by Sara Mullins
She finally approached her street after chugging along for what seemed like an eternity. The old county road was gravel, with only a few distant houses. Nicole was renting her house from an old friend’s dad who gave her a pretty good deal on the price. It wasn’t very big, but after all, she didn’t need much for just her and Salem. He was her grumpy, fat cat that she’d saved from the shelter after she graduated from college. He loved Nicole, but was pretty nasty to the few strangers he had encountered.
She shut the car door and walked up to the front porch while trying to dig through her purse. Damn it, I know I put the keys in here, Nicole thought to herself. Her uncoordinated feet tripped over the first step. Finally, she unclipped them from the strap, which, of course, was where they were the whole time.
She walked in the door, thankful to be home. Salem greeted her right away. He made several laps around her feet, trying to brush against her legs. She attempted to walk without tripping over him. He purred loudly as he watched her pour the food into his bowl. “Here you go kitty.”
Nicole strolled through the kitchen and into the living room where she flipped on the TV. She kicked off her shoes in the bedroom, refusing to wear them any longer than necessary. The flip-flops that she normally carted around with her had been forgotten that morning. After switching the scrubs for some basketball shorts, an old t-shirt, and her fuzzy blue slippers, she made her way to the couch. Her body came crashing down, then she grabbed the remote.
“I wonder what’s on tonight?” she asked Salem, as if he would somehow give her the answer. She flipped through the channels trying to find something that would jump out at her. “News, news . . .” she muttered out loud in disgust. She despised watching the news because nine times out of ten it was depressing. There was a TV series or two that she tried to follow, but today she was hunting for a good movie.
Finally, she came across a classic romantic comedy. “Oh boy,” she told Salem, with a layer of thick sarcasm. “Another reminder of how boring and lonely my miserable life is.”
She hadn’t been in very many serious relationships. Most of the time guys viewed her as, well, one of the guys. And she never looked at any of them as anything more than a friend, except for one . . . Josh. Josh was Nicole’s boyfriend through part of college. She met him in one of her classes and they hit it off immediately. He was charming, handsome, and smart. He was what most girls dream of finding. But, of course, just like most things in her life, he turned out to be too good to be true.
As time went on and the relationship grew, Josh started to become less charming and more possessive. His jealous tendencies got so bad that he started going through Nicole’s phone when she wasn’t looking and following her when they were apart. Then, what she least expected to happen, happened. He completely lost his temper when she spoke to the cashier at the grocery store. To her, all she had done was tell the guy, “Thanks, have a good day.” But to Josh, she gave the guy a “look.” He accused her of thinking the guy was better looking than him. As soon as they got back to the car, he began questioning her. She became infuriated with the persistent inquiries and turned to face him, screaming at him to leave her alone. And he reacted with the palm of his hand. He left the side of her face so bruised that it took layers of make-up to conceal it for days. He apologized relentlessly and she convinced herself that he would never do it again. But he did.
Several weeks later, he saw her talking to a male classmate about the assignment they had due the next day. He marched up and, instead of asking her questions, he grabbed her by the arm and started to drag her outside. The classmate hollered, “Hey man, what’s your problem?” and Josh turned and punched him in the jaw. They began fighting and Nicole screamed at Josh to stop. A couple of professors finally heard the commotion and came over to break up the fight. Nicole ran away from the crowd of people in tears.
She called him later that day to tell him that she wanted to break up. He begged and pleaded with her, but she held her ground. At this point, she only had a few months to go until graduation, so she decided to finish. It wasn’t quite as fun as what people made it out to be. She had to take a friend anytime she walked to class and rotate where she parked her car. Nicole finished school, packed her things, and immediately moved back to Carolina, having never spoken to Josh again.
A month down the road, Nicole lay on the couch watching the romantic movie with Salem. She started to think she would have been better off watching the news. The couple started kissing on screen. She watched in envy. All these damn movies always show the perfect story with the perfect ending, she thought. She peered down at the cat, who seemed to be more than pleased with his life. “If only this was how the world really worked, Salem.”
