Chapter 4: The job
On Tuesday morning I went to the pet store for the first time. Ready to take on my new adventure, I had put on a pair of gloves, a simple sweater and jeans. "You're early." Jonathan greeted me.
"Wouldn't want to miss a thing. What will you have me learn or do first?"
"Let's start with introductions. An animal is more agreeable when you use its name, but you'll have to earn their trust first." He explained "These pups are called Jack, Prince and Layla."
"They look so adorable and healthy." They jumped up, licked my hand and tried to bite my pinky.
"Then we have Lady, Chip and Boy. Our adult dogs."
"But…she's a girl."
"Well spotted. Previous owner named her Boy because he didn't know."
"Poor girl." I said as she sniffed my hand cautiously. Chip came in between, begging for attention. "That doesn't work with me."
"Here, try to let him sit."
"Chip, sit. No, down. That's it, easy, yes!" I said making him follow my movements until he was lying on the ground.
"Great Job Rose, you're obviously a dog person." Jonathan smiled as I handed Chip his reward. "Then you can let them out tomorrow. It's the best way to get you both more acquainted."
"Cool."
"Here, put two to three spoons in each one of the aquariums, then come back to clean out Monty's cod."
"Who's Monty?" I asked, fearing it was the name of a lizzard or something.
"Just the 5 year old turtle." He grinned.
"There you go fishy. Bon apetit!" I grinned, dropping the food "You miss her don't you?" I tried to get the yellow guppy's attention. "All of Storybrooke lives with that burden, only they don't remember it like you do."
"If you friendly grab him by the shell he won't feel a thing."
"Then why does he pull his head in, like a snail?"
"The vibrations let him know there could be danger."
"You better prepare Monty, I'm definitely dangerous."
"Very funny. So how's Evelyn doing?" I tried to sound careless
"Ow, she's fine, nothing special going on, just her and her two fish. Why you ask?"
"No specific reason." He mumbled, feeding the kittens.
"What are their names?"
"Eleanore, Elizabeth and Erika. They're all from the same mother."
"Father unknown?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
During lunch Jonathan put up a sign 'On break- back in an hour' and took the dogs out for their daily walk.
After having downed the contents of my lunch box I set to reading a book about cats- habits, diseases, …. From time to time I jotted down something important in my notebook and made a schedule of our 'tasks'. I was just bringing some structure into the shop. Jonathan needed a woman's touch in his life because he was getting too attached to the sole company of his animals. Evelyn could be that woman for him.
In the afternoon I had to wash the kittens, which ended fairly good; safe for some minor scratches, and we received a customer.
"Rabbits are very popular because of their safety." Jonathan explained, after the lady left with one of them, which she called mr. Fluffy "Luckily they breed easily."
"Very original name."
"I had a cuddle named like that."
"Really? I mean… Lucky…Lucky was the name of my dog cuddle." I smiled sheepishly "I'll let you close the shop, boss, See you tomorrow."
"See ya Rosebud."
Every day I got to learn at least one new thing; like how to brush a dog's coat, how to clean out Coco's and Cassy's cage,… but what I loved most was letting the dogs out, even on a rainy day.
At Granny's I mulled over the days work and listened to the peoples complaints and stories. Henry and his real mother, police officer Swan, were seated at a table by the window, enjoying their time together over some pancakes. That reminded me of how I was going to approach the boy to talk about our world. 'Regina doesn't let anyone in his neighborhood, unless I can manage to gain the position of babysitter- like two jobs aren't enough. No, Emma is far more understanding, she'd spare me a few minutes alone, but as his mother she'll want to know the content of our conversation and I'm sure she doesn't appreciate I encourage his theory about the curse. Dil-emma.'
"Can I get you anything else Rose?" Red asked as she refilled my cup of coffee.
"Thanks Ruby, you always know just what I need."
"No problem." She smiled, pleased. I downed the hot coffee and paid. "I'll see you next week."
"You're not coming back in the weekend?"
"You're spoiling me too much with all those lasagnas and ice creams… Gotta upkeep my own cooking skills."
She smiled. "Of course. See you around."