Everything Is Blue

Chapter 42

A crisp breeze passed through the hound's hair, slightly ruffling it out of place. The sound of leaves rustling in the wind filled Bud's ears. It had started shaping up to be a pleasant autumn day. The agonizing days of summer heatwaves had come and gone. Possibly best for a certain Samoyed's well-being.

Speaking of...

Bud slipped into the familiar tall green building, wincing as he maneuvered his way past security. Not wanting to waste time being screened and checked in. Something wormed its way into Bud's chest as he eventually approached Kimbra's office. A deep, warm feeling that arose whenever he thought of the scientist.

He thought he'd surprise her today for lunch. Ever since the incident over the summer, she had been working so hard to fix things. It saddened Bud to see his girlfriend under so much stress, but he gave her space when she needed it. Found ways to cheer her up and to distract her temporarily from it all.

Bud leaned against the doorway of Kimbra's office. Surprised, the usually closed door was open today. He knew her to be the antisocial type, and a closed door told others that she wasn't in the mood for conversation.

"Hey," he rapped a knuckle against the door frame twice. "Do you want to have lunch with me today?"

Blue eyes glanced up at him. "Sure, but why?"

"Just want to spend time with my girl, that's all." His gentle words echoed in her ears.

"Okay, give me like... five minutes to finish this document." Kimbra squinted her eyes at the computer screen, exhausted from working for five hours straight. She rubbed her aching eyes with the palm of her hands.

She had been working tirelessly the last two months to fix the Wellings project mess. They paid back River for everything (who still insisted on calling her everyday over every single thing) and managed not to set anything else on fire.

Thank god for that.

With each passing week, it got harder to do pretty much anything. Dr. Kimbra Diane Wulfe had been completely burnt out on work. Five minutes passed, and her hands dropped from the keyboard. Stood with a deep sigh from her desk, peeling off the white lab coat before hanging it on the back of her chair.

Bud looked up from his phone, having been seated in a chair across from her. Patiently waiting. "Ready?"

As I'll ever be.

"Yeah, Let me drop these files off to Dr. Ainsley, first. "

He stood, smiling. Tucked the phone into the inside pocket of his suit coat. "I'll go with you. I haven't seen the old man in some time."

"He'd like that." Kimbra remarked as the pair left the room. "Not being called old, though. He might have you injected with some chemical the R&D department is developing if you say that to him."

Bud leaned towards her with a small laugh. "Ooo sounds fun. Might ask him to do it just for the hell of it."

Kimbra didn't particularly want her boyfriend to become one of EcoTech's little test subjects. That would result in even more paperwork for herself. And she'd probably have to find a new boyfriend once it was all said and done. It just seemed like too much work.

She wanted to explain to Bud how that wasn't the best idea as they strolled down the hall, but someone yelling grabbed the two canines' attention. Shared a glance with each other before continuing. As the two made it further down the corridor, they realized the voice in question was Dr. Ainsley.

The elderly reptile stood in front of a new staff member, waving a clipboard in the man's frightened face. "We are not switching to Celsius! We live in America. We use Fahrenheit. If I wanted to use Celsius, I'd move to Canada for Christ's sake."