Sophitz: A Week to Find Love

Chapter 7

Sophie's P.O.V.

"SOMEONE HELP!" For the 4th time today, I turned around to see who had come through the door needing my help. 

It turned out to be the siblings I had seen in the restaurant a couple of days ago and in the grocery shop yesterday. Huh, I thought. What are the odds? Must be a small town...

"Hello!" I greeted. "Uh, what seems to be the problem?" The girl, Biana, I think, pointed to her brother. Did I need to get a bigger sign that this wasn't a human hospital??? 

"She means the mouse," Fitz explained, holding up the mouse he had in his hand.

"IVY!" Dex exclaimed, running towards the mouse. He took it from Fitz and started stroking her fur. "Wasn't this lucky, Sophie?" 

I nodded, still a little confused about how these siblings had found Dex's mouse. 

"So where did you find this mouse?" I asked Fitz. Biana still seemed to be in shock and was also stepping away from Dex - more specifically, the mouse he was holding. 

"Well, we were walking around - sightseeing, basically - when we saw this mouse just scurry up to us," Fitz started. 

"More like sprint towards and tried to steal my sprinkles!" Biana interrupted, clearly distressed. Fitz rolled his eyes. 

"Uh, no, you're overreacting, Biana." He turned back to me and I had to remind myself not to gaze into his dazzling, teal eyes. I had to focus and be professional. But it was hard since Fitz was just so handsome... I mean, what are the odds he'd happen to come to my clinic just a day after we had met yesterday? Maybe even lower than the odds of finding Ivy. But somehow it happened, so surely this was some sort of a sign? 

"Um, Sophie?" I snapped out of it and turned red, looking to Dex for help. He merely smiled, amused, and turned back to calming Ivy down. 

"...Sorry," I said sheepishly. "Could you repeat that?" 

Fitz smiled and I had to remind myself not to drift off in my thoughts, gazing at him again. "I was just saying how Biana had stepped on the mouse's tail, so we figured we should bring it to some sort of vet. Luckily we were near your clinic, so we decided to bring - Ivy, was it? - in to see if she was hurt or anything." 

"Oh, well, that was a really good decision," I informed. "I'll have to see if Ivy has any major injuries, but as long as you didn't step on her tail too hard, she should be fine." 

"It was self-defense," Biana told me indignantly. 

"Oh sure, everyone should learn self-defense against a mouse," Fitz smirked. Biana rolled her eyes at her brother. 

"Okay, are we good now?" Biana asked me. "Should we stay or...?" 

"Oh, you're fine!" I assured. "Ivy will be in great hands." I coughed and non-subtly looked at Dex. 

"Right," he said, looking up from Ivy. "Thanks for finding Ivy. I'm Dex, by the way." Biana looked deep in thought for a moment. 

"OH!" she suddenly exclaimed. "We met at the grocery store the other day, right Sophie? And then I think I also remember seeing you guys at the restaurant on Monday!" I turned red, hoping Fitz didn't remember me accidentally staring at him. 

"So... Um, does this mean you guys are all friends?" Biana asked, twirling her hair absentmindedly. Dex and I nodded. 

"Pretty much," I replied. "Uh, the ones who were doing the crazy stunts were Keefe and Marella, and the other girl with black hair and silver tips was Dex's girlfriend." Dex's ears turned a bit red as if he were still a little shy about introducing Linh that way. 

"What about the other guy?" Biana asked, trying not to look too interested in the conversation. I raised my eyebrows and smiled. I had a feeling that Tam might've caught her eyes in that restaurant. 

"Yeah, that was Tam, Linh's twin," Dex explained. "It was our first time meeting him that day, so I don't really know a lot about him yet." 

"Tam..." Biana mumbled with a grin. "Well, thanks for everything!" I wasn't sure exactly what 'everything' was referring to, but I nodded all the same. 

The siblings were about to walk out of my clinic when I found myself stopping them. Ugh, what have you done now, Sophie?

"Yes?" Fitz asked curiously. I blushed, wondering why I had decided to do this. Why would someone like Fitz want to join our friend group for dinner? He probably already had his own group of friends - and even a girlfriend. But it was too late now. 

"Um... Well, Dex and I and our friends were planning on having another dinner meet-up tomorrow if you'd like to join?" I offered hesitantly. But to my luck, both Fitz and Biana grinned brightly. 

"Really?" Biana exclaimed. "That would be amazing! We're new here since we're visiting and all so we have no friends at all," she added bluntly. She kind of reminded me of Marella and Linh - she had Marella's ability to tell it like it was and Linh's constant excitement and happiness. I had a feeling they were all going to get along just fine. 

"We're meeting at the same restaurant at 6," Dex informed them. He seemed happy about this too which I was relieved at. "It'll be great having more people! I'm sure Linh would love that." I nodded in agreement. 

"Okay, well, see you there," Fitz said looking right at me. I felt my heart melting a little and resisted the urge to gaze into his eyes forever. 

"Bye!" Biana waved goodbye and then took Fitz by the arm, dragging him out of the store; my friends had recently all been doing that a lot. I heard her talking to Fitz about what they were going to wear and Fitz trying to pretend he was paying attention. He glanced at me one last time through the glass wall before disappearing from my view. 

I sighed happily, just thinking of seeing him again tomorrow. And for the first time in a long time, I found myself excited about the possibility of a new relationship with a boy. I knew I shouldn't get my hopes up in case Fitz didn't reciprocate my feelings, but a girl can dream, can't she?