Braving The Storm

3 - A Good Turnout

Three days passed, and I never saw Blondie again, or Orm, as he called himself. Strange name, but I've heard funnier. Once I met this kid whose last name was Underline.

Like, seriously?

However he was called, I knew I had developed the butterflies for him. When he crossed my mind, I felt oddly lightweight; and when I think of what he did to Bill, excitement gripped me. I'd never seen a human being deal out such incredible blows before. Orm never touched any of the men twice. He only gave each a single punch that knocked him out flat, except for Bill, whom he blessed with a triple treat. It gladdened me that he did it. Just one hit was not enough to straighten the asshole.

But it broke my heart that my blonde hero didn't stop by again. Nothing about him showed he was interested in nor had taken notice of me in the way men usually did women – I wasn't much of a sight – and it made me sad. What the encounter opened my eyes to was how invisible I was to people. To the male species.

Girls like Louise were the ones who attracted men without even wanting to; with her dark hair and bright hazel eyes that hooked onto whatever she looked at, she was a perfect 10. I began to see just how ignorant I'd been of myself: no visits to the salon, a manicurist, the mall, or the jewelry store. In my defence, I couldn't afford such simple things like other girls. I was stony broke and on the verge of being homeless.

Today, I brought Supe with me to work.

Olivia was leaving for a camp thing in Connecticut which meant no one could watch my dog and Supe could get pretty mischievous sometimes, thus making it dangerous to leave him all by himself in an empty house.

Locknell wasn't very unhappy, but he agreed to let Supe stay – outside.

Lucky for me, my husky attracted the right kind of attention. He was black and white with a strip of brownish fur going right over the middle of his face. His eyes were sky blue and when he wasn't jumping around, he looked solemn and watchful – like a Queen's pet. Yeah, right.

Anyway, some customers stopped to look at him and leave a compliment since he sat somewhere near the exit. He only got up when he saw food in their hands because he thought he was going to be fed. Most were even generous enough to feed him.

“Hey, does he eat beef?” A man asked no one in particular as he held out steak to Supe. Before any answer could come, my dog had snatched the meat from his hands. “I guess that's a yes.”

The sight of Supe being pampered made me smile. He was slowly becoming more popular than I was albeit today being his first day and I'd been here seven months. To be honest, I felt a little jealous.

A group of teenagers rushed up to me when Rachelle told them it was my dog.

“Can we touch him?”

“Yeah.” I smiled.

“What's his name?”

“Superman.” Their questions were rapid fire, but I'd seen quicker. “Supe, for short.”

“How old is he?”

“Four.”

“Can I post selfies of him?”

“Tag me. I'm RosePhil87.” But the girls were scurrying back to take pictures of my pet.

I exhaled and returned to work.

“Hey, Suzzy.” Locknell came calling.

“Boss.” I turned in exasperation and tried not to show it.

“You have the nerve to bring your dog to work for free food,” he complained. I hated his silly outfits. He looked like a cross between a Simpson and a Teletubby. “You're gonna pay for it. I can't have dogs shitting up my aisle.”