19. Piper
19
PIPER
“Piper! Hi!” Bailey appears behind the counter of Rhapsody shortly after I walk in. She’s got on a bright pink top and blue jean shorts with little daisies embroidered all over. “Can I get you anything?"
"Decaf, I definitely need decaf,” I mutter, still feeling high strung. I'm not sure why I came to the cat café instead of talking to my other friends. Sure, they are busy at their jobs. Anam is teaching, Kelly has her show coming up.
But it is Bay who actually has experience with cryptids. She and I have gotten closer in the past couple months, we’ve been trading texts and messages online, and if anyone will understand my odd predicament it’ll be her.
"Don't normally see you in the middle of the day,” she muses, handing me the almond creamer she knows I like best.
“I had to leave work early.” I laugh at first, but then I can’t help myself. I blurt everything out in one long embarrassing string. “He was there. He bought my company, Bailey. Or, not bought it—he's sponsoring my non-profit.”
“Wait. Who did what?”
“He could ruin my business, Bay! I've built it from the ground up, and it’s going to be ripped from my fingers.” My nervous energy has my hand shaking.
“Your mate? You really think he's capable of that?”
“I don't know what he's capable of! He's the head of a huge corporation.”
“Oh. Oh no!” Bay's cheeks turn pink. “Wait, you work in tech, don't you? Some kind of programmer?”
“Why?”
Her face gets serious as she walks around the counter into the customer space. “You should really talk to my fiancé.”
Confused, I diligently follow her into the cat sanctuary room, where, sitting there in the middle of the floor, is a very large, very familiar, very grumpy Bigfoot. He has a handful of kittens scrambling across him while he cleans out a litter box.
“Sacha?” I squeak without intending to.
He looks up, his big brown eyes finding me.
“Ms. Hamilton?” He acknowledges me with a nod. A kitten in his lap yells loudly for his attention, and he lifts a huge hairy finger to scratch under its chin.
"What are you doing here?" I ask, backing away.
“Sacha is my mate.” Excitement flashes through Bailey’s eyes as she says it.
"What is going on, Beast?” Sacha asks.
"I was just leaving." I turn for the door.
"Wait! Please!" Bailey steps into my path. "I promise I didn't realize until just now! You never said! I didn't make the connection! But it makes so much sense! You and Pontius are perfect for each other!"
"You can’t be serious.” I shake my head.
“Beast, what are you talking about?” Sacha frowns in Bailey’s direction. Their eyes meet and they silently communicate, the way that really close couples can.
"She's Pontius’s mate.”
Sacha’s eyes narrow, he looks from me to his fiancé and then back again.
“If Pontius had a mate I’d know about it,” Sacha disagrees, leaning back on his haunches carefully to not disrupt the kitten pile.
“No he wouldn’t,” Bailey says to me conspiratorially. “He’s completely clueless.”
“Who told you? Pleasant?” Sacha asks.
Bailey shakes her head subtly.
“Was it Magnes?” I cross my arms over my chest.
She sighs.
“Ness?” Sacha asks.
“We text sometimes.” Bailey shrugs. “He loves the Kardashians.”
“Ness knows? And I don’t?” Sacha asks.
“Because you’re totally clueless,” Bailey reiterates.
“You really didn't know about—me?” I demand, searching their faces for any sign of deception.
“We had no idea,” Bailey says.
“I wouldn't have allowed your company to become an asset if I'd known.” Sacha frowns, while his hand reaches down to pet a kitten clamoring across his lap.
“So it’s all what? A coincidence? You expect me to believe that?” I scowl at him.
“I expect that this was all Ness's plan. He led the acquisition, and he loves to meddle in other people’s business. I've been stepping away from the company since—” He gestures at Bailey and the cat café in general.
“You’re claiming Ant didn’t have any part of it?” I grumble.
“I don’t think Pontius even knew it was happening,” Sacha ponders.
“His signature was on all of the contracts.”
“His lawyer’s signature was on all of the contracts.” Sacha corrects me. “That should have been my first clue something was up. Ness was cagey about the deal but I didn’t know this was what he had planned.” He scratches a kitten’s head with one hand, and the other pulls out his phone to type a message.
“How could Pontius not know?” I bite out. Did he forget about me? Has he not thought about me at all for the past couple months? My nervous feet can’t hold still any longer and I start pacing the room.
