She rolls her eyes. “Of course you do. Aren’t you the fucking choir boy?”
“Your turn. What are you doing here?”
“I needed something to do.”
“Couldn’t find some classic Jo trouble to get into?” I’m hoping that if I keep being a dick to her that she’ll give it right back, and it’ll make it easier to keep hating her.
And with all of our history, sometimes, when she’s looking up at me with those big brown eyes, it’s hard to hate her.
In typical Jo fashion, she bites back. “No, I thought coming here to annoy you was all the trouble I needed for the day.”
I can’t help but smile because I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if that was the case. Jo can be pretty vindictive.
“Is that true?” I ask.
“No, you pompous asshole. My world doesn’t revolve around you.”
“Clearly,” I mutter.
“I came here because I was looking for something to do, and I love doing this. I just wanted to help.”
As much as I am irritated by her presence, I know the animals can use all the help they can get.
So, I say, “It’s a big shelter, and there’s a lot to do. I’m sure we won’t be in each other’s way too much.”
All she does in return is press her lips into a tight smile and nod.
Not wanting to keep doing this, I walk away. Staying away from Jo over the next few hours isn’t exactly easy. I may have exaggerated when I said the shelter is a big place. It’s not. There is quite a bit of overlap. Although we are both getting annoyed, we still manage to make it work.
One of my last dogs of the day is a Beagle named Mae. Mae’s been at the shelter for a while now and is having a hard time getting adopted because no one wants to take the time to really work with her. She’s so sweet, but after an abusive past, it takes her a while to trust anyone.
It’s taken quite some time for her to let me work with her, but now, we always have a great time. I’ve thought about adopting her, but seeing how she is with other dogs, I know she needs to be in a home with no other animals.
That’s the same reason I always wait until the end of the day to bring her outside to play. Most of the other volunteers are gone by this point, so we have the entire yard to ourselves.
I pick up a ball and start playing fetch with her. She’s so cute with her big ears flopping and her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth.
“Look at you go, Mae!” I cheer as she chases after the ball again.
Just when we are getting into a good groove, the back door to the shelter swings open. Out walks Jo with a chocolate lab named Daisy. While I love Daisy, Mae does not.
Immediately, when she sees the hyperactive lab, she runs over to cower against the fence. Before Daisy can get to her, I run over to pick up Mae to try to calm her down.
While Jo doesn’t seem the least bit fazed, Mae practically tries to climb inside my skin because she’s so scared.
“Jo, what the fuck is wrong with you?” I cry.
“What?” It takes her a moment to figure out what’s happening. “Oh, shit!”
“Yeah, do you think you could come get Daisy before Mae has a heart attack?”
She runs over to try to corral Daisy, but it’s not working.
“Put a leash on her!”
“Sorry,” she says. “I didn’t think anyone was out here.”
“Of course you didn’t, Jo. You never think about anyone but yourself.”
