Chapter Six
Brach
“Are you sure you feel comfortable doing this? I don’t mind you staying here. We can always put a bed in the guest room.” Jones was sweeter than sweet. He wasn’t offering to be nice. He meant it.
It amused me that it was still called the guest room considering it was filled with books, books, and more books. If anything, it was a library. It had been his wife’s favorite room, and it meant more to me than I could express, that he offered me her space.
Jones giving me an option that allowed me to not feel pressured to accept the job was so on brand for him. But the truth was, after meeting Karma that day, I already felt good about it. I was realistic and knew that I had a tendency to overlook red flags. My past showed me that time and again.
This time, I sat down and tried to think of any flags that might not be the perfect shade of green. It wasn’t a red flag recruiting someone to work for you while out and about. That happened a lot.
I looked up the club and Karma specifically online.
There was not a single bad word about her on the entire internet.
If anything, it was like she was a goddess who no one should ever even look sideways at.
The club had a few people saying they didn’t like how far away it was from where they lived, but other than that, it too was all positive.
The pay was pretty average for the position. And as far as a place to stay in exchange for pet sitting, that checked, too. It was far cheaper to have someone live in your spare room than it was to hire someone, according to all the pet-sitting posts I’d could find.
Overall, the entire situation sounded pretty legit. And then, when I went to meet with Karma that first time, I felt like it was where I needed to be.
The job itself, I could handle, no problem. It also had opportunities to learn some new skills, which I appreciated. So even if the cat-sitting part wasn’t for me, the job would’ve been. I also didn’t feel like I had to take the pet sitting. It wasn’t all or nothing.
If I’d gone to meet the fur baby and felt uncomfortable with either something in the room or the cat himself, I’d have turned down the pet sitter and just taken the job. Karma made it clear that was an option. Although as she said it, it sounded like she didn’t think that would be the case.
I didn’t mind staying at Jones’. It was like living at home, only better because, unlike my parents, he didn’t suck. Having a place to stay was a priority, but not to the extent that I’d knowingly made bad choices.
“You ready to meet your charge?” Karma asked.
I’d just filled out my HR paperwork. The job was sealed whether or not I took on the what she referred to as a side hustle.
“Absolutely.”
It wasn’t until she wove through the maze that was Animals that I realized how big it was.
Deceptively large, given the front part of the club.
It was along the side of a cliff, and I knew going in that it embraced its inner Tardis, but I hadn’t realized to what extent until I was navigating the space.
We passed an indoor swimming pool that looked more like you were going outside than an inner room. If she had told me it was a portal across the country, I might’ve believed her for a minute. It was that good.
Farther and farther in, we went past apartment after apartment, laundry rooms, a game room, and I didn’t even know what. It was immense. You name it, they had it. And then finally, Karma stopped.
“This is you. Now remember, Bosco is the real boss here, not you, not me, and certainly not Ronny.”
“What do you mean?” Karma spoke in riddles a lot in the short time I’d known her.
“Do you not understand how cats work? They are the boss. Sometimes they let us pretend we are.”
Come to think of it, she was right.
I stepped inside. It was a normal apartment. And despite it not being mine, it had the comfortable feeling as if walking into my own place. It wasn’t my couch, my kitchen appliances, my area rug, and yet they were all familiar.
And then Bosco poked his head out of the cat condo and jumped out, barreling toward me, rubbing against me and purring loudly.
“Looks like Bosco has claimed you as one of his.”
“Is that right, little buddy?” I scooped the cat into my arms. He was more cat than kitten at this point, but I could still see that his paws were too big for his body. He had some growing to do. “What do you think? Can the two of us be friends?”
He purred, rubbed against me some more, and then jumped down and stood by my feet.
Karma showed me all the notes Ronny had left for me. I made sure the cat was good and fed and promised Bosco I’d be back soon. And then I went back to Jones’.
I’d told Karma it was going to be a few more days before I moved in, but that I would definitely make sure the cat was fine the entire time.
I could have left instantly. Jones wouldn’t have held me back, but there were some projects I didn’t feel comfortable leaving undone at his house.
A couple of his back steps were about to give and needed to be replaced.
The light fixture in his kitchen looked like it was holding on for its life.
And the refrigerator needed a new water filter.
I could’ve whipped it all out in one day, but I needed some time to wrap my head around the big changes I was about to make, which was why I was now having to convince Jones I really wanted to go.
“Don’t worry. I’m not disappearing forever. You can’t get away from me,” I teased.
“Well, that’s what I like to hear. Leroy would miss you.”
“And I would miss Leroy, wouldn’t I?” I squatted, and he licked my face.
I’d unpacked about half of the things from the car the second day I was there, not wanting the heat to get to them. That meant I needed to spend the morning packing the car back up before heading to Animals.
It had been difficult to say goodbye to Jones until I said, “Let’s have some tea tomorrow.”
His face lit up at that.
It would be the first of many times that I went over to have tea and help around the place. You never knew who you’d meet in this world or when. If Jones hadn’t been walking his dog at that moment, who knew where I would be now?
I parked in the staff parking lot and only got two boxes in before I had people lining up to help. Much to Bosco’s chagrin, I locked him in the bathroom while we unloaded my car.
According to the bio Ronny left for me, Bosco had been found, which means either he was a good little escape artist, something I wanted to avoid happening on my watch, or someone abandoned him. Neither was good.
We piled everything in the bedroom that would be mine, and the helpers asked me to come out and have some drinks and appetizers with them. I asked for a rain check, telling them I was too tired. And I was. But also, I wanted to get to know my new boss… I meant, cat.
Bosco hung out in my bedroom as I unpacked the items I’d be using and stacked the others neatly in one corner. This wasn’t a forever gig. It was for a movie filming, and that was that. A few months tops. No point getting too settled in.
If I played my cards right and banked as much money as I could, I’d be able to get a nice place of my own when this was over.
I already knew I was going to miss my new boss, though. Karma had been right. Bosco was too cute to be legal.