“Scooter!” Her mention of him brought me back to life and I turned to the direction of where I had last seen him.
But he wasn’t there.
I stood up quickly and scanned the area.
“Are you okay, miss?” The woman looked worried.
“Yeah, I’m fine, but did you see a dog just now?”
“I saw him for a split second when I first saw you running after him. But when you collapsed, I stopped the car and came up to you. I’m not sure where the dog went. I’m sorry.”
“Crap, I need to find him.”
I turned to go, but the woman stopped me.
“Miss! Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
I met her concerned gaze. “Yes. I really am. I’m sorry I scared you, but I have to go. Thank you for your help.”
Before she could respond, I started to run down the street, scanning the area for any sign of Scooter.
Fifteen minutes later, and no Scooter in sight, I felt the waves of panic begin to paralyze me. I grabbed my phone and pulled up Connor’s number. I took a deep breath and called him.
“This is Connor.” His voice was urgent and curt, and I knew from his tone that he wasn’t in the best mood.
“Connor, it’s Liv,” I said tentatively, my eyes still scanning for any signs of Scooter as I continue down the street.
“Oh. Liv.” His tone softened and he sounded surprised to hear from me. “Sorry, babe. I didn’t check the caller ID when I picked up.” He sounded distracted and I could hear people talking frantically in the background. “Is everything okay?”
My body stiffened and I held my breath. “Umm. Are you busy?”
“Yeah. Very busy. I’m in the middle of a shit storm here. The client just dumped some information on us that might kill this deal. I need to get this fixed tonight to make this deal go through. What’s wrong?”
I paused, trying to decide if I should tell him. “Umm, so I came home and fed Scooter your leftover skirt steak, and…”
“And?” he cut in quickly, trying to prompt me to say what I needed to say.
“Well I know usually Debra takes him out for a walk, but he looked so happy after I fed him the steak that I thought I’d walk him so he could become more accustomed to me.”
“Okay. I’m sorry, Liv. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I really need to get back to work. Can we just talk when I get home? Or is something wrong?”
Even though I knew I was dragging out the story to the point where even I would get a little frustrated, I couldn’t help but flinch at his rebuff.
I swallowed hard and felt as if my lungs were cut off from their oxygen supply. “I lost Scooter.” My voice was barely audible as if talking any louder somehow made Scooter’s disappearance more real, more permanent.
“You what? What do you mean you lost him?” There was a coldness to his voice that made me feel sick to my stomach with unease.
“He just ran off after a cat and the leash slipped out of my hand.”
“Shit! I can’t believe this.” I could hear the frustration in his voice. “Well I can’t leave here right now to go find him. Shit!” I heard him punch the wall and knew he was upset.
“I’m sorry. It just happened so quickly.”
“Damnit, Liv. You know he’s the only thing I have left of Cindy. How can you let this happen?”
My body instantly stiffened by his cutting words. “Who’s Cindy?” I demanded, confused that I hadn’t heard of this person’s name. “If I did know her and her connection with Scooter, then that’s not something I’ve remembered yet,” I added, feeling agitated by our conversation.
There was a pause on the other line. Then I heard him let out sigh. “I’m sorry, Liv. Cindy was my ex-girlfriend.”
His confession left me in shock, leaving me with more questions than answers. “The only thing you have left of Cindy,” I repeated his comment. “So you got Scooter when you were with Cindy? And I knew about all this before?”
“Yes, I’ve told you about what happened to Cindy. It’s a long story, one that will have to wait until later when I’m not in the middle of this shit storm.”
I was speechless and didn’t know what to say. How could I know about Cindy and what Scooter meant to Connor and be okay with all that? My mind reeled with confusion as I tried to reconcile these facts in my mind.
“Liv, baby, I’m sorry I snapped at you. There’s just a lot going on over here right now. Look, I really need to go. Just have Jim and Debra go out and look for him. He can’t have gotten too far. I’ll be home as soon as I can. But I’m really sorry, I need to get back to work.”
Before I could respond, the line went dead.
I wanted to call Connor back, but as I pulled up his number again, I realized that I didn’t know what else to say to him. If I had known about Cindy and Scooter before, and I was okay with that, then maybe I have nothing to worry about, I tried to reason with myself.
The rain was coming down in shorter successions as it started to soak through my shirt, and my thoughts went out to Scooter again.
I knew I needed help to find Scooter. The timestamp on my phone said 9:36 p.m. I realized that I didn’t want to disturb Jim and Debra after I had told them to enjoy the rest of their evenings. So I pulled up Anna’s name and dialed her number.
“Hey, Liv!” she yelled over the loud dance music playing on her end of the line.
“Anna? Where are you?”
“I’m at Rumor! If you’re free, you should come by! It’s not far from your place and the DJ tonight is amazing!”
I frowned, realizing that I caught her at a bad time. “No, it’s okay. Let’s chat later, okay?”
“Okay!” I could hear her giggle through the music. “Love you, Liv! I’ll talk to you later!”
After I hung up with her, I stared at my phone. I felt more lost and confused than I had when I first woke up from my coma. Then my eyes landed on a name listed in my recent call history. Ethan James.
“Ethan James,” I said his name out loud as I remembered him putting his number on my phone yesterday at Paesano’s. I wasn’t sure why, but something compelled me to call him.
He picked up after the first ring. “Well this is a pleasant surprise.” I could hear jazz music and chatter on his end of the line. “It’s only been a day, Liv. What happened to playing hard to get?”
Maybe it was the sharp contrast to the cold and antagonizing conversation I just had with Connor, but something about Ethan’s playfulness caused me to smile even at that moment.
“I’m sorry to bother you. It sounds like you’re out right now.”
“No worries. I’m just having drinks with some friends. We’re actually at Monk’s Cafe, which isn’t too far from you. Care to join?” I didn’t have to see him to know there was a devious smirk across his face.
“No. Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have called. I just didn’t know who else to turn to.”
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” The playful cockiness in Ethan’s voice was immediately replaced with an air of concern.
“Yeah I’m fine, but I lost Connor’s dog, Scooter, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Where’s Connor?”
“He’s at work. I called him, but there’s a crisis at work right now so he can’t leave.”
“Okay, I’m closing out my tab now. I’ll be over in a few minutes.”
“No, you don’t have to,” I said quickly, feeling guilty for ruining his night. “You’re out with friends. I really shouldn’t have called—”
“Stop it, Liv. I’m coming over to help you find your fiancé’s dog, and you can’t stop me. Okay?”
I nodded, and then realizing he couldn’t see me, I responded, “Okay. I’m currently walking along 21st street and passing Locust at the moment. I’ll stay around this block, so let me know when you’re close.”
“Sure thing. Oh, and for the record, I’m doing this because I like you, not because I like your fiancé or his dog,” he said with a glint of humor in his voice.