Unlikely Knight

Chapter Seven

Gwen wasn't sure how she felt about the whole situation, even after a full night's sleep. She wasn't prepared to deal with things like this. To date, all her relationships had marked some dark periods in her past, and starting out with someone who deliberately kept things from her wasn't exactly her relationship ideal. There was already too much that could go wrong. Then again, the whole situation was awkward and he had tried to warn her a number of times, and didn't let things go too far - if she needed some justification. They did have an amazing time together at the show. So many pros and cons. She just didn't want to end up in the same situation as she as she had in the past that had made her a little leery of starting anything new.

She dreaded having to go into work today. She took yesterday off, she couldn't afford to take another day off and she doubted that Elizabeth would be all that understanding about two days in a row. Gwen was just happy that they could find a small modicum of peace between them. That seemed like a major victory that she was going to hold onto no matter what.

The bus ride seemed way shorter than normal. She kept hoping that the bus would break down, but no such luck. It seem to continue at lightening speed towards the store. The slight of the bus stop where she got off to go to work made her nauseous. She slowly trudged off the bus and towards the store. It wasn't open yet, and there were only a few cars littering the parking lot.

She stood at the front door for a moment waiting for someone to let her in until the sliding glass doors opened as Elizabeth let her in. "Glad to see you're back today," she said. Her emotion was still.

Gwen nodded and went into the breakroom to drop off her coat. There were a few people in there, and she lagged behind, milling around doing nothing in particular for the few minutes before the store opened. There were a few smiles here and there at her from the other people she worked with. A little more than normal. If Gwen thought about it, she wasn't exactly the friendliest with people there either, she hadn't made very many friends other than Tanner. Maybe that was something else she and Josh had in common. Neither one of them wanted to be there. All she wanted to do was to be an artist. The animals were sweet, and the only redeeming quality the store had. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if she hadn't set her sights so firmly on her dreams, which made doing anything else seemed like a miserable waste of time.

She slowly walked to her department, stopping to talk to Dodo. "Dodo," she said, "Say happy birthday," only out of habit.

Nothing, dumb bird.

She looked up and saw a little puppy out of his cage running down the aisle wearing a silver knight's costume. Josh was close behind him,

"Hey," he said, reaching down to pick up the puppy.

"Hey," she answered back shyly. "I'm sorry I didn't answer your texts. I turned my phone off. I needed a chance to think."

"I don't blame you. I should have spoken up and told you the complete truth from the beginning."

"Who's this little guy?" she asked.

"I borrowed him from the puppy department. I thought maybe if I couldn't be your knight in shining armor, then maybe he could be – at least for today, until I'm hoping we can get things back on track."

Gwen smiled. The puppy looked so sweet with his little foam-filled hat with the little face cage sitting up on his forehead and a silver breastplate resting on his back. The puppy barked and she reached over to pet him. So much was going through her mind.

Dodo chirped happily behind her as a customer walked by. "Happy Birthday Jerk," added Dodo.

Gwen turned a little red in the cheeks. Well, at least she could prove that she had taught the bird to say something. The customer snorted out loud before bursting into a friendly laugh.