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“So you stayed and,” I glance down as a cat rockets between our feet, “fed his animals?”
“I went down to the bar and found Tim kicking Colin out! Then I watched as he went back to that chick he’s dating and pulled her in.” She moves her arms to illustrate the way Tim hugged another woman. “He went back to work, laughing and serving and pouring drinks. But he did it with his girlfriend by his side. And when she said something, he smiled.”
“He smiled?”
“Hesmiled!” she explodes. “Then he kissed her here.” She presses her fingers to her lips now. “He kissed her, even though he’d just kissed me. But he kissed her on the lips, the way lovers kiss. And he kissed me on the head, the way a brother kisses his annoying sister.”
Dropping her hands, she whimpers and turns on her heels to head back to the living room. “So I went to the alleyway just up the street and found a few stray cats.” She rolls up her sleeves to show off her forearms, slashed with claw marks. “I caught them, I brought them back here… and now they have a home.”
“And the broken plates?” I ask. “The lamp? The chocolate cake?”
“Well…” She goes back to work, mending the dishes she broke. “At first, I was really angry and wanted to trash his place.” She looks back at me, holding the tube of glue and firming her still-quivering jaw. “He deserves cat shit on his rug and his laundry to be messed up by cat pee. One of the cats knocked the lamp over, but I admit, I did the cake on my own.”
“Ohhhhkay. And then?”
“Then I panicked!” She starts on a new plate. “I brought stray cats into his apartment, Minka! I ruined his rug. I didn’t break his lamp, but the cats I brought here did, so it’s still kinda my fault.”
“Stilldefinitelyyour fault,” I giggle. “Lamp would be fine if not for you.”
“I know! So because I felt weird and dumb about it all, I figured I should make it look like there was a break-in.”
I look to the plate in her hand and laugh. “So you started smashing things?”
“I unplugged the television too. I’ll steal it on the way out and teach him a real lesson.”
“Uh-huh.” I look around at the dump and shake my head. “I’m sure he learned something tonight, Aubs. But I doubt it’s that he should consider you a grown, mature woman.”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion!”
Throwing the plate back into the sink so it shatters a second time, she charges into the living room to snatch up the TV. Wrapping the cord around the screen and dropping dots of glue onto the remote, she attaches the two for the rest of time, then she turns back to me and glowers.
“I’ll call the shelter tomorrow to come get the cats. But he deserves this, Minka! He deserves to have cat shit on his rug.”
The door opens at her back in a terrifying swing that makes me jump, and when the handle bounces off the wall, Aubree startles too. Then Tim steps in, legs wide, hands by his side, like he’s a cowboy readying to whip out a pistol.
Slowly, he looks around his apartment and burns a dangerous shade of red. “What the fuck?”
Archer follows him to the door and pins me with a stare that is equal parts accusing and amused. “Minka! What did you do?”
“There was a break-in!” Aubree sets the TV back down and dashes across the room to stand beside me. “We saved the place!”
“A break-in?” Archer actually bellows out a laugh. “That’s your story?”
“Why are you even in my fucking apartment?” Tim demands.
Angry now, Aubree scowls. “You put me here!”
“I was talking to Mayet!”
“Easy now,” Archer cautions. “Don’t fuck this up.”
“I heard the burglars,” I so very obviously lie. “I was afraid for Aubree’s life, so I came to her aid. Lucky I did, too. Because my arrival scared the bad guys away.”
Shoulders bouncing, silly giggles in his voice, Archer covers his face with his hands. “Worst liar ever. Mayet, let’s go. Time for bed.”
“Yup.” I smile for Aubree and make my way across the room. “I’m exhausted.”
“Don’t leave me!” she hisses desperately. Reaching out despite the fifteen feet between us, she wriggles her fingers in despair. “Don’t leave me here all alone. He’s really angry!”
