Chapter 6
Escape Artists and Condescending Arseholes
Alyssa
The morning had started off wonderfully. All of Alyssa’s worries were for naught. The team overseeing the handover of the dogs did a great job with no cockups. A minor miracle in Alyssa’s eyes.
The one and only doozy of an issue arose before lunch.
With all the dogs successfully buddied up, Alyssa was left with one pup.
Bug, a three-year-old English Cocker Spaniel, who was supposed to have been partnered with Cyril Jones again.
Unfortunately, Cyril had taken a nasty fall the night before and was in hospital, having his hip replaced.
“Bugger,” Alyssa muttered when she heard the news.
Cyril Jones had been paired with Bug specifically.
“What shall we do with you now?” she asked Bug, who sat by her feet looking into her eyes.
Alyssa would never admit this out loud, but Bug was her favourite dog.
There was just something about him that made him special.
“What’s up, buttercup?” Lil called. Lil had spent most of the morning checking up on everyone, fielding questions and concerns.
“Bug hasn’t got a partner.”
“Oh, no. Where’s Cyril?” Lil looked around the crowded office for the older gentleman.
“In the city hospital, receiving a titanium hip apparently.”
“Bugger!” Lil exhaled loudly.
“That’s what I said. What do we do now? I don’t want him to be the only one without a friend.” Alyssa really hated the idea that Bug was going to miss out.
“You’ll just have to take him, Al. Anyway, he will be back with the others in the evening.”
“I’m going to be in and out of here though, Lil. I have meetings across the city. I can’t take Bug with me.”
“Obviously. He can stay with me when you have to go out. It’s no big deal.”
It felt like a big deal to Alyssa, though. Bug had been with the sanctuary for two years now and it pained her to see him overlooked time and time again. Why was it always this little fella that got left behind?
“Okay, I’ll take him with me today. I’m just going to wander around the offices, making sure everyone is good to go.”
“What do you think I’ve been doing all morning, Al?” Lil rolled her eyes. She was more than used to Alyssa and her controlling ways.
“I know, I know. Just let me do it for my own peace of mind, okay?”
“Go on, off you go, your ladyship. Check on your lowly workers.”
“You’re an arse.” Alyssa laughed. Alright, so she could do with learning to let go of the reins a bit more, but it was hard.
Four Paws was Alyssa’s baby, her dream come true, and she would do anything to make sure it succeeded.
This relationship with Crawford’s was a huge step.
The connection she’d forged with Richard Crawford meant tremendous opportunities for the sanctuary, and Alyssa wasn’t about to fluff that up.
Richard had talked about fundraisers and adoption parties. Everything Alyssa dreamed of was in her grasp. That’s why these two months had to go perfectly.
“Okay, Bug, let’s…Bug?” Alyssa turned on her heel and frantically searched her immediate surroundings. The spot where Bug had been sitting was now empty. “Lil, where is he?”
“Bug?” Lil called. Both women split off, searching around the feet of office workers. There was no sign of him.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Alyssa hissed. How in god’s name had she managed to lose him?
“Don’t panic, Al. He couldn’t have gone far. It’s not like he can open doors. He’s two feet tall on his hind legs. You’ll see, we will find him curled up next to a radiator or something.
The next half an hour was a frantic search of the office floor. Crawford’s HQ occupied the entire tower, and Alyssa had dogs spread over all twenty floors.
“Start on the other levels. I know it’s unlikely that he left this office, but we have to check.
He’s definitely not here right now.” Alyssa was panicking.
Of all the stupid things she could have done today, misplacing a dog that was in her care was not something she thought would happen, but here she was.
Shaking her head at her idiocy, Alyssa set off to comb Crawford’s HQ.
Alyssa’s legs were on fire. Any other day, she would have thought she was in decent physical shape.
Not now though. Running up and down stairs gave Alyssa a painful reality check.
Breathing was also becoming a problem, but she couldn’t stop.
Alyssa’s mind came up with terrible scenarios.
What if Bug had been snatched? What if he was scared and alone, trapped somewhere?
Sheer dread settled over her body like a weighted blanket.
Lord knew how much time had passed, but Alyssa finally found herself on the topmost floor. By the look of the décor and furniture, it was the floor where all the higher ups worked. Expensive leather sofas and glass walls occupied the entire area.
The office was empty save for Terry, the security guard who had just exited an office in the far corner. “Ah, Ms Fox, just the person. Ms Crawford wants to see you.”
“I can’t right now, Terry. I’m on the lookout for our resident escape artist.”
