Alex POV

I sat in my car in front of the pet shelter. I was supposed to go inside. My therapist had suggested I try and take a dog for a walk at least twice a week to help me with my issues. Now I “only” needed to go inside, talk to someone, sign up for the dog-walking service and pick a dog. Shouldn’t be too hard, right? I was really shy and insecure though so I was flooded with panic just at the mere thought of entering into a completely new environment and talking to someone.

I decided to listen to one more song to calm myself down. Jimmy Eat World, My Best Theory. I sat in my warm car; it was not too warm outside. I didn’t want to go in there. I was sure I would do something to embarrass myself.

The song was over. Time to go. But maybe one more…? No, I needed to go in there now. I got my jacket and left the warm security of my car. I walked up the steps to the entrance of the shelter.

“Baltimore Pet Shelter” was the name of the place. I pushed open the glass doors and found myself in a small entrance hall, the reception desk only a few metres away. It smelled of animals, the typical smell of some food and pet hair. Nobody was here. I approached it and found a note.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes! Jack”

A few more minutes to worry about every little thing that could possibly go wrong. Great. I already felt anxiety rising higher than before but I was interrupted by the arrival of a cute guy. He was taller than me, skinny and lanky. His hair was cut into a fringe and black but he had a fancy blonde stripe in it. It didn’t look bad. His eyes were dark brown and he had the slightest of beard stubble.

“Hi, I’m Jack, how can I help?” he said, out of breath. His face was flushed red.

“Uh, I’m Alex. I… I’d like to take a dog for a walk?” I replied, hating myself for the way I had said it. I had sounded so stupid with the ‘Uh’ and the stuttering. He searched for some papers and held one out to me.

“Fill this out and then we can go choose a dog if everything goes right,” he said. “Um, I’d also need your ID please,” he added. I searched for my ID, blushing even more when I didn’t find it within a few seconds. I handed it over to him and got started on the form.

Name: Alexander Gaskarth
Date of Birth: 12/14/1987
Telephone number: 0789/1994948
Why do you want to walk a dog?

I panicked. I didn’t really want to tell Jack that I was suffering from anxiety and depression and that my therapist had recommended to do this. I decided to leave it vague.

Why do you want to walk a dog? Someone recommended it to me and I like dogs.

I filled in some more questions and signed the paper. Jack looked up at me when I cleared my throat the tiniest bit and took the paper from me. He studied it for a bit and nodded when he was done.

“Perfect. Come with me so you can choose your dog,” he said. He started walking and unlocked a wooden door that led into a narrow hallway. I could already hear dogs bark and squeal. It didn’t look like you would imagine it, with metal bars and cages. Instead, it were friendly, little rooms with glass to separate us from the animals. Per little room were only a few puppies and dogs. They had pillows, blankets and toys to play with.

“Just tell me if you see someone you would like to get to know better,” Jack explained with a smile. I nodded. We walked past a lot of rooms until we reached the second to last one. I was already a bit sad and stressed about finding a dog but as I looked into this room, I was taken aback by a little papillon. It had white fur except for the upper part of its head where it was coloured brown with a white stripe in the middle and a stripe on its side that was of an even lighter brown. It was sleeping but it opened its eyes when the other dogs got excited about us walking by. Its big ears wiggled as it slowly woke up and I stopped walking. This was it. I wanted to walk this dog.

“I… The little papillon…” I stuttered. Goddammit, why could I never say one straight sentence?
“Would you like to take a closer look at Sebastian?” Jack asked. I nodded, too scared of embarrassing myself again if I said something. Jack opened the door and held it open for me. I entered, careful not to let any other dog out or stumble over one. Jack kneeled down in front of the little sleepy puppy.

“Hi Baz, it’s me, Jack. Do you see this gentleman? He’d like to take you for a walk,” he greeted the small furball. It was so cute how he talked to the puppy. Sebastian yawned and I was smitten.

“Say hi to Baz,” Jack requested, turning to me. I awkwardly came closer to the little dog and kneeled down.

“Hey Sebastian, I’m Alex. I would love to take you for a walk,” I introduced myself. The little puppy looked me in the eyes and wagged its tail. I carefully put my hand out for Baz to smell and he did, he even licked it.

“He seems to like you,” Jack said with a grin. “You wanna go?” I nodded and he got a leash for the papillon. We left the hallway with the many dogs in it and he brought me to the entrance of the house.

“Okay, just make sure you don’t let go of the leash, maybe do a bit of running with him and let him pee,” Jack explained. “Let me think, did I forget something? Oh yes, here…” he ran back to the counter and grabbed some poo-bags. “Take these and please pick up the poo,” he said with a little smile that seemed to say sorry. I nodded and pushed open the glass doors to leave. It was sunny now.

“Let’s go for a little walk then, Baz!” I thought.

Notes

Keep in mind that it is already the 31st where I am :)

-Laura