It was true what people said. Animals really did lower the blood
pressure. Combat anxiety. Chase away sadness.
Wait.
Animals. Sadness. Lowering blood pressure. Lowering stress. Making
people feel better. Animals. Dogs and cats. Shelter pets.
Excited by her sudden idea, Taylor patted the spot next to her on the
couch. Peppy jumped up and pressed his warm body into Taylor’s side. She
grabbed her beat up old laptop off the banged-up coffee table. Her fingers
flew over the trackpad, opening a brand-new window that didn’t have
anything to do with her so far fruitless job sites. She typed fast, searching
for programming near her that used animals as therapy.
After an hour, Taylor leaned back against the couch. She felt exhausted,
but she’d never been more excited. Her mind raced, but she reeled it back
in, trying to calm down. She knew that she still had to call Adriana and
explain what happened as well as offer an apology for messing up so badly.
When she checked her phone, she figured Adriana would be off. She dialled
her number and waited.
“Hey!” Adriana answered right away. “Oh my god, I heard what
happened. I’m so sorry that you got fired for something that wasn’t even
your fault.”
“Oh my gosh, you shouldn’t be apologizing! It kind of was my fault. I
mean, I can’t really blame the tray dropping on that guy on anything other
than my own clumsiness.”
“Still,” Adriana scoffed. “It was an accident! That guy was just a jerk. I
can’t believe he went to the manager.”
“Actually, I went and got her. I needed a voucher to pay for the guy’s
dry cleaning and I didn’t know who to ask. You’re right though. He didn’t
have to be such a jerk. He made it sound like I dropped that tray on
purpose. And I got charged for the drinks, so I made nothing for the hours I
did work.”