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Ten minutes later, he was brand spanking new and ready for a solid blow-drying.
“That wasn’t so bad now, was it?” I asked the small dog as I finished rinsing him off in the tub. It took a bit of work and my bite-free gloves to get Feliz into the bathtub, but once he realized I was there to help him and not hurt him, he somewhat surrendered to the idea of me bathing him.
That, or he was terrified into a state of calmness. I’d been there before—so scared that I allowed people to have free will over me and my heart.
Every time Feliz whimpered out of fear, my heart shattered a bit more for him. He was such a sweet boy who was misunderstood.
As I grabbed a towel to dry Feliz, there was a knock on the bathroom door.
“Yes?” I called out.
Alex cleared his throat. “Everything okay in there?”
The moment Feliz heard his voice, he began to growl. I wrapped him up in a towel and started drying him.
“Peachy,” I replied. “But if you can refrain from speaking, that would be great. It appears your voice irritates him.”
I heard Alex grumble some.
Feliz growled at that, too, and grumbled along with Alex.
I laughed.
It turned out those two had something in common—they were two grumpy old men.
“We’ll see you soon,” I told Alex. “Leave your phone number and key on the kitchen counter, and I’ll use it if anything goes wrong, but it shouldn’t. I’ll see you later tonight.”
“O—”
“Don’t talk!” I shouted.
More grumbles from outside the door followed by foot stomping and the front door slamming.
I smiled down at Feliz, who still looked at me with those perfect eyes. “Don’t worry, buddy. Scrooge is gone. It’s just you and me now for the rest of the day. Though, he’s not that bad once you give him a chance.”
Feliz began wagging his tail as if he understood me, and I started blow-drying his coat, using the pet brush from my backpack to make sure none of his fur ended up matted. After I cleaned up his mess in his crate to make a comfortable place for him and leave Alex’s home smelling less like crap, I set Feliz’s food up, which he scarfed down within minutes.
Walking him over to The Pup Around the Corner was easy, too. Clearly, Feliz could tell I wasn’t out to hurt him. Though every now and again, someone would cross our paths, and he’d try to take out their ankles. But then again, I, too, wanted to take out people’s ankles sometimes.
“Oh, who is this cutie?” Keri asked as I walked into the shop. She smiled at Feliz, and he lunged toward her with the most intense barking I’d seen the guy showcase. “Whoa!” Keri gasped, jumping backward. “Feisty, huh?”
I tried to calm Feliz, but he kept trying to shoot toward her, completely zoned in as if he wasn’t only going for her ankles, but he wanted to rip her throat out. He was acting even worse than he had when Alex first met him.
“Feliz, it’s okay. It’s just Keri,” I explained, pulling him closer to me and lifting him into my arms.
“Dogs like me!” Keri chimed in with her bright smile. “It’s okay, buddy.” She stepped toward us, and Feliz almost shot straight out of my arms to attack Keri. “Maybe he needs time to warm up. I’ll go get Lucy in the back. She’s better with the smaller dogs.”
I agreed with her. The moment Keri left the room, Feliz calmed down. Lucy came out and had no issues taking him in the back for extra tender love and care. While they worked in the back, I headed to my office to do paperwork.
Oh, paperwork and how much I hate you.
The books were behind, clients weren’t catching up on their tabs, and I couldn’t help but think that Mr. Parker was rolling over in his grave at how bad I was at the business side of things. I felt strongly that I was letting him down, but I had no clue how to reverse it at all. I couldn’t give them pay cuts, either, because I knew my employees already worked harder than they should’ve. If anything, they deserved raises.
I’d already shaved my cut as much as I could, too. If I decreased my salary any more, I couldn’t be able to afford my apartment.
I wished I could’ve ignored the hard parts of life. Shoved it deeply in the back of a dresser drawer and never thought of it again. But the problem with shoving your issues into a dresser drawer was that they built up more and more each time until they overflowed, forcing you to deal with the mess you made.
I was almost at the dealing part of the issues.
Almost.
I was also quietly praying that the Fall into Fall Festival would help raise enough money for The Pup Around the Corner. It was my last hope. Even if we could raise five thousand dollars, I’d be grateful.
