4. Brooke
Chapter 4
Brooke
I don’t want to do this!
I nervously wiped my hands on my skirt as I glanced at Asher who walked beside me, taking in the center quietly while I waited for him to insult me or something, but he said nothing, and that only made me anxious.
His silence finally made sense to me; he was a veteran. I thanked him mentally for his service but also mentally had both my middle fingers up because his attitude stank big time! If only he could see what was happening in my head.
I licked my lips as I looked at the floor, counting each tile as we walked together in silence; I had no idea why I was suddenly so mute, but dammit, I had embarrassed myself badly.
A man like him, follow me? How ridiculous!
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, and he was already staring at me, scaring the life out of me. I took a step backward and cleared my throat as I pushed my locks behind my ear. How long had he been looking at me?
“ Uhm , so do you have any questions?” I spoke softly as I stood up straight and pushed my hands behind my back as I looked at him.
“ How long have you been working here?” he asked, and his soft yet low-in-pitch voice surprised me. I was way too busy getting agitated by him and focusing on how hot he was that I hadn’t noticed he had such a soothing voice.
If he wasn’t such a terrible man, I would’ve loved to listen to him talk every single day! However , I had hoped that today would be our last interaction ever and that we would soon become those neighbors who didn’t talk to each other or even knew each other existed.
Please !
“ Here ?” I asked, and he slightly tilted his head to the side. Gosh , why did I say that? “ It’s been three years.”
“ What do you know about K9s ?” he asked, obviously trying to antagonize me even further, and I plastered a professional smile on my face as I subtly shrugged my shoulders.
“ Just about three years’ worth of knowledge; do you want to test me?”
“ No . You probably practice this script every single day.” He started walking again, drawing distance between us because of his long legs, and I had to scurry like a little penguin just to keep up.
“ I haven’t said anything to you yet for our interaction to be considered a script,” I argued.
He didn’t respond. I hated it when he did that! Why couldn’t he just say whatever was on his mind rather than keeping quiet?
“ So , were you in the military?” I asked stupidly, and of course that got his attention. He loves to make me seem dumb.
“ Yes ,” was his simple answer, and I could only guess what was going through his mind. He was in a veteran’s store, looking for a companion, and his answer was “yes.”
“ How long ago?” I asked as I struggled to keep up with him, and it felt like he was the one giving me the tour of the center that I had worked in for three years!
“ About five years ago.”
“ Oh ,” I whispered. “ So which divisi—” He interrupted me, and I rolled my eyes. Rude .
“ Which would you recommend here?” He pointed to the dogs, and I immediately locked eyes with Brady .
“ That dog,” I pointed to Brady who had a nasty scar across his face due to an incident when he was in the army and who had retired a lot earlier than most.
“ What’s his name?” I was shocked to see that Asher was even interested. Brady was normally ignored and isolated because he liked to start fights sometimes, but he was secretly my favorite.
“ Brady , and he’s seven. Do you want to see him?” I asked as I grabbed the keys from my back pocket and walked toward Brady’s crate. Asher grabbed my hand, shaking his head.
“ Why is he alone?”
“ He doesn’t get along with the others.” Now that I thought about it, Brady and Asher were one and the same. “ But he’s a sweetheart.”
“ If he was such a sweetheart, he would get along with the other dogs, wouldn’t he?” He had a point there, but his smug tone annoyed me!
“ I doubt you would know anything about getting along seeing as how you only have one behavior mastered.” I smiled as I clasped my hands under my chin, and the corners of his lips lifted slightly; it wasn’t exactly a smile, but it was close. He took a step toward me.
“ Should I call your boss to come help me instead?” My normal reaction would be to beg him not to call Chris because I loved my job, but this was Asher , and if I had learned anything from the few interactions I had had with him, he loved a good argument.
I could see it in his eyes.
“ Why ? Are you afraid to engage with me because I’m willing to be honest with you?” I mocked him, and he crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing me silently. Whenever he did that, I was convinced that he was picking a fight with me.
“ Do delight me.” He nodded, and I took that as permission to finally psychoanalyze him for once.
“ You are just like Brady . You isolate yourself and act all mean and tough in front of people because you want to avoid building any type of relationship with people, and that way, you won’t get hurt. So you growl, bark, and glare people away from you until there’s no one left in your life, and that rubs me the wrong way.”
“ Why does it?” He seemed amused by what I was saying.
“ Because nobody should be alone. Life sucks, but imagine not having anyone at all! That would be terrible,” I spoke softly as I stared at Brady . “ And that’s why I make sure to hug Brady every time I get an opportunity to!”
