“As I said, Ms Brown, the sanctuary is closed until the beginning of January.” How many bloody times did the woman need to hear it?
“It’s just ridiculous. My grandson is expecting a dog on Christmas Day! What will I tell him when he’s crying because Santa didn’t bring him what he wanted?”
As if that was any business of Alyssa’s.
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Now, if you don’t mind, I do have to go. Take care, Ms Brown, and Merry Christmas.” Alyssa slumped in her chair, dropping the phone back in its cradle.
“How many times have you run your hand through your hair, Al? It’s bloody massive!” Lil laughed, sitting on the edge of Alyssa’s desk.
“How big are we talking?” Alyssa mumbled.
“Big, big. Here, tie it up. You can’t go outside looking like you’ve just been freshly…”
“Freshly what?”
“Well, you look like you have sex hair.”
“Ha, I wish. No, this is my freshly stressed hair. Nothing amorous about it at all.”
Lil grinned. “Either way, you need to tame the beast. You’ll scare the dogs.”
Alyssa took the proffered hair tie and wrangled her mane into something more manageable. Maybe she should finally get it chopped off. Could she get away with a pixie cut?
“Did you brief everyone about tomorrow?” Alyssa studied the list of jobs she needed to complete before they set off tomorrow morning.
“All briefed and ready. Don’t worry, Al. We’re only sticking the dogs in a van for twenty minutes.”
“It’s not the van that’s making me anxious. It’s the bit after. We must make sure all the employees that are signed on to take a dog know what’s expected of them.”
“Richard assures me everything is ready, and everyone at Crawford’s is well aware of their duties. Alyssa, just relax. It’s all going to be great.”
Alyssa nodded, calming herself down. Lil was right, everything was in hand. Richard had made everything so easy, and for once Alyssa could go into the festive period happy her dogs would have a good time.
“Alright, I’m chill. Let’s wrap up and get out of here. We have an early start.”
“That we do, my friend. Sure you don’t want to nip to the pub for a quick pint before calling it a night?”
“Nah, Hannah’s staying over tonight.” Hannah was a friend who occasionally shared Alyssa’s bed. They had good chemistry, but Alyssa couldn’t see herself committing to Hannah—or anyone else, for that matter. Not anytime soon, at least. Four Paws took up all of her time, and unless the person she got with could fully embrace that, then there just wasn’t much point. Sex with no strings was much easier.
“You need to move on from that girl, Al,” Lil huffed. “She’s completely besotted and you are playing with fire, leading her on.”
“Hey, I’m not leading anyone on. Hannah has always known it’s a bit of fun.”
Lil shook her head. “Not anymore she doesn’t, and her ‘sleep overs’ are becoming more frequent. You’ve been so busy here you haven’t noticed.”
“Noticed what?”
“That Hannah is getting comfortable. This is more than just friends with benefits to her, Al. Just saying.”
Alyssa rolled her eyes. Lil always liked to make a mountain out of a molehill where her love life was concerned. Lil Barnes was a one man kind of lady, which Alyssa fully respected. Lil wanted to find “the one” and settle down, which was great.What wasnotso great was how Lil couldn’t—or refused to—understand why Alyssa didn’t want the same thing.
“Stop fretting. It’s fine.” Alyssa closed her laptop and stowed it away in her messenger bag. “Let’s go.”
With all the dogs settled for the night, Alyssa and Lil bid Gary the night worker adieu. The carpark was empty save Lil’s little hatchback and Alyssa’s push bike.
“See you in the morning,” Lil sang, climbing into her car. Alyssa wasted no time slinging her leg over her bike and pushing off. The commute home would take her roughly three minutes. The air was frigid as she cycled down the lane. It was times like this Alyssa was glad she’d bought a small plot of land near the sanctuary.
The light in her mobile home was already on and there was a car parked out front. Lil’s voice echoed through Alyssa’s head as she pulled up, resting her bike against the side door.WasHannah getting a little too comfortable? Sure, she’d been around a little more than usual lately, and yeah, she kept a few items of clothing in the wardrobe. Goddamn it! Lil was totally right. How had Alyssa not seen it? Oh, that’s right, because as usual she’d been focussing all her efforts on the sanctuary.
