Quill
“Let me get this straight,” Melissa said as she helped me tie all the garbage to go out. I was working a morning to afternoon shift at Quirks and Perks and normally would go over to Joker’s Sin afterwards, but Black told me to just go home after here and get ready.
“What’s confusing, Mel, is he asked me to go to a grand ball where a ton of rich, amazing people will be and he and I will dance into the night. And if I’m lucky, under a full moon, he will kiss me tenderly and tell me he will never let me go. AND,” I shouted excitedly, lost in my fairytale, “a large, white steed will whisk us away to Hawaii.”
Mel rolled her eyes and chuckled. “There’s so much wrong with that, but I won’t correct you.”
“Appreesh,” I said as I dragged a bag to the back door by the alley.
“You’re forgetting, Bartholomew Sterling will be there, and he’s inviting you because he wants to basically piss on your leg in front of the guy so his son will leave you alone. Not dreamy, Quill.” She held the door open.
“I thought you said you wouldn’t correct me?” I narrowed my eyes and slinked out the door, pulling two bags behind me. The bell chiming over the entry door had Mel going back to the front, leaving me to finish garbage duty alone. Fortunately, my wrist only twinged with pain, nothing lasting.
I’d just hauled the last bag into the dumpster when I heard it. Like a hum, or a whistle, or… what the hell is that? Following the sound, it led me to a heap of soggy boxes. The chill of winter kissed my skin as I got closer to the mouth of the alley.
“Hello?” I said, arms crossed, trying to protect myself from the icy mist that flowed my way. The sound stopped for a second, then it began again. This time it sounded like a wounded cry. What the hell?
Just using my pointer and my thumb, I began pulling the soggy cardboard apart. I lifted a disgusting pizza box when I saw it.
It couldn’t have been bigger than my hand, perhaps a tad larger. It was gray and white, and its eyes were the prettiest shade of amber I’d ever seen.
“Oh my, what are you doing down there, little guy?” So slowly as to not scare the kitten, I reached down to pick him up. Sure, I wondered if he had rabies and if this was how my life ended, but I couldn’t ignore his cries. “There you go, you’re okay.” He shook from fear or the cold, I didn’t know. His left ear had a nick in it and there was dried blood on his paws. “You’re okay. I’m Quill, nice to meet you. I’d ask your name, but I doubt you’d answer me.” I walked back down the alley toward the café. Mel would likely yell at me for picking up a diseased stray and for going out without a coat, but I felt like a hero in this moment.
“What is that?” She pointed to the furball huddled close to my chest as I sat in the breakroom.
“A kitten. He was under a bunch of soggy boxes. Are you still friends with that vet guy, what’s his name?”
“Yeah, why?” She knew where I was going with this, and she knew I knew, but apparently, we were playing this game… Okay.
“I want to keep him. He’s sad and alone.”
“Quill, you work three jobs. He’s clearly seen hard times, he’s going to need a lot of care. You aren’t going to be able to help him.” She sat beside me and carefully rubbed Kitty’s good ear.
“Mel, I won’t toss him aside. I know how that feels.” Patting the crusty fur, I whispered, “He needs his prince too.”
She was quiet for a minute, then she sighed and took out her cellphone. The warmth of victory felt good.
An hour later, she was pushing me out the door and ushering me into an Uber. “Do as the doc says and have fun tonight. I will be at your place after I close to watch the kitten.” Her expression softened when she looked at the kitty. “We’ll figure it out, Quill. Love you.”
The whole way to the clinic, Kitty shook and meowed. I had money saved, mostly for if my brother ever showed up demanding it, but I’d risk even his wrath to save Kitty.
I had never been to the vet clinic. Sure, I’d been to enough hospitals and seen enough doctors of my own, but never one for animals. This was totally new for me.
Doctor Mason made me wish I was a cat. He was ridiculously hot. Taller than me, which was typical, he had thick salt and pepper hair, muscles that screamed “lick me,” and those eyes, damn, no way they were that perfect shade of fuck-me blue.
“Quill, is it?” he asked in his body melting voice.
“Y... yes, Quill. This is Kitty.” I held up the gray ball of despair for him to see.
“Oh dear!” The sheer look of horror and sadness on his face mimicked how I felt when I first saw him too. “Right this way.”
Kitty was so good for Dr. Fuck Me, I mean Mason. The examination was thorough and I was glad the results were better than I feared.
“There’s no question of malnourishment. Thankfully, the blood isn’t Kitty’s. Possibly, she ran from something…”
“Hold up.” He’d said she. “You said she.”
When he smiled, there were lines that showed me a lifetime of laughter and it was contagious.
“I did. He is, in fact, a she. I’d say Kitty is about eleven weeks. There’s no bites or scratches, so I’m confident ruling out rabies. I’d like to keep her for at least several days. Wash her up, get her weight stabilized, and rehydrated. She needs a series of shots and I’d feel better if she was monitored.” He petted Kitty and it was clear as she nuzzled up to the doctor, she was a whore, and totally mine.
“Okay, um… When would you say I could get her and what would I need to care for … a cat, Kitty? Is that a good name?”
Dr. Mason chuckled and reached into his jacket. “I’ll write you a list so you can get her everything she needs. You’ll have some time, and when I feel she’s able to go home, I, or someone on my staff, will contact you.”
“Thank you.” I gave Kitty a kiss on her gross head and feeling lighter than I had in a while, headed out to the bus. It was three o’clock and Black was getting me in exactly three hours. I had to hustle if I was going to be on time.
I shot a quick text off to Mel letting her know that Kitty was staying at the clinic for a while and she didn’t have to come by. I was glad because I had no idea how to make the security in my apartment not kill her when I wasn’t there.
Back at my place, I grabbed the ridiculously expensive suit Lana and I had purchased, along with the cool new shoes, and laid them out, then hopped into the shower. I knew Mel was right that tonight was about warning the Sterlings away from me, but I was good at pretending and using my imagination. Tonight, regardless of what Black said, I was thinking of it as a date.
I glanced at myself in the floor length mirror and thought I looked really good. I only hoped Black thought so too.