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No seats were available inside the clinic, so Harlow stood. She checked in with the receptionist, a man in his forties who took equal pride in his man bun and his horn-rimmed glasses. She let him know she was interested in the position, and he told her the doctor was currently busy with patients.
Around her, a large woman in a green petticoat tried to calm her dachshund that she held in her lap. A balding man in his thirties restrained his Labrador on a leash, the Labrador lashing out at anyone and everything.
At first, she considered not intervening. It was far better to keep a low profile, to not get too attached in case she had to leave. After several minutes of waiting, though, Harlow sighed and approached the woman with the dachshund, which was frantically trying to escape the woman’s hold.
“What’s her name?” she asked the woman politely.
At first, the woman appeared caught off guard, but then Harlow began to pet under the dachshund’s chin, the dog throwing its head back in satisfaction. “Coco,” the woman told her.
Harlow produced a small vial from her coat pocket. She liked to keep a vial of lavender oil with her everywhere she went. It had a calming effect on humans and dogs, so naturally its effect on Harlow was amplified significantly.
She rubbed a bit of the lavender oil into Coco’s collar, and the effect was immediate. The dachshund no longer struggled to escape from her owner’s grasp, instead preferring to cuddle up on her lap.
The woman thanked her enthusiastically, and Harlow smiled, explaining that it was just lavender and that many stores kept it in stock.
“Do you know when your dog hurt his leg?” Harlow approached the owner of the enraged Labrador, keeping her distance more for the man’s peace of mind than her own. The man wore his embarrassment on his sleeve, clearly ashamed of how badly his dog was behaving.
The man seemed dumbfounded. “Hurt his leg?”
“A lot of dogs don’t like showing weakness, so they display aggressive behavior as a defense mechanism. If you look at his front right leg, he’s got a little limp. Does he have a kennel?”
“In the car,” the man said. “I don’t like to keep it with me because—”
“You don’t think it’s very humane. I get it.”
“Yeah.”
“I agree for the most part,” Harlow said. “But a kennel doesn’t have to be a punishment. He might actually feel safer in it. And it will keep him off that leg and away from other animals, who he might see as a threat.”
Harlow waited with the dog while the man ran back to his truck. He returned with a sizable kennel, which the dog was only too happy to hide inside. He expressed his gratitude and asked for Harlow’s name.
“Just consider me a good Samaritan,” Harlow replied with a wide grin and some hesitation.
“Keep that up and you’ll put me out of business!”
Harlow turned around to see a cheery woman with graying hair. She had a youthful vigor that belied her apparent age. Notably, she was the only one in the room wearing medical scrubs.
Harlow smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry. Just trying to help.”
“Don’t be. I assume you’re the inquiring applicant?”
Harlow nodded.
“I’m Dr. Dorcas, but you can call me Gwen. Are you able to come in on Monday?”
Harlow hesitated. “You mean you’re hiring me?”
“We’ll keep you on a trial basis for now, but yeah. I think I’ve seen everything I need to know for now.”
“Wow!” Harlow said, relieved. “Okay. Thank you so much!”
“Be here Monday at nine in the morning. I don’t like tardiness.” Tough but fair. Harlow could respect that. “Ted will just take a copy of your ID and give you a form to fill out.”
“That’s completely fair,” Harlow said. She reached into her purse for her wallet, but that couldn’t be right. Her hand crept along the bottom of her purse, digging through several layers of old breath mints and along the contours of the fabric.
Then she remembered, panic now guiding frantic hand movements through her purse. She hadn’t put her wallet back into her purse after she checked in yesterday. It might have been the hard rain or the distraction of the job search, or it might have been her exhaustion.
“I’m so sorry,” Harlow said. “I left my wallet back at home.”
