[///ON HOLD///] Animal House (Rendezvous #2)

Chapter 13

The first appointment for the day was a simple grooming session and Nora tilted her head at the small brown and white bulldog who waddled into the room. It looked awfully familiar, but she couldn't exactly put her finger on it. Her eyes looked up at the owner of the pet and saw a tall and well-endowed man who also seemed familiar.

"Hello..." she looked down at her clipboard. "Eugene."

The dog immediately reacted from the sound of his name and barked. Nora smiled and bended over to scratch him lovingly under the chin.

"And you must be Marc." She stood and shook the hand of the man. "My name is Nora and I'll be the one in charge of Eugene today. From what I see, you just want a grooming?"

"Correct."

"It'll take about an hour and a half for us to finish. We'll make sure Eugene is ready and happy by the time you come back."

Nora looked at Marc and saw that he was glancing around the clinic. She raised a brow as she picked Eugene up into her arms. The puppy rested against her chest, well-behaved.

"Is something the matter?"

Marc smiled at Nora. "Your fox isn't around?"

It wasn't a strange question. Many of her patrons knew about her pets, especially Raccoon, but she didn't remember the faces of every visitor. Even non-visitors knew about Raccoon, as long as they lived around the neighborhood. And yet, Marc looked familiar to her. But she didn't question it. It'd seem like she was hitting on him if she asked if they had met somewhere before.

"No," she answered. "I typically keep him away from the clinic during work hours."

Marc continued to smile at Nora with the same lazy curve of his lips. "Too bad. Maybe next time, if we see each other at the park again."

Then it hit Nora. This was the guy her brothers talked with at the park who was playing flag football.

"My son's been trying to convince me to get him a pet fox ever since, but I don't think it's that simple, is it?"

"Definitely not," Nora huffed. "I helped rescue Raccoon from an abusive family and am only allowed to keep him under very strict circumstances. A pet fox should not be taken as lightly as a dog or cat."

Only after Nora finished did she realize how harsh she sounded. Her tone made it as if she was lecturing Marc, a guy who was only joking with her. Nora was prepared to apologize, but to her surprise, Marc didn't take offense. Instead, he simply nodded.

"That's good to know. Now I have an even better excuse to give my son. Besides, Eugene is more than enough for me to handle anyway. Aren't you boy?"

Eugene barked and Nora internally sighed. She always had the tendency to speak before thinking, especially when it involved animals. She was just glad Marc was a good guy.

"Alright, I'm going to go run some errands. I'll leave him in your hands Dr. Banks." He winked.

Nora smiled. "Of course."

She watched him exit through the main door of the clinic before she turned around. Standing by the doorway of Eugene's room was Erika. A small smile pressed her lips, as if she was impressed.

"I've never met a guy who winks in real life that wasn't a celebrity."

Nora shook her head and handed off the dog, but not without a smile of her own. "Get to work missy."

The day was just getting started. Grant would arrive around noon, Veronica was manning the front desk, and there was also a locksmith in the building who Nora hired to change all the locks on the doors that led to outside. Though she was originally hesitant about a further investigation, her insurance informed her she may benefit from finding out what truly happened. After all, no one really believed a cat could so easily slip into a locked building and cause all that damage.