Cleo walks to work

It was even colder outside than it was inside and Cleo was barefoot to boot. Alma took it all in stride. In fact, she even walked slower than usual and yet Cleo noticed that she wrapped her coat around her as tightly as she could. Moreover, she tugged at Cleo's leash every so often as if she thought Cleo was walking too fast. As it was, Cleo was already shivering by the time they made it to the corner and they still had three more blocks to go.

Cleo looked across the street and saw a bright red dress hanging in a store window. Once she had thought about saving up to buy such a dress but that was in the past. Even if Cleo had the money, it would not be worth her time to buy that dress for she could never wear it. At best, it would hang in her closet, yet another reminder of all the little things she had given up in the course of her current job.

Alma noticed the dress, too, and even though the light changed and was flashing a "walk" signal, she stopped to admire it as well, ignoring all of Cleo's shivering and stomping of feet as if they were just minor fidgeting. Then before the light changed, Alma finally moved on. Slowly. Very slowly.