52 Preoccupied (1)

Mia speedily went out of the house and ran to the pet store like a mad woman. She was awake all night thinking about William. It did not help that the room was filled with stuffed animals that William gave her when they were young. The eyes of the dolls were looking at her as if they were criticizing her for not knowing William's feelings for her. It might have been her imagination but she felt that even the dolls were against her.

She tossed and turned in her bed and when she realized it, it was already morning. Her eyes that did not get that much sleep she had dark lines under her eyes. Her eye bags that could be considered like a double layered bed was a sight to behold. Mia did not like putting makeup on, so it was more prominent. But Mia did not have any more time to worry about the matter.

She had only started with her new work and she could not afford to be late. After fixing herself and doing her morning routine, she bolted out the door and ran as fast as she could. She was lucky that it was only 10-15 minutes' walk from her house if she hurries. Her mother was about to invite her for breakfast but Mia was too fast that her mother was not able to ask her.

You can hear Mrs. Hill's "Oh dear" from the background as Mia speedily left.

7 minutes later, Mia arrived in front of the store. She tried to compose herself while fixing her hair because she knows it is a mess from all the running that she did. She was using the window of the store as it reflects her image, she did not notice that inside of the store was Dr. Canes. He was already inside looking at Mia since the beginning.

From her rushed appearance, to the bird's nest that was on her head a while ago. He could not help but chuckle at Mia's appearance. He looked at his watch to check the time, they still had about 20 minutes before the store opens. He did not know why she is in such a hurry as they still have time before the store opens.

"Ah, it's good to be young," Dr. Canes said while looking at Mia with a smile on his face.

Mia who was finally able to fix and compose herself stepped on the front door and checked if it was open. As it was, she gently opened the door with the clinking of the bell from the front door, it announced her arrival. She saw Dr. Canes at the counter who was wearing a smile while looking at her.

"Good morning Dr. Canes," Mia said while giving a small bow.

"Good morning Mia," Dr. Canes replied.

Mia went to the back to get her apron that the store provided. It had the store's design printed on it. She tied her hair in a simple ponytail before she got started. They can wear casual clothes as there are no uniforms aside from the apron. Mia preferred to work with a shirt and jeans. Mia's first assigned job is to clean the cages of the animals that stayed for the night in the shop. They are mostly patients that had to be taken care of in the shop, owners can also leave their animals to be taken care of in the shop if they are going to be away for a while with no one to take care of their pets. This was not something the shop offered at first, but since some customers requested it from Dr. Canes, he finally gave in to his old time customers.

A wide array of animals could be found in the room, Mia needed to replace the water in their containers and give them their food. While giving the animals food, she was reminded that she has not yet eaten anything. Her stomach grumbled a little as if protesting as she also did not eat a lot in the evening. She was too preoccupied with her thoughts. Good thing that the animals were making noises, her stomachs grumble was not so loud for others to notice.

She looked around to see if Dr. Canes was near her. She gave a sigh when there was no one besides her in the room. The other employee, Bert, usually takes the afternoon shifts once Mia started working. He took the shop assistants position as his part-time job. When Mia heard this from Dr. Canes, she wondered what she was doing with her life when other people work and study at the same time, she was taking it easy and taking everything in strides.

However, she did not feel at a lost in her current job. In fact she felt happy being surrounded by animals. She had a hard time around people, but she never had the same problem with animals. It gave her a certain feeling of comfort. She always liked how animals are straightforward with their feelings. If they like you they will approach you, if they hate you they will growl at you.

Original novel by Chuchuwachuwa