“Nice to meet you,” Eli said as he shook her hand, adding a slight bow, oblivious to Molly’s allure. “Thank you so much for squeezing us in. I can’t wait for her to look like a normal dog. I gave her a bath so she doesn’t smell anymore, but she still looks like hell. I keep getting side-eye on the street, like it’smyfault she looks like this.”
Molly examined Nell from a distance as Cora fussed over her on the floor. “Wow, I’ve got my work cut out for me, huh? I can see the mats from here, and what’s up with those bald patches?”
“Rough living. Nell survived hard time on a lonely planet,” Eli replied.
“Yeah, Cora gave me the overview when she begged me for an appointment. Okay, best-case scenario, what kind of cut do you want? Keep in mind my options are limited, but dream scenario, what do you want her to look like?”
“A German shepherd?” Eli smiled sheepishly. “No, that’s terrible, I’m sorry for saying that. I just never imagined that when I finally got a dog, my dog would be so ... girly. Can you, I don’t know, butch her up for me a little?”
Molly let out a brittle laugh. “Are you one of those guys? Won’t let your dog wear a pink collar because you don’t want people to thinkyou’regirly?!” She liked to give men a hard time to see how they reacted.
Eli could tell that he was stepping into dangerous territory so he backpedaled furiously, waving his hands in front of him. “No, not at all! I have no problems with pink! No problems with pink! I have two pink shirts!”
Cora laughed quietly at Eli’s attempt to avoid Molly’s wrath.
“Okay, okay, I get it. You’re not one of those guys.” She smiled at him. “I’ll ask again; what kind of cut, Mr. Pink?”
“I’m afraid to answer now,” he said.
“How about I help?” Cora interrupted. “I see Nell with a cross between a puppy cut and a teddy bear. No puffballs on her. Let’s keep the body one length if possible, and make the ears and the top of the head fuller.”
“You’re asking for a lot,” Molly said as she examined Nell more closely. She lifted the little dog and ran her hands along Nell’s face and body, peering in her ears and handling her paws. “I’ll do what I can. But I guarantee she’ll look better when she leaves than she does now. I’ll trim down those awful tear stains and get her coat back to a version of white.” Nell nestled comfortably in the crook of Molly’s arm, as if they were old friends already.
“Do I stay with her? How does this work?” Eli asked.
“Nope, it’s best if it’s just me and Nell. This first groom is going to be really quick because there’s not much for me to work with, but as her coat comes back we’ll be able to make her look normal. It’ll take me about an hour and a half, is that cool?”
“Yup, I can be a little late for work. Thank you again for fitting us in, I really appreciate it.”
Eli walked over to Nell cradled in Molly’s arms, assumed a serious expression and cupped the dog’s small face in his hands. “Don’t worry, little alien, change is good. I’ll see you in a bit.” He kissed her on the top of the head then walked out of the salon, and Molly feigned a swoon behind his back.
Molly pointed at Eli. “Get on that!” she mouthed to Cora.
Cora rolled her eyes and followed Eli out of the salon. She felt spontaneous. “Hey, do you want to grab some coffee while you wait? My next appointment is literally right around the corner from here and it doesn’t start for a half hour, so I can help you kill some time if you want.”
“That would be great,” Eli replied.
They walked to one of the few independent coffee shops left in the city and grabbed a tiny table in the window.
“Coffee is on me,” Cora said with authority. “You’re doing such a solid taking care of Nell.”
“It’s no problem, I swear to you. And it’s not in my DNA to accept a thank-you for something that requires no thank-you in the first place. Now what can I get foryou?”
“Well, thank you twice, then. Just a small coffee, black.”
“What, no caramel coffeechino chai-spice latte?”
“Nope, I’m the most boring coffee drinker in the world. Like an old man.”
“Old men are badass.” Eli winked and walked to the counter to place their order.
Cora thought about how Nell would fare during her first visit to the groomer and how much better she was going to look when Eli went back for her. She wanted to see Nell in person postgroom, with the little pink ribbons nestled in the fur on her ears, but she felt like she was being annoying and overinvolved. Then it hit her.
“You said ‘when I get a dog’!”
Eli slid in across from Cora with their coffee. “What?”
“Back at the salon! You said ‘when I finally got a dog,’ and you called her ‘my dog’! You’re keeping her!”