A flashback of Josh’s hand striking her face made her cringe and she closed her eyes, trying to block out the pain. A single tear fell to the couch and she dozed off.
Chapter 3
The month of May was well under way when Nicole walked through the door at the clinic to start another day of work. “Good morning, Sherrie.”
“Good morning, Nicole. Girl, you look tired today. Are you feeling alright?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. Just didn’t sleep well.”
“Again?” asked Sherrie in concern.
“I’m fine, I promise. I’ve just had a lot of things on my mind, that’s all.”
Nicole hadn’t told anyone at work about her experience with Josh in college, and she didn’t want to. “So, how’s today look?” she asked Sherrie, trying to change the subject.
“Oh, pretty good. Busy but not too busy, if you know what I mean.” She looked down at the book, using her index finger to scroll the page. “Looks like Mrs. King will be in today with her cats. That should be interesting,” she said, adding an eye-roll. “Um, Mr. Johnson is bringing Max in today. He is an adorable English bulldog. You will love him.”
“Mr. Johnson?” Nicole asked, with a wink.
“No, Max,” Sherrie said, laughing. “Oh, Bentley is coming in soon. He is a gorgeous German Shepherd . . . very smart and very well-behaved.”
“Sounds like fun,” Nicole said, yawning. She took a drink of her coffee and headed to the back. She stuffed her purse in her small locker and inspected her hair and face in the mirror, then shut the door. Once the last few gulps of her coffee were consumed, she chucked the cup into the recycling bin. After a few more “Good mornings” and greetings with her coworkers, she headed down the hallway to check rooms and get ready for patients. She strolled into the first room and the bell rang on the front door, the first patient of the day heading in.
“Good morning, Mark,” said Sherrie. “And good morning to you, too, Bentley,” she said to the Shepherd.
“Good morning,” Mark replied. “We, uh, I mean Bentley, has an appointment at eight,” he said, smiling. “I don’t have one today, though,” he added.
Sherrie let out a giddy, almost childish giggle. “Well, of course not.” Mark started to take a seat. “Oh, you don’t need to sit down, hon. You can come on back. You’re the first appointment of the day.”
“Great, thanks,” he replied, stopping half-way down to stand back up. “Let’s go, boy,” he said. He led Bentley toward Sherrie, who was waiting to get his weight done. Bentley obediently stepped up onto the scale.
“Seventy-six pounds. Wow, you are getting big, Bentley,” Sherrie said in her high-pitched voice. She tended to use this tone when she talked to the animals. It was annoying, but she was convinced that they liked it. “Alright boys, follow me.” Sherrie led Mark and Bentley down the hall to the first room. “Okay, the doctor will be right with you,” she said.
“Thanks,” he replied.
As he turned and walked into the room, he collided with Nicole who was rushing back out to finish making her rounds. “Whoa!” she screamed, falling to the floor.
“Oh God, I’m so sorry,” he said, bending down to help her up.
“It’s okay, I’m alright.” She checked out the back of her elbow f
or blood. “Seriously, I’m . . .”
She looked up at the man (who felt more like a wall) that she had crashed into and her words were suddenly gone. The shooting pain that was radiating down her arm disappeared. He smiled back at her with his right hand held out while he clutched the leash with his left. His dark hair was still messy from where he had just crawled out of bed, yet it looked so sexy. She admired his casual t-shirt and jeans attire that was set off by the dirty and scratched up boots.
“. . . fine. I’m definitely fine,” she finished softly.
“That’s good,” he said, winking at her. “Is your elbow okay?”
She held her left arm up and twisted it to glance at the back. “It’s great,” she replied, with an unconvincing grin.
He looked at her arm and back into her eyes. “Um, it doesn’t look great. You’ve got a little blood running there.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s fine, really.” She tucked the straggling clump of brown hair behind her left ear.
