Small Town Love

Short Story

The smell of burnt toast spilled over to my senses as I yawned and stretched out, barely allowing my eyes to flutter open. I groaned. It was way too early to get moving, but it was clear that my best friend and roommate, Alex, thought otherwise.

I made a noise, rolling out of bed and glanced at my alarm clock. Six o’clock? I groaned. Who got up that early? Apparently, Alex did and because she was busying herself around our kitchen, I felt strange staying in bed. What I couldn’t believe was the fact that she was up so early, when she wasn’t even home by the time I went to bed and that was almost midnight.

I shuffled into the kitchen and she looked up. “Did I wake you?” she asked, a concerned look on her face.

I shook my head. “Kidding me? I love to get up at the crack of dawn.” I could hear my irritation in my words, so figured she wouldn’t be able to ignore it either.

She laughed. “Good!” She winked at me and went back to cooking breakfast.

“What are you doing anyway?” I asked, sliding into a chair at the kitchen table. “It’s Saturday morning. You were out until the wee hours of the morning and now you’re up and awake and the last I checked you don’t work weekends. So, what’s up?”

Alex shrugged. “Thought I’d change my day activities for a change.”

I nodded slowly and thought about her response. That could only mean one thing. “What’s his name?” I asked.

Alex shot me a look, then started laughing. “You know who it is. I ran into Gabe last night and he said that usually is up walking in the park around seven in the morning. So, I thought if I just happened to walk past him, then maybe we could walk together.”

The name brought back a lot of memories. I hadn’t seen many of the usual crowd since I’d been back in town and that was nearly six months earlier, when I had to rush back from my life in The Big Apple, to the small town, when word broke out that my parents died. Unfortunately, neither one made it, and that sort of sent me in a downward spiral and I didn’t want to socialize with anyone.

Gabe, along with Shirley, Surita, Shanta, Annie, Nalin, Doreen, and others were some of my best friends growing up. We did everything together and when I went off to school and everyone else stayed behind.

“I saw Daniel last night, too,” Alex continued.

Then there was Daniel. All throughout high school we were on again off again, hopelessly in love with one another. We were more on, than off, but he couldn’t fathom that I was dropping our plans to attend the same University, just to live out a pipe dream of going to Vet school in New York. I wanted to prove to him that I could make it. Yet, it didn’t help when I was still a few years out and had to rush back home, then opted out of not going back.

“Did you hear me?” Alex asked.

She had tossed a plate of burnt toast at my disposal. I looked down at it, then looked up to meet her eyes. “Yeah, I heard you! How’s he doing?” I popped a piece of toast in my mouth, trying not to think about him.

“Seems to be doing well,” Alex said. “He asked about you.”

I looked up to read her expression. She wasn’t laughing or proving that she was only trying to get me going. She seemed dead serious. “Is that so?” I asked, trying to look like I didn’t care in the least.”

She nodded and sat down at the table. “Yep. He sure did.”

I rolled my eyes, knowing that she wanted me to inquire more, but I wasn’t about to give her the benefit of the doubt. I would just focus on the fact that he supposedly asked about me and go from there. Besides, I had to finish breakfast and get ready for work. I didn’t want to be late, after all I had only been at the Vet clinic of two weeks. Sure I wasn’t living the dream I had always thought about, but I was making things work. At least for now.

Working at the Veterinarian’s office was something I had started to do when I was in high school. I started off at the front desk, just filing and answering phones. I always loved animals and so I thought it would be the perfect job. It wasn’t anyone’s surprise, when I said I wanted to go to school to be a Veterinarian.

Being back there, and the fact that I had some college work behind me, I was able to get more in depth with our animal patients. I now could assist the vet and didn’t have to do mundane office work. It wasn’t quite the position I was seeking, but it was something that I would grow from.

Another two weeks had passed and I was working diligently with the responsibilities I was given. I was in the midst of checking out a customer, when I heard the bell ringing on the door.

“I’ll be with you in a minute,” I said, not even looking up. I handed the man his change. “Thank you! Don’t be getting sick again, Buster,” I said, speaking to the bull dog that his owner of holding. I waved and they left the office.

“Good afternoon and…” My words fell off, when I saw Daniel in front of me. He was holding a dog in his arms. “Daniel? Hello!”

Daniel smiled, in fact his grin was quite pronounced. “Hello!”

I then looked down at the dog in his arms and that’s when I noticed the large gash on his front leg and he was whimpering. I hurried around the desk. “What happened to your dog?” I asked.

“He got hit and it’s not my dog. Found him on the side of the road like this.” I looked up into Daniel’s eyes. That was one thing we always had in common, our love for animals.

“Oh! Bring him back here and I’ll get Max to look him over right away.”

Daniel followed me and we took him into one of the exam rooms. Daniel placed him on the table, while I went to find Max. He was working on his computer with notes, when I spotted him in another room.

“There’s a stray dog that needs attention. Probably hit by a car,” I said.

Max immediately got up from his chair and followed me back into the room. He was a gruff looking man, but he knew what he was doing. He barely acknowledged Daniel, but went straight for the patient.

While he examined him, checking his vitals, going over the area infected, and ultimately giving him a shot and then bandaging up his wound, I was there to assist as needed. However, I couldn’t help but notice the way Daniel’s eyes remained on me the whole time. I felt nervous, blushing and looking away, yet finding myself deeply satisfied that his interest was still there.

“He should be fine,” Max said. “I would like to keep him overnight for observation though. Have you signed him in or are you releasing him to the animal shelter upon him being able to leave?”

I looked at Daniel and he seemed unsure, but then eventually said that he would sign him in, so the dog didn’t need to go off to the pound. I sighed with relief, because I didn’t want him to have to risk euthanasia if they couldn’t find the owner.

I walked Daniel to the counter and got some information from him. “Do you want to give him a name?” I asked.

He quickly shook his head. “Don’t want to get attached. We’ll find the owner I’m sure.”

I nodded and just put Boy Dog in that field. I then got Daniel’s contact information and printed off a ticket. “You can pick him up tomorrow after this time.”

He nodded. “Great!” He hesitated. “It was good to see you, Grace.”

I smiled. It’d been a long time since anyone called me that. “You too, Daniel.”

“Goodbye!” he said. He then left the office and I watched him round the corner. I hoped that I’d see him again soon.

***