Jealous Ginger

"You love her, don't you?" The man beside me huffed a laugh and shot me a guilty side long glance.

"Was it that obvious?" he asked sheepishly, to which I only shrugged and gave him a grin.

"The drool gave it away," I teased earning an elbow to the ribs and a mock scowl.

"Can you blame me though?" was his response, nodding at the glass in front of us, telling me to look through it at her.

"Not really," I admitted eventually, "She is beautiful." He nodded and gave a wishful sigh.

"Maybe I should-"

"No way, Alex," I interrupted quickly, slapping him in the chest with the back of my hand. He flinched at the impact and turned to me, eyes wide.

"What?" came his high pitched, defensive reply. I shook my head at him.

"You know damn well that is a terrible idea." Alex opened and closed his mouth a few times before he finally found his words again.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently. I shook my head at him.

"One word; Mya." The word gave him pause as he thought of his excuses.

"What about her?" I snorted a laugh at the only thing his brain could come up with.

"You know damn well what I mean," I told him, rolling my eyes.

"She won't mind," he said nonchalant, waving a hand in the air, as if brushing away the problem, as I shook my head again.

"She's a ginger, of course she will," I quipped before adding, "Do you remember what happened last time?" I watched as he turned a satisfying shade of red.

"Mya loves everyone," Alex attempted hopefully, to which I only scoffed and looked over my glasses at him.

"Sure," I drawled sarcastically, "That's why she ignores everyone and growls at anyone you bring home."

"She doesn't growl at them," he defended immediately, but his eyes showed that he wasn't quite believing his own words.

"Right, she lovingly welcomes people to your home with a hug and a plate of warm cookies," I grumbled sarcastically. Alex only stared through me.

"She doesn't bake," he stated confused, his eyebrows furrowing deeply. I stared at him open mouthed in disbelief.

"Seriously, that's your problem with what I said?"

"Mya's just protective," he muttered, taking a great interest in his shoes again. I scoffed at him.

"Sure, if by 'protective' you mean insane." I suddenly felt Alex's hand smack my shoulder and glanced up to find his eyes filled with hurt.

"She isn't insane, Leo!" I rolled my eyes at him.

"She tries clawing eyes out, Alex," I reminded him crossing my arms across my chest, "How is that not insane?" He took a long second to consider this before he spoke.

"It only happened once..." he tried half-heartedly to defend her actions

"Once where the person complained about it to your landlord," I clarified before glancing down at the floor and adding, "Do I really need to go through the list?"

"What list?" I looked at him over my glasses once more to find a very sheepish expression on his face.

"The ones Mya attacked," I told him before clearing my throat and beginning, "Meg, Penny, Cassie, Lucy, Gwen, Amy, Ray, Nel, Danni..." Alex shook his head at me and held his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, alright, so she isn't the best with them," he admitted finally, before adding firmly, "But that's not her fault." I nodded at him in agreement.

"OK, that's true," I conceded, "But if you didn't bring all of them home, she wouldn't go all crazy like that." He opened his mouth to reply but no sound came out for a long second.

"I...I guess..." he grumbled eventually, "But she's..." I rolled my eyes and patted him on the shoulder gently nodding.

"I know, you're in love with her," I finished for him, "But you need to think about how Mya will react to her." He considered this for a second, nodding slightly as he thought. Suddenly, he turned to me.

"She won't mind one more, right?" he asked, eyes full of hope. I opened and closed my mouth a couple of times trying to find my words again.

"I...whatever, dude," I eventually spluttered with a sigh, "It's your death if you go through with it." Alex's eyes went from bright and hopeful to dark and considerate as my words sank in.

"Well, I..." he began, his words trailing off as he tried to think of any excuse he could.

"Hey there," the cheery voice startled the both of us, "Are you alright?" We turned to the woman who had approached us, smiling widely at us, hands cupped together tightly.

"Yeah, we're fine, thanks," I told her, giving her a smile of my own as Alex turned back to the glass wall. She nodded happily at me before she glanced through the glass beside us as well.

"Good," she muttered before she worked up the courage to ask what she'd been wanting to for a long time, "Have you made a decision?" I sighed and glanced at Alex, who was staring at her through the glass

"Alex?" I prompted, causing him to glance back up at me, then at the woman beside us. He glanced at her face and gave her a weak smile

"I...I can't, sorry," his voice was low and regretful as his head came down to rest on his chest. The woman's shoulders visibly dropped.

"That's a shame," she muttered, attempting to hide her disappointment. Alex nodded at her.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'd love to have her." The woman nodded sympathetically at him.

"An allergic girlfriend?" she asked, trying to figure out if it was a rectifiable problem for the near future. Alex snorted at her comment and shook his head.

"That would make life a lot easier," Alex grumbled bitterly taking a step back from the window. I grabbed his arm gently, but firmly, trying to break his thoughts.

"Don't be bitter, Alex," I hissed in his ear, "You love her really." Alex glanced at me from the corner of his eye and sighed deeply.

"I know," he muttered defeatedly, "I just wish she wasn't as jealous." He shook his head and stepped back from the glass. I reached up and patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"I know, man, I know," I said quietly as Alex shrugged off my hand and walked off down the hall, leaving me and the woman stood by the window. I glanced at her to find her face full of confusion.

"A girlfriend that's jealous of a dog?" it was almost a statement of disbelief as she glanced back at the small chocolate Lab puppy that sat in the window watching everyone happily. I snorted a laugh and shook my head.

"Nah, his girlfriend loves dogs," I replied before shrugging and adding, "It's the cat that has a problem with 'em." With one last smile to the baffled woman, I wondered down the hall after Alex, to the car park of the RSPCA building we'd spent the last hour in.