Ruby’s new life Part 2 - Doing what we can
Following on from Part 1
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The atmosphere was electric, healthy young men and women were bouncing wildly against each other to the funky beat on the dance floor. At this hour of the night, everyone was a friend.
Becky had spent the past hour hovering around a quiet alcove of the bar with her best friend Laura, downing drinks, talking openly and so far doing a great job of forgetting about the fluffy clinic.
From the corner of Laura’s eye, she spotted a familiar face approaching them. A smart looking young man, dressed in a loose yellow t-shirt with features that resembled a young George Clooney…perhaps more like Christopher Waltz if the dark lighting of the bar was not so flattering.
“Oh Becky, there’s the guy from my class that I was telling you about.” Laura pointed discreetly.
“Not tonight Laura, I’m not really in the mood to entertain acquaintances. I just want to chill and not talk about myself.” Becky said.
“Don’t be ridiculous, he’s a real nice guy.”
The guy had approached quickly and he was already upon the two ladies.
“Hey Laura!” They exchanged hugs.
“Hey Mark!” Laura replied with energy. “This is my bestie Becky. Becky, this is Mark.”
Becky offered a handshake which Mark belatedly took with a hint of amusement.
“Join us for a drink!” Laura made room for Mark.
“I’m just here to say ‘hi’ I’m afraid, I’ve got some friends waiting for me so I can’t stay long.” Mark said apologetically.
“Sounds good to me!” Becky said without any hint of remorse.
Laura rolled her eyes. “Becky here apparently had a rough day at work but she just refuses to talk about it, so excuse her for being a bit abrupt.”
Mark laughed, throwing back his head in an exaggerated manner. “Well it’s now late on a Friday night so let your hair down and forget about everything.”
Becky was not amused, she shot daggers at Laura who plainly ignored her.
“So where do you work Becky?” Mark asked innocently.
A long pause ensued. Each word of the song playing in the background could awkwardly be heard.
“Lets talk about something else. Work is so boring.” Laura finally spoke, to the relief of Mark.
“No wait. Lets do this. Lets talk about my work and the shit night I had.” Becky said.
Another silence.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude or anything.” Mark said meekly.
“No, I mean it. I want to talk about it. I can’t just pretend it didn’t happen.” Becky said.
Laura shot a concerned glance at Becky, “What happened sweetie?”
Becky adjusted her seating, she could feel another lump in her throat again.
“There was this fluffy called Ruby at the fluffy clinic I work at. She’s got a liver infection but the owner didn’t want to pay for the treatment. So Ruby is scheduled to be put down in the morning.”
Both Laura and Mark reeled back with realization.
“Can you believe that? Your own pet, who gave you the best years of her life. And the last person Ruby sees who isn’t just there to put her down was me!” Becky said. “Ruby was begging to see her owner.”
“Not everyone has a real choice in these matters. Maybe the owner didn’t have enough money to pay for the treatment? Fluffies can be expensive you know.” Mark said in a calm, steady voice.
“Yeah well, it’s all just very irresponsible. It’s frustrating and sad.” Becky said while looking at Laura who had placed her hands around Becky’s shoulders. “I feel so helpless.”
“I know sweetie, some things are outside of our control. I know you wanted to work at the clinic for this exact reason. So that you can get used to this and not get emotional.” Laura said gently.
“Well bull shit.” Mark suddenly spoke, “Look Becky, I admit I don’t know you at all, but from everything I’ve seen and know about fluffies, there is still a lot you can do in this situation.”
With a shocked expression still on her face, Becky turned to Mark. “Like what?”
“Well.” Mark scratched his head absentmindedly, “Why don’t you adopt Ruby?” he blurted out seemingly without any thought.
“Well there’s a Nobel Prize idea right there Mr. Einstein.” Laura said, “Even if Becky could make space in her tiny dorm room for a fluffy, is she going to have to adopt every single fluffy she feels sorry for during her time at the clinic? She would be running a zoo by the end of the year!”
Laura’s reply made Mark felt decidedly silly, but he saw a glimmer in Becky’s light brown eyes. Mark could feel that she was partly on board.
“Why sure she can! I mean, the adopting Ruby part, not running a zoo part. Here, take a look at this.” Mark reached into his jeans pocket and took out his phone. Opening the photo gallery of his phone, Mark showed Becky pictures of a bouncy green fluffy who was living and sleeping in his dorm room. “His name is Avocado. He’s been living with me ever since he was a tiny baby and right now, he’s sleeping (and probably snoring and drooling) comfortably in a FluffyMart bed under the table in my dorm room.”
Becky looked eagerly through the gallery of Avocado’s pictures. The green fluffy looked so happy and energetic in every photo that she saw.
“Avocado means the world to me. I know he is just one fluffy, but you know, for me that is enough. If I can make him happy and share with him my life, I don’t think anyone can begrudge me for doing what little I can do.”
Becky could feel her hands becoming weak, tears were building up behind her eyes. She blinked hard to keep the tears at bay. All she could do was to nod towards Mark with a weak smile.
For the next 10 minutes, Mark continued showcasing his proudest Avocado photos and moments with Becky. “And this one here, this was when Avocado was staying with my parents. There’s this most annoyingly cute thing he does when…”
“Enough.” Becky said.
Mark was taken aback, did he say something wrong again?
Becky smiled at both Mark and Laura.
“You guys are the best, but I need to go home now and sleep. I need to wake up really early tomorrow morning for a very important appointment that I absolutely cannot miss.”
Laura was still in shock at what had transpired over the past 15 minutes or so, but she didn’t show it. Laura was just happy to see Becky light up again as she looked at the photos of Avocado.
As for Mark, he didn’t say another word. All he did was smile as he gave Becky a warm goodbye hug before putting his phone back into his pockets.
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Continued in Part 3