Page 14 of True Sight
“Can I—can I have your number? To text you about questions I have or whatever,” he quickly adds on. Normally I only ever talk with my clients over email or Zoom, but I have a feeling nothing will be normal about working with him.
“Sure, yeah, that’s fine,” I mutter, taking a few steps closer to him. I open a new text in my phone and hand it to him to punch in his number. When he hands it back to me, I text him my name so he has it.
“Thanks so much. Now I can just send you a quick note when I have them.” He smiles again for what feels like thefour hundredth time. This guy should be the spokesperson for antidepressants.
“No problem. I’ll talk with you later then.” I wave again and hope that he doesn’t ever text me. The last thing I need is a needy dogandclient.
It takes me ten minutes to walk home and I’m excited to eat and sit back down at my desk to finish my work day. When I open the door though, my afternoon plans are instantly changed. Several of the toys I’d purchased are shredded and unstuffed. The pillows from my couch are destroyed and a couple lamps are on their sides. Chew marks can be seen on the side of my couch, the plastic food bin sitting next to the front door is half empty. It looks like a bomb had gone off while I was gone.
And sitting in the middle of it all is a very excited looking Annie, happy to see me now that I’m finally home.
8
CONRAD
Leaning back in my office chair I dig the palms of my hands into my eyes. It’s been a long day of coding the initial pieces of Henry’s website and app, and my brain is ready to be done for the day. I have three months to launch his website, build him a fully custom app, and also set up the computer systems at his studio so he can live stream his classes like he wants. After the first day of work, I feel confident I can get it all done on time but it will be a sprint.
I sit upright when I feel something pressing against my leg and the distinct feeling of a plush toy being dropped into my lap. Annie is also ready for me to be done for the day and stands up on her hind legs to offer me her favorite alligator toy to throw for her. It was the only thing she hadn’t destroyed yesterday when I was at my meeting. She carries it around the house like it is her most prized possession and it’s the first one she goes for when she wants to play. I take it from my lap and throw it across the room, smiling to myself as I watch her chase after it. My lips quickly fall when Irealize I’m smiling as I’m still trying to be mad at her for destroying the apartment.
Damn dog.
It’s a good thing she’s cute.
Standing from my desk, I head for the door to grab her harness and her leash, needing to take her for a walk before heading to Kolbi’s for our weekly campaign night. I plan to walk her as long as I can then put her in the kennel while I’m gone. The neighbors will just have to deal with her crying until I get back.
“Come on, Annie girl,” I call to her and she quickly comes running. She’s already picked up on when her walking times are and knows she has to sit and wait for me to suit her up before we can go. With her patiently waiting at my feet, I place her harness over her head and buckle her into her leash before opening the door. We do a long loop around my apartment complex, stopping at every other tree for her to sniff and smell as if she hasn’t already smelled them several times before, and after forty-five minutes, we head back inside.
Before leaving, I pour some food into her bowl, let her finish it and get a drink of water. Then, I grab a treat from the canister Margaret brought over on Sunday and toss it into her kennel. Annie happily trots inside to fetch the snack she’s been lured with but as soon as I shut the door, she starts to whimper.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t have you destroying my house again. One more stunt like that and you’ll have to go back to the shelter,” I threaten even though I know it’s a bold-faced lie. In the few short days she’s lived with me, she has wiggled her stubby little tail into my heart. We’re in it for the long run now.
Not that I’d ever admit that to anyone.
I grab my keys and wallet from the counter and do my best to ignore the growing sounds of her cries. She watches as I move throughout my apartment, collecting my things and getting ready to leave for the evening. Unable to leave without another goodbye, I walk over to her kennel and stick my fingers in between the wire frame.
“I’ll be back, I promise. Goodbye, please stop crying so the neighbors don’t complain.”
She barks at me when I take a few steps towards the door and my instincts to check on her win out. When I turn to look at her, I’m met with the saddest, biggest puppy dog eyes I’ve ever seen. She looks like she is an animated dog whose eyes have been intentionally overdrawn to look bigger and sadder than naturally possible. Clearly she knows what she’s doing because seeing her like that tugs on something in my heart—care for another living being for once? Unlikely. Whatever it is, it carries my feet back towards where she’s locked away.
“Fine,” I sigh heavily. “You wanna come to game night? Will that make you stop looking at me like that? Because I hate the way it’s making me feel and I would very much like tonotfeel like that ever again.” Her butt is shaking back and forth as I open up the door to let her out as if she can understand what I am saying to her.
“‘You should get a dog. It might be good for you.’” I mock Hanna’s words as I put Annie back into her harness. “Yeah, and it’ll also make me even crazier than before because now I’m not just an uptight prick, I’m also an uptight prick who talks to the dog he can’t say no to when she starts to cry.”
I grumble to myself as we head towards my car. When I open the back door, she jumps in and leaps into the passenger seat as if it’s been labeled with her name on it. I try to tell her to get in the back but instead of listening, shesimply looks at me, panting, and if I’m not mistaken,smiling at mewhile she waits for me to take my seat next to her. I check the watch on my wrist and huff again, realizing that if I don’t leave right now, I’ll be late for the second week in a row. I’m not going to give Malcolm or the guys that kind of satisfaction.
“Fine, you wanna sit there, sit there. I don’t care,” I relent before slamming the door and walking towards the driver’s side.
Once I’m in and buckled, I glare at her for a second before bringing a hand to her head and giving it a good shake.
“Damn dog. If only you weren’t so cute.” I roll my eyes at her and she barks as if to say ‘I know.’
We make it to Kolbi’s in less than twenty minutes since I live on the opposite side of downtown than he does. Pulling up to his place, I see Hank’s bike sitting in the driveway with two helmets clipped to the back but don’t yet see Malcolm’s truck. I get out and head to open the passenger door to let Annie out. Once I reach the top of the front steps of the old historic home, I undo her leash and let her go in ahead of me as I kick off my shoes and set them by the front door. It isn’t long before I hear a commotion coming from down the hall as Annie happily introduces herself to my friends.
“What the?” Hank’s voice travels down the hall as I make my way into the house. When I reach the kitchenette, I see Kolbi step around the island and make a face at Annie who’s trying to jump into Hank’s lap as he sits at the table.
“What the hell is that?” Kolbi looks absolutely dumbstruck at the sight of my dog.
“What the hell does it look like?” I spit back, glancing between him and Annie who is now forcing her tongue into Hank’s nose.