“You want a Band-Aid or something?” he persisted, as if he had one to give her.
“Yes. I’m gonna go to the restroom and clean this up. Thanks,” she said. She turned a deep shade of pink and walked away.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, watching her walk down the hall.
She stopped at the bathroom door and turned to look at him again before stumbling in and shutting the door behind her. She leaned back on the door, looked up at the ceiling, and placed the palms of her hands on the sides of her face. Oh, my God, she thought to herself. Then she rushed over to the mirror to see if her hair was presentable. She tweaked a couple of stray stands, checked her teeth for any breakfast remains, and picked the morning crusties off of her face. Once satisfied, she walked back out the door, having completely forgotten about her elbow.
Dr. Smith had made his way into the room and was talking to Mark, so Nicole snuck up to the front desk to get the scoop. “Sherrie. Sherrie,” Nicole whispered, walking up to the desk. “Who is that guy? The guy that just came in with the Shepherd?”
“That’s Mark Taylor. He is such a sweetheart.”
“Is he from Carolina? I don’t remember him,” said Nicole.
“No. He moved here . . . oh, probably a couple of years ago, but I’m not sure where he’s from. I think he usually keeps to himself, but he does work across the street at the auto shop. That’s about all I know.”
“Okay . . .” Nicole said quietly. She stared at the room.
“Are you okay?” Sherrie asked.
“What? Oh. Yes, I’m fine.” Nicole insisted.
“He’s cute, huh?” Sherrie suggested, nudging her playfully in the arm.
“Yeah, he’s pretty cute I guess.”
“Oh, come on, girl. You look like you are about to drool all over yourself.”
“Shhhh.” Nicole gestured to Sherrie to quieten down.
“He can’t hear us, not with Dr. Smith in there talking to him.” Sherrie paused for a moment. Nicole’s anxiety-levels shot up and she began picking at her nails. “So . . .” Sherrie started, “. . . do you want me to talk to him for you? You know, ask him if he’s single or something?”
“No!” Nicole exclaimed quickly. “I mean, no. Please don’t say anything to him. Sorry, I just haven’t had very good luck with guys. I usually end up with a broken heart, or they don’t notice me at all, or . . .”
“It’s okay, hon, I won’t say anything. But you should,” Sherrie added.
“Ha-ha, very funny,” Nicole said. “I will think about it. But it won’t matter. I guarantee he’s already taken.”
Nicole walked down the hallway to the back and sat down on one of the stools next to Ashley. She found herself having a hard time concentrating on what she was supposed to be doing. Her day was starting to feel like a blur.
“Nicole? Nicole?” Ashley waved her hand in front of Nicole’s face. She raised her voice a little. “Nikki?”
Nicole finally heard the voice calling her name and she snapped her head to look over at Ashley. “Sorry, what?”
“I was just making sure you’re still with us. You look lost,” Ashley added.
“I feel lost,” Nicole said, laughing. “I’m good, just haven’t woken up yet.”
“I hear ya, it feels like Monday all over again,” Ashley said. She took a big drink of her coffee and proceeded to let her hair down, running her fingers through it several times. She then opened the clip that she had just removed, twisted her hair, positioned it where she wanted it, and put the clip back in. “Uggh, I do not feel like messing with poop today. Nasty.”
Nicole listened to Ashley’s complaints of the day for a few minutes, leaning to look around the corner a few times to see if the door had opened yet. When it finally did, she tried to stay busy while ensuring that she had a clear view. The doc left the room first and started to walk to the back, then Mark walked out and led Bentley up to the front desk. He stood in front of Sherrie with an almost sickening amount of confidence. He seemed fearless, as if he didn’t have a worry in the world. Nicole watched him talk to Sherrie from a distance. She watched his face and his movements. His laugh was infectious. She couldn’t help but notice how sexy his chest and arms looked. It wasn’t as if he spent every waking minute in a gym, but like he had spent a lot of summers baling hay. His jeans were faded, but colored with streaks of grease and a giant hole on the right side exposed his knee.
