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Normally I would have pushed on over her objections, but this time I hesitated. “Let’s plan this out task by task making sure we build in enough wiggle room for anything unexpected we might encounter. Then we’ll discuss and decide if we can do a calendar for this coming year or not.”

Malik and Daniella exchanged a glance.

“If not, then we can go ahead with the photo shoot and ask the photographer to take extra pictures for us to sell as autographed images post-game,” Malik suggested.

Daniella bit her lip, then nodded. “What are the chances that some of the current team don’t make the cut for next year? I mean, I know there aren’t any orcs that know hockey or how to even skate, but do you think the owner might switch out some of his less talented players for new orcs that might have the ability to pick up the skills over the summer?”

My breath caught in my throat. Bwat. There were other players who hadn’t been catching on either, but I couldn’t stand the thought that Bwat might be cut from the team. He’d mentioned that he was worried about that very thing, and while we’d discussed other careers he might explore, I wanted that to be his choice, not something he was forced into deciding.

Beyond that, he was my social media darling. His and Dylan Emmet’s posts ribbing each other had caught fire. The reporters loved him. He was the Golden Retriever of the team. I couldn’t let his lack of skill be the deciding factor in whether the owner gave him the axe or not.

I made a mental note to visit Escallates Johnson and tell him how important Bwat was to ticket and merchandise sales.

“Let’s run the tasks and timeline and make a decision on this coming year’s calendar or not first,” Malik said. “If it won’t work, we can just do a shoot for autographed pictures, then schedule another shoot for late summer just in case the team changes the lineup. It’ll cost us more, but that way we don’t end up with a bunch of photos we can’t use.”

Why did it bother me so much that Malik was making this an economic decision around players possibly being cut? Business was business, but somehow this felt…cruel and insensitive.

I shook my head, trying to rid my brain of the strange emotions. Hockey players were cut from teams all the time. That was the way things were in professional sports. And there was no saying those who were cut wouldn’t find a position on the human teams who might decide it was worthwhile to bring an orc into their lineup.

But Bwat…. I couldn’t deal with the thought that Bwat would get the axe, especially when he was trying so hard. Life wasn’t fair. I, of all people, definitely knew that. But I didn’t want Bwat to ever face that unfairness.

I pulled myself back into the present to see my co-workers eyeing the whiteboard once more.

“I’ll see what the printer can do, and talk to the photographer,” Daniella said. “Then we can reconvene and see if we can squeeze in a calendar for this coming year.”

“Assuming we go through with this, let’s decide which photos we want for each month.” Malik picked up a dry erase marker and popped off the cap.

“Bwat, do you want to be sporting an April umbrella or a woven wreath of October leaves in your hair?” Daniella said as she looked toward the doorway.

I spun around to see the orc eating the sandwich I’d bought him, a sheepish smile on his face. “I am willing to do either of those. Or any other month and the appropriate accessories.”

“We’ll need to double up on most months to fit them all in,” Malik said as I stared at the orc. “How do you feel about raking leaves with Eng, Bwat? Or with Morag?”

“Eng will not rake leaves or do anything besides stand and scowl. If you want him to scowl in the background while I rake leaves with a wreath on my head, then I am willing to do that. Morag will want to be naked in any picture, so perhaps he should be toward the front so the image can cut off at his waist. Otherwise we may not be able to sell the calendar to young humans or those who would be alarmed at seeing the hand axe of an orc for the entire month of October.”

As amusing as that would be, we did need the calendars to be as close to PG as possible. I thought for a second, then had an idea.

“Do you think we could borrow one or two of the dogs or cats from the animal shelter you volunteer at?” I asked Bwat. “You raking leaves with cute adoptable animals would be a great October picture.”

“Or Bwat planting flowers with the adoptable dog digging a hole in the dirt next to him,” Daniella suggested.

“Or Bwat at the beach with a cat lying on a chair beside him, both wearing sunglasses and sporting floppy hats,” Malik added.

“Oooo, a whole calendar with only pictures of Bwat.”

They were on a roll, but as popular as Bwat was, I didn’t think a calendar solely of him would sell enough to cover the costs. I’d buy one, but I wasn’t sure more than a few dozen others would. And there was another problem…

“I don’t think shelter pets will be that cooperative. We might have to just take whatever we can get as far as cute pictures,” I warned.

“The shelter staff can identify the most photogenic animals, and the ones likely to pose on beach chairs or wearing reindeer antlers.” Daniella was on a roll, and I knew there was no sense in dissuading her now. This was a topic for later in the week, or even next week, when time might have tempered her enthusiasm.

“I’ll talk to them when I’m over there today. Bwat is going to show me around so I can grab some candid photos for social media and think about how we want to highlight the upcoming runway auction,” I told my team.

It was almost five o’clock by the time Bwat and I headed over to BARCS.

Watching Bwat interact with the shelter staff was incredible. Watching him with the dogs made that tightness come back to my chest. He knew all of them by name and had quickly become acquainted with the pups who had arrived while he’d been on the road. He knew which ones needed a soft tone and lots of space and zero eye contact, the ones that wanted a game of tug-of-war, and the ones who needed gentle pets.

“This is Luna, and she loves being scratched behind the ears,” he said while demonstrating with the hound-mix. “And this is Jerry. He came in with terrible skin problems, but look at his hair growing back in. You’re going to be a handsome dog, Jerry.”