“ You’re bothering him,” Asher responded, and I looked at him confused. “ You’re making yourself a burden to him.”
“ How ?”
“ Because you’re getting attached to him, and he doesn’t want you to in case he leaves one day,” Asher smiled, and my eyes widened.
What did that mean?
“ I want Brady ,” he suddenly said, and I was taken aback as I looked at the black German Shepherd that lay down on his bed, staring at us with no interest in his eyes.
They would get along perfectly.
“ Brady isn’t affectionate and mostly sits down like that if he isn’t playing,” I explained, and Asher nodded.
“ He’s perfect.”
“ For what?” I leaned in closer to him, and he subtly took a step back and looked at me from the corner of his eyes.
He hated me; it was so clear.
“ Companionship .”
“ Well , okay, uhm. You would have to talk to the animal and adoption counselors first as part of the process. Since we live in the same apartment building, I can vouch that Brady would be living in a great environment that will benefit his health.”
“ Okay ,” he nodded, and I led him to a table, placed the documents before him, and made sure to explain all the important details that we were required to mention to our visitors.
He would probably read the contracts either way, with or without my information.
“ Before I go ahead and call the counselors, I need to know whether you’re confident about your decision of adopting Brady ?”
I was actually happy that Brady was finally getting adopted; most veterans avoided him because he had a scar, and they didn’t want a dog that reminded them of their own scars.
I understood that, but Brady also deserved a companion, just like all our K9s here.
“ Yes .”
“ Thank you,” I whispered, and he gave a stiff nod. “ Could I get you a water or something to drink?” I offered, and he pulled his head back.
Yeah , that was weird.
“ No .”
“ Okay , well, then please give me an honest rating on how I helped you today.” I bet he was going to give me half-a-star for each factor because he hated me, but that didn’t stop me from showing him my kindest smile.
Hopefully , this would make him forget.
“ I’ll make sure to be honest,” he nodded, and my heart stopped as I stared into his eyes. Ah , fuck, my first terrible rating is going to come from my own neighbor!
“ Alright , let me go get the counselors and get you out of here with Brady .”
“ Thank you.”
“ Anytime ,” I gave him a stiff smile as I walked away and called the counselors, Abbie and Todd , to help Asher with the rest of his application.
Matthew waved his hand at me from the back room, and my heart stilled as I saw him. Oh , no.
“ Hey , Matt ,” I greeted him, and he hugged me immediately, wrapping his arms around my waist as he squeezed me.
How long will I pretend?
“ Is everything okay? I saw your outburst at the door with the visitor,” he gestured to Asher with his head, and I sighed as I leaned against the table, watching Asher as he talked to the counselors... was he smiling?
“ Yeah , he’s my neighbor, and we don’t really get along very well,” I told Matthew , and he raised his eyebrows in interest.
“ You get along with almost everyone.” He tilted his head to the side, and I shrugged.
“ Turns out I don’t. If we’re ever in the same space, we end up arguing and insulting each other. It’s quite annoying.”
“ That’s insane!” You don’t say. “ So , how was consulting?”
“ It was bearable. We didn’t really argue, so it was cool,” I said, and at that moment, Asher got up and followed the consultants; his eyes met mine, and my heart leaped out of my chest.
It felt like he had heard my conversation with Matthew , but that was impossible. Asher was intense; it frustrated me.
“ Do you want to go get lunch together?” Matthew asked, and I placed my hands on the table as I pushed myself off and nodded.
“ On you?” I smiled, and he playfully rolled his eyes.
“ Sure , only if you promise to invite me over for a proper housewarming party with Marie since we’re the only friends you have.”
I can’t believe I got a bit excited for a second there. With a stiff nod and a jarring laugh, I said, “ Deal ! A Subway sandwich for a housewarming sounds fair to me!”
“ That’s my girl,” he wrapped his arm around my shoulder as he led us to the break room to get our bags, and right before we could enter, Abbie stopped me with a huge smile on her face.
“ Agent Brooke , how do you do it?” she asked, and I looked at her, confused.
“ What are you talking about?” I laughed, and she passed me her tablet.
“ You got another stellar review,” she winked, and my eyes widened. From Asher ?
I saw all the five stars he had given me, and my heart almost beat outside my chest. None of the half-a-stars I had expected were there.
“ Brooke is honest, and her service deserves more recognition. Her ability to match me with my new companion, Brady , is beyond commendable. She respects her job and made the experience enjoyable for me.” Matthew read the review Asher had left me.
Woah . Asher said something nice about me.