Sweet Talk

15 year old Frank worked part time at his local pet store, Moretti Pet’s, after school on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30pm until 5:30pm, and on the weekends; Saturday mornings from 9am to 12pm and on Sunday afternoon between 12pm and 3pm.
The old Italian couple, Basil and Vera Moretti, who owned and ran the pet store, practically raised Frank, since his own mother was busy travelling with work a lot of the time.
See, Frank never knew his father, so he was raised alone with his mother. They lived in the one of two flats above Moretti’s Pet’s that Frank’s mother rented from the Moretti’s. Well, Frank lived in it alone really. It was tiny, but Frank loved it.
The living room and kitchen were both in the same area, no wall dividing them. The kitchen contained a sink, a cooker, a microwave, a small fridge-freezer and a washing machine. The tiles were white and the walls were light blue, while the living room was painted a warm, dark terracotta and had a deep red carpet. It contained a three-seat sofa, a small electric heater and a television and DVD player. It had two doors, one leading to Frank’s bedroom and the other was the front door.
Frank’s room, medium sized and covered in posters, had the small bathroom joined on to it, an en suite. So small in fact that it couldn’t actually fit a bathtub inside. It had a stand-in shower, a toilet and small sink with a mirrored cabinet above it. His bedroom was painted blue with a dark blue carpet. His bed was tiny and so was the television set but Frank loved it. It was simple and plain, but it was his.

Frank saw his mother maybe once every six months, when she came home and stayed in a hotel in the city for a week, though she called every few days to check on him. She paid the rent and all his bills, which wasn’t a lot considering the size of the flat, every month and also sent money through to Frank’s bank account every week for groceries, school and anything else he might need. The money he made from working at the Moretti’s pet store he usually spent on adding to his CD, DVD, comic book and poster collections.

Basil and Vera Moretti had babysat Frank since his childhood, when his mother first started travelling with her work. Frank thought of them as his grandparents, and their granddaughter Sunny was practically like a sister to him as they had grown up together.

“Ciao, Frankie. How was school, tesoro?” Vera said cheerfully as Frank walked through the doors of the pet shop.
He made his way behind the counter, pausing to pet at the two pups left from the recent litter of Labradors. Frank had taken a shine to the runt of the litter and Vera had let him take her as his own. After Frank had hand-reared her, she had grown into a healthy pup, even though she was still, and would always be, a little too small. She had a beautiful chocolate brown coat and he had named her Jemima. She was a happy little thing and she adored Frank, as he adored her.
“Hi, Vee. School was fine,” Frank lied, “how was Jem?” He asked just as clumsy footsteps were heard bouncing down the stairs and happy yaps filled the shop as Jemima skidded in to view. She leapt up on to Frank’s lap where he sat on a chair and pawed at his chest and licked at his neck.
“Jemima,” Frank laughed, “I’m happy to see you, too, girl!”
“She’s been whining for you all day,” Vera laughed. “I let her stay in the pen with the other pups, just so she could burn off some of that energy!”
On cue, the other two pups started yapping and jumping at the short walls of the pen to try and get to Jemima.
“That reminds me!” Vera said suddenly. “A man is coming to pick up one of those pups soon, so can you handle that while I clean up in the back? That bloody husband of mine has been out there again and made a right old mess of everything!”
Frank laughed. He could just imagine that. “Sure I can. Isn’t there a lady coming for the last rabbit, too?” He asked.
“Yes, she should have been here by now, actually. You can sort that anyway, can’t you, Frankie?” Vera said.
“Of course.”
“You’re a good boy, Frank,” Vera said fondly. She kissed the top of Frank’s head before walking in to the back and out of sight. Frank could still hear here muttering about the mess and her bloody husband under her breath. He smiled.

Frank busied himself around the shop; he got the boxes ready for the rabbit and puppy that were being bought, he fed the hamsters and was just about to start on cleaning the bird cages when the women buying the rabbit walked in.
“Hiya, honey,” she said kindly when she spotted Frank knelt on the floor by the bird cages.
“Oh, hi,” Frank said, offering a shy smile as he stood up and dusted off his knees. “Can I help you with anything?”
“Yes, I’m Penelope Wright, I’m here to pick up a rabbit? I’m a little late,” she said with an apologetic smile.
“That’s all right,” Frank smiled as he looked through the book to check it was the right person. It was, so Frank led her over to the rabbit pen.
“This is her,” he said as he bent down to scoop it up gently. “Is she for you?”
“No, she’s a gift for my daughter. It’s her birthday today,” Penelope smiled.
“Oh, this is a real good breed then. She’s a Dutch rabbit, they’re really gentle and lively and easy to train, too, so they’re real good breed for kids, you know?” Frank told her.
“Oh, is there anything else I should know?” She asked interestedly.
“I can give you a leaflet about how to care for them and stuff, if you want? And I know all the right kinds of foods and shampoos for them so I can write that down for you,” Frank smiled. He loved his job. Although he was shy, he loved caring for the animals and, most of the time, liked the customers too.

After the lady had gone with her rabbit, Frank continued with washing the bird cages until the man who was taking one of the puppies came. Frank was sad to see one of the pups go, but he knew it was inevitable. He always got far too attached to the pups that they had. He was glad he had one of his own now.

As always, just as Frank was getting ready to close up, he came in. His tired eyes looked even more exhausted and his skin somehow more sickly and pale, but he grinned that beautiful, beaming smile at Frank like always. Frank’s breath caught in his throat.
Gerard had been coming in the shop for over a year now and he’d always had the same effect on Frank.
He started coming every few weeks to get food for his hamster, Millie, but when she had died a few weeks ago he came in to the store to find a new one and had fell in love with one of the Labrador pups.
“Hi, Frank,” he grinned as he walked, fucking sauntered, across the shop to stand in front of Frank. His midnight hair was stuck up in all directions, as usual, but it looked soft and inky. His leather jacket hung on his frame perfectly; broad shoulders, slim hips and legs that probably came up to Frank’s chin.
He held a baby pink leash in his hand and his puppy, Walter, bounded playfully at the end of it, pouncing at the counter to get to Jemima.
“Hi, Gerard,” Frank practically whispered, his cheeks flushing and a utterly unstoppable smile formed on his face. Fuck Gerard and his stupid pretty eyes, seriously.
“How's Jemima?” He asked, still smiling at Frank.
“She’s really good. She’s putting on weight, still, so…” Frank trailed off awkwardly, not knowing what to say. He made his way behind the counter and let Jemima out into the shop to play with Walter. “How’s Walter?” He recovered quickly, while getting Gerard’s dog food out for him.
“He’s great! His fur’s getting a bit ragged, though, I don’t know what to do about that,” Gerard said as the pups yipped happily around their feet.
“Oh, he probably needs it brushed. Here,” Frank said as he reached up to a shelf to get a dog brush down for him. He pushed up on his tiptoes and stretched his arm out but couldn’t reach the shelf. He was about to get out the stool that he used to reach the higher things when he felt a presence behind him.
“Here,” Gerard said quietly, right beside Frank’s ear. He reached the brush without having to stand on his tiptoes and he passed the brush to Frank, still standing close to him. Frank’s face heated up and he felt tingly and awkward, but he never wanted to move. God, he was so far gone for this guy, it was ridiculous. He was screwed.