by Lucy Scala
Bubu was sitting next to my feet on the bath mat. I patted him and apologized for not being around much that day. Bubu rolled onto his back, exposing his white belly and wagging his tail, hoping I would fuss him. He let me stroke and massage him gently.
I filled a bottle of water and watered the plants and, when I got to the window by the front door, I noticed Diego leave the house with a rubbish bag. He held it up, throwing it into a now overflowing bin and lit a cigarette. Shortly afterwards a woman joined him. I had never seen her. She was probably the girl from the dating site. I shouldn’t be surprised.
She invited him inside and Diego squeezed her tightly. He didn’t seem to want to let her go, as if he was afraid of losing her at any moment.
A sense of nausea and heaviness overcame me without any warning. I breathed deeply. Why did I feel like that? Was that nagging feeling jealousy?
I snorted. I didn’t want to see any more, but the more I repeated this to myself, the less inclined I was to move away and I remained glued to the window. Feet flat on the floor and eyes fixed on them. They looked very intimate, he was comforting her for something and she allowed him to cradle her in his arms.
“Oh, go to hell!” I exclaimed, clenching my fists. Maybe it was the wine’s fault, of course I couldn’t be jealous of her. I barely knew him, and I was dating Alberto. Therefore, certain thoughts shouldn’t have even entered my head.
I stood there, motionless, with that image still before my eyes. I shook my head to delete it.
Chapter seven
“If you make me wait so long every time, I’ll give up. You can walk next time, I don’t care!” I blurted out, looking at my watch.
“That’s not fair!” She tried to defend herself. “Every now and again you have to wait for five minutes, these things happen occasionally, you don’t need to raise your voice like that… I’m not a child.” Fiamma settled down in the seat and sighed.
“I must have missed some stage of your development, then,” I said defiantly.
She looked at me with her mouth open. “Your sense of humour is terrible, you know? Come on, don’t get angry for having to wait for me, I went to bed late.”
“I wonder why I had any doubts…”
“Yes, but maybe I exaggerated this time,” said Fiamma. “What do you think about people who work together and date at the same time?”
“You mean people who don’t separate their private life from work? And what has that got to do with you?” I asked, and then I opened my eyes wide. “No, don’t tell me that… Antonio…” I turned to guage her reaction.
“Yesterday he took me home and… you know how these things go. He invited me out to dinner, it was very late and I went to his house.” Fiamma’s smile was embarrassed.
I almost spat my sweet out. “You and Antonio?”
“Yes…”
I raised my eyebrows. “God, are you serious? Gee, now that’s a scoop.”
“Don’t say anything to him, promise. I’m very embarrassed and the idea of working side by side with him makes me uncomfortable.”
“I won’t say a word,” I said, laughing.
There was a brief moment of silence.
I felt a pinch on my side. “What are you doing?” I asked, pulling away. “I swear, you have my word.” I was really laughing now.
“I’m afraid I screwed up this time, but I really like Antonio. He’s a good guy, not to mention how…” I raised my hand to stop her. “I don’t want to know the details. Good heavens, we work together or have you forgotten? Let’s just leave everything at the image I have of you both at work.” Fiamma nodded, smiling. “Anyway, he’s a stallion!” she said in one breath.
I was stunned. “Oh, please, stop.” I shook my head so as not to think about those two having sex. “Every time I’ll look at Antonio now, I’ll think of a horse. I hate you.”
Fiamma stamped a kiss on my cheek. “Oh you’re so narrow minded! You’re old enough to know how the world works.” That was a low blow, I had to admit.
“Really witty, let’s just say that if you talk about Antonio, there are certain details I don’t want to know about… you know, he’s one of my employees.”
I would never admit it, but Fiamma could always make me laugh and she did it in such a simple and straightforward way that it was impossible not to love her.
“And you, my dear friend? What’s going on, anything nice?” she asked, lowering the window a little. Inside the car, the heat was stifling.
