“Oh crap,” Kasen frowned. “Napoleon.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Please save her,” The woman sobbed as she tried to carry the large German Shepard into the clinic. “I can’t lose her.”
Rowan frowned as he glanced at the woman. The tears rolling down her cheeks were more than enough to show how much she loved the dog in her arms. The dark blood on her shirt didn’t seem to distract her from her determination to save its life.
“I’ve had her since she was a puppy. She’s a good dog,” She continued as she stepped inside of the clinic, still clinging to the canine as it whimpered occasionally. It was probably in a lot of pain, and that pained Rowan. “Damn teenagers drive too fast here. They don’t look out for children, let alone dogs.”
“Let me have her,” Rowan said gently as he took a step forward. “I need to examine her and see how bad it is, Mrs…” He didn’t know what her name was.
“Jessica,” The woman stated, wiping at her eyes with her shirt sleeve as he took her dog. “Jessica Fields. That’s Diana.”
Rowan glanced at her briefly. “Like the Princess?”
“No,” She sobbed, more tears falling as her shoulders shook. She was attempting to calm herself down as she swallowed deep gulps of air between speaking. “Like Wonder Woman.”
Rowan offered a comforting smile as he began to move down the hallway, entering the operating room as he gently placed Diana on the table and then he moved to the drawers and began to pull them open.
“I’m going to do my best for Diana, Jessica, but I really need you to wait in the waiting room. Please.”
The woman nodded, gazing at her dog again before she stepped forward and leaned down. Rowan watched as she kissed the dog’s snout, “I love you, Diana,” She whispered. “You’re going to be okay, Baby.”
Rowan’s heart really went out to her. He knew what it felt like to lose a pet. They became family. A lot of people didn’t understand that, but it was true. Pets were better at being friends than most humans were, and he would try to save this one’s life, for this woman.
“She will be,” Rowan promised as he put on some gloves.
After Jessica left the room, Rowan glanced at Diana on the table again and then he nodded, “You’re going to be okay, Wonder Woman.” With that, he began to inject her with some medication that would put her under for a while.
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Kasen entered the clinic nearly an hour later with Napoleon and Houston in tow. He glanced around, seeing the woman sitting there with a box of Kleenex on her lap. He could only presume she was the owner of the dog who had gotten hit. He frowned a little, moving over to sit down with only a seat between them as the two dogs lounged nearby.
“Are you okay?” He asked. That was a stupid question. Of course she wasn’t okay. She was upset and it was so clearly written all over her features. Her dog had been hit, and Kasen couldn’t imagine that happening to Houston. It was one of his biggest fears.
“I’m worried,” She admitted, wiping at her eyes again. She hiccupped from time to time. Kasen could relate to that. He often did the same thing when he became so upset from crying. “I don’t know what happened. I opened the door to let her out and I guess my husband left the gate open when he went to work. She was running towards the road and I couldn’t stop her.”
Her voice broke with emotion and she was crying again. Kasen reached a hand out to pat her shoulder, trying to comfort her.
“I’m sure she’s going to be okay. Rowan is really good with animals. She’s at the best place she could be right now,” He spoke in a calm voice, a comforting one-or at least he thought so.
She wiped at her eyes and then she glanced up at him. She blinked a few times before tilting her head a bit, her brows rising on her forehead. “I know you,” She said softly.
Kasen blinked in surprise, staring at her for a moment, “O-oh?” He asked. “Where would you know me from?”
“High school,” She nodded. “Class of two thousand and twelve, right?”
Kasen nodded in return, “Yeah. I’m sorry, I just don’t remember you,” He laughed nervously.
“Jessica Fields,” She replied. “My maiden name was Perkins.”
“Oh!” He said with sudden realization. She didn’t look the same as she had during their high school days. She was thinner than he remembered. Not that she had been fat, nor did he have anything against fat people, but she was nearly unrecognizable.
