Stray
Authors: Natasha Stories
Stray
By
Natasha Stories
Copyright 2014 by Natasha Stories
This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. All rights reserved.
“I’m not cleaning that, Erin” Megan said, wrinkling her nose at the condition of the examining room. I wouldn’t have blamed her, except that it was part of her job as my veterinary technician, though she mainly functioned as a receptionist. And because I couldn’t do that and run the day-end report at the same time and it was past closing time.
“Megan, please. I know it’s unpleasant, but I really need your help right now. Come on, put the closed sign out and let’s get this taken care of, so we can get out of here.” I pushed the strands of hair that had escaped from my French braid since the last chance I’d had to look in the mirror and fix it. It had been a long and stressful day.
“No.”
I stopped arguing with a sigh. It would do no good, and I was in no position to force her to do anything. I didn’t own the clinic, her father did. I couldn’t fire her, couldn’t even complain about her attitude. For the thirtieth time in the month I’d been employed at Sunshine Veterinary Clinic, I wished myself back home. And for the thirtieth time, I reminded myself why I was here in the first place.
Sunshine, Colorado. The name alone had attracted me when I saw the ad. It sounded like somewhere that had sun year-round, though my hometown of Dallas, Texas wasn’t what I’d call gloomy. Tucked in a tiny mountain canyon near Boulder, Sunshine also boasted an upscale ski resort.
What had attracted me, though, was the ad for a veterinarian. And the fact that it was hundreds of miles away from Dallas and my ex. I had a bit of money saved, not much because I was still paying for vet school, which I’d finished only three years before. Enough to move, though, and the salary offered would allow me to replenish my savings within a year. Best of all, the ad hinted that the owner was semi-retired and would be offering to sell the practice to the successful candidate.
From the time I was a kid, I wanted nothing other than to heal sick and injured animals. I loved dogs, cats, rodents, even bigger animals like horses and sheep, though cows were a different matter. Small animals were what I’d specialized in, though, and in the job I had straight out of school, dogs and cats predominated by a large margin, with the occasional hamster or cockatoo thrown in. An urban veterinary practice would almost always be like that.
The practice in Sunshine, though, might be different. It was a small town, and I imagined that there would be farmers or ranchers nearby. Before I applied, I did some research. I learned that the majority of patients were dogs and cats after all, some purebred show animals.
According to the internet, the town was a curious combination of old-time residents, those who never left after the mines played out, ski resort employees and wealthy residents attracted by the resort and the proximity to Boulder while still living in a mountain paradise of tall evergreens and fresh air. Not many ranchers or farmers, then. I submitted my resume and cover letter online and waited.
In the meanwhile, I reconnected with a few girlfriends from my undergraduate days. Some of them were now teachers, others had various corporate jobs, but I was the only one who’d stayed in school an extra four years to go into any kind of medicine.
I was looking forward to a girlfriend get-together over New Year’s weekend. Some of them liked to ski, so if I got the job, I had acceptance from two and a ‘maybe’ from one other. The fourth hadn’t responded, but she was a socialite, so I assumed she was busy. I was excited to see them because the difference in lifestyle between my undergraduate friends and me had pulled us apart slowly, our get-togethers becoming less frequent until they were practically non-existent, especially after I met Greg.
I so didn’t need to go there tonight. My frazzled appearance was bad enough, but could be taken care of easily if I could just get Megan to help do
something
.
“Okay, I’ll do it. I’m already a mess anyway. Would you do the day-end cash register report?”
“I was supposed to leave at six. It’s already seven,” was her non-answer.
“I know, Megan, but we can’t turn Mrs. Padgett’s animals away. If we lost her cattery to another vet, your dad would kill me.”
“Not my problem.” GRRRR! I wanted to strangle the little brat.
“Please.” I had run out of patience to reason with her and had no more arguments left anyway. I was reduced to begging her to do her job. Again.
“My dad never made me do any of this stuff when he was here. All I had to do was answer the phone and check in the patients.”
“I know, Megan, but your dad had another tech at the time. When you graduated from tech school and he hired you full time, he expected you to do that job, too. I can’t do it all by myself, I need your cooperation. Will you do the day-end, or not?”
“Fine, I’ll do it this time. But you have to start closing on time. This screws up my plans, and it’s Friday night. If you keep doing this to me, I’m going to tell my dad.”