“He’s been in Canada,” Bailey says.
I roll my eyes.
“He was visiting family,” Sacha agrees.
“He may have found a sister he didn’t know he had.” Bailey confirms, her face tinged with concern. “He’s been searching for family members?—”
“I know who he’s been looking for,” I snap. I cross my arms over my chest and stop pacing the room. “You knew that Pontius was obsessed with me.” I accuse Bailey.
“No!” she insists. “I didn’t know he was the cryptid you were talking about! I promise. My goodness, I am so sorry, Piper.” She reaches for my shoulder. “I should have realized. I wish I’d known. I really do. Pontius can be—odd. I knew he met someone new, but I didn’t know any of the details. Ness said you two were ‘taking it slow’, that Pontius finally found someone who broke the spell Tiffany had him wrapped up in. No idea what he saw in her .”
“His ex? I heard about her.” I sink into one of the chairs not occupied by a cat. My blood boiling at thought of the things she said to him. “She sounds like a—piece of work.” ? ? 1
Bailey's eyes glimmer. “The only thing that snapped Pontius out of her clutches was a woman he met in a bar. Someone who was smart, and kind, and treated him like he was worth being with.”
My heart somersaults. “You don’t need to make me feel guilty for not being with him.” I snap.
“I don’t want you to feel guilty!” Bailey holds up her hands in surrender. “Pontius needed you.”
“It shouldn’t have happened like this. But, Pleasant couldn’t help himself.” Sacha leans back against one of the benches, his legs stretching long across the floor. “I’ve been there. It’s impossible to stay away from your mate once you find them. It’s not his fault.”
“Are you blaming me?” I bite back.
“I’m blaming Ness.” Sacha rumbles a noise in the back of his throat. “That bastard basically fired me for daring to fuck my assistant?—”
Bailey gestures to herself, indicating that she was the assistant. I stifle a giggle even though none of this should be funny.
“And now he’s ready to purchase an entire company for Pontius? I’m going to strangle that three-foot neck.” Sacha continues grumbling even while a kitten climbs him to settle onto one wide shoulder.
“He won’t really hurt him,” Bailey tells me with a little smile. “I’m really sorry, Piper.” Her face is so completely earnest I could only believe she’s telling the truth.
Sacha pauses typing on his phone long enough to actually look at me. “Piper, this will be taken care of. Just please. Don’t do anything rash.”
“She won’t!” Bay announces loudly. “She just needs some time to think. Give her some time to think about it. Right, Piper?”
“What makes you so sure?” I grumble.
“Because you already love him.” She grins.
I roll my eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. I barely know the guy.”
“Yes, of course,” Bailey waves a hand through the air dismissively. “I really am sure that Pontius didn’t mean any harm. Not that it negates you being hurt. Just that, he would never hurt you on purpose. You just need to get to know him better. Give him a chance to make it up to you.”
“Beast,” Sacha starts, there’s a warning tone in his deep voice.
“Just go on another date with my stalker?” I grumble.
“No, no. You don’t have to date him! I don’t care who you date. I’ll take you out if you like. To prove it. We can go to a bar. I’ll take you to a bar myself and we can find you someone new! I want to be your friend, Piper. I like you! I want to stay friends, please!”
“Alright!” I laugh as her ramble stops. “Obviously, I don’t want to quit my job. And yeah, I like you too.” I wipe a hand across my face. Bailey has actually been really helpful this whole time. I have been enjoying her friendship, and she got me my cat. Disappointing her sweet face feels like kicking a puppy. I like her. I like Cryptech. I like my job there. I don’t want things to change. I don’t want more people to abandon me.
“Then let’s go out! Like real friends do! I even know a couple really good cryptid bars. You’d like that wouldn’t you?”
“That does sounds like fun.” I admit. I believe that Sacha or Bailey didn’t fully know what was going on, I don’t think either of them is capable of pulling some Ocean’s Eleven level heist on me. I can give it some time, let Sacha sort it out. Maybe finding someone else to replace Ant would help get him off my mind. I cleared Colin out with Ant after all. Maybe I just need someone new to replace my obsession with the Mothman.
1 ? The other two nod. Everyone in the room knows I wanted to say ‘bitch’ but held back.