Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“What happened?”
“I saw her three times over two weeks. Each restaurant was progressively more expensive. More ‘visible.’ Acceptable by her standards. By the third date, she was basically telling people we were getting engaged. I was planning on telling her I was breaking it off. All she wanted was my money and my name. Not me. I could have been anyone. In fact, I was quite certain, if she had to, she couldn’t pick me out of a lineup.”
Magnolia rolled her eyes. “That’s a stretch. You are far too good-looking for anyone not to notice, Alex.”
“She didn’t,” I insisted. “She was too busy on her phone, not eating the specks of food they put on the plate, visiting other tables, dropping my name, to bother trying to get to know me.”
Magnolia frowned. “What did she do when you broke it off?”
“She told me it was a big mistake. That we could help each other. I could give her the lifestyle she wanted, and she would make sure, despite my lack of charm, that I would be one of the A-listers. We could be a power couple.” I drained my latte. “She wasn’t happy when I told her I preferred to be on my own and unplugged from power.”
“Oh dear,” Magnolia murmured.
“You’re so easy, Magnolia,” I murmured. “You talk to me. Listen to me. You want to eat pizza and relax. You don’t fill my head with mundane details about other people’s lives and how I should be emulating them. You let me be me.” I tilted my head, studying her. “And I like the Alex I am when I’m with you.”
“That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
I leaned close and kissed her. “I’ll try harder.”
I kissed her again. “Ready to go home?”
“Yes.”
We strolled toward the condo, Magnolia tucked tight to my side. I carried the pizza box in my other hand. It was dark, the air cool, and she shivered.
“Cold?” I asked. “Do you want my jacket?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“We’ll be home in five minutes, if those little legs of yours can pick up the pace.”
She laughed, and we moved a little faster. But she faltered, and I stopped. “What?”
“Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
A strange noise was coming from the shadows. It sounded plaintive and sad.
“That. It sounds like… Oh my God! It is!”
I blinked, unsure what I was looking at. From the dark corner of the building, a little object rushed toward us, almost bleating as it came closer.
“It’s a kitten,” Magnolia exclaimed, bending and making a little clicking noise in her throat. The creature moved faster and, before I could object, launched itself at me, climbing my pants and jacket, right up to my chest, and burrowing into the fabric. It was wet and dirty, and its claws dug into my skin.
“Get it off me, Myers,” I ordered.
“No, it likes you,” she replied, not at all put out by my tone. She reached up, scratching the cat’s furry head. “Where did you come from?”
“Wherever it was, go back,” I demanded.
“Stop it, Bane. Obviously, it’s alone and scared.” She clasped her hands, peering up at me. “And it chose you!”
I attempted to dislodge the cat’s claws, pushing the pizza box into Myers’s hands. But the cat wouldn’t have it, burrowing closer and digging its claws in deeper.
“What do we do now?” I asked, exasperated. “I can’t get it off.”
“We take the kitten home,” she said in a tone that implied I was an idiot for not understanding this course of action.
“No.”
She walked away, muttering. “We’ll need a few things.”
“Magnolia—Myers—stop walking!”
She kept talking and walking. “I’ll make a list. You’ll have to go to the store.”
I hurried to catch up to her, for some reason holding the kitten in place. “We are not keeping this thing.”
She looked at me, surprised. “No, we’re not.”
I felt relief that she understood. “Great.”
“You are,” she said with a smirk. “The kitten picked you.”
And she turned and walked away.
After a moment, I followed.
In the condo, Magnolia faced me, holding out her hands. “Give him to me.”
“It’s a him?”
She shrugged. “Fifty-fifty chance. I’ll find out soon.”
I looked down. “He’s sleeping.” Then I grimaced. “He’s filthy.”
“Probably covered in fleas too.”
“Get him off me.”
She chuckled and held up a finger. “Wait.”
She disappeared for a few moments, and I looked at the kitten. I couldn’t even tell what color it was. The fur was matted and stuck up all over its body in little spikes. He was thin, and when his eyes opened, they were a dull green. Unsure what to do, I used my index finger and tapped his head. “Hi.”
The noise it made was strange. It sounded like a tiny squeak, followed by a motor running.
Was he sick? Broken?
The kitten shut its eyes and kept making the odd noise with a little bleat breaking up the constant hum.