“I like my story better,” she says. “What about that couple?” She points at a couple sitting in the middle of the park with the sun shining on them. The man is wearing a suit, but his jacket is folded on the grass beside him. The lady is also dressed in office attire, her shoes off as she lies with her head in his lap.

“They are making plans for the weekend, and he’s going to give her all the orgasms she wants,” I say, laughing.

“Or,” she starts, “he’s married to his high school sweetheart who is pregnant with his child and he is having an affair.” Her voice trails off. “And he keeps promising to leave his wife, but we both know he never will.” She gets quiet as her eyes stay fixated on the couple. The man leans down and kisses the woman’s lips. She doesn’t say anything else, and I don’t press it.

“See that dog over there with the guy?” I point at a white little dog being walked by a guy who isn’t paying attention. “He’s hoping that his owner steps in shit.” She throws her head back and laughs. After that, her smile comes back, and we get up and continue our way to the shop. When we get there, I see my sign hanging, and I smile. Who would have thought that with just an idea, it could be this?

“There it is,” she says, excitedly pointing, and I walk up the one step, opening the glass door and looking around.

“There he is,” Tracy says from the side, and she walks over to us, smiling. When she spots Vivienne, though, her smile becomes forced. “You found it.”

“I did,” I tell her, and then I introduce Vivienne. “Tracy, this is Vivienne. Vivienne, this is Tracy, my right hand.” Vivienne’s smile is as forced as Tracy’s.

“Nice to meet you.” Vivienne lets go of my hand to shake Tracy’s. “This looks amazing,” she says. Looking around, I see that the store’s walls are painted purple with a mural of dogs and the bottom half of the wall is lined with hydrants like a fence. It was something I thought up while designing. There is a bed by the window where the dogs could go and sleep or see outside.

“Come see the back,” Tracy says to me. She turns to walk toward the back, and I follow her. There is a place where you can give them a bath and cut their hair, and then on the other side, she walks in and there are six rooms with a bed and toys. “This will be for the boarders,” she says, and each room has cameras so you can check in. We also had the intercom put in so they can talk to their pets.