“I’m sorry, Jessica,” He smiled then, reaching his hand up to rub the back of his neck nervously. He hadn’t bumped into many old classmates since graduation. Most of them had moved away to college and he had thought he was the only one left behind. He also didn’t make it a habit to run into people from his past. High school had painful memories.
“It’s okay,” She shrugged. “Not a lot of people remember me. It doesn’t make sense, huh?” She asked. “It’s not like we graduated twenty years ago.”
“It seems like yesterday,” Kasen admitted, glancing towards the dogs to make sure they were behaving. Both were lazily lounging on the floor, their eyes closed. They behaved better than kids.
“It does at times,” Jessica replied. “Time flies when you least expect it. How are you? What are you into these days?”
“Oh um, well, I’m okay,” He nodded. That was true. He was more than okay. “I work at the radio station. I’m a DJ.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Jessica smiled at him, tears still glistening in her eyes. “So you’re Cool Kasey?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” He grinned, watching as she nervously toyed with the tissue in her hand. It was weird to confess that. He felt like Bruce Wayne confirming his identity to the world.
“So are you married?” Jessica asked after a brief pause.
“M-me?” Kasen asked. “N-no. No, I’m not married,” He laughed nervously, lowering his gaze to his own hands. They were suddenly interesting again.
“Oh,” Jessica stated. “Well I guess you wouldn’t be though.”
Kasen lifted his head, eyes falling upon her face. What did she mean by that?
“It’s not a bad thing,” Jessica started quickly in defense. “I mean, I guess I always sort of knew.”
Kasen’s heart stopped. What did she mean by that?! He felt his stomach twisting into unpleasant knots as he chewed at his inner cheek, brows knitting together as he kept his eyes on her.
“You never had any girlfriends, Kasen. You weren’t just a shy boy at that school,” She kept her voice low. “You were different, and it’s okay,” She offered another smile. “Do you…have a boyfriend?”
Kasen was suddenly incredibly nervous upon the realization that someone knew. Someone besides his mother. Someone besides himself. Not just Rowan. But this girl, who had known him his entire life; she knew.
“Uh..” He blinked rapidly, toying with a loose thread on the sleeve of his jacket as he shook his head. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend,” He cleared his throat. It felt so weird to be open about this with her. They had spoken a few times during high school, but he had never considered her to be a close friend.
“I’m not going to say anything to anyone,” Jessica whispered. “If that’s what you’re worried about, Kasen. It’s the twenty first century for Christ’s sake. Just because we live in Alabama, it doesn’t mean that I’m like anybody else here. I’m not judging you.”
Kasen cleared his throat, feeling incredibly uncomfortable, but relieved at the same time. “Thanks,” He nodded, unsure of what else he should say.
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Rowan’s timing was perfect as he emerged from the operating room. He was wiping his hands with a clean towel and he was surprised to see Kasen there as he stepped into the lobby. He gazed at him for a moment before turning his eyes to the woman. She stood immediately and gazed at him. He could see the questions in her eyes. The way her bottom lip was beginning to quiver also made him realize she was expecting the bad news, but still hoping fo
r the good.
“Is she…?” But Jessica couldn’t bring herself to finish that question.
Kasen stood as well, putting a supportive hand on her shoulder as he gazed at Rowan. He was just as anxious to hear the news. He knew Rowan was good at what he did, but he knew the man wasn’t God. He couldn’t perform miracles in every case.
“She’s fine,” Rowan said, resulting in a sigh of relief from Jessica as she crumbled. She placed her hands over her face, the sobs of relief leaving her lips as her shoulders shook. Kasen patted her back gently, attempting to comfort her. It was probably pretty awkward to Rowan; because he wasn’t aware they had gone to school together.
“She just needed to be stitched up. There was no internal bleeding, fortunately. Whoever hit her, it was just a bump, if that. She’s got a broken back leg though, so she’s going to be on a sort of bed rest for a while. You’ll have to take extra care of her, Mrs. Fields.”
The woman was still crying, and Kasen was gazing at her with obvious concern on his face, “She’s gonna be fine,” Kasen said gently. “Did you hear that?”
