Chapter 6
"Unbelievable, we still don't have internet," Patricia says, grabbing her phone for the umpteenth time to check.
Though the storm has lost its strength, she knows that without a snowplow clearing the road, getting the car out will be impossible, so she's resigned herself to spending most of the day entertained with her phone while Carlota reads on her e-reader. However, after lunch, the network went down and they're cut off from communication, and even though she's kept herself busy with the dogs, Patricia can't stand the boredom.
"What else could possibly go wrong?" she continues grumbling while pacing from window to window, with the dog glued to her ankle.
"You should give him a name," Carlota suggests.
"What?" Patricia asks, caught off guard.
"The dog. You found him and he likes you, it's only fair that you name him. Otherwise, I'll have to take the list we use for name assignments and give him the next one."
"And what's the next one?" Patricia asks with curiosity.
Carlota puts down her book and gets up to grab the list of names they use to christen the dogs and cats that arrive at the shelter.
"Well, the next one for a male dog is Stockholm," Carlota says.
"Stockholm?" she repeats in horror. "He doesn't look like a Stockholm, does he?" she asks the dog while petting his head.
The dog blinks and licks his lips, thinking she's going to feed him.
"He'll be called Coco," Patricia decides.
"Coco," Carlota repeats with a smile. "I like it. Assigned," she says and writes it down on the dog's file.
Patricia drops heavily into the armchair and lets out a bored sigh that makes her companion nervous. Carlota has been patient and wished with all her might that someone would tell them the snowplow had cleared the road so Patricia could leave. But she knows the shelter won't be a priority, that they'll clear populated areas first, and given the time, she'll have to spend another night with her grumpy companion, and she won't let her keep ruining her plans for another minute.
"Well," she says, putting down Coco's file, "it's time for some real fun," she adds and lets all the dogs out of their kennels.
"What are you doing?" Patricia asks.
It's not that the dogs bother her; after all, most of them are elderly or recovering, so they just come out of their kennels to lie on the blankets and not much else. Before answering, Carlota grabs a box and a couple of bags and places them on the table.
"What I planned to do this morning - decorate this place for Christmas."
To Patricia's amazement, Carlota opens the box and takes out a small artificial tree. Then she opens the bags and not only pulls out Christmas lights and ornaments but also Santa hats and reindeer ear headbands for the dogs. What horrifies Patricia most is that she connects a speaker to a downloaded Christmas playlist and places it on top of the microwave while she starts assembling the tree.
"Don't just stand there gawking, help me," Carlota asks Patricia with a huge smile while putting on a Santa hat.
Patricia stands petrified and looks at the dog kennels thinking about hiding inside one, but when she glances at the animals, she notices that most orbit around Carlota as if they'd caught her Christmas spirit, which seems to have rejuvenated the older ones and lifted the spirits of the sick ones. A bark from Coco startles her, and when she looks at him, he's in front of her wagging his tail at full speed.
"What?" she asks, holding back a smile. "You want a hat too? No, reindeer ears suit you better."
Patricia, after letting out a deep breath, decides she has nothing better to do and nothing to lose by helping, plus she likes the music as it takes her back to her childhood, and she's always liked Christmas, even though she never got over being told Santa wasn't real. She approaches Carlota and starts putting hats and headbands on the dogs.
"Now it's your turn," Carlota says, watching her from the corner of her eye.
Patricia narrows her eyes but gives in and puts on a hat.
"Happy?"
Carlota just smiles in response and continues decorating the tree. Her smile triggers something in Patricia that she can't decipher, but it makes her feel comfortable, and for a moment, she forgets her bad mood and past grudges. She starts searching through the bags and pulls out more decorations to help Carlota, and for the next hour and a half, the two veterinarians hum carols and even dance with the animals while they finish putting up all the lights and decorations Carlota brought.
"It doesn't look bad," Patricia comments with satisfaction, observing the small lit tree and all the decorations placed on windows, doors, and anywhere they could hang something.
"I love Christmas," Carlota says and adjusts her hat. "Will you feed the dogs while I prepare our dinner?" the volunteer proposes.
Patricia looks at her watch and realizes with surprise that the afternoon has flown by and it's time for dinner.
"Yes, sure."
Again, they seem very synchronized, and all Patricia has to do is ask Carlota about the animals' medications; otherwise, she manages perfectly while her companion this time prepares broth and beans for them, accompanied by a pre-cooked potato omelet.
"You came well-prepared," Patricia comments, genuinely surprised.
The night before, she'd already noticed Carlota had everything, but she was too upset to mention it.
"I've stayed with them before," Carlota responds, "and the first time was really rough. I stayed in that armchair where you wanted to sleep yesterday, and I was naive enough to think a sleeping bag would be enough to stay warm. I froze all night, not to mention my back. As for food, there wasn't even a microwave then, just the coffee maker, and I had to survive on packets of cookies and junk food that upset my stomach for a couple of days."
"How awful," Patricia comments.
"You can't imagine. That's why I ran a campaign and asked shelter members to donate other materials they didn't need, and that's how we got the bed, microwave, and other utilities. Now I come prepared, I bring my e-reader and some movies downloaded on my laptop, so I don't get bored if things drag on, like they have."
"I should get one," Patricia says, picking up Carlota's e-reader to take a look. "They say the battery lasts forever."
"It really does," her companion answers.
Patricia opens the cover, and Carlota's pulse races because it's set to display the cover of the book she's reading, and she just hopes Patricia doesn't recognize it.
"Oh, you're reading Writers?" the cardiologist asks, surprised.
Carlota wishes the ground would open up and swallow her.
"Yes, well, a colleague recommended it, but I'm just at the beginning."
Patricia arches an eyebrow, amused.
"Victoria Rivas and Micaela de Luca are my favorite writers," Patricia says, leaving Carlota speechless. "Did you know they're a couple?"
Carlota knows, but in the middle of a flush that lights up her cheeks like flames, she pretends to be unaware of the fact with a clumsiness that Patricia finds very entertaining.
"Well, well no, actually, I didn't even know their names."
"Right..." Patricia says. "In a few months, they're coming for a book signing at a bookstore in the city. If you like the book, you could buy the paper version and get it signed," she comments mischievously.
"Yes, maybe I will. Shall we clean this up?" Carlota changes the subject, feeling her heart might jump out of her mouth.
"Of course," Patricia responds, and while helping her clean up, she can't stop thinking about the fact that Carlota is reading lesbian literature.
She's never wondered if her former colleague was one of her own, and it didn't matter to her, and it unsettles her that this detail generates so much curiosity now.