grumpy now with a full stomach, watches Carlota from the corner of her eye because, though she'd deny it, she's touched by how Carlota treats each animal in the shelter. Both veterinarians ate in silence which, to their surprise, felt quite comfortable, and when they finished, Patricia cleared everything while her former colleague wished the furry ones good night. The cardiologist approaches the window again and, to her horror, the snow keeps falling, and if visibility was poor before, now it's almost zero. She sighs, defeated because she has no choice but to sleep here, and when she accepts this fact, a shiver runs through her chest because spending so many hours with her former university classmate feels like punishment.

"I can lend you some comfortable pants to sleep in," Carlota says while pulling clothes from a backpack. "Ialways bring two because the first time I stayed here, one of the puppies peed while sitting on my lap."

Patricia wants to smile but reminds herself that nothing Carlota says should amuse her.

"Don't worry, I'm comfortable like this. I wore these loose sweats because I knew I'd be driving for hours," the cardiologist replies with a grimace as she remembers—again—that her trip has been cut short.

As if on cue, the dog she rescued lifts his head from his cage and watches Patricia for a few seconds. Then he yawns and lies back down.

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