Instead, it’s recognition.
“Felix,” she exclaims.
It takes me a moment to place her.
It’s Deborah, my favorite client from when I worked for Giselle.
“Oh my god, Deborah,” I say as I straighten, managing to extract myself from the Saint Bernard and getting to my feet gingerly. Bruce immediately tries to make another break for it, but Aroha smoothly catches his collar and clips on a lead.
Deborah’s gaze flicks to my scars for a moment, but then back to my eyes, her expression not wavering.
“It’s so wonderful to see you. I heard from Giselle that you’d had a car accident.”
“Ah…yeah,” I say. “A little over a year ago now.”
I’m trying to get my head around the fact that the big, scary owner of the six vet clinics is Deborah. Deborah, who didn’t realize pink and red clashed. Deborah, who once bought an identical black dress to one she already owned by accident, and I had to start keeping a photo album of her wardrobe on my phone.
“And now you’re training to be a vet nurse?” she says.
“Yes, I am.”
“He’s been great so far,” Aroha says.
“Oh, I have no doubt about that. Anyone who can teach me how to accessorize properly can handle anything.” Deborah gives me a warm smile. “I also believe you spent forty minutes explaining to me why I couldn’t wear brown shoes with a black belt, even if they were both Hermès, without once losing your temper. If that’s not a qualification for dealing with difficult animals, I don’t know what is.”
I laugh at the memory, and she joins in with me.
“Seriously, it’s so great to see you, and great that you’re doing okay now.” Her grin doesn’t fade. “I’m not sure if you know that I own a few vet clinics besides this one. If you want a placement anywhere, just let me know. You can have the pick of whatever clinic you want.”
I blink at her in disbelief. And something inside of me that I didn’t realize was clenched loosens.
“Oh wow, thank you.”
“It’s the least I can do to repay you for everything you did for me.” She gives me another bright smile.
“I didn’t do much.”
“Sure you did. I still have that Versace dress you convinced me to buy,” she says. “The one you said would make my ex-husband realize what he was losing.”
“The black one with the cutouts? That dress was made for you.”
“You were right. He tried to get back together the night I wore it to the charity gala.” She grins. “I told him I had a date. I didn’t mention the date was with a bottle of wine and Netflix.”
“The best kind of date, honestly.”
“You always knew exactly what I needed, even when I didn’t. Especially that time I came in crying after I received my divorce papers.”
“You needed revenge shopping. It’s a sacred therapeutic practice,” I say.
She laughs.
I look around at the disaster of a room. “I guess I’d better get this cleaned up.”
“Vomit waits for no man,” she says with a smile. “I look forward to seeing you again soon.”
Aroha has a startled expression as she follows Deborah out of the room.
I clean up in a daze.
