Meeting with Sandy ( Gaby POV)

I was in the smaller meeting room behind the store. It also doubled as a break-room for Ginger and Miranda because most meetings with clients took place in Mom’s place anyway ( commonly known as Amanda’s office) or Dad’s domain, (commonly known as the briefing room) a larger meeting room in front of the tank shop. Usually Mathew gave his briefings about new commissions there because it’s better equipped and has a larger table and more chairs. Besides there was also a small seating area in a corner of the store proper that could be used for sitting down with clients too.

The rectangular table I was sitting on was shoved against one wall because two of the other walls contains doors, At the other side of the table mom and dad were sitting side by side with their backs facing the store door while the wall behind my back was empty. On my left side was the other door to the corridor with the rest of the office spaces. The table could seat five person comfortably, in as far as you could get comfortable at a meeting, so that left two chairs free. Well, there is only so much you could put in a tiny room and still be able to circulate comfortably. I had my phenotest before me on the table. So all we could do now was wait for Sandy of the SPCP to show up.

While we were waiting I heard commotion up front in the store … and then everything started to happen at once. Both doors opened almost simultaneously, from the corridor door I saw Sandy enter the room and from the store door I heard a familiar voice saying “Gaby …” while Hannah entered the room too. I never knew one word could say so much.

“Hannah … “ Mom said while turning her head, obviously also not expecting her.

“So…“ Hannah said while heading to the chair besides me “ Little Sis got a PH result. PH-2 by the look of it.“

“Yes, I had scheduled a talk with Gaby today,” said Sandy as she headed to the remaining chair at the head of the table.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me ?” Hannah exclaimed as she let herself drop onto the chair.

“ Well …” Mom started “ we figured you’d be having finals this quinzara and we didn’t want you to get distracted thinking about Gaby.”

“ I get it …” says Hannah as she deflates “ … but you still should have called. Besides I only had a few actual finals, most of them were papers anyway.”

We were expecting a house call from Sandy ever since I had my PH-2 results and she did call in advance. But my sister popping up unexpectedly dragged my mind back to the time at school when we got the drill about the possible phenotypes and their consequences. They were very short about PO … basically once you tested PO you just go on with your life. The PH phenotypes got some more extensive coverage. Although each PH result would mean adjusting to a new life-path whether or not expected. The support grid for PH-1 was well established with PCI pet centers and Pet@Work for those that didn’t like the idea of becoming a stay-at-home pet. For PH-2 results the basic message was that the SPCP representative would be handling them personally on a case-by-case basis. Because although a large knowledge base on phenotypes had been achieved and a certain knowledge about PH-2 changes was available but each person reacts differently on the PH-2 changes so although some basic projections can be made each person with PH-2 result will be a unique case. In time some can follow the PCI and Pet@Work track while others will need more specialized solutions depending on the kind of pet they are.