Home Sweet Cat Trap (Dani POV)
“Sheldon, I’m home!” I cried as I came through the front door.
“Well it’s about time. I’ve been wasting away here, unloved, unfed, and unappreciated,” he mewed pitifully at me.
“Unfed? Unloved? Unappreciated?! You ungrateful, ankle-biting lint ball!” Oliver growled as he came from the living room as he untied his apron. “I feed him three times a day. I’ve let him sleep on the bed every day and night. AND I have been nothing but nice and supportive when he explained to me, at length, how a gnat was wandering free in the apartment all day until he finally got fed up and killed it.”
I looked at Oliver with wide eyes. “Was he really that big a problem while I was gone?” I asked with concern as I shot Sheldon a warning glare.
Oliver’s face softened before he wrapped his arms around me tightly and picked me up to spin me around. “Not really. He’s just been bitey and whiny the last few days. The time apart from you has been hard on both of us.” He smiled before setting me down gently and pressing a kiss against my mouth.
“Well, I’m home now. I’m sorry I was gone so long. I left Vesaria two weeks before Kat and ended up being sent to Maht to help organize the library there. The building was destroyed in the attack earlier this summer,” I explained.
“I know,” Oliver said, turning to take my luggage into the living room so I could unpack. “Do you want to take a quick shower before we go to dinner?”
I paused, sniffing the air. “Go to dinner? The place smells amazing – I thought we would be doing homecooked here tonight?” I was already peeling out of my clothes and searching for a towel as I asked.
“Oh, we’re still having homecooked. I made part of dinner. It’s going with us,” he explained from the living room.
I took a quick shower and found clean jeans and a tshirt waiting for me when I got out. Sheldon was sprawled on the couch with his belly pointed towards me. Unable to resist a kitty belly I rushed to get dressed and flopped down beside him. I successfully managed three pets before a CHOMP and pain ran through my hand. “Ouch! Sheldon! What was that for?”
“That was for being gone ALL summer. You will also find special presents in all of your shoes in the closet. You’re welcome!” he snapped before rolling over and toddling away. He sat at the far end of the couch with his back to me. I watched, annoyed and amused, as his tail twitched back and forth.
“Oliver, maybe we should stay in tonight. I think Sheldon needs me,” I said.
Oliver scoffed. “Just bring him with us. I’ve got everything packed to go. Throw on your flip flops and lets get out of here.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” was the only explanation I received. I followed him out the front door to the elevator, where we rode it two floors up and got off. My heart raced faster as we approached the apartment that had been Kat’s. Had Oliver met the new people living here? I watched carefully as he slid off the lock cover and typed in the code. As the door opened the scent of fresh bread and other food washed over me.
“Well it’s about time. I should have known Dani would be late,” I stared agape as Kat set the table in her living room, surrounded by pillows and a sofa. The place was clean and rearranged. Kat stood grinning at me as Tessa rushed by with hot vegetables.
“What’s going on here? I thought they were renting out your apartment?” I asked, realizing I sounded absolutely lost. Sheldon wiggled out of my arms and went to inspect the table. He made it only as far as the couch when a flying white furball collided with him, knocking him across the floor. Flurry pounced playfully on him again and again despite his best efforts to escape.
“I just signed another two-year lease,” Kat said matter of factly.
“What about Everbloom?” I blurted out.
She gave me a shrug. “This is my home. I have a portal bead. I can commute.”
“Hue and Ian are all right with this?”
Her grin told me everything I needed to know. “I don’t think they really have much say. Now grab a wooden spoon the plates from beside the stove. I’m hungry.”
