JOSHUA
Ican’t get Caitlyn out of my mind. It hasn’t even been twelve hours since our date, and yet I can’t stop thinking about her. I know I’m going to go insane if I don’t see her soon.
I glance at my watch, and seeing as it’s almost lunch time, and my next client won’t be here for another few hours yet, I decide to grab some food for Caitlyn and me, and head over to her workplace at the kennels.
When I arrive, the door to her building is locked, and I worry for a moment that she’s already left.
Then, I hear her on the phone and figure she locked up so random people wanting to see the dogs don’t come wandering in.
I know she sees prospective buyers on an appointment only basis.
I wait for her to finish talking on the phone, and then ring the intercom for the door.
“Hello, Jackson and Henderson dog breeders, how may I help you?” comes her polite reply.
“Hey, Cait, it’s Josh. Sorry if I’m disturbing you work, but I brought lunch--”
“Hey, Josh. I’ll let you straight in,” she replies brightly.
A moment later, the door opens, and Caitlyn stands on the other side smiling.
“I hope chicken caesar salad and orange juice from the restaurant is okay?” I say, holding up the bag of food I had Antony make especially.
Caitlyn grins. “That’s perfect. I just packed some sandwiches, but that sounds much more appealing.”
I’ve visited Caitlyn at the kennels a few times in the past, so I follow her through the neatly kept reception room, where the main desk and phone is situated, into the small break room that consists of a battered old couch, a small dining table, and a kitchenette.
An empty mug sits on the draining board beside the sink, and there’s a cozy blanket thrown over the couch.
Caitlyn moves the blanket, and we settle on the couch.
I hand over one of the boxes of chicken caesar salad, and as I do, our knees brush. Caitlyn flinches and backs up a little.
Her reaction is a huge contrast from the night before, and I wonder if I've accidentally put too much pressure on things by turning up at the kennels without calling ahead beforehand.
“I’m sorry. I probably should have called instead of just showing up here. If you want to be alone--”
“No, I’m, sorry,” Caitlyn lays her hand on my knee, and the tension between us evaporates. “It’s just been a rough morning. Mama pug made a mess everywhere, so I had to bath her and the puppies.”
“Ugh, sounds exhausting.”
“It is. But it isn’t all bad. I’ve set up interviews with prospective buyers for the puppies, and I have a meeting with another breeder about the male chow-chow they have for stud.”
I smile, knowing it’s been a long-term dream of Caitlyn’s to breed her dog, Bella, and sell the puppies.
“That’s excellent news. Congratulations. When is the meeting?”
“Tomorrow. The breeder, Amy, is bringing her chow-chow Bruno here and we’re going to discuss the details. As I can’t afford the full stud price right now, we’ve discussed sharing the profits from the puppies.”
“I can give you the money for the stud price,” I blurt, without thinking. I don’t have to worry about money, and I mainly work at the gym to give me something to do, but also so that the Braddock resort has more enticing services to offer.
Caitlyn smiles and shakes her head. “That’s really sweet of you, Joshua, but I need to do this by myself. Since…”
She trails off, but Caitlyn doesn’t need to tell me the reason for her hesitation. I know it’s because of her ex, David. He never approved of her breeding dogs and would have preferred her to stay home looking after his house for him.
“I understand,” I say softly. “I’ll support you no matter what, and if you need anything, you know I’m always here for you.”
Caitlyn smiles, and leans in, pressing her lips to mine. She kisses me softly, before pulling back and saying, “Thank you, Josh. That means more to me than you know.”
When Caitlyn pulls away, she asks, “Do you want to come see the puppies?”
“Absolutely,” I agree, and she leads me through to the kennels, where a mother pug dozes with her eight pups.
“How old are they?” I ask, as we both settle on the floor nearby the dogs.
“Almost five weeks. I have people coming to see them soon, and it’s important for the pups -- and their mothers -- to get to know new potential owners.”
“When will they be able to leave their mother?” I ask, as one of the puppies’ wakes, and comes over to us.
It sniffs me curiously, and apparently having decided I’m acceptable, starts chewing my leg.
I gently rub it’s head, and soon, the other puppies are coming over to investigate what’s going on, too.
“About two more weeks,” Caitlyn says, picking up one of the puppies and giving it some fuss.
“Hopefully, if I sell all the puppies, and can strike up a good deal with that other breeder, Amy, I can breed Bella soon. The money we make from that should be enough that I can make some renovations here, and maybe start breeding multiple animals at once.”
“That sounds like a great plan. I’m really happy things are working out for you.”
After playing with the pugs for a while, I say, “I guess I best head back to the gym. I have a client due in thirty minutes. But do you want to have dinner with me this evening?”
Caitlyn bites her bottom lip, and the tension from earlier returns. I wonder what I’ve done wrong.
“Let me check on my schedule, and I’ll call you later.” Caitlyn says.
Not wanting to push the issue, I say, “Okay, that sounds good.”
To my pleasant surprise, Caitlyn leans in and presses her lips to mine and I start to think maybe I imagined the earlier tension.