"When I imagine myself I am barely there."
- unknown.
. . .
Dahlia
There was no text in the morning. No, I wasn't surprised - just a little disappointed. Of course, he wasn't going to text right away. That'd come off as too eager. But I doubted if there was anything that could make Elliot Monet seem eager - he'd only come off as a 'man who knows what he wants' - considering his shady, yet dominant vibes.
Elliot Monet.
That truly was a beautiful name. Espically the last name. Monet. Growing up, Monet had been my favorite artist. While I commanded no talent in the art of painting, other than making a few weird covers for my journals and other things, I had always been interested in art - especially his.
There was no text from him, but there were a few texts from Otto, Mom, and Dad - all of them asking if I had opened the gifts they gave me.
I wasn't really good at taking gifts, especially from my parents. When I was younger, I'd get rewarded for academic achievements only. Birthday gifts were tiny, nonessential things that consisted of something basic. Being born isn't an achievement.
It wasn't for me. But it was for Emilia, considering how many miscarriages my mom had between me and Emilia. I didn't know the exact number, but it had been high. And even if it had been just one, I couldn't imagine the amount of pain she went through.
And, sure enough, one of the gifts from my parents was brownies and the other was a pair of earrings - not expensive by any means. But they were shaped like two tiny black sunflowers so I loved them. And I loved brownies, so that was a win.
I sat down on the bed with the gift Otto had given me. It was a tiny figurine of one of my cats - Bobby, a ginger tabby. (Otto's favorite of my two cats).
Bobby, as if he knew what I was holding, poked his head inside the room and meowed. Seeing me awake (my cats, for some reason, didn't bother me when I was sleeping), he zoomed through the room and jumped on the bed, looking at the figurine in my head. He looked at it curiously, nudging it with his nose and meowing.
I scratched his neck. "Ottot gave this. Do you like it?"
He, of course, just meowed.
I took a picture of him with the figurine and sent the picture to Otto, and made it my profile picture. Yes, I was one of those people.
I spent a bit more time in the room, eating brownies and feeding Bobby some treats. After a while we were joined by Vaness, who was a little grey British shorthair, just a tad bit older than Minnie back at the shelter.
Too soon it was time to show my face at the store. While I didn't need to be there all the time, I liked working there. The money which came from it supported me just fine. Nothing lavish - just enough.
I dressed in an all-black outfit, except for the coat that covered me - which was a dark shade of green. I grabbed my keys from the kitchen counter, made sure there was enough food and water in the feeder, kissed Bobby and Vaness' little heads, and left the apartment.
. . .
There was no text from him the whole day. I certainly didn't look at my phone every half an hour (or fifteen minutes).
I was disappointed. Maybe he had just said that he was interested because he, in some way, pitied me. Maybe he felt like he had to ask for my number after spending so much time together and decided he didn't want me after he went back home.
Or his ship.
Damn, he had a ship. I almost forgot that.
I spent half the day making journals and listening to Jason as he described the book he had bought a few days ago from the store.
"It's amazing," he finished, breathing heavily with his eyes lit up. It was weird - what a good book could do to a person. "You have to read it. It'd be a crime against everything to not read it."
I smiled, returning my eyes to the text block as I tried to arrange it nearly on the table. "I will. I promise. As soon as I finish my current read, I will pick it up."
He grinned. "You'll love it." His phone rang and he groaned, glaring down at the screen. "I...I have to go."
"Is everything okay?"
He gave me a firm nod, but I noticed the shake of it.
He walked out after muttering a goodbye.
And the very book he had been ranting about for the last half an hour was forgotten on my table, signaling the level of his distress.
I picked it up, setting it away to give it back to him.
. . .
I switched my phone off in the night as soon as I entered the shelter. I instantly made my way to Minnie, who was laying in her cage, appearing to be sleeping. I put a hand on my heart. Aw.
"She is adorable," someone said. I turned and my eyes fell on a girl who appeared to be as old as Emilia. Her sparkling green eyes were looking at the kitten, and her short, bright pink hair was tied away from her thim face. She was dressed in a graphic green T-shirt and baggy pants. She looked at me, grinning. "Can I adopt her?"
"Um, yes. But I have to mention, she is blind."
Her grip disappeared. "Well, that...I can't do that." She looked back at the kitten, now with a frown on her face. "I'm sorry." She turned and walked away quickly, her head ducked.
My heart squeezed...
I sighed and looked at Minnie. "You'll find someone worthy."
Her head moved just a little as if saying yes.
. . .
"Why are you biting me?" Marie grumbled. "No, don't you grin at me?" She pointed at the tiny golden retriever, Pluto, whose tail wagged. She glared, for a moment, and then melted into a smile. "I love you sooooo much-" She smothered him with kisses.
I laughed and sat down on the bench. Once in a while, we brought the dogs to the dog park which was conveniently right beside the shelter.
For now, we had just three dogs here. Marie and I couldn't really handle more, especially when two of them were puppies who weren't fond of listening listen.
I looked at the German Shepard sitting near my legs, watching the other dogs. His name was Jojo, and yes Marie named him.
He looked up at me, innocent eyes which melted my heart and made me want to cry at the same time. Jojo was rescued from the side of the road. He was found in a box with his dead siblings.
And later, when we examined the bodies of his siblings, we realized someone had stabbed them. All of them, some even had multiple fat stab wounds which signaled that whoever did it, they did it in such a frenzy they didn't even wait to see which one they were hurting. Jojo, by some miracle, got out of it with just a tiny wound on his leg.
"What?" I asked softly, bending a little to be closer to him. "You can play with them. See, Pluto, is having so much fun."
He looked at where I was pointing. Pluto was jumping around a great dane who seemed to not to know what was wrong with the hyperactive puppy. I laughed.
But Jojo didn't move. He started nipping at my heel, demanding to be picked.
I listened, of course, and set him on my lap. "It's okay," I said to him. "You can be social when you want."
He snuggled into my stomach, closing his eyes. I loved that he felt so comfortable with me.
I looked up, but instead of my eyes falling back on Pluto who was now playing with some Pitbull, my eyes fell on the man leaning against a car. His sunglasses were on his nose, his form was relaxed, and I could feel the weight of his eyes on my face.
I gulped, my heart thundering. I hadn't really checked my phone since last night. That meant it was still switched off. When I returned from the shelter, I had been too busy, and today I had a few shipments dropping off at the store, and then I had to take the dogs out...
He got back in his car and drove away. I watched his car till it was out of view, my heart beating out of my chest.
I fished my phone out of my pocket and turned it on.
Hello, Dahlia. The first message read. I could almost hear that in his voice.
He had sent it like a few minutes after I had switched it off yesterday. Damn it, Dahlia. Damn it.
There were only two messages after that, which he had sent a minute ago.
I don't appreciate being ignored.
Go out with me tonight. I will pick you up at 8.
. . .
Thots?
I've written quiet a few chapters but the others are grossly unedited so idk when I'll update again.
I'm halfway through the next HER update so that should be published soon.
AND, thank you so much for the love you're giving this book. Ily sm wtf 😭