AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What the hell? What’s a cat doing here?”
“Kitty!” he exclaimed.
I almost laughed at the delight transporting William’s face. He rushed past me to unlock the cage and a handsome cat with dark tiger stripes walked out, stretching his back legs.
The stewardess pursed her lips. I had a feeling that animals were required to stay inside their cages at all times, but she would not argue with the man giving her paychecks.
“This is Tom,” Will said with his hand on the cat’s back.
Tomhead-butted his fist, purring.
“You brought a cat to Europe,” I deadpanned. “Do these bed and breakfasts even take pets?”
“They’ll do as I ask.” He glowered at me as if to add: Or else.
He sat down on one chair and Tom the cat jumped on his lap, settling in for a nice, long nap. Will talked to the cat in a baby, singsong voice. My head was ringing with the strangeness of it.
“Tom follows me everywhere. Isn’t that right, baby boy?”
The cat closed his eyes and lifted his white chin as Will scratched his fur. His black lips rounded in a soft mow.
He’s crazy. I opened my phone and texted to Jessica: He brought a cat on the plane. He’s singing to it now. I’m scared.
She replied. Get out while you still can.
I stifled laughter from her text and was distracted by Will’s high-pitched voice. Now, he was kissing the top of the cat’s head.
“What’s the deal with the cat?”
I had nothing against cats. I even liked them, but I couldn’t imagine how he would take care of him for three weeks.
He stood, holding the catover his shoulder, almost as if he was burping a baby. The cat licked his lips and stared at me through yellow slits as Will rubbed his back. He stopped in front of me and I yelped as he deposited him in my lap.
“Tom is my therapy. He goes wherever I go. Think of him as a service animal.”
Tom stood and faced me, his whiskers fanning out and his tail curled in the air like a question mark. Then he head-butted my face, rubbing his cheeks hard against my nose as a line of cat drool smeared my skin.
“Urgh.” I spat out the cat hair.
“He likes you. That’s good,” he said, as if the animalwas a good judge of character. He sat down and looked at us with his head in his hand, smiling with sadness in his eyes.
“You seem different. A lot more mellow.”
I held Tom against me, feeling his little heartbeat hammer against mine. Petting him over and over with his reassuring, motor-like purr vibrating in my stomach made me feel lighter. Happier. Maybe he was right about the cat.
“Should we talk about what happened? In the conference room?”
It was really the last thing I wanted to talk about, but if would spend the next few weeks together…
“What’s there to say? You couldn'tresist my charms.”
“You were the one hitting on me!”
He sent me a smile full of regret. “Look, it can’t continue.”
Why?
“Okay, I get it. You want to keep it professional.”
