vet

Up at 8.00am to take Biff to the vet's for his vaccination contre la rage.

'Bonjour Beef,' says Mlle Beaupain, the supermodel veterinary surgeon, crouching down to greet him.

He jumps up to greet her and tail wagging, follows her happily into the examination room. As she pats him on the head and asks how he is, he is like putty in her hands, rolling his eyes, batting his black eyelids and happily submitting to having his paws and heart beat checked. (I imagine many male clients find their heart beat racing in Mlle Beaupain's presence, for not only is she very pretty but exceptionally charming. And unlike some vets, she does genuinely seem to like her four-legged patients.)

Only when she sinks the needle into his neck, does it all go a bit pear-shaped and he leaps off the table and into my arms with an agonised yelp. I coax him back and this time, he snaps at Mlle Beaupain's slender brown arm. Fortunately, she takes it in good grace.

On the way out, I notice a handsome man dressed in shorts and sandals waiting with his cat. (Perhaps it's just coincidence, but most of Mlle Beaupain's clients seem to be attractive single men with cats.) The man with the cat and the beautiful vet would make a very handsome couple, I think.

I don't know why but I am smitten by this little vignette. As Biff (bless his little black paws) throws up in the car park, I like to think, that on this Saturday morning love is possibly blooming inside the vet's surgery.