Forest Edwards is always running. Either literally, because of his dog, Fletch; running to escape his tiring work life; or, well, running away from the possibilities of love.
But when Natalie Dayholt, together with her dog, Bailey, waltzed into his...
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SATURDAY AFTERNOON'S WERE usuallybusy, but the animal shelterhad been especially crowded today — with animals, of course. The dogs were barking, cats were purring, and birds were chirping unceasingly. Both in the cages and those out.
Unfortunately for those working there, the increase in volunteers wasn't proportional to that of the animals. Forest came to the animal shelter on almost all of his weekends, sometimes bringing Fletch along to see his old friends.
Over here, they hardly had volunteers; a new one each week would be considered lucky. Yet, the number of abandoned animals almost literally increased by tenfold weekly.
"Alright, Dalkom, shh. Calm down now, and I'll give you some more food later." Forest whispered to the German Shepard in front of him as it howled away, pawing at the gate. "Don't tell your friends though," he added, his lips pulling up into a warm smile as he reached forward to give the dog a pat on the head.
More often than not, Forest found himself so caught up in volunteering at the animal shelter that he wanted to quit his current job.
Not a very feasible idea, of course. After all, he still needed a steady income to donate to this place regularly and to keep himself alive. Plus, his parents always thought it was a priority for him to get a stable job.
He had thought of taking up courses to be a veterinarian when he was still in college, but they had always refused him. 'Hobbies should never be your job,' they said. Forest didn't think interacting with animals and taking care of them was just a hobby to him.
It meant so much more to him.
It didn't matter that he wasn't a veterinarian, he assured himself. Though he hated his current job, he kept quiet about it. At least his parents were pleased with him in a nine to five office job, slogging his guts out for the damned company. That was all that mattered... right?
"Forest! Could you help to feed Browny over there? Not too much please, he may be overweight anytime soon." Matt called out, tapping on his shoulder as he hurried past.
"Don't think that I don't realise it by the way. You always give them more food than necessary." Matt said, shooting him a knowing grin as he brought another dog out to bathe.
"I'm on it! And oh, shut up." He replied breezily, as he finished wiping the cage in front of him, rushing over to get the food for the Labrador.
Like himself, Matt Walsh was also a frequent volunteer of the animal shelter, and they had grown to be close friends after a while.
It wasn't just Matt — Forest had grown close to almost everyone here, and they were all close to one another, brought together by the love for animals. Forest smiled as he thought about it.
Home. The animal shelter was like his home.
***
THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE in the animal shelter finally came to an end for the day. It was already two in the afternoon, and Forest left with Matt to dine at a restaurant just around the corner of the street for lunch.
