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I see all kinds of people come into the Portland Animal Shelter: elderly ladies, young couples, old couples, veterans, families, and I can usually guess what kind of animal they’re looking for. For the elderly lady, a cat; for the young couple, an energetic dog; for the old couple, a lapdog; for the veteran, a friendly dog; for the family a puppy; and for the lumberjack with the hipster scarf who just walked in… well, I’m not sure. A dog? No, he looks like more of a cat person. Actually—
The lumberjack stood in the entryway, looking slightly overwhelmed, so I quickly slid out from behind my desk to approach him. “Hi, can I help you?”
My words seemed to snap him out of his stupor. “Um, hi, yeah, I was looking for a cat?” Darn, I had settled on large dog, like a lab, but hey, I was happy to see any of my animals get adopted.
“Alright, follow me, Mr....” I beckoned him towards the cat room.
“Stone. Jake Stone.”
“Nice to meet you, Stone,” I said. “I’m Ezekiel. Any particular reason you want a cat?” Yes, I was a bit of a social butterfly. If your only day to day companions were cats and dogs, you'd want to chat with visitors too. Not to mention there was something in intriguing about this hipster lumberjack.
“Oh, I'm not adopting a cat for myself. The cat’s for Cassandra. She’s… she’s the smartest person I’ve ever met, and so caring. She always puts other people before herself, and I wanted to do something nice for her for a change.” Cassandra must be his girlfriend. For some odd reason, my heart sunk at the thought. I was being ridiculous, I had only met Stone two minutes ago.
I was an employee, and he was a visitor, and I had a job to do.
“Well, here we are,” I announced. At my approach, the cats had started meowing incessantly and moving around in their cages, probably expecting food.
Stone walked past me through the small hallway, looking through the bars. He stopped at an eye-level cage. An inquisitive meow came from it, and he hesitantly put his hand to the bars. “What's her name?” he asked softly, not taking his bright blue eyes off the cat.
I went to stand next to him. “That's Phoebe. She been here a while,” I answered, matching his volume.
“She’s perfect.”
“Great, then let me get the paperwork, and she can go home with you next week. Bring your friend to meet her, okay?”
“Okay,” he smiled. We crossed back to the front desk, me trying to hide my excitement as to not scare him away.
I slid the papers toward him. “You can put your name here and your… friend’s name here. Stone took the pen and signed. “So, same time next week?” I suggested.
“Yeah, I can bring Cassandra with me then. But, um, Ezekiel, do you want to, maybe, go out for coffee sometime?” He was red by the time he finished.
I stared at him for a second in shock, disappointed. He’d seemed like a good guy, but if he wanted to cheat on his girlfriend, I wanted no part of it. “No thanks,” I replied, maybe a little too harshly. “I don't drink coffee.”
“Oh, right, okay.” We stood awkwardly in silence for a few beats, and then Stone turned to leave. Once the bells in the door finally calmed down I sighed and filed the papers away. I didn't understand Stone’s behavior. He seemed smitten with her, enough to adopt a cat for her, but here he was trying to cheat.
Then again, it was none of my business. Pity.
***
A week later, I was in the back playing with my dog, Stumpy, who basically lives at the shelter. I take him with me to work every day, and he’s pretty much free to walk around the shelter. Yes, my boss, Eve, wouldn't be pleased, but I needed a break, and it looked like Stumpy wouldn't mind one either.
When I heard the tinkling bells that signified the door opening, I tossed the back down the hallway for Stumpy, who loped after it as fast as he could on his three legs. I'd found him behind a Dumpster in a twisted cage, missing an eye and a leg, his soft black, brown, and white mixed fur matted with dirt. He wasn't as timid now, but he was still wary of strangers. I dusted off my hands and went to meet the visitors.
“Hi, welcome to the Portland Animal Shelter… Stone?” I trailed off when I saw him. Today he was wearing a blue scarf that complimented his eyes nicely… I had to drag my own eyes away from him. His companion, Cassandra, I assumed, was looking around with her blue eyes wide.
“Yeah, hi,” answered Stone. “We’re here to adopt Phoebe?”
“Right.” I slipped behind the front desk. “You can fill these out while I go get her.”