Nicole didn’t realize how long she was staring until she glanced back up at his green eyes, which were now looking right back at her. She blushed and looked down at the floor for a moment, then moved her gaze back to him again as if she was being forced. He hadn’t looked away. Instead, he smiled at her with a grin that took her breath away for a moment. Her chest started tingling and she smiled uncontrollably.
Sherrie handed him his receipt. “Thank you, ma’am. Have a good day,” he said to her.
“And to you, too,” Sherrie said in return.
“Come on, boy, let’s go back to work,” Mark said to Bentley. He looked down the hall at Nicole one last time, then turned and walked out the door.
Nicole immediately felt a mix of emotions. The butterflies were fighting with pain from her sadness that he had gone. It was an unexplainable feeling, as if she had known him her whole life and she was never going to see him again. She watched out the front window as he headed across the street back to work. The dog remained by his side. She felt captivated by this guy who she had just met. The way he walked exuded confidence, but not arrogance. He seemed so . . . perfect.
She finished out the rest of her day in a daze. To her surprise, Sherrie did not ask any more questions about this mystery guy and she didn’t try to pressure her. In fact, she acted as if none of it had happened at all. The last patient of the day came and left and finally, Nicole grabbed her things and headed out the door. She couldn’t help but glance in the direction of the auto shop, only to see if she could catch a glimpse of him. But, of course, he was nowhere in sight. She turned and made her way to her car. What am I doing? she asked herself, shaking her head.
Nicole drove home, trying to drown out the mountain of racing thoughts that were flooding her mind. She spent her evening like all the others . . . alone with nothing but her cat and the TV to keep her company. She paced the floor, flipped the channels, and found pointless and unnecessary things to do to keep her busy. Nothing could take her mind off those green eyes. After much deliberation with her conscience, she decided that she had to find out more about him. What the hell, right? What do I have to lose?
The next day, Nicole woke up early and put a little more effort into her appearance. She normally didn’t feel the urge to wear much make-up or fix her hair because she didn’t see the point. Getting more sleep time was much more important. But today, she felt a great inspiration to try these things. She stood in the bathroom and applied some eye shadow and mascara. To her surprise, it gave her a boost of confidence that she had been missing for a while. She smiled at herself in the m
irror and experimented with her hair until she found the look she wanted. “Wish me luck, kitty,” she said to Salem, then headed out the door. For the first time in a long time, she was excited to start the day.
She parked in her normal spot in the small gravel lot behind the veterinary clinic. An extra dose of energy gave her a spring in her step. Sherrie had just walked in and was still in the process of putting her keys away.
“Morning, Sherrie,” Nicole said cheerfully.
“Good morning,” she answered back as she glanced up at Nicole. “I love your hair. I’m not used to it being curly like that.”
“Thanks. That’s actually how it is naturally. I just don’t ever feel like messing with it.”
“Well, it looks very beautiful,” Sherrie added.
Nicole walked to the back and talked to Carol for a little bit about the weather forecast, discovering it would be another sunny, spring day. She asked Becky how her night had been. Becky replied with a surprised “fine” in return, at the fact that Nicole was making small talk for a change. She acknowledged the others and got busy right away on making sure everything was ready for the day. The girls could tell something was different about Nicole, but they just weren’t sure what it was. They watched her for a while from afar.
Ashley finally looked at Becky and whispered, “Does Nicole seem . . . different today?”
“I was gonna ask you the same thing,” Becky replied.
In the distance, Nicole checked on the critters in the kennels that had stayed overnight. She sang softly as she checked their water bowls. The two girls looked at each other and smiled. They already knew what the other was thinking without speaking a word. They walked to the back and stood next to Nicole. “So, who is he?” Becky asked, without hesitating.
“What?” Nicole replied, whipping around.
“Who’s the guy?” asked Ashley. “That kind of giddy happiness only comes from one thing,” she added.