“I did,” She replied, lowering her hands from her face as the tears continued to fall. “But…I was so desperate to get her help. I didn’t even really t-think about the medical costs,” She gazed from Kasen to Rowan and back to Kasen again. “I-I can try to make monthly payments but it won’t be much.”
Rowan stepped closer, shaking his head as he gazed at her. “Don’t worry about that,” He stated.
Jessica looked up at him, shocked.
“I don’t believe in placing a price on the life of an animal,” He continued. “Trust me. There are plenty of people who more than compensate my profession. What matters most is that you get to take Diana home.”
Jessica began to sob again as she nodded in understanding. “God bless you,” She whispered, wiping at her eyes with the Kleenex she had been grasping for the last half hour or so. “Thank you so much.”
Kasen’s eyes were on Rowan, and then their gazes connected. It was possibly, in that very moment, that Kasen realized how enamored he was with the Bostonian Veterinarian.
Chapter Fourteen
The weeks seemed to fly by in the tiny town of Chartreuse. Kasen continued DJing while Rowan’s clinic became unbelievably popular. They spent nearly every spare moment together. Rowan continued taking Kasen to different places. They travelled at every possible chance, finding themselves attending Renaissance Fairs, music concerts, and the occasional bar when they were in the mood for it.
Rowan was happy again, and though they weren’t anything official, they were inseparable. They may not have been aware of it, but the townspeople took notice to it. No one said anything, not to their faces at least. But the word was spreading around their small town of the two men who were always seen together.
Rowan had noticed that Mrs. Birmingham no longer attempted to make weekly visits to the clinic. He wondered if she had finally gotten the hint that he wasn’t interested due to the fact he never acknowledged her advances. It was all he could assume, since he was so convinced that his personal preferences were still in the dark.
It was the least of his worries though, because he was entirely enthralled with spending every possible moment with ‘Cool Kasey’. The young man who had so easily wormed his way into Rowan’s life and Rowan wasn’t afraid of it. He liked that they could spend time together. He liked that Kasen was open to the spontaneity of sudden trips to Florida for a weekend, or random visits to the Waffle House in Enterprise, where they would always get Nikki as their waitress.
Rowan just liked anything in general that had to do with Kasen. If it was ‘like’ anymore. Rowan knew that what he was beginning to feel for the younger male was intense. It was something that made him nervous, but he was willing to risk it. He wanted more with Kasen.
As the week of Thanksgiving arrived, Rowan was closing up the clinic when he got another spontaneous urge. Kasen had been stressed for the last few days over some tension between himself and his mother. Rowan understood it all too well, seeing as he’d experienced that same tension with his mother in his teenage years. He wanted to take Kasen out for a good time, and there was a particular joint that came to mind that may have been perfect to let out some of that stress.
As they were en route to their destination, Kasen was gazing out the window at the passing scenery the night time had to offer. He was tired and his thoughts were plagued by insults his mother flung at him constantly. She was upset with him…..again. But when did he ever do anything right? He exhaled loudly and that’s when he felt the warmth of Rowan’s hand resting against his thigh.
“You okay?” Rowan asked, his eyes remaining on the road.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Kasen replied in a quieter voice. “I just don’t understand why my mother has made it her life mission to make mine miserable.”
Rowan smiled gently to himself, giving Kasen’s thigh a gentle squeeze, “Well, mothers have to do something after their children move out, I guess.”
“Well, couldn’t mine have taken up knitting?” Kasen asked.
Rowan chuckled, glancing at Kasen for a moment before his eyes moved back to the road. They were coming up on their destination and he put on his turn signal, getting into the right lane so he could exit.
Kasen’s eyes moved to the sign then and he lifted a brow. “Dothan?” He asked. He knew about Dothan. He had read about Dothan before. It was the town that Bobby Goldsboro had grown up in. Kasen often did research on artists he had never heard of once someone requested a song by them. Mr. Goldsboro had a song called “Honey”. It was a country song, but Kasen always played what his listeners wanted to hear. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was Mrs. Murdock who had called in that song. God rest her soul.
