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Desi swallowed hard when she noticed he filled her cup to the brim.On second thought, maybe he is trying to get me drunk.
She picked up her sandwich and said, “I’m starving,” as she took a generous bite. Truth be told, she really wasn’t, but she wasn’t prepared to spill her guts to him just yet. Desi knew he would never give up; he was persistent she had to give him that.
Impressed, that she didn’t pick at her food like a bird, Lane let it go for now as she wolfed it down. He was a patient man; he could wait her out. No he couldn’t, but he did until they were halfway through their meal to break the silence. “So, what’s your story?”
Out of the corner of his eye he was watching for any movement or expression that flashed across her face, people tended to lie, but body language didn’t.
She pushed her food away, picked up her wine and leaned back against the couch. “Okay. Brian is my ex. He decided a few months ago that he no longer wanted to be my boyfriend.” She took a sip from her cup, collecting her thoughts as his words echoed through the recesses of her mind.
“How long did you two date?” Lane resisted the urge to get a pen and notebook, something he always did when he was questioning people, which was exactly what his plan was, but he knew if he did, she would clam up. Instead, he shifted his position on the couch. Facing towards her, he casually sat there, waiting, and ready to analyze every word that passed her lips.
“We dated for five months,” Desi said, thinking it was the longest five months of her life.
Propping his arm on the back of the couch, he rested his head on his fisted hand and asked, “What was his reason?”
“He said, he was tired of being with a fat woman,” she glanced at him only to see him squinting at her. “What?”
“Ah nothing.” He shook his head. Rubbing the corner of his eye, he said, “Wait, why would he say that?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged, “Maybe, because it’s true?”
He snorted. “I don’t think it is... I mean, sure you’re not skinny as a rail, which is great. Who wants to hang on to a stick in the middle of...”Whoa...
Lane jumped off the couch and walked over to the window looking at the turbulent sky and wondered where thehellthat came from.
He thought about trying to smooth things over with an excuse, but the problem was he didn’t have one. Unless... his hatred for her was really a weird, skewed attraction.Nah, that isn’t it.
Without skipping a beat and acting as if he never uttered those words, he turned to her. “Is that when he took your cat?”
“Ah... no, he came back three weeks ago while I was at work and took her.”
He nodded. “So, he broke in then?”
“No, he still had a key...”
Lane wiped a hand down his face then looked at her, “And you never thought to change the lock?” He waved a hand and shook his head. “Never mind, obviously you didn’t. How do you know it was him?”
“His friend Pete told me he saw him leave with Nala in her carrier and that he was coming to Pearl Lake... Look I know this all must sound stupid to you, but I need to get her back! She’s the last thing my grandparents gave me...”
“No, I get it and I’m sorry for your loss, but if Pete and Brian are friends, why would he tell you?”
Desi got up from the couch and joined him at the window. Looking out, she couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming need for a good cry. Finding Nala would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Sighing, she turned and looked at him. “Because Brian borrowed money from Pete to get back here with her and promised he would pay him back double the amount.”
His brows shot up. “How much money are we talking about?”
“My grandparents loved Bengals so much that they became breeders and always strived to get the purest one.”
“You’re avoiding the question. How much money are we talking about?”
“He borrowed $5000.00 from him.”
Lane let out a low whistle. “How much is Nala worth?”
“As I was saying, my grandparents wanted a pure one—”
He held up a hand, “What do you mean by a ‘pure’ one, what are they vampires or something?” he laughed.
“They are rated on a scale. The higher the number the closer they are related to their ancestor which in the case of Bengals it’s the Asian Leopard Cat, it’s called the Filial scale...the closer they are the more valuable.”
