Chapter 7

“If he’s having allergies to the food, I would try switching to what they call a ‘Limited Ingredient Food’. They have fewer things in them that might trigger the scratching and makes it easier to narrow down what might be bothering him.”

Two days had passed since the events in our apartment and Emma was back at work. She was giving this speech to a mid-forties woman holding her one-year-old Pomeranian. There were vicious looking red blotches on his paws where he had been chewing at them.

“Chicken and wheat are two of the most common allergens. Here, why don’t you try starting him on this one?”

She picked up a four-pound bag from the shelf and handed it to the woman.

“He’s a pretty picky eater. What if he doesn’t like it?” the customer asked.

“Any food can be returned, even if opened, for any reason. Just keep your receipt and the bag must be at least half full.”

“Thank you so much for your help!” said the customer, smiling as she left.

Mike, who had been stocking shelves in the next aisle over, heard the exchange and came around the corner to talk to her.

“You’re great with the customers, Emma. How do you know so much?” he asked.

Emma shrugged and smiled at him. “You learn a lot as you go. Plus, I read a lot of online.”

Emma had been with the PetHub for more than three years; two full time and one part time while she was still in high school. She loved animals and loved helping people with their animals.

Mike had only been there about six months, but Emma liked him. He was a bit younger than her at eighteen and had just graduated from high school.

Emma was tall, but he was still a good three inches taller than her. He had short brown hair, a long, chiseled face, and was well built.

They chatted a lot while working. She knew he was single; he and his girlfriend had broken up about a year earlier. He still lived at home while he decided what he wanted to do with his life. He considered college, but had no real thoughts about what he would study.

His dad was a physician and wanted him to study medicine as well; Emma knew that would never happen. He was a nice guy and not dumb, but he definitely didn’t inherit dad’s genes in the intelligence department.

He WAS smart enough to realize that himself; he knew he wasn’t “MD” material and was OK with that.

Emma thought of her discussion with Aaron and Jess. She took a box of dog food cans from the floor and cut the top off it while she took a deep breath.

‘Here goes nothing,’ she thought.

“Hey, Mike?” she began. She stacked the cans on the shelf while she built up her nerve.

“Yeah?”

“Would you like to go out sometime?” she asked sheepishly. There was a painfully long silence.

“Oh, uh, you know, I’m not really looking to date right now ... You know, since the break-up and all,” he stammered.

That was total BS, she knew. He had already been out with other girls since the break-up.

“And, um, I don’t really think of-” She cut him off before he could continue.

“Hey, no worries. I get it. No hard feelings, right?” she said lightly.

“Yeah, absolutely. Still buds, right?” he said.

“Oh yeah, of course. Hey, can you finish putting these cans away for me? I just remembered that Roger asked me to check on something in the stock room.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, I’ll finish it for you,” he said, taking the box from her.

“Thanks!” she said as she headed into the back room.

There, she sat down behind a pallet of cat food and cried into her hands.