Page 48 of Dark Endures

My morning is just one repeating narrative. “Overslept.”

“Happens to all of us every now and again. Did you hear the building sold? We’re all going to be kicked out soon.”

The rumor mill is rife today. “I heard it’s been sold.” Taking Muffin, I race down the stairs. This is not what I need this morning.

Pretty Girl, the happy Pitbull, waits with her tail wagging for me to arrive. She’s the dog that makes me feel safe walkingin this neighborhood even though it’s the chihuahua on the first floor that frightens me.

“You’re late.”

“Sorry about that.” I can’t tell you how sorry I am.

He hands me the leash. “See that you aren’t again. If you are, you’ll lose customers.”

This is the first time I’ve been late in years.

“You just watch out that you aren’t homeless. With the sale of the building, they’re bound to raise the rent.”

How did such a sweet dog end up with a grumpy owner? I really shouldn’t have slept in.

***

“You look worn out.” Dahlia sets down her lunch box next to mine on the table.

Well, hello to you too. “It’s been a long day.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

I really want to whine to someone about it, but people don’t want to hear my problems when they have their own to deal with. “No.” All I need to do is not turn my morning dog walk into a jog around the park. Though the dogs enjoyed it, which means I should run with them more often. “How goes the wedding planning?”

A smile fills Dahlia’s face. “So good.”

“Hey.” Adonis walks in. “The group picked tacos for tonight. Are you two in?” He gives me a look.

My mind goes blank for a long moment. The power of a beautiful man can overwhelm a woman’s good sense. But those are pipe dreams. He isn’t smiling at me to flirt with me. Adonis wants me to make sure Dahlia goes out with the group. “Tacos sound amazing. Adonis always finds the best places in town. We should go.” Like I have time to eat tacos.

“Sounds good. Let me just message Maverick to make sure he knows.”

There go my plans for an early night… well, a semi-early night.

***

“You understand how I feel, Popcorn.” The sleepy snake barely moves as I spot clean her cage. I yawn. “It’s been a long week and all I want to do is go to sleep for ten hours.”

Oh, that sounds like a spectacular dream. Almost as good as those tacos were. I should have ordered a half dozen of them and not two.

Why did I try to save a few dollars? Thanks to this job, my savings account is flush with cash again. But my nerves won’t settle down when it comes to money.

My stomach twists and grumbles. I should start packing dinner.

Or second dinner in this case.

“You’d share your food with me, wouldn’t you, Popcorn?” Not that frozen rats would ever be considered food for anyone but a snake. She doesn’t even move.

That’s probably a no since she really likes to eat. I close and lock her cage before moving on to Hot Dog. A real hot dog would taste so good right about now.

“How is everything going?”

I jump out of my skin even though I should be used to people just randomly showing up in the middle of the night, but there’s something about Maddox’s voice that always gets me. No one sleeps around here. “Fine. Thanks for the note about Peaches. I can’t believe she’s gravid. You breed snakes here?”

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