Claws

Chapter Three

      "Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!" Calls a voice above me. I roll over and press my face into the pillow beneath me.

"Go away, I'm asleep."

"What about your eggs and bakey?" The voice persists, my ears now awake enough to recognize it as Adrian's voice, not that it could have been anything else. He has woken me up with that same statement every morning for three weeks now.

"You can eat the eggs and bakey."

"Okay, okay. I'll drop a line to your boss saying you won't be there today." I sit up so fast I hit my head on Adrian's, knocking my mask slightly off my face. Hurriedly adjusting the cloth, I spring off of the couch and grab my clothes before dashing into the bathroom. Changing quickly, I re-emerge to a laughing Adrian.

"Wow, Alexis. Remind me to stand back next time I mention your boss," He laughs, rubbing his head.

"Sorry," I reply, grabbing a plate filled with, surprise! Eggs and bacon. Eating fast, I pull my shoes on over the socks that I wore in my sleep. Then I grab my copy of the key and stand by the door.

"Come on, Adrian. I don't wanna be late!"

"Calm down, you crazy girl. You're not gonna be late." He says, meandering over to me. We go out, and I lock the door behind us.

We look at each other, then take off down the hallway, racing towards the elevator. I give a great leap and land squarely inside it and instant before he reaches the doors. I laugh.

"You do that every day. And," He pants, "I've noticed that you never get tired from the racing."

"Nope!"

"How do you do that?"

"Um, I'm really fast anyway so those like, 50 feet aren't really a big deal."

"I guess I'm out of shape as well."

"Yeah." Then the doors slide open. We walk through the lobby together, and then went separate ways to our different jobs. Arriving at the station, I dashed to my cubicle and turned on my phone.

"All set." I murmured. Jean comes in, giggling furiously.

"Alexis! Turn off your phone, you have to come see this!"

"All right, all right! I'm coming!" I turn my phone back off, hearing a distant ring in the background of the office. Following Jean, I head toward the break room... The disastrously torn apart break room.

"What happened here?" I shriek. Jean giggles again.

"I thought it was a good idea to bring my puppy to work. I didn't want to leave him home alone..."

"Is this the puppy that you told me isn't house trained yet?"

"Maybe..."

"Jean!"

"It's okay, it's okay! Look, he's right here! And we can fix this so quickly... Uh, will you help me? Just watch him while I tidy up..."

"How about I tidy up. I don't mix well with dogs..."

"Oh, but Buttercup is so sweet, look!" She pulls a small golden puppy out from under a table. The puppy barks and licks her face. Then she holds him out towards me. The dog sniffs me, and tilts its head in confusion.

"Uhh....Are you sure?" I ask. As if on cue, the puppy gives a small growl.

"It's okay, he just wants to play!" Insists Jean, dumping Buttercup in my lap. The little dog jumps up and starts trying to pull off my mask, presumably to get to my face. I have heard that dogs like licking faces. I push him away and hurriedly correct my mask.

"Um, how about you stay at my feet? We can run around together..." I say, still wary. I glance at Jean on the other side of the room, humming as she picks snacks off the floor. I turn back to Buttercup and take a deep breath. Then I pick him up.

"How about we go outside while Jean picks up, huh?" I whisper, taking the puppy into the hall. He jumps out of my arms and turns to me, running between my legs. Then he runs back through. I jumped to the side, and he ran through there. It was obviously a game. I start giggling. Frantically jumping around, he runs through as fast as he can. We play this crazy game for about ten minutes, Buttercup panting and wagging his tail, me giggling insanely. Soon, I was okay with the little puppy. When Jean comes out, she scoops him up.

"Thanks for playing with him while I tidied up! He's just a silly puppy, isn't he?" She coos.

"Yeah, I suppose he is. Now, I really have to get started!"

"Started with what?"

"Uh, with my job?"

"Oh yeah, that's kinda important."

"Bye!" I insist, half-jogging in the direction of my cubicle, the carpeted floor muffling my footsteps.

I reached my cubicle and turned on my phone. I am now ready for calls. Soon enough, it gives a soft ring and a small red light comes on. I pick it up.

"Hello, this is 9-1-1. What is your emergency?" I can hear shouting in the background.

"Fire! There's a fire! And people everywhere, some are still inside! I need- please send the fire department!"

"Miss, please calm down. What is the address of the building?"

"It's on fire, I'm not about to go look, I don't know!"

"What street are you on?"

"Uh, I think, hang on..." Sounds of running, broken up, come through the phone. "I'm on Grands Street. Hurry, please!" I press the button to alert the fire department, then type in the address.

"The fire department will be there soon. Don't worry." She takes a deep breath through the phone.

"Okay," She says. Then the phone clicks, and I know she's hung up. I smile, knowing that I've done some good in the world today.

I get ten more calls over the course of the day. One more for the fire department, three for the police, four for an ambulance, and two misdials for pizza delivery.

The next day, Adrian wakes me up and we go through our standard routine. I arrive at the Phone Place, and Jean comes over to say hi and tell me the latest gossip. Then I switch on my phone, and it starts ringing. First up: call for the police. Second: a call for the hospital: Third: A fire. Fourth: Misdial for pizza delivery (Seriously people; look at the contacts you have on speed dial). And fifth: Someone was robbed.

By the end of the day, I am exhausted. I go home and crash on the couch, looking forward to tomorrow. Wednesday, my day off.