Hannah brushed the tears away and took a long, deep breath. “I’m sorry, Al, you’re right. I knew you didn’t want more. I should have told you earlier, or just stopped sleeping with you. This is on me.”
“No way, it’s not on you. I don’t want to lose you, Hannah. Our friendship means the world to me. You know that, right?”
“I know, I think…I think I might just need a little time, though.”
“Whatever you need. I’m a phone call away, okay?”
“Okay.” Hannah gave Alyssa a tight smile. “I’m gonna go home now,” she said, heading to the door.
Alyssa helped her with her coat and gave her a brief hug. When the door closed and Alyssa was alone, she knocked her head against the wall several times in frustration. What a mess!
“Morning everyone,” Lil called, trying to quiet the rabble. “Oi, shut it,” she shouted after losing patience. “Now, you all have your assigned dogs ready?” There was a collective murmur. “Is that a yes or no, people?”
Alyssa laughed to herself as the team suddenly became a lot more animated. Lil was excellent at coordinating. Her take-no-shit attitude meant she got things done.
“It’s only a short drive to the Crawford building, but the dogs are going to be excited. You need to be vigilant. Even the calmest of the lot might be a little hard to handle. Once the van is parked, we will take them out to the grassy area around the side of the building. Richard has had it fenced off, so I think it’s a good idea to let them loose for ten minutes.”
The team didn’t wait to respond this time with an enthusiastic response.
“Okay, people, let’s get this show on the road!” Alyssa shouted.
Following the rest of the team to the kennels, Alyssa found her allotted dog.
Like a well-oiled machine, each team member slipped on their dog’s harness and collar and filed out to the van. The cacophony of noise was overwhelming as the dogs got more and more excited. It was unusual for them to go out of their kennels at the same time, but Alyssa had organised it so that any nervous dogs made it to the van first. Once the pack was settled and securely locked in their travel boxes, Alyssa jumped behind the wheel.
“Ready, Al?” Lil asked from the passenger seat.
“Let’s do it!”
The drive to Crawford’s was loud. Even with the radio blaring out songs, it was hard to hear what Lil was saying. The rest of the team were following behind in a convoy of personal vehicles.
As they’d discussed, the team unloaded their dogs upon arrival and walked them around to the grassy, fenced off area at the side of the building. With fifteen minutes of excited barking and playing, the pups finally calmed.
“Lil, can you fetch Joy?”
“On it.”
Joy Hubbard was the woman who was supposed to help get everything organised. Richard had left the job to Joy due to his absence, something that Alyssa had only been told about recently and wished he’d mentioned before skipping out of the country. After all, it was him who set all this up, and now he was off somewhere on holiday, leaving Alyssa and someone she’d never spoken to before to get everything set up.
Lil returned with a woman Alyssa presumed was Joy. In her late fifties, Joy radiated warmth, her eyes lighting up when she spotted the dogs. “Oh my goodness, look at them,” she cooed.
Alyssa smiled. Joy was going to be just fine to work with.
“Is everyone ready?” she asked.
“Oh yes, I’ve never seen so many happy people,” Joy laughed.
“That’s what I like to hear.” Alyssa signalled for her team to follow. In a single line, they walked into Crawford’s HQ Tower. Twenty-five people stood lined up, ready to get their dog.
“Hello, everyone,” Alyssa shouted over woofs and chatter. Several people replied, but most of them were too enamoured with the four-legged friends to pay attention to her. For once, she was more than happy to be ignored.
“To your stations,” Lil called, laughing. Each team member hustled over to their respective “buddy” and began introducing their dogs.
Alyssa couldn’t hide the smile that blossomed on her face. Today was going to be a good day.
4
Furry Chaos and Corporate Coffee