“Thanks!” Cassandra beamed. I quickly retreated into the back.
After coaxing Phoebe into a carrier, I returned to the front, setting her down softly next to the desk. “Oh, hey!” Cassandra looked up from the papers. Apparently, she only spoke in exclamation points. She abandoned her post at the the desk to crouch down and look at Phoebe. Stone sighed wearily and picked up the pen, taking her place at the desk.
“Can you take her out so I can meet her?” Cassandra asked, never taking her eyes off Phoebe.
“Um, yeah, sure. I just need to to bring her to one of the back rooms.” I replied, silently reprimanding myself. Of course she’d want to meet her. I gently picked up Phoebe’s carrier, earning a grouchy “meow” in response.
I led the way to one of the enclosed rooms for this purpose and vet checkups. Once inside, I shut the door and opened Phoebe’s carrier. She quickly stalked out , arching her brown-and-black-striped back and sniffing suspiciously.
Cassandra took a seat near the counter, and Phoebe padded over to her and headbutted her gently, her way of demanding to be pet. Cassandra obliged, gently stroking her side, and Phoebe purred loudly. Then she braced herself, jumped up, and settled herself on Cassandra’s floral-patterned skirt. We sat in silence for a few more beats, me happy to see Phoebe and Cassandra getting along so well, before I spoke. “So, your boyfriend’s pretty nice, huh? Getting you a cat and all.”
Cassandra started, whipping her head up and eliciting an annoyed noise from Phoebe. “Oh, no, he’s not my boyfriend! I have a girlfriend, her name’s Estrella.” She smiled fondly. “Jake is more like my… best friend. Or brother.”
Great, I had once again made a fool of myself, but I couldn’t quite make myself feel embarrassed, too focused on the fact that Stone wasn’t taken after all. “So… he doesn’t have a girlfriend? Or boyfriend?”
“No, not that I know of.” Cassandra’s eyes lit up like she had suddenly realized something. I tried to reel myself in. It would probably be pretty weird to have a guy you just met be crushing (not that I was crushing) on your best friend, especially when they had met a grand total of two times.
Luckily, I was saved by a soft knock at the door, followed by Stone’s voice. “Are you guys ready?”
Cassandra met my eyes with a smile. “I think so.” Phoebe stood up and stretched, as if she agreed it was time to go home. After a little while, and a lot of effort, Phoebe was safely in her carrier, and Cassandra and I met Stone in the hallway. We walked to the front, where I gave them instructions on how to care for Phoebe. “...and if you have any questions, you can call us,” I finished, setting the last paper on the large pile Cassandra already held.
Looping around the desk, I crouched down next to Phoebe’s carrier. “Bye, Phoebe,” I said softly, stroking her head through the wire mesh door. Then I straightened (ha) up and opened the door for them, shivering in the February wind blowing through. As they strode past me, I gathered up my courage and said, “Hey, Stone. Is that coffee still on the table? Pun not intended.”
“I thought you didn’t like coffee…” Stone replied, turning back to look at me, forehead wrinkled.
Cassandra grinned behind his back, trying to hold on to all of the papers I had given her, and I felt my face grow warm despite the freezing air. “I don’t, but I heard they have amazing danishes.”
Stone seemed to recover himself. ‘Um, yeah, sure. It’s a date. If you want it to be. I mean—”
I held up a hand to stop him. “It’s a date.” A rush of warmth swept through me that definitely had nothing to do with the weather.
“Great. Uh, how does tomorrow at noon sound? I could pick you up here?” Stone offered, his face red as well.
“Sounds perfect,” I agreed. He nodded, and he and Cassandra turned to leave. “Wait!” I shouted. “You probably need my number.”
He turned even redder if that was possible. “Right. That would be nice.” Man, was he adorable.
After we swapped numbers and he and Cassandra left, I closed the door and leaned against it, pressing my forehead to the cool glass and probably grinning like an idiot.
I’ve seen all kinds of people come into the Portland Animal Shelter, but never a lumberjack in hipster scarf. But now, as the bells on the door stop chattering, and I turn to put a note on my phone's calendar for my date tomorrow, I realize change isn't such a bad thing after all.