Dog Found

Cyrus believed in minimizing the a/c use even after the corporate fixed it, which led to a sweltering summer inside the restaurant and decreased customers. So, Cyrus relented to the men wearing summer-appropriate uniforms and turning up the a/c a little. Enough so that Shiba wouldn't pant too much as she sat in the breakroom during the afternoon shift. Cyrus didn't use a/c in his apartment, either.

Sierra and Shasta still wore their full chef attire, but with their sleeves rolled a little higher. Miles wore his short sleeve school shirt since it matched the dress code. It seemed to unnerve Ramona anytime he caught her now that he was bare-armed, making her twice as red as usual.

"You might have a heat stroke if you keep going like this," commented Sierra when Ramona took refuge near the bar. Despite being warmer, Miles served on the other side of the floor so that she could calm down in the bar area.

"Drink water and you'll be fine," encouraged Shasta. Although whether he knew the context of the conversation or not was unclear.

"Or don't trip," suggested Sierra.

"Don't trip?"

 "Unless you want to feel…" Sierra gestured to her forearms.

"Right. Don't trip. Don't trip. Don't trip," Ramona murmured to herself as she made her way out to the lobby as a new customer was coming in.

"Welcome to Tormino's. Table for one?" She asked with a smile, pulling out a nearby menu.

"I came over to inquire about the lost dog in the poster in your window."

Ramona looked around the man at the poster still in the window. She had forgotten Shiba wasn't Cyrus’ and Miles' dog.

"What about the dog?" asked Miles, coming up beside Ramona.

"Sakura is my dog. My family and I went on vacation and left her home, but she must have gotten out when our neighbors went to check on her. They called us but didn't know her too well to recognize her in her poster. We live a couple of streets down from here."

Ramona and Miles looked at each other.

"Can you name any distinguishing marks?" asked Miles.

The man looked confused before finally understanding. "Right, you want to be sure I'm her owner. Let me pull up a picture of her."

The man pulled out his phone and began scrolling through his photos.

"I had a feeling we should have left the collar on her, but she keeps scratching her neck if we do, especially in this heat."

Miles nodded, remembering he and Cyrus always removed her collar after walks. She had it on today but kept scratching.

"Here, she is. These are the last pictures I have of her." 

He held out the phone so Miles and Ramona could look at the pictures. They were identical to Shiba. 

"Looks like the dog we found. Let me get your dog," said Miles, heading to the back, where Cyrus stopped him. The two exchanged whispers, looking in the young man's direction. Cyrus walked forward while Miles went to the breakroom.

"I'm Cyrus Serrano, manager of this establishment. My employee says we found your dog."

"Yes, here are pictures if you want to see." The man offered his phone, which Cyrus took then examined each image.

"Here she is, sir."

Miles entered the room, Shiba pulling at her leash towards the man.

"Sakura!" 

Miles let go of the leash. Shiba ran up to the man and jumped on him, and the two began dancing around each other.

"Good girl, good girl. Now sit," he commanded and the dog obeyed his order.

"Lie down." He gestured to the ground and Shiba promptly obeyed.

"Roll over."

He spun his hand and Shiba rolled over.

"Good girl, good girl. Thank you so much for taking care of her."

The man stood up and extended his hand to shake; Cyrus accepted it.

"Here's the rest of the money we were going to pay our neighbors for watching her. Since they lost her, it belongs to whomever took care of her."

Ramona looked over to Cyrus and Miles. Miles was frozen in place. After some hesitation, Cyrus took the money.

"Take her with you next time, so it doesn't happen again. Other people might not be as nice the next time she runs away," chided Cyrus.

"Yes, sir. Thank you again."

The man wrapped a collar around her neck and attached a leash. He handed Cyrus the other collar Miles had bought her before leaving the restaurant with the dog. Shiba hardly spared her previous caretakers a second glance as she trotted away with her owner. Cyrus already began to count the money, keeping a small amount while giving the rest to Miles.

"For the dog’s expenses."

He stalked off to his office, slamming the door.

"I'm going on break," Miles announced, heading for the breakroom even though he wasn't due for a break for another three hours.

Their actions left the other workers wondering what had happened.

"Um, what?" asked Sierra, looking over the counter into the dining area.

"Cyrus’ and Miles' dog found her owner," said Ramona, placing the menu back in its holder.

"Oh."

Sierra went back to work, understanding Miles' attachment to animals.

"Do you think they will be alright?" asked Ramona.

"Let's give them a couple of days; they'll bounce back," offered Shasta, setting down an order on the window. The others nodded.

---

"Let me interfere!" 

"No!"

"PLEASE!"

Miles and Cyrus moped for more than three days, and Leigha had been begging everyone to allow her to put a stop to it. Everyone knew it would be a bad idea for Leigha to get close to Miles or Cyrus, especially when they were in a mood. But why Leigha needed their permission to help her brother, the others didn't know. Especially when she could bother him at home, but she was choosing to do it here.

"I don't know if that's a good idea. Maybe later," offered Anita, Leigha ignoring her friend.

"Miles!" Leigha draped herself over her brother's back as he cleaned a table, not minding the extra weight.

"Come on, Miles, she found her owner and she has a good home," Leigha reassured, Miles only sighing.

"Come on, Miles, snap out of it."

Miles shifted as he took the cleaning tub over to the kitchen to wash the plates. Leigha still hung on with her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her feet dragging on the ground.

"Please, Miles," she begged, letting go as she fell to the floor, her hand still trying to reach out to him.

"These things take time, Leigha. Shiba was important to them," said Anita. She took a sip of water at the bar, trying to stay hydrated in the heat since Cyrus hadn't moved the thermostat in days.

"The dog went back to its owners, which was the point, but they are acting like they had to put her down," complained Leigha. She watched as Miles went back out to the lobby, wandering around with a wet rag to wipe tables.

"This is getting so tiring."

"Why don't we get them out?" asked Sierra, looking over the counter.

Several eyes turned to look at her as if she turned on a light bulb.

"That's it! We need to get them away from the daily grind. Something new to take their minds off it."

"We could go to the movies," offered Anita.

"Or a concert," added Sierra.

"Maybe something a little cheaper. We don't get paid until Friday," said Leigha.

The group all frowned, placing their hands on their chins to think, except Leigha, who was getting off the floor.

"What about the summer festival coming up?" whispered Ramona.

"Perfect! Team bonding at the festival!" 

Leigha dashed off before anyone could catch her, pulling open the door to Cyrus' office. He had been staring at the computer monitor filled with security camera images.

"We're going to the summer festival for team bonding!"

She slammed the door shut before he could protest. Then she ran over to Miles, standing across from him.

"We're going to the festival!"

"The festival?"

"The Obon Festival!" 

Sierra helped Leigha off Miles, both dancing in excitement over what was to come at the festival.

"It should be fun, don't you think?" asked Ramona, who had come up next to Miles.

"Hopefully. We'll see."