Nayantara

Chapter Four: Dealbreaker

"All done," Dr. Zero, my boss and head surgeon of the veterinary building where I work, says. "Close it up, Nikki."

"Yes, doctor," I say. I sew a spaded pitbull's abdomen. Dolly, Dr. Zero's recently hired second assistant, grabs the cutting and prying tools to wash them in the sink.

"Hey, Nikki," Dolly says in a muffled voice because of her tight face mask.

"Hmm?" I say, hoping she'll see I'm not too interested in small talk.

"How difficult is it being a nurse here?" I momentarily pause, threading the needle through the dog's skin to think of one word to describe my job.

"Manageable."

"Wow! That sounds good." Judging by the tone of her voice being somewhat higher than her normal voice, I feel this conversation might be about jobs. "I was thinking about doing what you do."

"I knew it," I blurt on accidentally.

"Knew what?"

"Uh..." I look around the table to help me find something to lie about. The dog's mole near the insition catches my attention and gives me something to talk about. "Oh, I was counting the moles on the dog's body," I chuckle. "I was one short."

"How many are there?"

"Um, what were you saying?" I say immediately after to change the subject. "You want to be a nurse, correct?"

"Well, it's more like aspiring. I want to keep this job for a while first."

"Ah... well," I mumble as I finish closing the wound. "It's not for the faint of heart." After drying off the equipment, she walks to my table to take the dog away.

"I know, right?" She says, walking off with the dog toward the kennels. "It's hard to watch y'all operate and cut open places."

"You got to get used to it!" Dr. Zero says from his office. "It can get worse!"

"Jesus, really?!"

"Yup, it can," I say to myself. "Some animals need our saving."

"So does mankind," Asteria says, appearing a foot from me. She scares the crap out of me. Somehow I manage not to yell at the top of my lunges. Instead, I gasp loudly. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that."

"What the hell are you doing here?" I say as quietly as I can to not scream in her face.

"I thought I stop by and see how you were doing." I peek my head through the doors leading to the front door and other rooms in the building. Jenny, our receptionist, is talking on the phone. Dr. Zero is nowhere to be found. He's probably in his office in the back, typing on his computer. When I check to see what Dolly is doing, she enters the room the second I turn around.

"Dolly!"

"Oh my gosh!" Dolly jumps. "Yes, Nikki?"

"Uh," I stumble on my words when I find out Asteria isn't here in the room with me. "Uh, nothing."

"Okay... The dog is in its cage."

"Good," I sigh without making it too noticeable. My phone chimes Sam's ringtone a minute before my job's digital clock-in device, tells me it's time to clock out. "Thank Jesus," I say, reading Sam's text that she's waiting outside. "Bye!"

"See you tomorrow, Nikki."

I calmly walk out of the building, keeping my eyes and ears out for Asteria. Once I sit inside Sam's cold car, I sigh from the relief of not seeing Asteria anywhere. To make sure the coast is clear, I check the backseat.