promise this will eventually start heating up, especially between ty and charlie — if you catch my drift.
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"No ma'am. We are a no-kill shelter." Charlie tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder, doing her absolute best to complete the last few hundred words of an essay her teacher had posted last minute. "Yes, all of our animals are spayed or neutered."
In conclusion, yes — Washington Irving wasn't a feminist. It's rather clear that the writer had something against women and wasn't afraid to show it. Perhaps—
"We close at nine on Monday through Saturday. Sunday we close at eight."
—Dame Van Winkle was constantly nagging to her husband and led him to sleep for twenty years with little regret once he awakened those many years later. Not only Dame—
"Miss Charlie!"
With an old phone tucked against her shoulder, her fingers hovering over the keyboard of her laptop and a woman badgering away in her ear, there wasn't much else Charlie could pay attention to.
Then the bell sprung to life and a dark figure stepped inside.
Caramel skin, a faint trace of stubble dotting his cheeks and dark ink painted around his arms made her legs feel like chocolate out in the sun on a hot, summer's day. He'd discarded the beanie and sweatshirt from their previous visit, now sporting a white t-shirt and his hair mussed up from constant sweeping of his fingers.
"We came early today! Tyler said he wanted to stop by Pizza Hut, but I think it's because—" Dakota, always the energizer-bunny, continued rapping on despite the tiny fact that Charlie was still busy juggling another conversation and an essay that happened to be due at midnight.
"Sorry Kota, can you wait just one second?" She placed a hand over the phone to block out her voice, smiling earnestly towards the two boys. "I promise I'm almost done." She sent an apologetic glance towards Tyler, who was now standing behind Dakota with a faint trace of a smile.
"Sorry, ma'am. Come and visit whenever you'd like. We'd be happy to show you the birds we have. Thank you for calling!" She quickly hung up before the woman could come up with another stock of questions, releasing a quick sigh as she saved the document she'd been working on. She'd finish it later. "Sorry, boys. It's been a pretty busy day." She smiled and stood from the well-worn desk chair that squeaked each time someone sat on it. "Ready to walk some dogs?"
Dakota's grin was as bright as the sunrise in the peak of the morning. "You bet!"
—
Charlie couldn't remember a time when she'd ever had as much energy as Dakota did. It was as if he never needed a battery change. They'd already walked a few dogs, including the most vitalized of the crew — Ranger, a young Bloodhound they had found roaming through their trash a few weeks back.
