Page 49 of Horn in My Side
“N-no.No.”She shook her head.“I’ll be fine, Mal.Really.Fridays aren’t usually crowded.”
He hesitated, but trusted she knew better.“All right.But at least let me give out breakfast.”
“You don’t—”
“I got it,” he assured her.“Your system really is well written and organized.”
“I—Thanks, Mal.”
She scampered away from him and headed out, leaving Mal alone.He fought the temptation to follow her with his eyes and instead trudged upstairs so he could check on the creatures.
For the rest of the day, Mal kept himself busy with one or two things on his to-do list, and of course, checking on the carcinos egg and the hatching tank.He’d meant to keep it simple and functional, but the egg was much too exquisite to just sit inside a plain terrarium.Inspired by Vrig’s work on the makara habitat, he’d recreated carcinoses’ natural environment as best he could.The carvings on the side were a last-minute addition.At first, he’d added a few vines and flowers, but as he worked on it, he thought of all the creatures in the shop and it just grew from there.
While he didn’t want to meddle in Jasmine’s business, if one or two of his chores happened to be something that allowed him to peek outside—like oiling the squeaky door hinges or replacing the lightbulbs in the display window—then he told himself it was just coincidence.As Jasmine predicted, it wasn’t busy at all that day.She spent most of the day sitting on a folding chair behind the table, chatting with people and giving out flyers, and coming inside to ring up purchases from customers.When he left at five o’clock, she was clearing the table and most of the other shops were packing up too.
Confident that she had everything under control, he showed up near noon the next day, as his client-slash-therapy patient went an hour over their designated thirty-minute meeting.By the time he entered Fantastic Tails, it was, to put it mildly, a madhouse.The shop was filled with more people than he’d ever seen before, loitering around the pens and peering at the pets inside, walking up and down the aisles of pet food and accessories, and scrambling up the stairs to the second floor.The animals didn’t seem to appreciate the extra activity, if the many unhappy, cranky squawks, squeals, caws, and growls were any indication.
Where was Jasmine?
Good thing Mal was about two feet above everyone’s heads, so he quickly spotted her in the back, by the chamrosh cage.He waded through the crowd to reach her.
“Thanks for stopping by,” Jasmine greeted a couple as they walked away, then quickly turned to the family next to her.“So, you wanted to see the water horses, right?”
“No, no.”The young boy stamped his feet.“I said I wanted an alicanto!”
“Right,” Jasmine replied, flustered.“Why don’t I show you—Mal?”
“What’s going on?”
“It’s the post-parade rush,” she explained.“Everyone’s tired and cranky, looking for a respite from the heat, so they head into the shops.We don’t usually get this many actual customers, but everyone’s been finding us on their Picstagram feed.”
“Look, it’s the orc!”someone stage-whispered behind them.“Do you think he’ll pose for a selfie?”
Jasmine winced.“Uhm, the pictures of the hatching tank and the carcinos egg have also gone viral.”She nodded to the middle of the room, where a stream of people snaked around the tank, waiting to get close to it.“I had to make everyone line up.”
“I said I wanted an alicanto!”the boy screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Miss, can you please help us?We’ve been waiting for so long,” the woman next to the boy—his mother presumably—said.“My husband and I want to go grab lunch.”
“Yes, ma’am, of course.”
“Finally,” the husband said with a cluck of his tongue.“These little shops are so inefficient.I told you, Gina, we should have gone to PetExpress.”
Jasmine’s shoulders sank.“I’m really sorry for the wait.”
“You should be.”He snapped his fingers at her.“Now where’s this bird my son’s been harping on about?”
Mal’s temper hit the roof.“Get out,” he said in a deadly tone, pointing to the door.“You’re not welcome here.”
“I b-beg your pardon?”the man sputtered.“Where’s the manager?”
“I’ll do you one better.”Folding his arms over his chest, he shot the man his most menacing look.“I’m the owner.”
“And this is how you treat your customers?”
“When they disrespect my employees, then yes.Now get out,” he growled.
The man harrumphed.“Fine.Gina, Ethan, let’s go.We’ll spend our money elsewhere.”