Bug had been known to disappear now and then. In the rescue centre it wasn’t a big deal. There were only so many places he could go, and he never went far. Usually it was to the sunny spot in Lil’s office. That dog was a sun worshipper through and through.
“Are you looking for a little Cocker Spaniel by any chance?”
Alyssa rounded on Terry, grabbing his very thick arms. “Yes, I am. Have you seen him?”
“He’s alright. In fact, that’s why Ms Crawford wants to speak to you. She found him in her office.”
Oh crap! How the hell had he got all the way up here?
“Right, okay, I’ll just…” Alyssa pointed to the office Terry had exited moments earlier.
Straightening her shirt, Alyssa approached the door to the office, which was slightly ajar. Voices mumbled inside, and Alyssa couldn’t help but overhear. Ms Crawford did not sound happy at all.
“Christ, I hope whoever this bloody Ms Fox is has some sodding answers. I’m about ready to commit murder.” Alyssa heard Ms Crawford say. That was her cue to enter.
“I hope I’m not the one you’re going to off.
I’m Ms Fox, the one with some sodding answers.
” Alyssa had clearly taken the woman—who was downright stunning—behind her desk by surprise.
So much so that Alyssa had to stop herself from laughing when the gorgeous Ms Crawford almost fell out of her chair.
Whilst the grumpy CEO straightened herself out, Alyssa took a moment to drink her in.
Ms Crawford was the epitome of elegance and good taste.
Her perfectly styled blonde hair sat just above her collar, tucked behind her ears, shining like gold rays of sunshine.
Diamond studs twinkled from either lobe.
Hazel eyes, so rich they looked like pools of chocolate, bored into Alyssa as she studied the woman.
Heat rose in Alyssa’s body. A heat which had been absent for far too long. The top two buttons of Ms Crawford’s shirt teased Alyssa’s imagination. If the swell of her breasts were anything to go by, Alyssa knew that the body underneath the shirt was breathtaking.
Swallowing thickly, Alyssa cleared her throat. No point ogling the woman, not when the CEO was so clearly pissed off.
“Ms Fox, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there,” Ms Crawford stuttered. “Please come in and take a seat.”
Alyssa took a step towards the empty seat directly in front of Ms Crawford, but stopped when she saw Bug sitting by the window. Her instinct was to scoop him up and squeeze him.
“Where have you been?” she whispered into his ear. Bug gave her a quick sniff before licking her face. Alyssa giggled. Oh shit, I just giggled like a child in front of Ms Crawford and whoever that other woman is.
Releasing Bug, Alyssa turned back to the women and smiled. “Sorry about that. I was just worried, we’ve been looking for him for a while now.”
“Right,” Ms Crawford stated, studying Alyssa.
“So, you said you needed some answers?” Alyssa took the offered seat and waited.
“Indeed Ms Fox. You can imagine my surprise when I found that little one sitting in the middle of my office floor.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. Bug likes to wander.”
“Bug?”
“Yes, the dog.” Alyssa pointed to Bug, who had resumed his perusal of London City.
“Right. So can you tell me why there are twenty-six of your dogs wandering around my office building?”
Alyssa didn’t like Ms Crawford’s tone at all. “I assumed your father would have filled you in.”
“My father?”
“Yes, Richard Crawford.”
“I’m well aware who he is, thank you.”
Wow, snarky much?
“Then you should know why I’m here with my twenty-six dogs. I don’t make a habit of turning up uninvited, you know.”
“Well, you have today,” Ms Crawford shot. A different kind of heat was taking over Alyssa’s body now. Gone was any kind of pleasant feeling towards the uptight cow sitting on her stupidly expensive-looking chair and ostentatious desk.
“I assure you, Ms Crawford, I have not. May I suggest you call your father and talk to him?”
“I’m talking to you, Ms Fox.”
“No, you’re being a condescending arsehole to me, Ms Crawford.” With that zinger of a sentence hanging between them, Alyssa stood, scooping Bug into her arms, and left the office without another word.
Well, that could have gone better.
Alyssa made her way down to the bottom floor with Bug snuggly tucked into her body. Her heart rate was still cruising along at warp speed.
“Well, she was horrible,” she muttered into Bug’s fur. “This is why I prefer dogs to humans, Bug.”
“Where have you been?” Lil screeched when the elevator doors slid open.
“Looking for this one.” Alyssa jiggled Bug playfully. “And I found him.”
“Where was he?” Lil didn’t wait, relieving Alyssa of the dog immediately, then smushing her face into his. Alyssa smiled. Lil was a big ol’ softy sometimes.
“He was in the bloody CEO’s office.”
“Oh, bugger!”
“Yeah, you can say that again.”