20. Cat
20
CAT
My lips still tingled from my kiss with Vince as I walked into the front office— Ruthie and Ellie both standing by the desk. Immediately , I was greeted by a barking noise behind Ruthie .
“Dash, she’s a friend,” Ruthie said sweetly to a tiny head I saw perched above her desk, staring at me.
“Good morning, Ruthie . Good to see you too, Ellie ,” I said when I walked in. “ And nice to meet you, Dash .”
Both of them looked at me with smiles growing to full Cheshire Cat grins.
“I think somebody got some, either last night or this morning,” Ellie muttered, looking straight at me.
She knew. I had no idea how she could know that, but she clearly did, and I could feel the heat rush to my face.
“Or both,” Ruthie said with a huge grin of her own, and they both giggled like little schoolgirls.
I’m not sure what to say because I’d never really had close girlfriends like this, or at least not ones while I was sexually active with a boyfriend. Wait , was Vince my boyfriend? I didn’t know.
“Girl, get over here and…spill…the…beans!” Ellie practically screeched.
Dash barked, likely on alert from Ellie’s loud announcement. Ellie apologized and stroked Dash’s head.
“Hi, Dash .” I leaned down and stuck my hand out for him to sniff and assess me.
When he felt he had sufficiently checked me out, he licked my hand, and I gave him a few head scratches. He seemed very timid but sweet. His bed was next to Ruthie’s desk with a small plush toy in the corner.
“Stop using the dog to ignore us. Tell us the details!” Ellie insisted, pulling up a chair for me to sit next to Ruthie at the desk.
I sighed, realizing this might be good for me to have friends to talk to about this. “ We had sex.”
They both stared at me, waiting for me to continue.
“Annnnnd?” Ruthie asked, prompting me to carry on. “ Was it good? Was it bad? Your face implies it wasn’t bad, but maybe you’ve had better.”
I chuckled a little at her rapid-fire questions and assumptions. “ It was really good, though. I don’t really have anyone to compare him to, honestly.”
Hoping they’d take the hint without making me outright say I had been a virgin, I waited.
“He was your first?” Ellie asked, and I nodded. “ Was he gentle? Are you sore? How do you feel?”
“Girl, let her talk,” Ruthie interrupted then snorted.
“He was perfect,” I answered honestly. “ I was nervous to tell him I hadn’t been with anyone else before, but he was amazing. I didn’t even think it was possible to be that good for your first time.”
“It is if the guy knows what he’s actually doing,” Ruthie replied.
Just then, the front door opened, and we all turned to see who it was.
“What’s going on?” Val interrupted. “ Why are you all huddled together talking quietly?”
“Your sister and Vince had sex last night,” Ellie stage whispered, and my sister gasped. “ We’re getting all the details.”
“Crap. I knew I shouldn’t have gone to the bank first thing this morning. Start over from the beginning,” my sister demanded, grabbing a chair from the front wall and sliding it over to be right next to us.
I caught her up by repeating what I’d already told the other girls. My sister either gasped, giggled, or just silently grinned ear to ear.
“He’s taking me out to dinner tonight,” I informed them. “ I know it’s kind of backwards to have our first date after we had sex, but I’m excited.”
“Wade and I did things backward too,” Ellie chimed in. “ It is what it is, so just enjoy it.”
“I’m running late for work, but I’m gonna ask Tammy if she’ll let me off a little early so I can come home and help you do your hair and makeup,” Val added.
“If she can’t cover you, just call me and I’ll come fill in for the rest of your shift,” Ellie said.
It felt good having girlfriends to talk to about this stuff. Val had been great as my sister, but as I looked around at these girls, I realized how lucky I was to have them in my life.
* * *
Hours later, Val walked in the door just as I was packing up my things. I walked into the main reception space and saw her and Ruthie playing with Dash and chatting about getting their nails done soon. That wasn’t really my thing, but Val had always been into the fancy designs that only the good salons could do.
“Have fun tonight,” Ruthie said, smiling at me. “ You deserve it.”
“Chop-chop,” Val said, clapping her hands at me. “ We have less than two hours and a lot of hair, makeup, and primping to do. Let’s go.”
Val turned and was already headed to the door. I waved bye to Ruthie and caught up with my sister, who was practically jogging back to our building.
“Is it me going on this date or you?” I joked with her.
“Cat, you haven’t had a date in years ,” she said, telling me something I already knew and making me feel nervous. “ And I’ve never really had one, so I’m going to live vicariously through you, which is why your hair and makeup need to be perfect. And since I’m better at those things than you, I’m going to help you. Oh , and by help, I mean I’m going to just do all of it for you.”
I laughed because this stuff made my sister happy. She’d always wanted to work in a salon because she said it was a fulfilling job, making people happy when they left. She was always asking Ruthie about the hair salon she had worked at before she came here. And if I were being honest, my curly hair was unruly at best, but with enough product, it could look really nice, so I didn’t mind having Val help me make it look the best it could be.
She spent the majority of the walk back to Vince’s place telling me exactly how she wanted to do my hair and makeup. Knowing this was her thing, I let her be in her element.
We walked into the front entrance of Vince’s building, where Sandi , the front desk attendant, sat behind the desk. She was very friendly and in her late fifties or early sixties. She had quite a bit of gray hair showing through her short hair. She didn’t seem to be bothered by the gray but rather embraced it. She’d already learned our names, even though we hadn’t been here long. She signed for packages and handled food and grocery deliveries and such and was always pleasant when we were coming and going.
“Hey Cat . I’ve got a delivery for you,” Sandi said, stopping us as we walked toward the side door to get to the elevator. She bent down and grabbed a rectangle box, like the ones that had a variety of chocolates in them, and put it up on top of the ledge of the front desk she sat behind.
“Looks like you’ve either got a secret admirer or a big hankerin’ for chocolate,” she said, pushing the giant box closer to me.
“Shocker. Wonder who those are from.” Val laughed because she likely suspected they were from Vince . “ Oooh , there’s a card. Open it. What did he write?”
She was jumping up and down in place with excitement, and even though I’d rather keep that note to myself, I knew she would never in a million years let me walk upstairs with those chocolates without her seeing the card.
I took the card out from underneath the ribbon, opened it up, and started to read.
Hide all you want, but he can’t protect you. Your days are numbered.
My heart stopped. It was suddenly hard to breathe, and I couldn’t get enough air into my lungs.
“Cat, what is it?” Val asked, likely seeing the look on my face and sensing something was wrong.
“They found us,” I whispered to her, handing her the card.
She ripped the card from my hand, and I heard her swear beside me as she read it aloud.
Hide all you want, but he can’t protect you. Your days are numbered.
That was all the card said.
Two sentences. But that was enough to break every bit of security I’d built up in the weeks since we’d arrived here. Just when I had finally started to feel like this was over and we could live our lives like normal people, Val and I would have to move all over again.
I vaguely heard Val talking next to me, but I couldn’t concentrate on anything but what we needed to do next.
Pack.
We needed to pack up tonight and get on the road. I had a pre-made list I’d had for two years with places ready to go that I had already scoped out as safe towns and cities to live in. We would grab our stuff, Harry , and get on our way tonight. I’d leave Vince a note letting him know so we could at least keep in touch. But we couldn’t stay here. I couldn’t risk putting him in danger any more than I already had.