Chapter 108: A Loving Heart
Vivian Lowell and Julian Faulkner chatted for a while before entering the pet hospital.
Vivian saw quite a few flower baskets placed at the entrance, bearing slogans congratulating the grand reopening. Most of the flowers in the baskets were Eleanor Rhodes’s favorites.
She wondered, "Huh?"
Through the window, Vivian saw Caleb Quinn inside, helping to entertain the guests. He was handing out free melon seeds, drinks, and floral tea to the friends who had come to visit the animal hospital.
Suddenly, an idea popped into Vivian’s mind. She wondered, "Could it be that Caleb prepared all these flower baskets? Did he find out what Eleanor’s favorite flowers are before making the arrangements?"
Vivian thought it was highly likely and nodded in deep agreement.
At this moment, Julian stepped around and walked in front of Vivian. Frowning, he asked, "What is it? Do you really like these flowers?"
Vivian tilted her head and cast a surprised glance at Julian. She wondered, "Why do I feel like Julian’s words carry some hidden meaning?"
"Yes." Vivian nodded. Not wanting to beat around the bush with Julian, she pointed at the roses and said, "I like red roses the most. Did you memorize that?"
Julian didn’t speak. His eyes showed that he didn’t care much about it.
She thought, "Tsk, he really is a tsundere! If he doesn’t care, then why did he even ask me?"
Vivian really wanted to roll her eyes at Julian, but thinking about how well he had been behaving lately, she decided to let it go.
Just then, Caleb, who had been busy running around, saw Vivian and Julian at the pet hospital’s entrance. He hurriedly came out to greet them.
"Mr. Lowell, President Faulkner, you’re here?" Caleb said as he handed the melon seeds and peanuts he was holding to Vivian. "Mr. Tanya is busy inside. To celebrate the reopening of the pet hospital today, Mr. Tanya announced that we’re giving away ten free spay and neuter slots on a first-come, first-served basis.
"She is still doing surgery inside, and there are quite a few people waiting outside. There are also people bringing their pets in for medical treatment, and some even want pet grooming! It’s just that our pet hospital hasn’t launched that service yet. Mr. Tanya said she wants to expand the hospital!
"When the time comes, she’ll add pet grooming, including bathing and trimming fur, as well as short-term pet boarding!"
Vivian nodded after hearing this.
She had previously scrolled through X and seen services specifically for in-home cat care. In Aethelburg, there were many out-of-towners. When they returned home for the holidays, it was sometimes inconvenient to bring their cats and dogs with them, so they could only hire people to look after them at home. Abroad, there were even professional dog walkers who visited homes, and their incomes were quite high.
However, Vivian felt that Eleanor’s desire to develop this type of business was simply out of a pure wish to help small animals.
"I understand, Caleb. You go ahead and get busy. I’ll help you entertain the guests who came to the hospital," Vivian said. Turning to look at Julian, she hesitated and added, "There are so many people today, I don’t know when I’ll be able to head back to the company. Julian, if you have a lot of things to do, why don’t you head back first?"
Julian pursed his lips. He wanted to stay. He wondered why she told him to return to the company without even asking what he wanted.
Seeing that Julian remained silent, Vivian subconsciously wondered if she had said something wrong again. She thought, "A CEO’s heart is as elusive as a needle at the bottom of the ocean!"
Recalling what she had just said to him, she finally understood something and asked tentatively, "Do you want to stay here? That makes sense. President Faulkner has always loved small animals. You even fed stray dogs when you were little! Grandma Faulkner mentioned this to me!"
Vivian had a smile all over her face. She felt that her guess was spot on. She thought, "For a tough, straight-laced man like Julian, perhaps what he really likes are little animals that YIP and MEOW! It’s just that it isn’t very appropriate for him to show this kind of preference. If others found out, his image as a CEO would be completely ruined!"
Vivian understood! She could cover for Julian and take him inside to see the kittens together!
Julian still kept a straight face. As he looked at Vivian, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. Some words reached the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them in the end. He wondered why she was so confident.
With a sigh, Julian gently pulled Vivian along and stepped into the pet hospital.
Seeing Julian take the initiative while sighing, Vivian became even more convinced of her own thoughts. She was sure he must be feeling embarrassed! He was sighing because she had seen right through him again!
Inside the pet hospital, people were bustling about.
The two doctors who had been injured previously had returned to work at the hospital a few days early. While Eleanor was away, they only performed some simple animal surgeries. Over the past few days, the reception desk at the pet hospital had registered quite a few requests for help from people hoping Eleanor could rescue kittens. They had just been waiting for Vivian to return and handle them.
"Miss Lowell, they are all here," the receptionist said, handing the ledger over to Vivian.
Vivian took the ledger and flipped through it. She discovered that there were quite a few kittens needing rescue. Surprisingly, the one closest to their location was at a movie theater.
"A mother cat gave birth to kittens inside the movie theater," the receptionist explained. "It’s too noisy when movies are playing, so I’m worried the kittens will get frightened. Plus, there isn’t much to eat there. It’s not easy for kind-hearted passersby to leave food for them. I heard it was the cleaning lady at the theater who found them. She brought them some homemade pork liver mixed with rice, but I don’t know how they’re doing now."
Vivian nodded as she listened. Handing the ledger back to the receptionist, she asked, "Our gear is still kept in the cabinet over there, right? Since Tanya is busy right now, I’ll try going over there to catch this litter of kittens. There have been a lot of people visiting the hospital lately. Have many of the cats been adopted?"
The receptionist nodded and took out another ledger to show Vivian. "Aside from that three-legged calico, the fierce-looking tuxedo cat, and a few that are still quite small, the rest have pretty much all been adopted. Miss Lowell, quite a few people have registered to adopt cats these past few days. I’ve reviewed their profiles, and most of them are very caring."
Vivian hummed in acknowledgment and returned the ledger. "Thank you for your hard work. Leave the cat-catching to me. Later, when Tanya finishes surgery, if I’m not back yet, just tell her that I went to the movie theater next door to catch cats."
"Okay."
A few minutes later.
Vivian came out of the storage room, holding a cat trap in one hand and a pet carrier in the other. Julian was standing right outside the storage room. Frowning at Vivian’s full hands, he let out a sigh.
"Let me do it."
Without a second thought, Julian took the items from Vivian’s hands, turned around, and prepared to stride away.
She wondered, "What in the world?"
Vivian hurriedly caught up and explained, "Julian, I’m going to catch cats, you..."
"I’m going too," Julian stated in an unquestionable tone. As Vivian followed him outside the pet hospital, she saw Vance Wyatt driving over.
"President Faulkner, Mrs. Faulkner, please get in!" Vance pulled the car over, got out, and politely opened the door.
Vivian was extremely surprised and asked Vance why he was here.
With a beaming smile, Vance replied, "Ten minutes ago, President Faulkner called and said Mrs. Faulkner needed a car to go catch cats, asking me to rush over as soon as possible. So, here I am."
Vivian finally understood and looked at Julian. She realized that while she had been talking to the receptionist about catching cats, he had already prepared for everything that followed! Originally, Vivian had planned to walk there, though carrying so many things would definitely be tiring. Now, Julian had done so much to help her!
She thought, "As expected of Julian, who has so much love for small animals!"