The Major Turn-Off

Chapter 04 - How I Became a Legally and Acceptably Responsible Guardian

Chapter 04 – How I Became a Legally and Acceptably Responsible Guardian

                “Why are you still here Ashlyn? Really?” Vicky asked as she leaned on the counter with a lollipop constantly dangling from her mouth. Her golden-brown eyes observed me carefully, wanting every bit of truth to be spilled.

                “Because, my dear Vicky, animals are more bearable than humans,” I answered as I rubbed the chin of the new cat we just found days ago. It purred all too satisfyingly, slightly making me envious of how oblivious the cat was to the cruelty of the world.

                Sometimes I wish I was a cat instead.

                “Plus, the pay is pretty great so there’s that,” I added. “And who could say no to these furry little angels? Just look at how cute Burrito is.”

                I lifted the stout orange painted cat to shove it at Vicky’s face, hoping to make a point.

                “You named him Burrito?” she questioned, giving me a look of disapproval.

                “What other name could you come up with, hmm?”

                “I don’t know? Garfield? Felicia? Donna?”

                “Burrito is Burrito. Any arguments stating otherwise will be forever invalid,” I told her straightforwardly, not wanting to have rooms for any more arguments. I placed Burrito down and it scampered away to the back of the office, probably looking for mice, or food, or dogs to piss off or all three simultaneously.

                “You’ve been working for the animal shelter for five years, Ashlyn. I am pretty surprised to see that you still even managed to stay here,” Vicky commented.

                “And this is coming from a girl who had been here since…birth,” I replied. Vicky’s parents owned the animal shelter and she had been helping them out since she was a little kid. I volunteered at first when I first applied when I was in high school. But the moment I step foot in college, Vicky’s parents were kind enough to pay me some reasonable amount of cash, which I was in no position to complain because they insisted anyway. The animal shelter has been my second home, and my sweet escape when I couldn’t handle any more human interaction.

                The animal shelter was huddled in a small, but bearable space. The insides smelt like a weird mix of dog poop, cat poop and disinfectant spray, which, I must say, was extremely unbearable at first but I somehow adapted to tolerate the weird stench.

                Some of the lost and found pets were at the back of the office where they were segregated. Every now and then, I could hear the dog’s bark and howl and the cat’s purr and screech all at the same time. It almost drove me insane.

                “You’re the longest that managed to stay here so far.”

                “And the prettiest,” I added and winked at her which earned me an eye-roll from her.

                My attention then shifted when I heard someone entering through the doors. I was ready to paint my face with the default customer-friendly smile, but that melted off way too soon when my eyes landed on Greg.

                Greg looked different sober. Different in a way that he looked like one of those usual frat boys, which he was. He wore his light colored polo shirt and khaki pants to match. His outfit definitely screamed ‘My dad’s a lawyer. You can’t arrest me.’