#sterling.starter

Today wasn’t to the norm of Liam’s usual work routine. Chaos, dogs barking, his boss confused because the front desk people can’t find the right files, medicines of all kind mixed up. Patients and owners were waiting too long. Another guy had quit on them. Then on top of all that, the dog that Liam was about to pull in to check on was riled up and their owner lost grip of the leash. The dog ran out and the owner had rushed after the beagle. His boss came out and shoved at Liam’s shoulder. “Go help them, don’t just stand there” In which Liam bolted right after. He ended up splitting in a different direction until he heard the barking. The dog was under a construction tractor and wasn’t moving. “Bruno, come on, you gotta come with me.” The dog looked nervous and wasn’t going to move. With a heavy sigh Liam scratched his eyebrow. “Please Bruno..” 

Eli rarely took days off anymore. He’d much rather man the front of the Busy Bee which included everything he disliked nowadays - talking and socializing - than have free time. Free time meant more time to think, and free time did Eli more harm than good these days. But Nahla’s word was law and if he even so much as set a foot into the store’s warm walls, he’d be dragged right back out by the ear. 

“Wait, wait, wait!” Laura ran over to the other person at the bar and grabbed their drink before they could even touch it. “Not yours.” She scurried off and came back with another, placing it in front of them and collecting herself. “Yours...” She breathed out, pushing her hair behind her ears. “Can I get you anything else?”

Bella wasn’t one to drive. Post crash, all it reminded her of was hitting the guardrail. She could still feel the impact. If she could, she would have much preferred to bike or walk. Much better for the environment... although the crates of books she had to transport weren’t going to walk themselves to the library donation fund. Nope, desperate times called for desperate measures. Glancing at a passing car as she rolled to a stop at a stop sign, she was lurched out of her dreamy reverie by the slight thump at the hood of the car. A person. SCREEECH. Slamming her foot on the brake, she hopped out of the car in two seconds flat, running to the person’s side. Resting her hand on their arm, she checked for any external damage. They seemed fine. “Oh my god, I am so sorry-- are you bleeding? Are you hurt? Did I just hit you...?!” Opening up her purse, she pulled out a handful of entirely unhelpful things. “Jesus, here take this twinky, you might need it. Are you okay?” she said, her eyes wide with concern.

“One small victory at a time”, she said to herself as she glared at her new office. No more receiving patients at home, she was definitely excited about that. It still needed some work, but the space was nicely decorated and it felt warm and welcoming, a safe place to open up. There was also a little coffee bar, what Nina considered indispensable to any sort of work space. She sighed in relief and smiled to herself as she made her way toward the coffee machine to make some coffee for her new patient, who, according to Nina’s watch, was going to arrive anytime soon.

        Oh, crap. There he was again, frustratingly begging for her attention once more. A regular Valentine’s customer that lived for sending her insane with a thousand and one requests and comments. Not to mention, the burly man consistently asked her most visits, to which she’d politely decline every time. The girl had had enough, igniting utter discomfort from her core which sent her hoping for someone else to take care of his order. “Hey—what do you say to a free meal on the house?” She’d jumped to the side of the first person she saw, sitting by the bar, her elbow resting on the countertop. Despite her better judgments, she found herself practically begging for help. “All you have to do is pretend to be my partner for, like, ten minutes. Please?” Her eyes dart over to the guy in question, offering her an uncomfortably creepy smile, to which she rolled her eyes.