Vet Tech Tales: The Early Years by Phoenix Sullivan

Author:Phoenix Sullivan [Phoenix Sullivan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Steel Magnolia Press
Published: 2011-12-11T13:00:00+00:00

Love Is All You Need

For seven months after leaving Texas A&M I pulled orders at a warehouse. When I began pulling them in my sleep and couldn’t get the looping list of item numbers out of my head, I knew the job was threatening my sanity.

I swallowed my pride and called my friend Lisa. Over the past year she had continued to volunteer weekends at Dr. Vann’s clinic. A month before she had graduated from high school and taken a permanent, paying position with him. The type of person who could be supportive through anything without judging, Lisa was the only friend I had kept in close contact with since returning from A&M.

“Dr. Vann wouldn’t need anyone else, would he?” I asked. Only with Lisa could I not care how vulnerable I sounded.

The voice at the other end of the phone was, as usual, sympathetic. “I don’t think so. We’re pretty full up. I barely got on myself.” She was quiet for a moment, then, “I think Ashley over at Dr. Norris’ quit a couple of weeks ago. He may be looking for someone. Why don’t you go talk to him?”

“He knows I went off to college. What’s he going to think if I come crawling back, begging for a job now?”

“He’s the one who needs to answer that.” What I loved most about Lisa was her sensible, pragmatic outlook about most everything. “The worst he can do is tell you no. Besides, there are lots of other vets around if you don’t get on there. What have you got to lose?”

My dignity. My pride. I sighed. “Nothing, I guess. I’ll go by tomorrow during my lunch break.”

I dropped by Dr. Norris’ clinic the next day meaning only to fill out a job application. I intended to leave it and beat a hasty retreat. Unfortunately, Joan the receptionist remembered me from before and hurried into the back to get Dr. Norris after I gave her my completed application.

If only book smart equated to common sense smart, I might have been better prepared for my impromptu interview with Dr. Norris, but I was young yet and hadn't quite caught on to the way of the world.

Two years had passed since I’d last seen Dr. Norris, but he still looked the same – short statured, thick about the middle, graying hair and a tousled beard. Compact. Like a 60-pound bull terrier facing off against 2000 pounds of steer, he didn’t impress through size. Like a bull terrier he commanded attention through attitude and confidence. Mostly, he reeked of hubris. An alpha male. His blessing – his curse.

He sat down in the chair next to mine in the waiting room and studied me for a moment. His tiny green eyes, nearly lost between cheek and brow, searched mine. It wasn’t competence he was looking for. What I didn't realize then was how he preyed on weakness, surrounded himself with it to bolster his ego. Submissiveness in others allowed him to exercise control, further inflating the haughty self-image he wore so flagrantly on his sleeve.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.