four
Focus
Tiffany looked at her watch again and swore quietly. It was late, at least an hour later than she had hoped to leave, and the damn evening traffic wasn’t making anything better. She clung to the bus handrail, squished between a sweaty man and an old granny; for the thousandth time that day, Tiffany worried about the puppy.
There was nothing else she could’ve done. She had to work, and she couldn’t bring him to work, even if Sooyoung had been very grateful to her for taking him in. So Tiffany had locked him in the kitchen with a few old towels, an optimistic sheet of newspaper, a heavy pot of water, some food, a ping pong ball, and hoped for the best. Her plan had been to get out of work as early as possible so that she could buy some puppy supplies before heading home to clean up whatever mess he would’ve invariably created.
And now, an hour behind schedule, Tiffany mentally prepared herself for the worst.
Taeyeon would be home now, she thought nervously, would’ve been home a long time. She would’ve seen the mess and known that Tiffany wasn’t home. What would she think? What would she do? Tiffany didn’t know. Should she…text Taeyeon to let her know that traffic was bad? Or was it bad to remind Taeyeon that she wasn’t there to be responsible? Or—
Tiffany glanced at her phone as it buzzed.
[taeyeon: where’s the dog food?]
. Tiffany stared at her screen for a long moment before taking a deep breath and typing out an answer.
[tiffany: in the kitchen cabinet below the sink]
[tiffany: i’m so sorry traffic is terrible i will be back soon]
She waited anxiously, but no reply came. Was that a good sign? Was it— Tiffany let out a heavy sigh and rested her forehead against the coolness of the railing. If there had been any hope of salvaging whatever they had, well, then Tiffany couldn’t help but feel like she had just majorly messed up her chances.
And on top of that, there was going to be a lot of mess to clean up.
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