The dog wiggled her tail, and it kept hitting Klaus' cheek. Samantha chuckled at the sight of this.
"Is something funny, Diaz?" He said with his eyebrow raised.
His slight British accent made his words sound different from the usual Midwestern American English of the locals or the French accent of her Congolese mom. It was refreshing to hear something new for a change in her life. She composed herself despite the dog still wiggling its tail.
"No, nothing out of the ordinary."
"Alright then. Someone mentioned that your family owned a veterinary clinic. I wanted to take her for a checkup. I'm rather worried she got cut down there."
"Yeah, we do. It's just up ahead."
As they walked to the clinic, Samantha saw just how amusing Klaus could be. Here he was, her nemesis, carrying a dog he had helped rescue from a sewer hole with a smile on his face, rubbing the dog, saying every 30 seconds, 'Don't worry, old girl, you'll be alright.' Is this version of Klaus the absolute personification of his character, or was this just an act? Samantha's mind was riddled with such thoughts the entire way home and was shaken out of it by a loud cry only heard in parts of Africa when women rejoice.
"Mon bébé a amené un garçon chez nous pour la première fois!" A woman cried.
She stood on the veranda of the clinic in a white shirt, black skirt, lab coat, and bright pink Crocs. She had bright brown eyes, smooth, fair-brown skin, and braided hair tied in a scarf. This woman's smile dumbfounded Klaus, and he instantly understood who this woman was and that Samantha got her good looks and figure from her.
"Mom, some English, please! We have... a client." Samantha's reply came with flushed cheeks.
"Could you kindly translate for me what she just said?" Klaus asked.
"She said that the sky is blue and that she's hungry," Samantha said sarcastically.
"I doubt she said that, Diaz." He said with a smile.
They walked in, and Samantha's mother could not stop grinning. They entered the clinic, and Samantha led Klaus with the dog to her father, who was seated in an office working on his computer.
"Dad, I brought you a client." She said, gesturing a way into the room for Klaus like a prince.
"Why, thank you, Diaz." He teased.
"Hey boy, I'm Diaz too." Her father said, pointing at the name tag on his chest that read, 'Dr. Charles Diaz.'
"Sorry, sir." Klaus became tense and sat down as Dr. Diaz brought the dog in and placed it on the examination table. He examined the dog and concluded that the dog had only been bruised and was fit to go back home with him.
"Thank you, I was worried after she fell," Klaus said.
"It's my job, kid. Don't worry about it." Dr. Diaz.
The man sat back in his chair and continued working on his computer. His typing was aggressive, making Klaus more tense. Is this man fighting the keyboard? He thought. Samantha's mother walked into the office with a tray of snacks for everyone, including the dog.
"What's her name?" Samantha's mother asked while feeding the dog.
Klaus took a bite of the biscuit. "Her name is Lucy Lu."
"Like that actress?" She asked.
"Yes, ma'am."
"First and foremost, it is Dr. Ilunga-Diaz, and why Lucy Lu?" she said, her plain gaze expressing her words.
He swallowed the biscuit whole out of fear. As beautiful as Dr. Ilunga-Diaz was, her questioning was intense. Both parents carried an atmosphere around them that made the boy uneasy.
"It was my young sister's idea after I took her to watch Charlie's Angels a few years ago. She said the dog reminded her of Lucy Lu. I honestly don't know how, but yeah, that's about it."
Dr. Diaz stopped typing and looked at Klaus, and both parents burst into laughter as if he was joking about it. But it was his bluntness and the way he said it that made them laugh. Samantha just smiled, admitting that was pretty funny.
"Celui-ci est drôle. je l'aime." Her father told Samantha while laughing.
"Dad, please no." Samantha's cheeks were red from the comment.
"Why not take our daughter to one of their movies? She might come up with names for some of the stray dogs here." Dr. Diaz said.
"Yes, that would be great!" Her mother exclaimed. "Even feed her after the date. She's too slim even though I feed her a lot."
Ever since entering the clinic, Klaus had lost his calm composure and was disarmed by the embarrassing love of two parents. The thought of a date began to play in his head. A date with Samantha? Will that be okay? Will she accept? Will she be mean if we go? The questions continued to flood his mind until he stared at Samantha and noticed her face was flushed. He felt it would have been very uncomfortable for Samantha to go on a movie date with a classmate she barely knows or interacts with, just because her parents suggested it.
Klaus coughed to compose himself, ready to decline. "Uh, I think that's –"
"I don't mind," Samantha said.
Her comment shocked Klaus. Her parents were shocked too. Their daughter was finally taking steps to come out of her shell. Samantha was perceived as a rude, beautiful, and distant girl, but in fact, she was a shy individual who struggled to open up to people due to a traumatic experience she had never shared with anyone. Her parents figured that something had happened in her earlier years, but could never get her to open up about it. All they could do was ensure they were present and showed her love, which gave her great comfort.
"Wait, what? For real? You want to go and watch a movie with me?" Klaus asked.
"Yeah. Why not? The animals here need names."
In the few months Klaus had been in the town, he had never seen Samantha be so vulnerable. He viewed her as a girl who was intelligent, focused, calm, and avid in her studies. He saw her as a bookworm who resembled a butterfly more than a worm.
"Okay. I'll come to pick you up tomorrow at 4 pm. Cool?"
"Yeah, sure." She replied.
The boy said his goodbyes and left the clinic immediately after Samantha's acceptance, with Lucy Lu wiggling her tail on his face again. Her parents looked on with relief.
"Sam, I'm glad you're opening up to someone other than us and Bridgette. And I hope we didn't overstep." Her father said.
"No, you didn't. It's fine. I think I'm going to head to my room now. Samantha stood up and rushed out of the office and up the stairs to her room. The building was both a clinic and their home, which made some nights difficult to sleep because the dogs would host choir practice with their barks in their cages.
"Why did I do that?" She said as she screamed into her pillow on her bed.
"Why was I so comfortable with him around? Dammit!"