“I decided to follow your advice and went out to dinner with Alberto,” I admitted. I began to count down in my mind, knowing that Fiamma would start bombarding me with questions.
“Oh My God! And you tell me like that? Don’t you have any tact? This upsets the whole situation.”
“Yeah,” was the extent of my reply.
“Stop answering in monosyllables!” She accused me, screaming out loud and bustling with excitement. “Tell me everything from the beginning.”
I turned right and went towards the clinic, now only a few kilometres away.
“All right,” I said with a sigh.
*
It had been four hours since we started working and I had not had time to reflect upon what had happened, and maybe it was better that way.
If I thought about the evening spent with Alberto, I still felt restless, like a girl on a first date. I continued to lick my lips insistently to remind myself of the taste of that kiss.
As soon as I pushed the door on the back of the clinic, where the dog shelters were, I was greeted by excited barking. I took a notebook from a shelf and checked every cage, looking at each dog’s papers and writing down something in pencil on all of them. Some of those dogs were waiting for their new owners, who would come and pick them up within the next few days. The adoption papers were ready in the office.
I walked over to the second barrier and touched the grille. Happy jumped out of her basket and reached for my hand. She tried to push her wet tongue through the wire mesh, against which she had pressed her, now bandage free, paw.
“Don’t you like your bed?” I asked, looking at the basket that we had given her. Happy had capsized it and pushed the pillow right in front of the small door.
“You’re naughty! You should take an example from Casper, he has shown himself to be a perfect dog and today he will prove it to everyone.”
Happy turned her head and barked. “Here, you’ve just reminded me of one important thing.” I grabbed my phone from my pocket and pressed the speed dial button. “Hello, Alberto. Am I disturbing you?” I asked.
“Mia?” Alberto seemed surprised.
“I hope you don’t mind that I called you so suddenly.”
“Uhm, no. Just wait a moment, I’ll move, the reception isn’t very good here.” he said. “But I don’t have much time, in fact I have only a few seconds,” he continued rapidly. “How are you?”
“I’m great, it seems silly, maybe… I don’t know… but I wanted to call you. Today there’s the first meeting with the children for the pet therapy, I should be there in the early afternoon.”
I heard Alberto cover the phone and a female voice echoed in the background, she was probably a colleague. “Really? Fantastic news, but I have to go now.”
What was happening? “Oh, nothing that important. Call me back when you can,” is all I could say.
“Of course I will. See you soon.”
I felt bewilderment in his voice and his answers were cold and incoherent. Then I understood why and felt a sense of embarrassment: I had disturbed him in his workplace.
“Bubu, let Casper breathe!” I said crossly to my dog, for he would not stop bothering the other.
That day, we had organized a meeting between the two dogs to let them get to know each other and to watch their behaviour, before taking them to the hospital for the new project. It was vital to be sure that the dogs would continue to demonstrate an acceptable attitude for their task.
Bubu was sociable and prefe
rred good company to his bed: everyone mistook him for a puppy because of his liveliness, although in reality, those days were long gone. He ran around Casper barking and inviting him to play. He crouched down with his elbows on the floor and his tail in the air, and then ran round in wide circles. Then he jumped, turning to look at his companion. Casper, meanwhile, seemed still disorientated by Bubu’s exuberance. He lowered his tail, hiding it between his legs, and put his ears back. Bubu wearied of Casper’s shyness and trotted a few metres away. He found a broken branch and ran gleefully towards me, shaking his muzzle, delighted with his new trophy.
“They’re very different, but that’s no surprise,” I said, discouraged.
Fiamma gave me a nod. “It was predictable. Bubu has always been accustomed to contact with people and with other dogs; he hasn’t suffered. Casper has spent his life tied to a chain, has never played or had a chance to run. We will have to wait for him to get used to his freedom, then he will be different.”
