Lifelong dog owner that can’t get another dog. What pet should I get?

Big time dog lover, but I work 12 hours a day M-F , and a half day Saturday pretty often. I am in an apartment. I want a dog, but I don’t think it will be fair to them. I live alone, and that’s a long time to be alone in an apartment as a dog big or small. I’ve been considering cats, but I am semi allergic. Certain cats will make me so irritated my eyes will close up. Other ones I can hold for hours and nothing happens. My apartment is pet friendly, I feel like the easy answer is a cat- but I saw a video online of some ferrets playing recently and it made me curious of what other pets people would suggest to me. I definitely wish I could afford a dog sitter for the day, maybe in a year or so I will be able to cut back on hours and do that, financially now however I need my hours to get out of debt. Am I at the point of owning a fish? Living in Florida if that matters for suggestions.