Page 11 of Revelry
*
Parking outside my veterinary practice, I grabbed my bag and went inside. The A/C was on despite summer ending but I didn’t mind the chill. I minded the electric bill but decided to let it go.
“Morning boss!” Harriet, my receptionist called as I pushed open the doors.
I glanced up, briefly taking in her purple hair and gnashed my teeth together. “You changed your hair,again?”
She twirled a strand. “Yah?”
I fought back the urge to yell at her to tell me when she was going to make drastic changes but remembered it wasn’t my place. I wouldn’t pass my issues on to other people or make them adapt their way of life because of me.
“You don’t like it?” she sulked, chewing her gum loudly.
I hated upsetting people almost as much as I hated change. “No, it looks good,” I gruffed, heading into my office, eager for the interaction to be over.
Most veterinary practices needed to be clean and sterile, but the offices were standard. Except mine. I needed things tidy and in their place so when I spotted the stack of folders haphazardly placed on the glass top of my desk, I cringed.
“New patients?” I called out.
“Yah!” Harriet called back. The sound of her gum popping loudly had my shoulders hiking up to my ears.
“Don’t fire her, don’t fire her,”I muttered under my breath. She might be young and naïve, but she was competent, most of the time, and she didn’t bat an eyelid at my barking orders and sometimes awkward demands.
I placed my satchel on the wooden sideboard that ran along the wall behind my desk containing my accolades, before straightening myDr. Wilder, Veterinariannameplate.
After switching on my computer, I was casually scrolling through my schedule for the day; constipated cat here, dog vaccination there and trying to forget about Gertrude and her wounds and lilac cowgirl boots when I spotted a familiar name.
Anger wrapped its steely fingers around my spine and my stomach somersaulted.
“Harriet!” I bellowed.
I heard the clack of heels as she tottered into my office. “Yah, Dr. Wilder?”
“If anyone with the surname Collins tries to book an appointment,” I jabbed a finger at my computer screen, “recommend them to another vet.”
Harriet chewed her gum loudly, setting my teeth on edge. I whipped a tissue from the box on the corner of my desk and held it out to her, glaring. She smiled awkwardly and tottered forward on her sky high, completely impractical heels, and took it off me, spitting her gum into it.
“Sure thing, Dr. Wilder. Any reason why?”
A fuck ton.“Because I said so.” My tone left no room for argument.
She smacked her tongue, missing her gum. “Gotcha.”
She clacked back to reception and I refreshed my calendar continuously until the name disappeared and only then did I push out the breath I’d been holding. It was too late, memories flooded me. Painful, sharp ones stabbing at my conscience and I grunted, clicking my fingers three times, trying to rid myself of them and be grounded. It took a couple of tries but eventually they shifted and my brain continued its usual noise.
The day was pretty monotonous. The constipated cat was no longer constipated after a little tummy massage which ended with stinky consequences. As gross as it could be sometimes I loved helping animals. Whether it was domestic pets here at the practice or the cattle and horses I tended to at the ranches. Despite wanting a predictable, quiet life I didn’t mind the unpredictability of animals. They didn’t understand human ways or how to communicate so what could I expect? Therefore, I didn’t expect anything and was never frustrated or disappointed.
People though, they were another matter. People knew how to communicate, knew societal norms and were taught how tobehave and yet they still chose chaos. Which is why I separated myself from them as much as possible. I didn’t want to have any close relationships because people’s unpredictability was dangerous and hurtful. I’d been blindsided before, more than once, leading to disastrous consequences. I never wanted that to happen again.
And there was one person who liked to cause chaos more than most. Her pouty mouth, soft curves and dark curls invaded my mind again.
Gertrude being here upset the order of things in a way I couldn’t explain and I didn’t like it. Hopefully she would just visit her mom and then be on her way to wherever life took her next.
Then my life would go back to normal.
*
After a late emergency callout across town, I was finally driving home, exhausted and happy to get to my bed when my mind wandered once again to Gertrude. Her bruised face flitted through my mind and my rage reignited, the leather of the steering wheel protesting beneath my clenched fists.
