Chapter 68: Chapter 68
Even though his feet were firmly planted on the ground, Charlie felt like he was floating as he walked to the shelter after another day of college classes. She hadn't had the opportunity to see Morgan since the two of them had woken up that morning, late for their duties, after a long night of making love. But, in fact, it was as if he had, since he now insisted on calling her all the time, to find out how she was doing, how her day had been, what time they could see each other again...
She had the best husband in the world, without a doubt. And, with luck, they were moving fast enough for her to make sure he stayed with her forever.
Bouncing as she opened the shelter door, Charlie barely noticed that there was anything different about the room until she heard the sobs coming from Vivian's office nearby. Immediately alarmed, she ran over there, feeling her heart sink when she found Vivian sitting at her desk, her face hidden in her hands, but still clearly crying uncontrollably, while Jack held her by the shoulders, seeming to want to calm her down. Around the two, there were several papers spread across the table, most of them already stained by Vivian's tears.
" Vivian?! “ Charlie choked, running towards the two, in a panic “What happened?
"Oh, Charlie..." was all Vivian seemed to manage to say, looking up at her crying-swollen face for a moment, before looking away again, letting the tears run down her cheeks.
“Jack, what happened?! “ Charlie turned to her friend, more and more frightened by the whole situation; Vivian was the strongest and most fearless person she knew, so whatever happened had to be something more than serious.
“ I don't know…” Jack sighed, seeming to be in the same state of dread as Charlie “When I arrived this morning, she was already like that. And she can't even calm down enough to tell her what happened...
" Vivian... " Charlie got even closer to hug her friend, feeling her body shake almost compulsively because of the sobs " It's okay, we're here... I don't know what happened, but we'll solve it , I promise...
That's what she kept chanting as she comforted her and didn't stop even when several minutes had passed and Vivian was still in that desperate state of sadness, not being able to do anything but cry and sob. Fortunately, maybe half an hour later, though Charlie couldn't say exactly, her friend's tears began to subside and Jack ran to get her a glass of water, while Charlie busied himself with wiping Vivian's drenched face. gently, wondering the whole time what could have happened to make her like this.
“Feeling better, Vivian? “Charlie asked her, in the lowest, smoothest voice she could manage, once Jack returned and Vivian started to drink from her glass of water with shaking hands. However, in response, she only nodded weakly.
“What happened, Vivian? “Jack asked right away, terrified, as if he wasn't able to contain that question inside his mouth much longer; not that Charlie could judge him, as she was feeling in a very similar way, at that moment “Is Oliver okay? Did something happen to his family?
" Oh, Jack..." Vivian lamented, her voice still shaky, but at least a little clearer " Yes, no doubt they did something to my family, but not the one that lives in my house...
" What you mean? “ Charlie questioned, holding her friend's hands between hers, fearful of what would come next.
“These papers were placed under the shelter door this morning, before I even got there to open it. “ Vivian explained, indicating the sheets that were spread out on the table “ At first I thought it would be just another court notice that our debts were overdue for more time than was allowed, but… How could I imagine? “Her friend wailed, heartbroken“ How was I to know they would do that so suddenly? Without any prior notice or anything...?
" Hang on...? “ Charlie gasped, suddenly realizing what the worst thing that could happen to Vivian was, “You mean…?
“The mortgage was foreclosed and now this house doesn't belong to us anymore...” Vivian sobbed, saying the last thing Charlie wanted to hear that made it seem like the ground was opening up from under his feet “In the papers they say that They rushed the execution of the lawsuit not only because we were late with payments, but also because a possible buyer appeared interested in bidding for the land who would pay all the money that he had not paid lately. And now, we're going to need to find another place to leave the animals... But there's no other place..." Vivian's voice suddenly trails off and she buried her face in her hands again, her shoulders shaking with violent sobs “This is all my fault! If I hadn't been so impulsive and not taken on so many debts, we wouldn't be in this situation now, running the risk of leaving all these poor animals totally helpless...! she gasped, in utter desperation.
“Oh, Vivian...“ Knowing that being in the same state as her friend wouldn't help anyone at all, Charlie tried to hold back the tears and a shaky voice “I'm so sorry...
“Oh, my God, what am I going to do…? Vivian gasped in panic.
