Page 4 of His Pet

AMELIA

THREE DAYS LATER

My glass clinks with Josh, Monica, and Jasmine’s and I giggle before bringing it to my lips. We’re toasting to a great victory tonight. Today was the day five wild animals no longer have to spend their lives in a concrete block, and the day their cruel owners lost.

Sugar mixed in the cosmopolitan coats my tongue, and it tastes as sweet as I feel. I won. I fucking won.

“So,” Jasmine says, steepling her fingers together and leaning toward me in a giddy fashion. “What’s next?” The bar is so loud with other victorious protestors that she has to yell for me to hear her.

I choose to laugh instead of give an answer, mostly because I don’t have one. I didn’t set out to clean up the corruption in Las Vegas, of all places, or anything like that. I run a non-profit animal shelter downtown, that’s my real passion, and one I’ve been neglecting. I had to hire two extra people to cover the time I was in front of that ostentatious casino holding my sign rather than tending to my fur-babies. It was worth it, for the tigers… but I think I’m ready to get back to my life.

Conversation lifts at the table while I’m stuck in my head, so when I come back to the present, I blink and try to get caught up on what they’re talking about. Josh’s face is lit up as he speaks a little too fast, and the others watch him closely, fully entranced in what he’s saying.

“I mean, think about it. How much useless plastic ends up in the ocean every year? If California can pass anti-plastic laws, so can we.”

I think about a documentary I watched one time on ocean plastic, and an image of a sea turtle choked by plastic rings sticks in my mind. Now, I’m interested.

“And what exactly are you proposing?”

“We get your dad to…”

His words blend together after he mentions my father, and I smile as I stare at him but have to fight the pull of gravity on my lips.

My father, the real estate investor. Not the environmentalist, the animal rights activist, the philanthropist. He doesn’t care about those things, and yet, he’s a large reason why we got the attention that we did on the lion tamers. He’s made quite a few connections from his career, and not that he knows about it, but one of them, an activist from Alaska, had even bigger connections

Connections.

Money.

Power.

These are the things that make a difference in the world. Not kindness or compassion or even hard work.

Suddenly, this victory feels less victorious.

I nod as Josh finishes. “That’s definitely something to keep in mind.”Except, it’s already out of my mind. Oops.

I inwardly chastise myself. I shouldn’t be negative about their ideas, theirgoodideas. But once, just once, it would be great not to use the father who could not give less of a fuck if he tried.

“Hey, are any of you coming to the shelter tomorrow?” I ask, changing subjects and readying myself to take my negativity home.

“I’ll be there!” Monica says, setting down her Cosmo.

I take one last drink of my own and stand. “Awesome, I’ll see you tomorrow then, Mon.”

“Are you going home?” Jasmine asks with a pout.

“Yeah, I want to get there early in the morning, and it’s getting kind of late.”

Josh stands and wraps his arm around me. “You did good,” he says in my ear before pulling back with a smile. I return it.

“Wedid good. I’ll see you guys later.”

“See ya!”

By the time I make it to the exit, four people have stopped me to talk about what comes next. Each conversation seems to take longer than the last.

I sigh in relief as I finally breathe in the free air and tilt my head toward the night sky. I pull my phone from my pocket and check the time—half past midnight.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com