“Mhm,” Rowan nodded, slowing down as they neared the end of the exit ramp. “You’ll see,” He said in a teasing manner, because he knew that Kasen would ask where they were going.
Kasen was silent as they drove through the town. It wasn’t asleep yet, at least. But he was discovering that not all towns shut down at six like Chartreuse.
When they pulled into a rather large parking lot, Kasen perked up a bit. It was a big building with large neon signs. He could already hear the loud bass of music from inside the building, and he grinned a little.
Rowan caught that grin, and it made him smile. He liked that he could turn a bad day into a better one for Kasen; because Kasen did that for him every single day.
“Let’s go in,” Rowan said, shutting off the car and getting out. He waited for Kasen to get out before he locked the car up and then he rounded the front, offering his hand to the other.
Kasen glanced down at Rowan’s hand, biting his lip. They hadn’t really been affectionate in public. Mostly from Kasen’s fear. He wasn’t ashamed-he was afraid. Rowan had been very understanding about it. So he didn’t really understand why Rowan wanted to hold his hand now.
“Don’t worry,” Rowan said, reaching out and taking Kasen’s hand into his own as he pulled him close. “This is a gay club on the weekends. No one is going to attack you, I promise,” His lips brushed against Kasen’s temple and then Kasen nodded.
They entered hand in hand, being welcomed by an environment that Kasen had never experienced before. The music was energetic and up-beat, the lights were dim with bright strobes of red and blue, pink and green darting and zigzagging in every direction. The dance floor was crowded and there were nothing but smiling faces in any direction that Kasen looked.
Kasen felt as if he had somehow fallen down a rabbit hole that took him into his very own brain. It was possibly the happiest place on Earth-happier than Disneyland itself. He allowed Rowan to lead him straight to the dance floor, where Rowan proved to Kasen he could cut a rug.
They shared laughs, embracing from time to time as Rowan kept his hands on Kasen in one form or another. He kept him close as they danced to every single song that played, including the likes of Ke$ha, Nicki Minaj, and the Black Eyed P
eas. Every remix was another one that Kasen was adding to his mental playlist.
It was really weird how he didn’t mind being surrounded by so many people. Just the thought of entering Walmart often sent him into a shrill of panic…but this was different. Maybe it only felt different because he knew he wasn’t being judged here. Maybe that had been his problem all along.
The night continued on as they made their way to the bar, ordering two large Long Island Iced Teas. Kasen wasn’t sure how Rowan managed to score him a drink, too, seeing as he was underage…but the bartender really didn’t seem to care. They settled upon bar stools, sharing smiles and flirtation as they watched the people around them being so happy; so free. They were being themselves and Kasen felt at home.
“Are you having a good time?” Rowan shouted over the volume of the music.
“Yeah!” Kasen shouted back happily as he smiled. “This place is great. I’m glad we came.”
“Me, too,” Rowan nodded as he took another drink of his LIT. “I need to use the restroom. I’ll be back in a minute, okay?”
“Okay,” Kasen nodded in understanding. “I’ll wait right here for you.”
As Rowan made his way through the swarm of people to get to the bathrooms on the other side, Kasen turned his attention back to the drink in front of him. He was still smiling. He smiled so much these days that his face often hurt from the muscles that hadn’t been used in years. But he liked it; he liked Rowan; he liked spending time with him. He felt that they had a real connection and he would be lying if he said it was just a crush anymore. It was more. Way more.
“Hello there, Cutie,” Kasen turned his head to see a man who was sitting beside of him. He was an older male, probably in his mid-forties. He had light blond hair and he was wearing a business suit. It didn’t seem a man like him belonged in a place like this, but who was Kasen to judge? Maybe he had just gotten off work.
“H-Hi,” Kasen said, giving a smile as he lifted his drink to his lips again.
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