Page 56 of The Quirky Vet

Fitz

I knock on Linus's open office door. "The note on the coffee machine said you wanted to see me?"

"Ah, yes." He finishes typing and then snaps his laptop shut. "Come in."

"O-kay." I wasn't the worst kid in school by any means, but I definitely made a few trips to the principal's office. This is giving off that vibe. "Door open or closed?"

"You can leave it open."

I enter his office. Slowly.

"So, I'm not in trouble?"

"Actually, you are. I need to discuss your performance, and keeping the door open saves the others from having to strain their necks trying to listen through it."

Linus is a closed book, usually a grouchy closed book, so it's always hard to tell if he's kidding or not.

"Uh…"

He breaks out into a grin. "I'm kidding, mate. You're not in any trouble. Your name isn't Wilby."

My shoulders drop, and I relax. "Okay. Good."

"I was hoping to speak to you and Muir together since this affects you both, but today's been even more hectic than usual."

"It has." It's been a whirlwind of a day—first, a farmer came in with a limping sheep, then a frantic local rushed in carrying an injured kangaroo joey, followed by a couple with their dog, a snake bite victim, and to top it off, Muir had to wrestle with a very grumpy emu who'd gotten tangled in fencing wire. I pull up a chair across from Linus and sit down. "What's up, then?"

"CPD."

I let out a low groan.

Don't get me wrong, I love continual professional development, and I think it's good that it's a mandatoryrequirement for vets to maintain and enhance their knowledge and skills every year.

The problem is finding the time, and money, to do it. We're a tiny clinic so we're flat-strapped and run off our feet most of the time. And it's not like outback veterinary is a lucrative industry. We're not exactly rolling in money.

All the fellas and I try to split costs with Linus, but he won't have a bar of it and coughs up the money himself each year. I know for a fact it's out of his personal pocket, too, because that's just the sort of decent bloke he is.

"I've found a great weekend workshop covering dentistry next month."

My eyes light up.

I'm super interested in advanced periodontal therapy and have been reading up about root planing methods and new surgical techniques in my spare time because while I may have stumbled into being an influencer, at my core I'm an animal-loving geek through and through.

And a short weekend course sounds perfect since it means less time away from the clinic.

"That sounds great."

"Good. Because I've already booked you and Muir in. I had to," he says, when I shoot him a funny look. "They were the last two places, and I didn't want you guys to miss out."

"How very kind of you."

"Think of it as a delayed honeymoon," the cheeky fucker adds, unable to contain his grin. "Stop looking at me like that. Muir needs to supplement his dental skills, so he'll benefit from this, too."

"And that's the only reason you've booked us to go together?"

His silence says it all.

"How are things with you guys, anyway?" he asks after a few beats pass. "We didn't really get a chance to hang out together much at Pride last week."