New neighbors Andi and Hayden don't get off to the best start - and neither do their dogs. When the hostility between their pets, Bart and Rosie, leads to noisy barking, Andi and Hayden must solve their pet's tension or risk eviction from their apar...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Fun.
A fun theme. I can do a fun theme.
I'm a fun person.
I sigh, running a hand through my hair. Maybe if I say it enough times, it will be true.
My heels clack against the wooden hallway as I make my way to my apartment, trying to convince myself I'm not in over my head here. How hard can a "fun theme" be?
And even if it is hard, I can handle it.
I can handle anything to which I set my mind.
I reach into my purse and fish through the stacks of papers and blueprints I plan to study all night. But, of course, I'll do that only after I give Bart some love and take him outside. He deserves some attention and fresh air.
I grab my key and pull it from the pits of my bag. Passing by Hayden and Rosie's apartment, I glare at their golden door. Just the sight of it ignites my nerves and pushes every spark of my body on edge. Darting my eyes away from their entrance to hell, I reach my own door, the entrance to peaceful bliss and my amazing dog.
As I'm about to stick the key in the hole, the door on the other side of the hall opens. The same woman who came out this morning marches out again. Her blonde eyebrows are drawn together, and the feather-light wrinkles on her face are more prominent from a tight scowl. She's without her baby this time, but her clothes have signs of him. What's sure to be his spit-up rests on her shoulder, and her curly blonde hair is messy, surely from tiny curious fingers.
The first time, she looked mad but reasonable. This time, she just looks mad.
I gulp, twisting all the way around.
The woman places her hands on her hips. "Your dog," she starts, pointing at me, "needs to go."
"Woah," I say. "What are you talking about? I said I would get him under control. He doesn't usually act like he did this morning."
"This morning?" The woman yells. "Try all day!"
My nerves accelerate at lightning speed, ricocheting off every corner of my body. "What? What are you talking about?"
Surely Bart hasn't been barking all day. That's not possible.
The woman points toward my door. "Your dog has been yapping on and off ever since you left!"
My heart beats faster. "No—I—that couldn't have been Bart. Was it Rosie?"
"It was Bart and Rosie!"
My hand shakes. I fiddle with my key to soothe the nerves. "I don't—are you sure?"
I'm praying the woman still has this all wrong. All day I've been trying to convince myself this problem would get better, not that it's actually a thousand times worse than I thought.
