Pets, Vets, and Baggy Sweats

Paws Of Soul

A red cross eliminated the date 6th May from the calendar. Disqualifying it from the race of time – of 2014 at least. Laila sighed, contented. 6th May marked her one month and six days of working in the renowned vet 'Paws of Soul'. Not many were lucky enough to get the call back for the interview and for Laila to be the one of the only 3 people employed gave her a sense of victory and satisfaction.

In your face you judgmental freaks who made of her in high school. In the span of one month and one day minus a week, Laila had learned a lot. She had prepared her mind and body weeks before she even sent CV for the vacancy. Therefore, she absorbed everything like a sponge. Literally everything. She was by now capable of naming practically every other employee in the hospital. Doctors, nurses, groomers, even the sweepers. You name it she knows them. Along with that she had also learned the name of most of the clients that were appointed to her as well as their pet's name and breed. They were here first clients after all. One month and six days. Looking from Laila's point of view: One marvelous month and six glorious days.

Laila also prided herself in being a diligent student. So while the rest of her batch was busy getting drunk on weekends and skipping lectures, she was pulling all nighters and taking extra credit classes all for this achievement. But even with all her knowledge and awesome memory, she was still a rookie at her job and had tons to learn. Laila also had a fixed routine. Her fellow colleagues had already noticed her daily pattern and would wave back at her as she would return with her 4 PM coffee. Laila too, was living the dream. Other than the occasional mewls and woofs, her office was most of time peaceful and even though Wednesday was always the slowest day of the week, it didn't mean that she could not enjoy her 45 minutes lunch break.

Inhaling the scent of crushed roasted beans that emerged from the warm cup in her hands, Laila closed her eyes and exhaled. The first sip was always the most delicious and she had to admit, the coffee here was the best she's ever had. She was all set for another sip of her deep brown milk coffee when suddenly the door burst open, accompanied by frantic, incoherent sounds traveling through the air.

"I AM IN NEED OF SERIOUS HELP"

The intruder was a boy. Probably the same age as her, she deduced. His black, disheveled hair, bounced wildly as he scampered towards her now standing figure. Half of her coffee was acquainting itself with the floor while the savory sip she was about to take was still wet on her new white coat. Light brown stains had formed already as she helplessly saw the rest of it being absorbed into the fabric. If only the boy wasn't waving a possibly injured toy poodle in his arms, and if her tongue wasn't burnt, the boy would've been out the door by now. But he was holding a dog, and as a vet it was her duty to take care of all injured animals, even if they were forced on her by some brown eyed guy in sweats.

"- and then I don't know what happened! Like he was fine! And then he suddenly fainted and-"

Too many words.

Too fast.

Burnt tongue.

Headache.

Dog or no dog the dude needed to slow down.

"Shut up."

"- he's not gonna die is h- wait what?"

Success.

The boy now gave her a weird, slightly offended look, "Now that's not very nice."

"You're speaking too fast and my brain can't process. Slow down and tell me what happened," Laila said in a friendlier tone and gestured him to give her the dog but he wouldn't.

"But you told me to shut up. How can I just let that go-"

"Isn't the well being of the man's best friend more important right now?"