I turned my back as I thanked her, so she wouldn’t see my eyes roll. Tell her dad. I felt as if I’d gone to work in a day-care center instead of a veterinary practice. I went to the cleaning closet for supplies to get on with the cleaning job before the mess on the floor dried and had to be scraped off. I might as well clean up the office before cleaning up myself.
At least there was a shower for the medical staff here—me—and I’d learned early from this very patient to keep a change of clothes. Mrs. Padgett’s prize Persian, Maharajah, was a frequent patient. He had chronic tummy problems.
With rubber gloves on my hands and a roll of paper towels, I started mopping up the bulk of the mess. After that, I’d clean up with cleaning solution and then take my shower. I’d follow that with a sterilization routine for the entire examining room, in case Maharajah did have a communicable disease instead of just a delicate digestive system, though I doubted it.
I’d have to wash the soiled clothing from my long day in hot water at home. It wasn’t the thirtieth time I’d thanked my foresight in insisting on an apartment with its own washer and dryer, but that was also a frequent addition to my list of gratitudes.
Ick, this job was disgusting. That’s saying something when you’re a vet, accustomed to cutting live animals open for surgery, or giving worm treatments. Not to mention examining pregnant cows, but I’d avoided that so far. No wonder Megan flatly refused to do the cleaning. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get the stench out of my nostrils.
I needed to check on Megan’s progress with the day-end as well as any other front-desk tasks she’d neglected during the work day. This was a daily battle, and tonight I was petty. In revenge for her refusal to do the cleaning job while I cleaned myself up, I went out to her desk still in the clothes I’d worn all day, surely none to pleasant to the nose, and leaned over her to see what was on the computer.
Megan hadn’t heard me coming up behind her. I could only assume she smelled me when her hand flashed to switch screens, but not before I caught a glimpse of a more than half-naked man posed in a bed. Oh, for God’s sake, really? I added ‘searches porn on company computer’ to my list of her transgressions. As soon as I was able to buy this place, I was so going to fire the little brat.
“Megan, have you run the day-end yet?” I asked, with an effort to keep my voice neutral.
“No, I was busy with other stuff,” she replied, waving vaguely at the display of organic pet foods and treats, collars and toys. “I had to straighten the collars, someone mixed up the dog and cat ones. And restock,” she said, a fake virtuous look on her face.
“Okay, that’s fine, and I’m glad you noticed,” I said. It wouldn’t hurt to make an effort to praise her when I could. Maybe she’d thaw eventually and her presence would be tolerable. Right now, she was worse than useless. “But, would you go ahead and run the report now? I’ll be back out to check it when I’ve cleaned up.”
“Okay, but don’t take too long in the shower. I really need to leave,” she complained.
My teeth clenched tightly against my sarcastic reply, I managed not to say ‘then why didn’t you run the report instead of doing that stupid make-work nonsense, not to mention the internet porn?’ I had no objection to half-naked eye candy myself, but I didn’t look at it on company time or on the company computers.
Returning to the back of the clinic, I took a minute to check the other rooms, wondering if Megan had at least cleaned those while I was with patients during the day. Dog room B had a funny smell, so I turned on the overhead lights to look around and spotted a suspicious puddle underneath the examining table. This was getting not only irritating, but dangerous. If I couldn’t trust her to properly clean between patients, we were going to end up cross-contaminating some of them.
In despair, I sat on the rolling stool and stared at the puddle, knowing I was going to have to clean it too and that no amount of talking to Megan was going to make it any better. I was also going to have to find a way to complain to her dad, if I could find the schedule he’d left me of when I could reach him and Megan’s mom on their extended vacation. The prospect of that conversation was enough to make me cry, but I clenched my teeth again. Not where she could see me, not ever. It could wait until I got home.
I went to get the mop and bucket, making a mental note to sterilize this room, too. Maybe I could get to the clinic early tomorrow and do them all, now that I knew Megan probably hadn’t. My salary suddenly seemed too small to put up with all this.
If it wouldn’t leave the town without a vet, I’d walk out tonight and never come back
, I thought, knowing it was a lie. I didn’t have enough money to move again; I was stuck.
When I’d finished cleaning the puddle, I called out to Megan that I was going to shower. There was no answer.