“What are we going to do, Vivian! “ Charlie tried to keep her voice steady, although it was the last thing she felt, at that moment “ You are not alone! This is our shelter and together we will solve this, I guarantee it!
“But…” her best friend sniffled, finally looking up to face her “What are we going to do with the animals? We can't take them all to our own homes...
“We'll spend the whole morning calling the other shelters we know of. “ Charlie put his hand on her shoulder, determined “ We'll explain the situation and ask them to take in everyone they can. Asking them to give our animals priority in their adoption queues and even asking them to help us find a new place, it doesn't matter... " she exclaimed, looking at Vivian and Jack " We'll fix this, including the mortgage ! I'm sure doing this all of a sudden just because a buyer has come along is unethical, let alone legal! Vivian, have you talked to Oliver about this yet? Charlie asked, knowing that Vivian's husband was a lawyer.
“No, I…” her friend sobbed, seeming to be starting to calm down “I got so desperate when I saw the papers and I couldn't do anything but cry…
" Everything is fine. “ Charlie soothed, squeezing their hands reassuringly “Stay here and calm down a bit more, okay? When you're feeling better, pick up your cell phone and call him. Jack! “ she called her friend, who still seemed numb by the news “ Take the list of families that were interested in adopting and call each one of them, to find out if they want to take the animals as soon as possible, even today, if they can. “ she instructed him, moving away from Vivian to get her own cell phone, nearby “ I'm going to call all the shelters and kennels in the city, even the ones we don't know, to explain the situation and find out how many animals they can take in per us. At the end of the day, let's calculate how many animals will still be here and then decide what to do.
For the rest of the day, albeit slowly and dejectedly, the three of them set about their tasks, though none of them turned out as well as Charlie had hoped. Vivian's husband agreed that that form of foreclosure was highly questionable, but that it would take time to challenge it legally, in addition to the fact that the judge was likely not to side with the debtors even if social importance was proved. from the shelter. Jack had not managed to get more than 14 families to agree to advance the adoption process and come and pick up their animals that week to take them to their new homes. And the shelters and kennels Charlie had called had been touched by their plight, but most were already overcrowded and no more than 20 animals could be relocated if all went well and the other shelters didn't. ended up having an emergency and using those spaces for other animals in a more risky situation.
So even though he was doing his best to be optimistic and try to be firm for Vivian and Jack, once his schedule was over and Charlie gave the two of them one last hug before leaving, knowing that they needed some time alone to processing everything that had happened, instead of going to the front door to wait for Morgan, as he always did, Charlie did it differently. Going to hide in the side wall of the shed, where neither Vivian nor Jack could see her when they left, Charlie sat on the floor, burying her chin between her knees, as she let the tears she had spent all day holding back finally break free. .
The feeling of being unable to do anything useful in the situation was almost overwhelming. If only she could get access to her father's or grandfather's inheritance, to try to make a higher bid than the person who was planning to buy them... But even that wasn't good for her. Even after all the efforts she had mobilized that day, more than 70 animals would still be completely helpless if they couldn't find a place big enough to house them. But how to do that, when neither she nor Jack nor Vivian could afford a place like this, which would certainly be expensive? And how to convince someone to rent them a new place, if were they deep in debt?
Were they doomed then?
With no answers to those questions, Charlie just tried to cry as silently as possible, holding back her sobs and feeling the endless waterfall of her tears wet the fabric of her pants, until a soft touch on her shoulder surprised her, making her jump. Lifting her damp face, she found Morgan leaning over her, his expression full of pity and regret.
“Jack told me what happened. “ was all he said, before sitting down next to her and opening his arms invitingly “Come here darling...
No longer able to contain her reactions, Charlie collapsed into his embrace, crying like few others had in her life, at least not since her grandfather had died. Without reservation, she grabbed him around the waist and buried her face in his shoulder, even though she knew she was in danger of ruining his shirt with her tears. And so she stayed for a long time, finally understanding how Vivian was feeling that morning, totally out of control of the sadness she was feeling. Only when the sobbing finally subsided, when night had completely fallen and the moon was shining high in the sky, was she able to calm herself down a bit to lift her head and look into his eyes, which were full of worry.