CEO

63

Eve POV

It's the end of October now and I'm at the dog shelter volunteering.

I'm currently sitting besides a golden retriever named Suzy. She's about 16 years old and is slowly dying from her brain cancer.

"Trish have you guys given Suzy some pain meds for her pain?" I ask my manager that is walking past where I am. The dogs head is on my lap and I stroke her soft fur that I just brushed.

My manager sits across from me and pets Suzy's fur. "The shelter doesn't have enough money for her pain meds." My heart pinches. I can only imagine how much pain Suzy is in. She has had this cancer for a few months now and it's progressing quickly.

"How much is it?" I ask Trish.

"About three hundred. That will last her until she passes." I look down at the golden retriever who looks sad. Her head nuzzles into my lap more and I frown a little.

"I can pay for it," I say while looking back to my manager.

"No, Eve that's too much to ask from you. You already do so much here."

"No, I don't mind. She needs it," I say with a soft smile. "It's starting to get cold, do all the dogs have enough blankets?"

"They have one each." I tilt my head.

"The ripped blanket with holes?" I ask.

"Yep," Trish sighs. "The government hasn't been giving us our funding like they have been. Usually every year they give us a lot of money to take care of the dogs, and they only gave us a quarter this year." I shake my head and look to Suzy who looks like she's in pain.

"I'll pay for the blankets," I say. "I don't want any of the dogs to die because it's too cold." The heat never works, and it gets freezing cold in the winter here.

"Are you sure?" Trish asks me. "I feel bad that you want to pay for the medicine and blankets."

"It's no problem," I say honestly.

"Thank you, Eve." She squeezes my hand.

"Of course." I say.

***

"How was your day?" Harry asks me as we sit on my couch.

My legs are over his lap and my body is facing his. "It was good, you?" I ask.

"It was swell." His fingers play with my hair. His eyes look down to beside my couch, and to my old converse that are falling apart. "I thought you ordered new shoes."

"I was going to," I say. "But, things came up."

"Like?" His pale green eyes look to me.

"At the shelter this is a golden retriever named Suzy, has brain cancer. And she's in a lot of pain, and the shelter can't afford her medicine. So, I bought it for her. Then, they don't have good blankets for the dogs in the winter so I bought some for them." I explain briefly.

"What was the total of what you spent?"

"Around 500 dollars." I say. "I can wait on shoes," I add.

"They're all warn out on the bottom and the left shoe has a hole near your toes," Harry reminds me. "They're also all old and dirty."

"I know," I say. "I can I get new ones in two months." My boyfriends eyes widen at me.

"Two months?"

"I went over my budget this month so I have to cut back the next two months." I say. Harry's head tilts at me. "I'll be fine."