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“Do you mind if I let Nutella out now?” she asked. “He’s going to need a little bit of time to get used to the new space.”
“Sure, no problem.”
And then, for the second time today, I was threatened by a male in Olga’s life. This time it involved claws.
Olga
“Nutella, for God’s sake, let go of Michael’s leg,” I said firmly. “Bad boy!”
My Burmese cat looked up at me, a scornful look in his golden eyes, then went back to attacking Michael’s leg. I leaned down and grabbed him by the scruff, removing his claws one by one from Michael’s jeans, then hugged him tightly to my chest to keep him from going after my new roommate again.
“Be nice,” I scolded. “Michael is our friend.”
Like he did every time I hugged him like this, Nutella started purring loudly, giving me a look of pure adoration.
When I looked up at Michael, his eyes were glued to Nutella. Or maybe my breasts. Nutella had burrowed against me, pulling the neckline of my loose shirt down enough to expose a significant swath of my bra. Since it was moving day, I was wearing a crappy old bra, along with an ancient pair of granny panties, not that Michael would be seeing those.
Nutella jumped down and Michael continued to stare like he was in a trance, confirming that it was my breasts that caught his attention. I felt a flush of pleasure. I’d have to be dead to not notice how attractive he was. If I wasn’t his new roommate, I might have asked him out, but I really didn’t need any more complications in my life than I already had.
I cleared my throat, and his eyes flew up to mine, a faint flush spreading across his cheeks.
“Uh. So that’s Nutella, huh? Is he always so friendly?”
“He doesn’t like a lot of people,” I said. “Well, if I’m being totally honest, he doesn’t like anyone except for me. I rescued him when he was just a kitten. I’d gone to take the trash out and he was cornered in the alley next to the dumpster, with two stray dogs growling at him. He was so tiny, just skin and bones, but those dogs were determined to eat him.”
“What did you do?” he asked.
“I remembered that I had some leftover fried chicken at the top of the trash bag, so I lured them away with chicken,” I said. “Once I got their attention, I tossed it down the alley, grabbed the kitten, and ran in the back door of my apartment. Nutella and I have been best buds ever since. But he gets kind of jealous if he thinks I’m paying attention to other people, so I’ll just apologize in advance if he’s a dick to you.”
As if to emphasize my point, Nutella hissed loudly from where he’d disappeared underneath the couch.
“Are you going to your mother’s house to join those guys for dinner?”
“No,” I said. “There’s going to be way too much testosterone there for my taste. Besides, I prefer not to have an audience when my mother lectures me about how I’m wasting my life by not getting married and having children.”
“You’ve never been married?” he asked.
“No. You?” For some reason I was really hoping he said no.
“No. I dated a couple of women seriously over the years, even lived with one for a while, but it never felt right, you know?”
“I know exactly what you mean.”
“Listen, I know you need to unpack, but I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight?” he asked. “We could order pizza and watch movies, maybe get to know each other a little better.”
“Oh yeah, that would be awesome,” I said gratefully. “I’m exhausted from packing and stressing out about moving. I could use a break.”
I also wanted to spend some time with him, but I didn’t share that part.
“Perfect. Well, I’m going to do a few hours of work for my businesses, but how about we meet back here around five and then we can pick out a pizza?”
“Sounds good.”
I spent the next couple of hours unpacking my stuff. I filled my tall dresser and the walk-in closet with all of my clothes and accessories, with plenty of room left for blankets and coats.
The Olivers had set up my bed for me, so I made the bed, and moved my desk and chair to the other side of the room, plugging in my laptop and an extra lamp. After arranging pictures and books on the bookshelf I’d brought from my apartment, the room was looking pretty homey.
Michael had said that the bathroom on this side of the unit was all mine, so I set up Nutella’s litter box in one corner, then filled the cabinets with my towels and various toiletries.
