Surfing Midland (Complete/ First draught).

Chapter 16

"So what do you do? I mean, I know you're a vet and all that...but what do you have to do?" I asked curiously as Declan held the door to his 'town' office open. It was larger than I expected and a secretary was sitting behind his desk just inside, he greeted the both of us with a friendly smile.

"Vince, how ya going this morning? This is my daughter Leah, Leah this is Vince. If you need to know where I a during or after school he's the guy." Vince nodded along and acted like that what Declan had said was a huge compliment. I could only smile as I hurried Delcan up so that we didn't have to endure an awkward conversation with anyone else.

Declan cut ahead of me as we walked down a surprisingly long corridor, I suppose it ran the length of the building and here and there I could hear animal noises. We passed a dozen or so doorways before Declan opened what looked to be his office door, another guys name was on the name plate, but the room contained two desks.

"Come in. This is my office, I share it with Jason Leech most days, but we rotate field days. You know? I'm in the field one or two days, and then he is..." Nodding my head in understanding I looked around the small office, to be fair it couldn't be called an office. It was more like a cleaning closet that had been renovated to look like an office, the smell of disinfectants was strong in the air, and I crinkled my nose at it.

"You get used to the smell after a while," Declan said of my expression, I couldn't imagine working in a place such as this. The smell was off putting but so was the noise from the animals caged wherever they were it would drive me up the wall.

"Do you want a tour? I can show you the animals that are up for adoption too if you want?" Frowning at the suggestion, I shook my head; I didn't want to see animals up for adoption. Why would I? The whole thought of being around animals was gross, sure I swam in the ocean, and there were animals in the sea, but at least they were cleaner than land animals. Seeing scraggy dogs and cats with bits of hair missing was gross and depressing, not something I wanted at all.

"Come on Leah; it'll be good for you." I was doubtful that looking at sick and injured animals would do me any good; I couldn't see how it would do me any good. Remind me that I was from a broken family? That I was like them? Passed around and neglected to the point that I didn't care what I looked like?

Declan turned without a word towards the corridor and motioned for me to follow, hesitantly I dropped my bag to the floor before following him out the door. A doorway ahead of me he vanished into a side room, I hesitated once I saw what was in but followed as soon as he waved me over.

"This is the baby room; we keep all kittens and puppies in here until they're old enough to be put up for adoption." Looking around at all the little critters behind cages, I couldn't help but feel kind of sad. They were just babies, and they were already kept like this, kneeling by an enclosure I couldn't help the smile as two playful puppies came up with wagging tails and tongues hanging out.

They gave excited little yips, and I found myself smiling at their antics.

"Want to hold one?" Before I could even respond to Declan's question, he was holding one of the small puppies out to me. The fur ball looked adorable as it snuggled against Declan, I hesitantly held my hands out towards it and almost squealed when it licked me.

"Have you never handled a dog before?" Though Declan seemed surprised by this I nodded my head, my mom wasn't a huge animal fan, and we'd never had a single animal in the house. Seagulls weren't tolerated either, and as soon as one landed on the deck, it was shooed away by either my mom or one of the staff.

"No, mom didn't like animals in the house and I never really thought about getting one. They look like they need a lot of care how do I hold it?" It seemed lately that whatever came out of my mouth shocked Declan; the question was no exception as he cradled the puppy in y arms and showed me how to hold it.

"This guy is Puck, and that's his sister Andy. They're looking for a foster home to take them in, and I have been considering our place. Now that I know you've never handled an animal I think that we should take Puck and Andy home so that you get an understanding of what it is to be responsible." Shaking my head at the suggestion, I felt as if this was too big a thing for me, I knew what it was like to be responsible. Of course, it wasn't for something else or another life, but I considered myself responsible enough.

"I don't want to look after something, what if it dies? What if it gets sick or is injured?" Not to mention everything else that could go wrong with caring for something that probably had to be taught everything. The thought of teaching puppies to poop in a particular area, to not lick their butts and all that other gross stuff made me gag, and he shoved the puppy back at Declan before exiting the room.

"Leah? Are you okay?" Declan came out into the corridor, still holding that damn puppy. It looked like the happiest thing sitting there in his arms, its tail was still wagging, and it's tongue still hanging out of its mouth as it moved its head around for attention.

"I don't want an animal," I stated simply as I eyed Puck from where I stood.

"Why not? It'll be fun for you to learn how to take care of something else, don't you want to give it a try and learn something new?" Doubt gnawed in the back of my mind that I could make a puppy happy and healthy after caring for it. I knew how to care for myself, that was easy but what about a dog? I'd seen plenty of people running with their dogs along the beach in the mornings and a friend or two owned dogs and brought them down when we went out surfing.

But those friends had always had dogs, throwing me into a relationship with a dog suddenly was bound to go the wrong way and I was counting on my failing. "Fine! But if anything happens to it you can't blame me." Declan smiled a broad smile as he handed Puck to me, I hesitated a moment again before shaking my head. If I were to care for the dog, then I'd have enough time to pet it later on.