14

~Darlina's POV~

I walked into work the next day with a pep in my step as I entered through the front doors, greeted by the sound of happy yips and barks. I'd been working at Diya's Delights, which was both an animal shelter and animal daycare, since I was sixteen and I loved it. Animals had always had a special place in my heart, so having a job that revolved around them was special to me.

"Hi, babies." I giggled as I let the doors close and entered, all of the dogs happily jumping around at my feet. Buddy, a large black lab, jumped around a little too excitedly and almost trampled over some of the smaller dogs, causing some to skitter out of his way.

After giving them some attention I managed to skirt around them, but even as I was walking away I could hear the soft sound of them following after me in a hurry. From the front desk, my coworker, Jonah, grinned in amusement when he saw the bunch of dogs rushing after me. "I see they've clearly missed you." He chuckled, causing me to smile widely as I glanced down at the sweet dogs.

I set my bag down and then crouched down to the dogs, laughing when they all began to lick at my arms and hands, trying to get close enough to lick my face despite the fact that I pulled away when they tried. Divulging into absentminded baby talk, I pet at the animals and rubbed their bellies, trying to give each of them equal attention. Eventually I forced myself to stand, brushing off my legs as I did so.

Jonah smiled slightly as he peered over the front desk and down at the dogs, some of which had happily fallen asleep on their sides or backs while the others were still wagging their tails, looking up at me expectantly. "Why don't they love me like that, Li?" He sighed wistfully, bracing his arms atop the desk surface. A smile tugged at my lips. "You're always stuck behind this desk. I'm sure they'd love you more if they got to know you." I responded, patting Gus and Dino on their fluffy heads as they were needily pawing at my legs.

He merely shrugged his shoulders and looked over at the clock. "Would you mind letting them out back? They haven't been outside yet because Diya is running a bit late this morning." He said, causing my eyes to widen. I looked down at the dogs. "Do you guys need to go outside?" I asked, causing several heads to perk up at my words. Buddy, who was rolled on his back, suddenly rolled over onto a small Dachshund that had been named Torpedo. Of course, Torpedo was a small thing and Buddy was a slightly pudgy Saint Bernard, so Torpedo probably felt like he was seconds from death.

Torpedo flailed his front half around and Buddy stood up after taking a glance at his flailing body, allowing the wiener dog to run away. I hid a giggle and began to head towards the side door, glancing back to make sure they were all following me. The outside area for them to roam was fenced in, of course, but wrapped entirely around to the back of the building and was a wide open space so they could run around.

Deciding to leave them all alone to do their thing, I headed into the back where we kept their separate little fenced in spaces with beds and bowls of food and water, checking each one to make sure the bowls were all full and that none had gone to the bathroom. The shelter/daycare had been built so that there were doggy doors that allowed them to go in and out as they pleased, however some of the smaller dogs really disliked going outside when it was dark and would instead just go to the bathroom inside. As a result, I sometimes had to clean up pee or poop, but I didn't mind. I preferred that to them holding it in.

After making sure everything was as it should be, I headed out to the large open area of the front of the building, finding Jonah just where I'd left him. This was often the place where the dogs would stay during the day to play or even just lay around if they wanted. Luckily, all of them were very friendly with one another—unless one tried to touch another's food, of course. That was a very different matter.

"Everything good?" Jonah asked as I plopped into a comfy beanbag chair, stretching my short limbs out. "Mhm." I hummed in affirmation, glancing towards the door when I heard gentle scratching. Dino, a Corgi that was brothers with Gus, and Boots, a tan chihuahua with white on her paws that looked like boots on her feet, were patiently sitting at the door together. I let them in and Boots immediately ran into her favorite hiding spot, right underneath a small playground that a lot of them liked to chase each other in circles on, going up and down the slide and back around it again. She preferred the hide underneath it with a couple of the others.

I glanced over at Jonah and brushed my fingers through my hair. "How long have you been here, anyway? Usually I'm the first one here." I mentioned, and he hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe an hour." He said with a shrug, scrolling through his phone.

Biting on my lip, I stared out the window and watched the dogs play, thinking about last night. The fact that Emmett and Atlas had gotten into an argument made me a little bit uneasy. I had just wanted to befriend Atlas yet somehow had caused trouble in trying to do so, which made me feel guilty. Maybe the fact that all three of us seemed to have come to an agreement to leave the matter alone was a good thing, though.

Yet even if it was, I still felt a bit...upset about it. I knew that Atlas wasn't interested in being my friend, but I didn't expect how much it would hurt my feelings to hear him talk about me as if I were nobody at all. A deep frown turned down the edges of my lips.

Gus came prancing up suddenly and gently pawed at my ankle, causing me to realize that the rest of the dogs had been waiting at the door while I'd been zoned out. I quickly got up and let them in, making sure each one was accounted for before shutting the door. They all ran off, a couple of them trampling over one another as they grew excited to play.

Buddy lingered at my side when I plopped into my beanbag chair, shoving his big head into my lap and practically laying on top of my legs with a harrumph. He was probably the oldest one here at five, almost six, years old and had yet to be adopted but he was still the sweetest boy. I let him lay with me, very much used to his clingy behavior. Many of the dogs here had been rescues or just dogs that people didn't want and decided to leave them here with us, and others were simply here while their owners were at work or off doing other stuff.

Smiling down at Buddy, I rubbed his belly and blew out a breath of surprise when he leaned more of his weight into me, crushing me a bit. I wheezed as he climbed up on the beanbag, which was basically flat as Buddy's weight combined with mine smushed it into the floor. Jonah laughed loudly from the front desk when he looked over and saw, probably because the giant dog was covering me like a blanket, allowing my legs to just barely stick out as I flailed my arms. This must've been how poor Torpedo had felt earlier.

"Come on, Buddy!" Jonah called from the desk, hoping to get him to move, but the Saint Bernard just looked at him and then licked my face. I groaned and threw my head back in despair, my insides feeling like they were being crushed. "Please get him off!" I exclaimed through a gasp.

Jonah rounded the counter and approached, gently whacking Buddy on the behind. "Off! You can't crush her. She's the only one who cleans up the messes you guys make, now get off." He scolded as if Buddy would understand. All he got in response was a whine from the large dog. I flailed an arm around and rocked myself side to side, trying to push him off of me.

As if offended by how much I was struggling, Buddy whined again before he stood up and promptly plopped onto the floor beside me, silently sulking. I puffed out a breath of relief and sat up, my body aching a bit but otherwise completely fine. Despite his size, Buddy wouldn't hurt a soul. I gently rubbed his head to console him and he seemed to accept that because he rolled onto his back with his mouth open. I itched his stomach lightly in response before I stood up, my joints popping.

I grabbed my bag before I returned to my spot, this time making sure not to let Buddy back in my lap.