I pushed a strand of hair from my face. “I know, and I’m sure that those children will be a tonic for him as well. Casper has all the requirements to be eligible for pet therapy, he has passed the behavioural tests brilliantly. We didn’t get as good results with other dogs we had trained specifically for the purpose. Don’t you think that’s incredible?”
“It’s all amazing, because he immediately identified you as a leader. And then, unlike the others, his behaviour is predictable and reliable.”
Fiamma sat down on a bench and clapped her hand on it, inviting me to do the same.
“I’m confident and believe in the dogs we’ve chosen, you’ll see!” said Fiamma. “Do you want to take them both or just start with one?” she asked, leaning forward.
“Today we’ll just take Casper alone, I’m curious to see how he’ll behave with the children” I said, before calling Bubu with a whistle.
As usual, my dog had ventured off alone and ignored my call.
Fiamma stood up and hooked the leash on Casper. “Do you want to leave Bubu here?”she asked, looking at his face emerging from a low hedge.
“Well, I would say he camouflages pretty well,” I joked. “You know what? I’m leaving!” I shouted at Bubu.
Bubu was a stubborn dog, but he hated being left alone and I knew that in a matter of seconds he would come out of his hiding place.
I walked a few steps, continuing the conversation with Fiamma. I heard a noise, then something hit my leg with all its might. We both burst out laughing.
“Don’t laugh,” said Fiamma, shutting her mouth. “Dogs understand laughter, he’ll keep doing it.”
“I know, but I was having so much fun.” I bent down to embrace Bubu, he pushed his nose towards my face, ready to receive more cuddles.
“Let’s grab a bite to eat, we have a heavy afternoon ahead of us.” I walked towards the clinic, followed by Fiamma and our faithful companions.
Two hours later, I was driving. Fiamma was sitting beside me and Casper was in the back, curled up on top of a blanket.
“He’ll be asleep. In any case, he’s quiet, don’t get anxious,” she re-assured me, brushing my leg.
I didn’t dare to admit it, but I wasn’t calm at all, in fact, I felt the skin on my cheeks burning and my knees shaking.
“Mia, are you all right?” asked Fiamma, with a worried expression.
I squeezed my fingers harder on the steering wheel and summoned all the positive energy I possessed. “Sure, we’re almost there!” I exclaimed, my heart exploding.
I tried to enjoy little flashes of landscape to ward off the thoughts that disturbed me. A row of detached houses with stone arcades appeared, with well kept gardens and the foliage of centuries old trees towering over their fences. I didn’t dislike the house I lived in, but these were really magnificent. Shortly afterwards we arrived in the centre and from there, in no time, we reached the hospital.
I parked and went to get Casper from the boot. As soon as he slipped out of the car, I gave him a bowl of fresh water. For a moment, he looked disorientated and confused, then, once he had verified that he wasn’t in danger, he emptied it in seconds.
The ringing of the phone startled me.
“Hello,” I said, while I was busy retrieving the bowl and drying it before putting it back in the bag.
“Good afternoon, I’m Roberta, do you remember me?” said an unmistakable voice.
“Of course, I’m outside the hospital at this very moment,” I said. “I’ve just parked and I’m coming in with my colleague Fiamma and Casper.”
There was a brief moment of silence, interrupted by the squeal of an impatient child.
“Perfect, then, given the lovely weather, I’ll meet you in the garden. We’re coming too. Lukas can’t wait to meet Casper,” she continued, laughing.
I smiled too. “See you later.” I closed the call. “Come on, beautiful,” I encouraged Casper, who was still on the defensive.
A sudden sickly sweet smell washed over me. It seemed that my senses were heightened. I looked around and a young woman stepped toward me, stopped and spread her mouth in a grimace.
“This is a hospital, not a kennel. You can’t bring animals in and risk infecting the patients,” she declared, sliding her designer bag along her arm.
“I can assure you that the dog does not bring any diseases and the only thing that can be transmitted to humans is a smile,” I said, pointing at Casper. The unsuspecting subject of this discussion lay down and buried his nose between his front paws. I bent to stroke him and brushed my thumb across his forehead and between his eyes.
