Great. My matchmaking cat is bringing Juliet gifts, and I’m crushing her spirits. What a great combo.
There’s a knock on the door and I open it to find Juliet standing there, eyes shining. She seems shorter somehow, slumped within herself.
“Can I come in?” she asks in a small voice.
I step aside. “Of course.”
“I need to know what happened downstairs. I feel like I made you mad, but I don’t know how or why. I was trying to do something cool for you and the store, but I obviously screwed up.”
I heave a huge sigh and flop into my old green chair, the corduroy starting to look worn. I might need to consider new furnishings. “Sit,” I say.
She walks to the couch under the big window and perches on the edge.
“We both screwed up. The difference is that I know what I did wrong. You have no idea, and I should have explained better.”
“Yeah, that would have been good.” She looks so diminished, leaving me hollow inside. Sad Juliet is breaking my heart.
I’m such an asshole.
“It’s just…I know you worked really hard, and I should have been nicer about it, but those fake moths were distressing. Offensive.”
Her eyes widen. “They were? How?”
I sigh again. “It’s kind of hard to explain. I guess it’s a cultural thing. Imagine decorating a window with human skeletons.”
She leans forward and rests her elbows on her knees. “Okay?”
“That wouldn’t upset you?”
“No. Humans do that all the time. It’s a classic on Halloween.”
I run a hand through my hair. “Okay, that’s a bad example. Imagine decorating with actual human corpses, then. Walking into a store that had decaying bodies in the window. Wouldn’t you find that off-putting?”
She wrinkles her nose. “Yes, of course. But there’s a huge difference between a dead body and a little bit of papercraft.”
I nod. “For humans, yes, there is. But not for my species. Decorating with fake moths was like using corpses.”
She looks puzzled, and I know her curious mind has a thousand questions, but all she says is, “I understand. Well, that’s not true. I don’t, not really, but I respect your beliefs and your opinion. I’m sorry I upset you.”
“I know you are. And I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I hurt your feelings. I didn’t mean to. You just surprised me.”
“Yeah, it was supposed to be a surprise. But a good one.” She stands up, and I do the same.
“You still have a few minutes before your shift actually starts. Do you want a cup of tea or something?” I have to find a way to make amends.
“No, that’s okay.” She still looks sad and diminished. Like I dimmed her light. “I think I’ll go ahead and finish putting up the gardening books.” Without another word, she places an item on my coffee table and leaves.
I glance at the solar-themed bookmark that Flicker gave her. I don’t think she realizes what the cat is up to, but I do.
“Flicker, stop giving her presents. We’re just co-workers.”
Flick stares at me a moment and then deliberately knocks the bookmark on the floor. Great, now she’s pissed too.
I only have two women in my life, and I’ve ended up upsetting both.
I’m just going to have to find a way to make it up to them.
SPENSER
