Chapter 13

Andrew

“ A ndrew, can you grab the customer at the front, please?”

I rolled my eyes as I tugged at my smock and headed to the front counter. At least I was working today, but if another patient yelled at me about something I had no control over, I was on the verge of quitting. I didn’t go to school for this. I could have gone to trade school, already had my certification, and been making better money, but I was stuck doing it this way. I couldn’t pay for additional schooling with my looming student loans.

I plastered the biggest, fakest smile I could muster onto my face as I saw the woman standing there with her classic ‘ I’d like to speak to your manager ’ haircut. She had sunglasses pushed on top of her head and she was checking her nails like she was being inconvenienced by having to wait for someone to help her.

“How may I help you today?”

She turned, sneering and cocking her hip while placing a manicured hand there. “It’s about time someone came up to help. My fluffy gets bad anxiety and needs his meds. ”

My eyes widened as I stared at her for a second. I realized I was being rude and spun to the computer to look up patient information to find a prescription for this lady. I cleared my throat and waited for her. “So, let’s get that going for your... Fluffy. Can I have your last name, please?”

She rolled her eyes. “What do you mean? It should be back there on your rack. Just go and grab it.”

My pulse picked up. If this woman picked up meds for her pet regularly, she would know that’s not how any of this worked.

I did my best to remain professional. “Ma’am, I understand, but the prescriptions are filed alphabetically by last name. We have a lot of Fluffy’s in our system, and I need to know which one is yours.”

She scoffed. “Carmichael. Good lord. Is everyone here incompetent?”

I swallowed thickly. The need to snap at her was on the tip of my tongue, but I needed this job too damn badly. I typed in her name and the pet’s name. The system had the dog registered, but the prescription was out of refills. With the way she was now glaring at me and tapping her red nails on the counter, telling her that news wasn’t going to be pleasant.

“Pardon me for a moment.” I stepped away from the computer and went back to the pharmacist, who was finishing packing another order.

“Todd, I need help with this one. ”

Todd set the bag on the counter a little harder than was necessary and looked between me and the lady at the front. “What seems to be the matter, Andrew?”

Sweat rolled down my back. Out of all the pharmacists, Todd didn’t seem to like anyone, but he especially didn’t seem to like me.

“She’s here to pick up meds for her dog. She’s already agitated, and the system says she’s out of refills.”

“What’s taking so long?” The woman called from the front, causing both Todd and me to look in her direction.

“Well, go tell her she needs to contact her vet.”

My throat was so damn dry. This was the worst part of the job. My pulse skyrocketed as I started back toward the front counter. There was no way in hell this woman wasn’t about to yell at me.

“Miss... Carmichael...” My voice cut off as my anxiety spiked. I didn’t want to do this anymore. “It appears Fluffy needs a new prescription.”

“Ugh! Incompetence! I’m telling you. Is there someone else I can talk to? You clearly don’t know what the hell you’re doing. Isn’t withholding medications against some sort of law?”

My eyes burned. Patients’ anger didn’t affect me emotionally, but I was tired. Todd could have stood up for me this time. No, he had to be the asshole that wanted to see me squirm. Maybe I wasn’t cut out for this. Maybe I just needed to reconsider what to do with my life .

“Actually, ma’am, if we believe ill intent, we’re within our legal right to withhold anything we see fit.”

I instantly deflated when another co-worker stepped in to correct the woman. Although I was grateful for them, I felt embarrassed by my inability to defend myself. I talked a big game, but how could I stand up for Brandon if this woman had me trembling over a damn medication for her dog?

It appeared she wasn’t done with her show. She threw her arms up in the air. “This is insanity at its finest. I just wanted to pick up medication for my dog, and you idiots won’t let me do it.”

“Ma’am, there’s no reason to talk to us that way. We’re only trying to help.”

I tuned out my coworker as I peeled off my smock and exited the pharmacy. Positioning myself to the side, I attempted to catch my breath. I didn’t understand how people could be so entitled.

After a few moments, the same co-worker who’d rescued me came out and sat beside me on the bench near the front entrance to the store. Her name was Rebecca, and she didn’t work with me often, but she seemed friendly.

“What a bitch, am I right?”

I let out a laugh as I ran a hand through my hair. “She’s hardly the first person to act like that. I don’t know why it bothered me so much today.”

Rebecca smiled before wrapping an arm around my shoulders and giving me a loose hug. “Because it’s all exhausting. It takes a toll on you after a while. Oh, shit. I should have asked if it was okay to touch you.”

I laughed harder and returned her embrace. “You’re fine. I needed it.”

She let go of me before standing up and handing me back my smock. “Todd is an ass as well. Stick with me. I’ve got your back.”

I collapsed on my bed the second I was home. My phone went off in my pocket and I let out a small groan before fishing it from my pocket.

My irritation quickly vanished when I saw the incoming message was from Brandon.

Brandon: Are you home yet?

Everything inside of me wanted to hop in the shower, wash off my shitty day, and go to him. I was so flipping exhausted it would have been a miracle if I made it to the bathroom.

Me: Home, but tired.

The dots bounced on the screen a few times before disappearing. When nothing else came through, I shrugged and dragged my ass off my bed and into the bathroom. The spray from the shower felt fucking amazing and my muscles loosened one by one the longer I stood there.

Miss Carmichael threatened to call the district manager, but in the end, she had to call her vet like we’d told her to in order to get the script refilled. She left, still convinced that we’d been wrong. Rebecca put a request into the system to have her transferred to another location so we wouldn’t have to deal with her anymore. She said we didn’t have to deal with abusive patients like that and I was thankful. Rebecca was the nicest person I’d worked with since starting. I checked the schedule before leaving to see if we had any more upcoming shifts together.

I lost track of how long I’d spent in the shower and nearly jumped out of my skin when the curtain pulled back and Brandon stood there grinning like a lovesick fool. Seeing him made my heart flip around, and suddenly, my day felt just a little better. He was dressed, but it wasn’t like I had that much hot water remaining if he wanted to join me.

As I cut off the water, Brandon handed me a towel and stepped out of my way. He continued to grin as I dried off and it was amazing how his happiness was infectious. I was smiling before I knew what was happening.

“You had to come see me, huh?” I asked as I rubbed the towel through my hair .

“I missed you.” Brandon’s voice was laced with a trace of a pout and as I dropped the towel to the side, the corners of his mouth tipped down.

“What has you so happy?” It was a weird question to ask him, but the smile was back, regardless. I must have done something right because my ass hit the cool porcelain of the sink as Brandon backed me into it.

“The realization that this isn’t weird. That it’s totally okay that I do this.” He punctuated his statement by placing a hand on my chest and leaning in to kiss me. He was so unbelievably sweet, and I felt so damn lucky that he’d finally agreed to give this a chance.

When he pulled back, his fingers danced over the few tattoos that were scattered over my chest. “I like these. I think I always have. Have I ever told you that?”

I captured Brandon’s hand with mine, holding it against where my heart was pounding against my ribcage. “You might have said something once or twice.”

And that was it. There were no more words.