Shelter from the Storm
My final Smutsgiving post :) For the little furry thing that likes to sit or place her head on my laptop!
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The blond man let out another frustrated sigh. His knees were getting stiff from all the kneeling now. It was ridiculous. He couldn't believe Wally cancelled his shift again. Now Garfield was out here on the floor cleaning up poop - and on his day off nonetheless. As the founder of the shelter, ideally he shouldn't have been doing much of that anyway. But it seemed like he always found himself doing scraping up or cleaning one thing or another. Chasing the animals around the store. And in general getting his hands dirty. He shook his head. Why wouldn't he? He was such a softie in the end. He really loved this work. He got to help animals and people. He did adore all the animals. And they loved him right back. Garfield just couldn't let them down - after all he started this organization with the intention of helping them.
The door chimed. The shelter had a visitor. His green eyes moved up from the mess on the floor. And then panned over to black motorcycle boots, then up to sexy, slim legs encased in black thigh high socks. Not just any visitor it seemed. Oh wow. He got to his feet slowly. Blushing for nearly looking up this woman's skirt. He gawked, but he couldn't help it. The rest of her was even sexier. Then, he inwardly cursed. Of course, the hottest woman he had ever seen in here, walked in while he was cleaning up poop.
Figures.
His beige cheeks were flushed and he wiped his hands on his pants as subtly as he could. Yes. For once, Garfield no longer cared about whether a pair of boots were made with vegan leather or otherwise.
The blond cleared his throat. "Uh, hi. How can I help you... Ms...?" He noted with a hint of joy that there was no ring on her finger.
"I'm Raven Roth." She replied. Her voice had a slight raspy quality to it, but it was oddly calming and pleasant. However, she got straight to the point of her visit. "I called about a week ago to say I was coming in today."
Of course that Wally had left out!
Honestly?
"Oh, I didn't know - that you... Just a moment - " Garfield rushed over to the computer and scoured the logbooks. This was so embarrassing. He wasn't usually so unorganized. "I don't see... Oh wait. Here you are. I'm so sorry about that..." He gave her an apologetic look and again fingered his hair nervously.
The pale girl's eyes shifted around some of the chaos of papers, logbooks, and training manuals by the computer as she followed him. "I believe I spoke with someone else on the phone. Someone named Wally?"
"Yeah, he was actually supposed to be in today." He barked out a bit of uncomfortable laughter through gritted teeth. "Sorry again for the mix up, Ms. Roth."
She gave him a kind, albeit small smile. "It's quite alright, Garfield. And please, call me Raven."
"How did you? Oh..." he looked down at his name tag and then back at her. His eyes closed in a quick smile. "Forgot I was wearing that. Maybe you can take a look around... Um, right this way, Ms. Roth - I mean Raven."
She nodded in approval when he corrected himself. "There's really no need to be so formal. I hope we can be something like acquaintances, if not friends. I know the adoption process can be lengthy. Besides, we're probably about the same age, right?"
Garfield nodded slowly and stammered something incoherent, feeling his palms sweat. Luckily he was saved.
One of the store's free roaming dogs, a black and white beagle mix sidled up to her looking expectant. Moving his skinny tail from side to side.
"Rocket, no. She doesn't want to play. I'll play with you later." He murmured and gave him a little pat on the head. "Don't worry about him. He's our um, CBO - Chief Barketing Officer, as I like to refer to him." He laughed aloud at what he thought was his brilliant joke. And then slowly stopped when she gave him a deadpan stare. Usually, that worked on potential adoptive dog parents. Especially women. Not even a chuckle from her. Garfield glanced down at his converse sneakers and cleared his throat.
What did he do now?
Suddenly, Raven surprised him by dropping to her knees and patting Rocket's head as he had done. The dog sat down patiently letting her touch him.
"He's such a good boy." She smiled. She seemed like she was enjoying herself and Rocket clearly was too. His mouth was open, tongue flopped to the side. "How do you not look into the eyes of the gorgeous creature like that and fall in love?" she said, stroking the dog's multicolored fur.
He gazed right into the stunning purple as he replied, the first thing that came to mind in response to her words.
"I have no idea."