Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Why?
Because apparently, they needed pilots.
Two of the old timers had retired at the beginning of the year, and they’d been left in the lurch ever since.
Luckily I’d come when I had, because they were so desperate for workers with experience that they didn’t care whether I was an ex-con or not.
“Jesus Christ, this is just what I need,” Alice groaned. “Fuckin’ wonderful.”
I looked toward the door where she’d looked and saw the dog coming toward the door before I saw the man holding the dog’s leash.
“Do you mind stopping him before he comes in here?” she asked. “Because if he makes it in here, I’m going to have to leave.”
I was confused at first as to why she’d need to leave, but I remembered the blatant, very bold ‘NO DOGS ALLOWED’ sign that was on the front of the door in bright, white letters that contrasted with the tinted windows.
Was it the dog or the person leading the dog?
I would’ve gone faster, but then her hand was on my shoulder all but pushing me toward the door, and I found that I liked her hands on me.
I made it toward the door and then out it, a lot slower than I’d first intended.
But I made it in time to stop the guy from entering.
I heard the lock click into place behind me and then looked over my shoulder to see Alice standing there with her nose against the glass, pointing toward the letters on the door.
The man in his midthirties glanced at Alice, looked down, and grinned as if he’d just won the lottery. Then, a surprised cough had me glancing past the man toward a young boy behind him.
He looked miffed that he was standing there.
And, based on how pale he was, he didn’t get out in the sun much. Typical Gen Z youth, I’d noticed, since I breathed free air again. Playing video games and not going outside because they’d rather be playing something virtual than getting any life experiences.
“You have to let in a service dog, darling,” the man sneered.
“Please leave, Werner! You know I don’t want this to get messy, but you can’t be in here with him,” she called out.
Werner.
I’d heard that name quite a few times since I’d been released but never had the opportunity to put a face to the name.
“Dad, can we please go?” the young kid asked.
I looked from the man who was fuming mad, to the kid.
“Griffith, it’s highly illegal for someone not to allow a service dog into a store,” the man argued.
That was true. At least, from what I understood, anyway.
What was the deal?
“Listen, dumbass,” Alice called through the glass. “It is illegal. Unless you’re so highly allergic that you COULD FUCKING DIE IF YOU GOT NEAR A DOG!”
Whoa.
That was a surprise. Hadn’t seen that one coming.
I’d heard of people allergic to bees like that, but not dogs.
If she was that highly allergic, then damn right that needed to be on the door. Plus, the man’s condition didn’t supersede Alice’s. Alice had a right to her own business being pet free if it meant that she might die.
“It’s a small allergy.” Werner rolled his eyes. “You haven’t even had a reaction since you were a kid.”
“I called the cops,” Alice said.
Oh, this was getting juicy.
I shifted my stuff from my left hand to my right, shaking my hand out due to the cold, and watched on.
“Good!” Werner yelled. “This needs cops! What you’re doing is illegal.”
I rolled my eyes. The guy was a moron.
It wasn’t illegal.
There’s no fuckin’ way it could be.
“Everyone knows that you can’t bring dogs in here,” she said. “It’s not illegal. Please leave and don’t come back with the dog.”
Werner crossed his arms, causing the leash in his arms to jerk the dog’s poor head.
The dog looked at its owner like there were a few screws loose.
There were.
I crossed my arms and leaned against the building, my gaze going back toward the glass behind me as I did.
She was watching me with narrowed eyes, as if she wasn’t amused to find me still there.
Hah.
I smiled.
She growled.
I gave her a raised brow.
She flipped me off.
“It’s not necessary to use that kind of language and make crude gestures toward me,” Werner said, obviously missing the interaction between us.
It was as if he hadn’t even noticed I was there.
A ‘whirrup’ of a police siren had me glancing up.
Officers had arrived—one in which I knew well—and I readjusted my shoulders against the wall to see how this would play out.
Sunny Summers, a tall, Black dude with a close-cropped beard, biceps so big that they strained the material of his uniform shirt, and perfectly straight white teeth that made me jealous, came up and took everything in.
His eyes went from the store to where Alice was still standing, refusing to budge, to me, to the man holding the dog and back.