For the next five minutes, I record Nico as he pets the Great Dane and chats with the dog’s foster parent. He’s a natural, with both the dogs and the interviews in front of the camera. He gets the most playful side of the dog, and he asks the important questions of the parent. By the time I press stop on the recording, I completely understand why his fans love him. He’s everything genuine and lovable in a professional athlete.
“Alright, who’s next?” I ask when he leads me across the parking lot.
“This,” he says, “is Bossman. Boss for short. He’s forty-five pounds of lovable micro bully.”
But for some reason, Boss doesn’t go for Nico. He goes for me. He trots over on his tiny legs and presses his flat face directly into my thigh.
I hear Nico’s loud laugh as I squat to better scratch behind Boss’s ears. He sounds like a pig with the way he’s breathing, but his little nub of a tail is shaking so hard it’s moving his entire bottom half. With another snort, he launches himself at me.
I collapse on my butt with a delighted giggle.
“Looks like Boss more than likes you,” Nico says with a chuckle. “You might have to be the one doing this interview.”
I send him a half-baked glare even as I scratch Boss’s butt where it’s still planted in my lap. “Not happening, but good try.”
In the end, the interview is mostly a bust, solely because Boss can’t focus on Nico for long enough to stay in the shot. He keeps trying to escape his foster to get to me.
“Sorry, folks, I might have to edit some footage into this video,” Nico says, amusement coating his tone. “It looks like Boss has a big thing for our camera girl and can’t seem to stay focused.”
With perfect timing, Boss yanks the leash out of his foster parent’s hand and bolts for me. I let out a shriek of laughter and drop Nico’s phone as I grab for his collar.
I’m still laughing as I watch Nico pick up his phone and turn the camera toward his face. “Well, folks, there you have it. Boss is clearly a loverboy. He’s escaped the interview in favor of kissing our camerawoman.” A pause as he looks at me. “Not that I can blame him.”
My jaw drops. Nico’s cheeks pinken and he quickly shuts off the video.
“Alright, moving on,” he mutters, handing Boss’s leash back to his chuckling foster parent. Then he extends a hand to help me up.
“You’re cute when you blush,” I whisper.
“Thank God, because you seem to bring it out of me,” he mumbles. When he meets my eyes, his expression softens. “Are you having fun?”
I smile, a real, genuine smile. “I am.”
He looks relieved at that. “Good. We have a few more and then we’re done.”
For the next forty minutes, Nico introduces me to more dogs, and I film more interviews.
It’s the most fun Sunday I’ve ever had.
“How’d it go, you two?” the organizer asks when we return to the front desk. “Get some good footage?”
“A lot of good footage,” Nico confirms. “I’ll have my PR girl edit everything tomorrow and then start posting them. Is there anyone we should tag besides the rescue?”
“Nope, that should be enough. We just want to get some eyes on the dogs available for adoption. We’re nearing max capacity, unfortunately.”
“Well, that’s my cue,” comes a voice from behind us.
I turn to see a pretty brunette woman wearing blue scrubs walking toward us. She sends me a warm smile as she slides her hands into her pockets and trains her focus on the organizer.
“I’m Nova,” she says. “We talked yesterday about one of your medical fosters?”
“Oh, yes. You’re from the Philadelphia Vet Clinic. Nice to meet you, dear.” She opens the half-door to get into the building and gestures for the girl to come in. “This way, I’ll introduce you to Cheesecake. You’re going toloveher.”
I watch the pair walk into the hallway where I can see they have the kennels. For a minute, I can only stare after the girl,who’s clearly a veterinarian, and wonder what kind of life she leads. About the value she brings to the world, and the good she does in it.
About the sense of accomplishment she must feel at the end of a long day.
What would that feel like?
