Zoe pinched Ever’s sleeve, giving him no choice but to follow her out of the waiting room. The receptionist glanced up from her screen, exchanged a look with Zoe and looked back down, a sparkle in her eye.

  “Dad?” Ever said, flummoxed.

  “What,” she said looking over her shoulder. “You don’t call yourself Mimi’s dad?”

  “No.”

  “So what do you call her?”

  “Her owner?”

  Zoe stopped in her tracks, let go of his sleeve and looked at him solemnly in the middle of the hallway. “We don’t own animals. Yes, we might buy them from a pet shop or adopt them from the pound, but only animals have the right to decide who their person is.”

  Ever nodded. He had been living with Mimi for less than a month. Already, he was comfortable there, more so than he had been in the treehouse. He couldn’t forget that it was she who had invited him.

  “You’re right, I’m her person.”

  “Good." Her gentle but firm smile said: ‘I appreciate you seeing my point of view’. “Now come on, we don’t have much time.”

  “Much time for what?”

  She didn’t answer, bustling into a room a couple doors further down the corridor.

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  The room was dark, warm and small. There wasn’t much in here: four screens set in a two by two grid, a desk with a keyboard on it and an office on wheels.

  “Close the door behind you,” Zoe commanded.

  As Ever’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he found himself drawn to the only thing worth looking in the room (besides Zoe): the screens. The top-left one showed the front of Vets R Us, which had a car park. Immediately below was the other vet’s room. The bird was flying around the room, ignoring the gentleman who had been leering at Ever. In the top-right was Zoe’s room. Jin was stroking Mimi, who was looking up at her and panting happily. The last screen showed the waiting room, which was currently empty.

  “I’ve told Mr Stathopoulos that his bird can’t survive on bread alone,” Zoe sighed. “Anyway, that’s not what I brought you in here to see.”

  She shuffled in front of Ever, inadvertently bumping into him with her hips.

  “Sorry, not sorry,” she said, glancing back over her shoulder mischievously. She had turned back to face the screens before he could respond, clicking into the monitor in the top-right. Her hands flew across the keyboard, bringing up menus, selecting dates and choosing times.

  “OK, now to just find the specific time…” She hit “Enter” then stood up straight.

  The video footage was dark; it must have been night time. Ever had to squint to make the outlines in the room out. The only light came through the door connecting the waiting room to her examination room.

  Then he saw it: himself materializing out of thin air in her room.

  Zoe spun around, eyes unreadable.

  “Zoe, I–”

  She placed a finger on his lips.

  “Not now, Jin and Mimi are going to wonder where we’ve gotten to. Let's talk about it later.”

  She smiled again. To him, the slightest crease of her lips said: ‘I’m not scared of you.’