Page 3 of She Came Upon A Midnight Clear
Half an hour later I’ve been introduced to a gorgeous, fluffy, blind malamute, a lanky brown hound dog mix named Hatch with the sweetest, goofiest dog grin ever, a tiny Chihuahua that stops shaking the moment Gretchen puts him into my arms, and a pair of adorable gray-and-white pitbull siblings who are maybe six months old that were abandoned just a few days earlier.
“Some asshole left them tied to the front gate in the rain,” Gretchen tells me as she closes their kennel door. “I really want to slap people like that.”
“I don’t know how you work here without taking all of them home. These two pittie babies are so adorable. They all are.”
“It’s hard, for sure. But we can do more running the shelter for them, helping as many as possible. That’s not to say I won’t ever adopt one of these guys—I definitely will when I meet the one I absolutely can’t resist.”
“Are you sure you haven’t already?” I ask, thinking how much that goofy hound dog made her smile.
“Maybe I have and I’m just too stubborn to admit it? Is that what you’re thinking?” She chuckles and smacks my shoulder playfully. “Well, you might be right. I have kinda fallen in love with Hatch, so we’ll see. But to be honest, it’s weird that you know me so well. Come on; you ready to go back to the party?”
“Yeah. Petting some dogs definitely helped.”
“It always does. Let’s go.”
We walk back to the main building, and even before we open the door I can hear the talking and the laughter against a backdrop of holiday music. Inside, it’s warm and festive, I have to admit as a passing server offers me a glass of champagne. I take it gratefully and sip. Maybe the night won’t be so bad after all. Nothing petting dogs and a glass of champagne won’t help.
Gretchen introduces me to a few of her co-workers, all of them the nicest possible people, and I begin to relax. It doesn’t hurt that I take two more glasses of champagne when the wait staff offer, which is more than I usually drink, and pretty soon I am definitely a bit tipsy.
I watch the crowd milling around, chatting and dancing, and it’s actually pretty festive. The DJ pauses the music now and then to ring a bell, and whoever is standing under the mistletoe hung in all the arches and doorways is supposed to kiss whoever is next to them. I have to grudgingly admit it’s kind of cute.
Must be all the champagne.
“Hey, I need to run to the restroom,” Gretchen says. “Wanna come with me?”
“I’m okay. I’ll just hang out here,” I tell her, leaning my shoulder against one of the rustic wood pillars placed at regular intervals throughout the enormous space.
“Okay. Be right back.”
As soon as she leaves an older women in linen slacks and a green cashmere sweater sidles up to me.
“So, you enjoying the party?”
Her tone is flirtatious and a little demanding.
“Uh, yeah. I’m just here with a friend.”
“A friend, huh? Just friends?”
I know exactly where this is going, and I am definitely not interested.
“Yes, just friends. I’m… not currently dating.”
The woman loops an arm around my shoulder and leans in close to my ear, so close I can smell that sour drank-too-much-wine breath. “You sure I can’t change your mind about that?”
I swear, sometimes women can be as predatory as men.
I try to remove her arm, but she holds firm.
“I’m really not into dating right now. But, uh, thanks.”
She nuzzles into my cheek and murmurs, her voice slurring, “I think you’re very, very pretty.”
“That’s, uh, nice of you,” I say, my whole face heating with annoyance. I hope Gretchen comes back soon. Like right now.
The woman leans into me, and I realize she’s drunker than she first appeared. I put a hand on her shoulder and try to get some distance from her, but instead her weight falls against me, and I start to fall backwards—and someone catches me.
I turn, thinking it was Gretchen, but instead it’s Dru.
