Chapter 11
FELIX
Maddie didn’t want anything to do with Cometcents, but I knew I could explain myself if I just got the chance to talk to her. Her friends had said she was at home, so I went there. I’d driven her home once, so I knew the building. I just didn’t know the exact unit.
So I stared at the mailboxes in the lobby until I found one with Maddie’s cute handwriting featuring a heart over the I. She was on the third floor.
I tried the lobby door, but it was locked. With a sigh, I tried the call box. I didn’t think this was going to go well over an intercom.
“Hello?” Maddie sounded hesitant.
“Maddie, it’s Felix.”
“Go away, traitor.”
The intercom went dead. I sighed and pushed the button again.
“No,” she said. “No. You industrial espionaged me and then sent a lawyer to try to intimidate me.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.”
“No, I really didn’t. If you’ve got lawyers coming to talk to you, it’s not because of me, but I can help you get rid of them. I wrote the playbook on acquisitions.”
Maddie was quiet, but the quiet static buzz of the intercom said the line was still open.
“So you’re admitting that you’re the Head of Acquisitions?”
“I used to be. I can explain, but I would really prefer not to do it over the intercom.”
“Well, then maybe you should have thought about that before you lied to me!”
“I never lied to you. My work history is on my LinkedIn. You could have looked me up at any time.”
“I don’t LinkedIn people! It’s rude!”
“No, it’s not. It’s way less rude than Facebook stalking.”
“LinkedIn rats you out. They tell people you looked at their profile.”
“That’s true,” I agreed. “Can I come up?”
“No,” said Maddie stubbornly.
“Please?” I didn’t know if please would work, but it couldn’t hurt.
“I don’t—” She broke off. “You’re going to climb up my balcony?” She sounded puzzled. “That can’t be right. Only Shayla does that.”
“Cat girl with the calico hair?”
“Yes, no. What do you mean, cat girl?”
“The one who threatened to bury me.”
“That does sound like her. I did promise her she could choose violence if Cometcents showed up again. But no, wait, you can’t just—”
“Sure, I can. Be right up.”
MADDIE
I tiptoed out to my balcony and stared over the edge. The vision had been quite clear, but I was very confused. The wall didn’t have any handholds up until the roof line of the second story. Shayla used the spindly willow tree, but it was only cat-weight-friendly.
Moments later, Felix came into view. His head tilted up, scanning the balconies. He saw me, and his face lit up.
“Felix, what are you doing?”
“It’s not obvious?” he asked, looking a bit hurt.
“No!”
“I’m professing love in the traditional ground-to-balcony manner.”
I tried to smother a laugh behind my hand, but was entirely unsuccessful.
“I am on the third floor! Ground to balcony might be traditional, but it is not practical.”
“Good point. Stay right there.”
“Where am I going to go?
He turned around and trotted toward the far side of the street.
“Where are you going?” I demanded, but he didn’t respond.
Instead, Felix charged at the building, running at a speed befitting a professional athlete. He hit the grass, gave one giant bound, and launched himself into the air. He easily grabbed the ledge at the second story, pulled himself up, and sprang over the edge of my balcony.
“Hi!” he said, as if he hadn’t just gone full superhero.
“Felix!”
“OK, first of all, I haven’t worked at Cometcents in a decade, but for the life of me, I can’t get them to take that stupid picture down.”
A decade was a pretty long time.
“Well, that does make me feel better, but you looked exactly the same.”
“OK, well, that brings us to the second thing.” He cleared his throat and looked nervous.
“Uh, so you know how your friend Shayla. . . That is, I hope you know your friend kind of, sometimes, is a bit of a different shape?” He looked extra nervous.
I didn’t think I’d ever seen him look uncertain before.
“I don’t talk about my friend’s shapes,” I said frostily. “They are perfect no matter what shape they are in.”
“OK, great. And, yes. But like Shayla, sometimes I’m not always shaped like this.”
I blinked.
“Sometimes I’m a bit. . . furrier?”
I kept staring, and with a sigh, he shook his head, and then he had a wolf face.
“Oh, thank God,” I said, clutching my chest and breathing out in relief. “I was so worried you were a soul-sucking corporate overlord.”
He shook his head again and reverted to his human form.
“No, I tried that, but I’m not that much of a predator. I want Deja Brew to succeed. I want you to succeed. I haven’t been lying to you. I really love Deja Brew. I love. . .” He paused, and his cheeks went pink.
“Oh,” I said. “Oh!” Unable to contain myself any longer, I flung my arms around his neck.
Our lips met with the softest, sweetest kiss as the wind kicked up and flung my hair in all directions.
“You’re going to take me inside, and I’m going to be happy,” I said, looking up into his mocha-brown eyes.
“Is that the future you see?” he asked, smiling down at me.
“It’s the future you’re going to make happen,” I said.
“Yes,” he agreed, his smile stretching into a grin. “Yes, it is.”