AllFreeNovel
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“I’m alright, guys,” I sigh to the camera, before glancing down at my chair in pieces on the floor. “My chair suddenly gave out for whatever reason? I don’t know why. I just got it so that’s really weird.”
I pause and watch questions of “oh no!” and “are u ok?” come in from my subscribers. I can’t help smiling. “I’m okay,” I tell them shyly. “Just embarrassed.”
More messages pour into the chat, telling me that my viewers are glad I’m okay and that we all make stupid noises from time to time. It only makes me feel a little better, but the good thing about embarrassment is that the sting gets less stingy over time. That’s what my mom always told me, at least.
“Okay, I know we didn’t go for long, but I’m going to end the stream. Would you guys believe me if I said my butt hurts?”
Laughing emojis light up my chat and I smile. A few “have a good day!” messages pop up as well, and even one or two telling me to give my cat an extra snuggle. After a final goodbye, I end the stream and sink to the floor.
I don’t even know what to do with myself. Looking at my broken chair makes my head hurt. Thinking about my shortened stream makes me anxious. And on top of all that, as soon as I take off my headphones, the sounds of the construction next door make my head feel buzzy. I can’t focus like this.
As if he can sense my mood, Baxter, my cat, slinks into the room. He plops on top of the wreckage of my chair, unbothered by the chaos beneath him as he blinks up at me slowly.
I can’t help smiling at him.
“How do you always know what I need?” I tell him, leaning over to give his chin a few scritches.
An idea hits me. I reach into my pocket for my phone, then pull up the camera. Carefully, I take a picture of Baxter loafing on the wreckage of my chair, and then open up my socials to post it. At least someone’s enjoying my new seating arrangement, right? The best way to get over an on-camera flub is to post cats about it, right? Sure! Pictures of Baxter always do well on social media, so there’s nothing to lose, and it’ll make me feel better, too.
Suddenly, there’s a crash outside, and Baxter startles. He skitters out of the room, probably to hide under the couch or something. I sigh inwardly. The construction happening next door has had him spooked on and off since it started.
“Baxter!” I call to him, hoping to at least get him into my lap to help soothe him, but he doesn’t come back. He doesn’t usually, but the sudden silence in my apartment gives me pause. Normally, I can at least here him scratching his way under the furniture.
“Baxter, buddy, it’s okay,” I coo as I rise to my feet and start for the living room. My heart skips a beat when a rush of cool air hits me when I enter the living room. Panic sets in.
I left my balcony door open before I started my stream.
I force myself to stay calm. Baxter has never tried to do something on the balcony before, but that was before the construction started. It’s the first warm day of the season, so I thought it would be fine, but the bangs and crashes might have made him resort to doing something more drastic to escape them.
A quick check proves me right. He’s not under any of the furniture. I rush out to the balcony, the sunlight bathing me in warmth, even as my gut goes cold.
He’s not out here either.
My eyes widen as I glance toward the towering high-rise construction site next door. A sinking feeling makes my head swim. What if my cat found his way there? It’s not so far that he couldn’t jump and make it, but what if he didn’t?
I lean over the balcony railing, squinting to see if I can spot my fat little cat lurking somewhere, and that’s when I see him. He’s nothing but a little orange blur, climbing across scaffoldinglinking different floors of the in-progress building with nothing but open air below him.
Without a second thought, I scramble back inside, not even bothering to close the balcony door behind me. I frantically run out of the apartment my heart pounding in my ears as I rush to the stairwell and sprint down the stairs. Horrible scenes play out in my mind as my feet pound against the polished concrete, my hand gripping the railing.
I can’t lose Baxter. He’s the closest thing to family I have right now. I adopted him the day after I moved to this city and he’s been with me every step of the way, through thick and thin. With his fuzzy paws and slinky tail, he’s kept the anxiety of my past at bay and has been a constant reminder to take care of myself when I take care of him.
And this is how I thank him? Letting him get lost in a dangerous construction site?
I shake my head as memories I have worked hard to keep under wraps threaten to surface. No, I can’t think about any of that right now. Finding Baxter and making sure he doesn’t get hurt is my only priority right now.
“Please be okay,” I murmur under my breath as I burst out onto the sidewalk. “I can’t lose you, too.”
As I approach the site, I catch a glimpse of the colossal cranes reaching toward the sky, their metal arms stretching out to help hang beams. I swallow hard at the sight, half terrified to walk in, especially because I don’t have a hard hat or anything on. It’s not like I can help it, so I press on. Time is of the essence. I need to rescue my nutball of a cat.
There’s no one in sight as I walk up to the entrance, and no one stops me when I walk in. I thought it would be much harder to get this far, but I guess not. I’m not complaining, that’s for sure.
When I start to climb the stairs up through the floors, however, a lump forms in my throat. Heights always have kind of scared me, and I thought I’d gotten over them after living in my apartment, but this is different. This building is unfinished and it feels like I can see all of its insides as I rush up the stairs.
As I ascend, I can’t find Baxter. My stomach churns with anxiety. What if something happened to him?
I quicken my pace. I feel so exposed in flip flops and leggings and no protective equipment. I can’t imagine how my poor cat must feel. He might have claws but those would do nothing against something falling on him.
Ugh! I can’t worry about that right now! Not until after I find him.