“I don’t need to listen to any further explanation. That dog is ridiculous and shouldn’t be here,” she said with contempt. The words came out of her mouth like steel splinters.
I was about to answer, but Fiamma anticipated me. “That dog will soon be beautiful without the need of a surgeon. Unlike someone else,” she said, resting her hands on her hips. “This is a public place, I suggest you continue on your way… I don’t think you’ll find it difficult.”
The woman frowned. “You mean these?” she replied, indicating her generous breasts. “So jealous? Of course I’ll continue along my way, but, I work here,” she concluded.
Fiamma paled and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to continue the discussion.
“I apologize. Let’s forget about it and start again on the right foot?” I suggested, trying to find a solution.
“No, dear. I never forget anything. I suggest you keep away from me, or at least make sure you don’t bump into me in the hospital.” She turned to Fiamma. “Now excuse me, I must go.” The noise of heels accompanied the woman straight to the Spider. After a quick manoeuvre in the car park, she drove away.
“I’m… I’m sorry,” stammered Fiamma.
I took a deep breath before continuing. “Luck’s not on our side, but let’s hope the day gets better,” I added.
Walking distance separated us from the garden that surrounded the back of hospital. We walked side by side and, a few steps away, Casper sniffed every smell and every tuft of grass he found. Progress was slow.
I put my hand on my forehead to keep off the sunlight. The brightness reminded me of an August day. Without knowing why, a smile surfaced on my lips and I felt my tiredness vanish.
I only jolted when the glass door opened and Lukas and Martina out came. My heart was about to explode and was thumping hard against my chest, almost making me sick.
When Lukas said ‘hello’ to us, Casper sprang forwards to greet him.
“Casper, what’s up? Slowly!” I ordered, severely. He didn’t seem to take much notice of the tone of my voice. The leash was pulled to the limit.
Lukas was wearing a blue tracksuit with white lettering and red stripes on the cuffs. He had a beautiful rosy glow and seemed excited to see us. Although a prisoner of his illness, nothing seemed to dent his childlike resilience. He wasn’t afraid. He gave the most dazzling smile I had ever seen.
“Here we are,”
said Roberta, holding Lukas’s hand warmly.
I barely had time to bend down before Lukas hopped forward to kiss my cheek with enthusiasm.
“So you remembered me!” he said, elated.
“Did you doubt it?” I asked, with a wink. “Meet Fiamma, my friend and colleague, and this is Casper.”
The dog stood up on his hind legs and tipped his head to one side. Round hazel eyes stared at the boy. A whimper of tenderness echoed in the air and Casper rushed into his arms. The leash slipped from my grip. Lukas landed under Casper’s weight, and Roberta fell over too, trying to help him get up.
“No, leave him alone. He just wanted to give me a kiss,” he chuckled.
Reason prompted me to take a step towards him and lift him from the lawn. Instinct forced me to stay still and enjoy that moment of almost unique harmony.
“Lukas. Please, get up! You’ll get all dirty,” sighed Roberta. “You can hug him standing up.”
“All right!” snorted the boy, getting up. He looked at Casper with narrowed eyes and put a finger to his chin. “What happened to him?” he asked, as he realized that there was something unusual about him.
Fiamma knelt, catching the lead, and stroking Casper’s battered skin. “He’s like that because we’re curing him.”
Lukas seemed at the mercy of a conjuring trick. His attention was total. “But if you’re taking care of him, where’s his owner?” he crooned, still not taking his eyes off the animal.
“See, Lukas,” I said, anticipating Fiamma, “his owner wasn’t very good, so Fiamma and I had to take him away.”
“Did he do a tantrum? Like I do when I don’t want to eat vegetables?” he asked softly.
The way he talked could take me back into another world.
“No, Lukas. Casper is a very good dog, but his owner wasn’t able to raise him with love,” I said, measuring my words.
“Do you need love to grow?”