and tried my darndest to calm my frayed nerves. “That beast looks like he... I mean, she will eat me and my entire family for dinner.”
The woman started laughing, not just an ordinary laugh, but a howling, cackling laugh – the kind that made milk curl. “Phoebe is a good girl. She's all bark and no bite. She just wants to play. She loves the rain.”
I opened my mouth to tell her exactly what I thought of her killer dog, but was interrupted by the creaking of the door behind me. The guard stepped outside, covered from head to toe in rain gear. I took a quick breath, ready to spar with him, when he rudely stepped by me, ignoring the toes that he stepped on in the process and started yelling in the woman's face. Phoebe, in the meantime, forgot all about me and decided to take her aggression out on him by lunging for him, her teeth catching in his raincoat and tugged him hard enough to almost knock him to the ground. The urge to cheer occurred to me for a brief second, but I was plum out of energy and had another very serious issue to contend with – I was incredibly late for my shift.
I had to fight the urge to interrupt his screaming and bring the focus back to me and my pressing issue, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Mr. Slowicki failed to secure the door shut before he walked outside to berate Phoebe's owner. After making sure that the guard wasn't paying any attention to me, I bolted up the stairs and into the security office. No sooner had I started wiping the water from my face when the guard ran in after me, pinning me up against the desktop.
“What do you think you're doing?” He yelled.
I squirmed my way out of the tight grip he had on my shoulders and proceeded to explain myself. “You left me standing out in the rain. What did you expect me to do? I'm soaking wet and I'm late for my shift.”
He backed away, looking me up and down. I assume he noticed that the sopping wet clothes I was wearing weren't pajamas, but were my favorite teddy bear covered set of scrubs, so my claim that I was an employee was confirmed. He pointed to the door.
“Get out! You can't be in here and the night shift starts at six, so get your facts right before you try to pretend you work here.” He ordered.
I practically begged him to let me stay indoors. I was angry, but not out of my mind. I'd had enough of the rain.
“I work here,” I said. “Tonight is my first shift. The nurse manager told me to be here at ten.”
He turned his back to me and started picking up the mess that he'd created when I scared the living daylights out of him. “Get out!”
I backed away, looking outside to see if the giant pooch and her owner were still out there. They were walking away as if nothing had ever happened.
“What, no apology?” I mumbled.
The guard spoke again. “You're not moving fast enough. Get out of here and wait outside. Leave your name tag on the desk.”
“Go outside? It's still raining.” I protested.
He turned to glare at me.
Okay, buddy, if you say so.
I grabbed the door handle, but took my time to actually turn the knob, hoping he'd take pity on me.
“Your badge? Where is it?” He was looking at my uniform.
Instinctively, I reached up above my breast pocket to show it to him, but it wasn't there. I closed my eyes. Where is it? “I must have dropped it when I was scaling the side of the building to find the front entrance.” I smiled at him, shrugging.
“No badge. No name. Your hours late for the start of a shift. You're not getting in there. Now leave before I have you arrested.” He said, turning his attention to the mess on the floor underneath his chair.
I didn't know what to say. I looked up at the monitors to see what he would have seen while I was wandering around lost and quickly remembered how angry I was. From where he was sitting, he had full view of the lot I'd pulled into and the
The woman started laughing, not just an ordinary laugh, but a howling, cackling laugh – the kind that made milk curl. “Phoebe is a good girl. She's all bark and no bite. She just wants to play. She loves the rain.”
I opened my mouth to tell her exactly what I thought of her killer dog, but was interrupted by the creaking of the door behind me. The guard stepped outside, covered from head to toe in rain gear. I took a quick breath, ready to spar with him, when he rudely stepped by me, ignoring the toes that he stepped on in the process and started yelling in the woman's face. Phoebe, in the meantime, forgot all about me and decided to take her aggression out on him by lunging for him, her teeth catching in his raincoat and tugged him hard enough to almost knock him to the ground. The urge to cheer occurred to me for a brief second, but I was plum out of energy and had another very serious issue to contend with – I was incredibly late for my shift.
I had to fight the urge to interrupt his screaming and bring the focus back to me and my pressing issue, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Mr. Slowicki failed to secure the door shut before he walked outside to berate Phoebe's owner. After making sure that the guard wasn't paying any attention to me, I bolted up the stairs and into the security office. No sooner had I started wiping the water from my face when the guard ran in after me, pinning me up against the desktop.
“What do you think you're doing?” He yelled.
I squirmed my way out of the tight grip he had on my shoulders and proceeded to explain myself. “You left me standing out in the rain. What did you expect me to do? I'm soaking wet and I'm late for my shift.”
He backed away, looking me up and down. I assume he noticed that the sopping wet clothes I was wearing weren't pajamas, but were my favorite teddy bear covered set of scrubs, so my claim that I was an employee was confirmed. He pointed to the door.
“Get out! You can't be in here and the night shift starts at six, so get your facts right before you try to pretend you work here.” He ordered.
I practically begged him to let me stay indoors. I was angry, but not out of my mind. I'd had enough of the rain.
“I work here,” I said. “Tonight is my first shift. The nurse manager told me to be here at ten.”
He turned his back to me and started picking up the mess that he'd created when I scared the living daylights out of him. “Get out!”
I backed away, looking outside to see if the giant pooch and her owner were still out there. They were walking away as if nothing had ever happened.
“What, no apology?” I mumbled.
The guard spoke again. “You're not moving fast enough. Get out of here and wait outside. Leave your name tag on the desk.”
“Go outside? It's still raining.” I protested.
He turned to glare at me.
Okay, buddy, if you say so.
I grabbed the door handle, but took my time to actually turn the knob, hoping he'd take pity on me.
“Your badge? Where is it?” He was looking at my uniform.
Instinctively, I reached up above my breast pocket to show it to him, but it wasn't there. I closed my eyes. Where is it? “I must have dropped it when I was scaling the side of the building to find the front entrance.” I smiled at him, shrugging.
“No badge. No name. Your hours late for the start of a shift. You're not getting in there. Now leave before I have you arrested.” He said, turning his attention to the mess on the floor underneath his chair.
I didn't know what to say. I looked up at the monitors to see what he would have seen while I was wandering around lost and quickly remembered how angry I was. From where he was sitting, he had full view of the lot I'd pulled into and the
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