we keep this love in a photograph

Chapter 28

Another week passed by - the third without Rosie - and every morning, she'd walked and gotten a small cup of coffee at a shoebox of a coffee shop, enjoying it for Rosie's sake as the days grew warm and muggy and watched the sunrise over the harbour from the bridge. The salty air blown in from the mouth of the ocean was fresh and balmy and Jennie would linger for awhile before walking home and getting ready for work.

She left the office early the next Thursday, the streets saturated with yellow patches of sunshine as she sat behind the wheel with the windows down, letting in the sounds of traffic and shouts and laughter. San Francisco was teeming with life, with the last boiling days of summer before it turned towards autumn, and Jennie basked in the feeling as she idled in traffic.

Arriving home at her house just before lunch, Jennie unlocked the door and let herself into the cool interior of the house and paused. The loneliness hit her again at the stifling sound of silence inside. Hovering in the foyer, she swallowed thickly and slowly set her bag down on the console before rifling through it for her phone.

"When's your next client?"

"I'm about to take lunch," Ashley replied, following Jennie's lead and skipping the niceties.

"My next one's scheduled for two o'clock, why?"

"I need your help."

"Sure. With what?"

With a quiet huff of laughter, Jennie smiled wryly. "I'm going to get a dog."

"Meet me at Seventh and Vermont."

Jennie hung up and bundled back outside, slipping her sunglasses down over her eyes against the harsh sunlight, and climbed back into her car. The birds twittered in the branches of the Crape Myrtles as she turned left at the end of her street, fuchsia petals dusting her windscreen as she fiddled with the radio and lazily drove through the midday traffic. She rolled the sleeves of her silk blouse up and thought of lunch and of calling Rosie the next morning - preferably with a dog to show off.

Jennie faltered for a moment at the thought of what Rosie would say about a dog, considering they'd be living together when she was back, but it was a while away yet, and Jennie couldn't stand the loneliness of those long months in between. It hadn't even been one month yet, and it was already unbearable as it closed in on her every time she stepped through the front door alone.

She parked in an open space along a quiet street, accounting firms and banks and small, private offices greeting her as she stepped out of the car. Ashley lingered in the shade of a narrow office front and Jennie read her name on one of the plaques set on the door, listing the therapists who worked there.

They walked to a little Salvadoran restaurant first for lunch, ordering casamiento, pupusa and tamales at a small vinyl table as the AC unit shuddered overhead; the heat was like an adhesive that even the fan couldn't shift as sunlight slanted in through the wide windows, yellow- tinted from the laminated posters advertising the menu. They split a tres leches cake before Jennie left a few folded bills beneath the napkin stand and they left.

Ashley led them to a nearby rescue centre, the sound of yapping dogs reaching their ears before they'd even opened the door. It was mercifully cooler inside, the smell of wet dog and kibble mingling with the stale air-conditioned smell of bleach and Jennie felt her stomach knot as they were led down a hallway and into a room full of cages. Her stomach dropped at the sight: kittens mewling in a pile; dogs listlessly sprawled out on the bare concrete floor, staring at her with dark, liquid eyes; puppies scrabbling at the bars as their tails furiously wagged.

"How am I supposed to just pick one?" Jennie whispered, leaning closer to Ashley.

"This is why Alice never lets Rosie and I come here," Ashley admitted, hooking an arm through Jennie's. "We'd probably come back with five each."