Work Things Out

“Lucky I’m in love with my best friend. Lucky to have been where I have been. Lucky to be home again, oooh--” Shannon slammed her hand on the snooze button cutting the song short from the radio. She hated songs like that. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the artists, but songs about love just made her think how fucked up her love life was. She preferred to ignore how much of a mess it was.

She threw the covers aside. She had to get to work in two hours. She worked as an assistant at a pet hospital. She loved animals, so it was only natural she followed her heart and went into the field where she could be surrounded by animals. Sometimes she liked animals better than humans. An animal wouldn’t emotionally hurt her. She frowned at the thought of Brian. She wished things would have differently.

But, he was too stubborn and she was too. It wasn’t the perfect match at all, but she loved him. She still loved him even though they were through. She had called it quits just three days ago, and she already felt like calling him, but she had to be strong. She couldn’t let him know how much she was suffering without him.

Shannon quickly showered and did her morning routine. She was quitting smoking, so to keep her mouth busy she chewed on gum. It wasn’t nicotine. She had tried it, but it didn’t work for her. Chewing gum worked for her. After she made sure she had everything, she exited her apartment. She went to the elevator of her building and pressed the button. She waited and then got in when it arrived.

She fumbled in her purse for her car keys. She grumbled a few curse words when she couldn’t find them. She finally took them out and unlocked her car with a press of a button.

Shannon was used to the traffic of Los Angeles, so she tuned up the radio and played drums on her steering wheel. She ignored the weird looks from people who were beside her. She knew she looked stupid, but when a good song came on, she couldn’t control herself.

She reached the pet hospital in half an hour. She took her usual spot and went inside. She greeted some familiar faces, and then went to work. Her boss Dr. Ark. He was an elder man who had been in the field for twenty five years. He was kind and very patient.

Her morning started off usually. It was when she was lunch that she got a call from one of her friends. She answered.

“Hey,” Shannon answered.

“Hey, what are you up to?” Johnny asked. He was the bass player for Avenged Sevenfold and best friends with her ex-boyfriend Brian the lead guitars of the band.

“It’s lunch time,” she laughed lightly. “You know that.”

“Of course, I do,” he grinned. “What are you doing after work?”

“Uh, go home, and watch Animal Planet.”

“How exciting,” Johnny didn’t leave out any sarcasm.

“Shut up, some of us have to actually use our brains for work,” she shot back.

“You think it’s easy to play the bass? Don’t answer that! You were Brian of course you would think that.”

Shannon laughed. “What do you want to do, Johnny?”

“Let’s go out for drinks! Look for a rebound for you!”

“All right, what time?” she asked. It was Friday and she had Saturday off, so she could drink in the night.

“Uh, eight okay for you?”

“Yeah.”

“Same place?”

“Where else?”

“We need to find a new place,” he muttered.

“Nah, I like the Slidebar,” she said.

“I like it too. Okay, see you there.”

Shannon went back to work after her lunch break. A dog came in with a broken leg, and it saddened her when she saw dogs like that or any animal that was hurt. She absolutely hated to treat an animal that was abused because it got her so angry. Sometimes she couldn’t understand what fucked up person could inflict such pain on something so small, even pit bulls. She loved pit bulls like she loved every other dog. They had a bad reputation, but they are sweet as well.

It all comes down to the owner.

Thinking of dogs made her think of Pinkly. She missed her so much. It was Brian’s Maltese that he got just a year before he and Shannon got together.

She got out of work at 5pm which gave her plenty of time to go home and change into something to go out for the night. When she got home, she took another quick shower because she worked with animals all day and she smelled of hospital.

She found a cute dress to go out and she matched it with the new shoes she bought a few days ago. She accessorized with some jewels. Her make up was done perfectly. It made her eyes stand out.

She was right on time at the bar. She saw Johnny’s car outside, so he was already there, but when she went inside, he wasn’t anywhere.

She scanned the place, but he wasn’t there. She was about to text him, but an arm came down on her shoulder. She turned her head and saw the pair of chocolate brown eyes that made her heart melt. She stepped away from him the second she realized he was touching her. The place where his hand had been burned.

“What are you doing here?” she said with narrowed eyes.

“I talked Johnny into this. It was the only way I could get you to meet me,” he said. He had bags under his eyes like he hadn’t slept in days. She had not either. She had to put a little bit of more makeup to cover it up.

“I’m leaving,” she tried to walk past him, but his arm blocked the way.

“We need to talk,” he insisted.

“Uh, no we don’t. You made your choice, Haner. You chose Michelle and that’s that.”

“No, it’s not,” he nearly growled and he grabbed her arm and dragged her outside. He turned to face her, but didn’t release her arm. “You didn’t let me fucking explain myself.”

“I saw you two!” she nearly yelled. “What is there to explain?!”

“She got on top of me and then you walked in! That’s what happened, Shannon, I’ve never given another woman a second thought since I’ve been with you. Fuck, since I met you that night.”

Shannon shook her head. “Why was she at your place in the first place?”

“She told me she had boyfriend problems and she wanted my advice. Look, she’s been a friend for a while--”

“More than a friend, Brian.”

“And obviously it couldn’t be more because I couldn’t be with her. I love you, Shannon and I wouldn’t do anything to mess us up. Please, please let’s get back together. I can’t do anything. I barely sleep. I hate the thought of you thinking I’ve been unfaithful.”

Those brown eyes pleaded and begged. Shannon closed her eyes and tried to get away from the warmness that was consuming her body. She took her arm back.

“What can I do, Shannon?” his voice sounded so broken that she had to open her eyes to see if the pain in his voice reflected in his eyes. It did. “Tell me what I should do and I’ll do it.”

“Never put yourself in that position again. If she needs boyfriend advice, she has a goddamn twin sister to help her,” Shannon said fiercely. She might sound bitchy, but she was territorial and easily hurt.

He smiled. “I’ll stay away from her. So we’re back together?”

She shook her head. “We had other problems too, Brian. You always want to have the last word, and so do I and we always bump heads. We can’t keep doing that.”

“We’ll work it, but please don’t leave me.”

She smiled. “We’ll see.”

He had his lips on hers in the next second. She didn’t pause to kiss back. She had her arms around his neck and pressed him close to her. She was weak when it came to him. Her love was so big that she could forgive almost anything. Deep down she knew he wouldn’t cheat on her, but it had been the stress of everything else that made her break up with him.

Sure, they had things to work out, but at least they were willing to work things out.