TWENTY
It was drizzling slightly but not enough for it to be a bother.It was actually quite refreshing and cool and Felicity looked adorable with her frizzled hair.And the upside was that the sanctuary was nice and empty because nobody wanted to come on a daytrip in miserable weather.
Felicity slipped her hand in mine and I hissed in pain.
She instantly let go."I'm sorry, is your hand still tender?"
I nodded."Just a little."
She twisted my hand up and gave my palm a very, very gentle kiss."I'm sorry you got hurt."
"It's okay, it's my fault for not letting go.I don't even know why I did that, it wasn't like I was going to be able to hold the crate up on my own."
"You just care.A little too much sometimes."
"Jacob said the same thing."I sighed."Is it really bad?"
Felicity paused in the rain, a droplet rolling down her nose."I say this with love but you can be a bit obsessive."
I frowned at her statement."I'm not."
"A little.When an animal captures your heart, you live and breathe taking care of it.Everything else in the world disappears.You forget to eat, to sleep, to spend time with me."
It did ring true which was a little confronting, especially when I thought I'd been doing better at balancing my life and the demands of my job.
Apparently not.
We continued on to the new Hellhound House while I thought about it.She was right, I did forget anything and everything else when I was focused on an animal.In the past weeks, I spent every free moment I had to put Obie at ease.Even if it wasn't really in my job description.
We reached the new hellhound house and passed the scorch mark when we went inside.I was curious to see that Obie was getting on in his new enclosure and hoped that yesterday's events didn't forge an association between me and stress.
We got to the enclosure and I realised we weren't alone.A woman with lots of tiny dark braids was mopping the area.She looked up when she saw us and gave a wide smile."Hello.Can I help you?"
"Umm.I'm here to check on Obie.I'm on the veterinarian team.Who are you?"
"Mandy, I'm Obsidian's new keeper."She gave me a thoughtful look."You must be Charlotte."
I hummed."I didn't realise Obie got assigned a keeper."
"I was transferred yesterday."She smiled."Obie.That's a cute nickname.Much better than calling him Obsidian.I think I'll use that from now on too."
An unpleasant feeling made my stomach clench.I knew this person was just doing their job but it felt like they were coming between me and Obie.
Felicity cleared her throat."So why did you get chosen to look after Obie?Did you already work here or do you have experience with hellhounds?"
"Oh yeah, I've been here at the Griffin Sanctuary for almost ten years.I have a few part-time animals which is perfect so I can make Obie my main focus."
I fidgeted with my hands."He's very scared and shy so don't be offended if he ignores you for weeks.That's what he did to me."
"I don't mind that," she said with a smile and a shrug."I used to work with rescue dogs before I came here so I know a thing or two about handling scared dogs.You have to let them come to you but when they do, it's magic."
"How are you handling feeding time?"I inquired."Obie's very particular.I've noticed he only eats out of a round metal bowl and his favourite snack is pepperoni.I can tell you which his favourite brand is."
Mandy smiled."Oh, that's not necessary.I already read it in his file.You included a lot of detailed notes which were very helpful, so thank you."
Her dismissal was rubbing me up the wrong way even though I had no reason to feel that way.It was great that Obie had a dedicated keeper, it meant he was upgraded to a permanent member of the Griffin Sanctuary family.So why did this feel so horrible?
When an awkward silence fell over us, Felicity carried on the conversation."So is Obie exploring his new home?"
