Chapter Eight
Brach
It had been over two months since I started my new job at Animals and moved into my side hustle, watching Bosco.
I loved working there. I loved the people.
I loved that I was treated like a valuable member of the team, something I never had at my past jobs.
But more than anything, I loved my furry roomie.
Bosco was getting so big and, as impossible as it seemed, cuter by the day. I didn’t know a ton about kittens before moving in, and still didn’t. Not really. But if he wasn’t full size now, he was going to require an addition to this place soon.
Who would’ve thought a cat could make me feel like I belonged in an apartment from the very first time I walked through the door?
I’d been so nervous that day. I was going into somebody else’s space without meeting them first. To make it more intense, was the fact that I was there to take care of their pet, who they cherished enough they nearly turned down a potentially career-changing role. So much could’ve gone wrong.
Only it didn’t. One step inside, and I knew this was where I needed to be. And then sweet little Bosco came out of his condo and rubbed up against me, and it was all over. I was in love.
It was weird having a roommate I only knew from the screen of my phone or tablet. We video chatted fairly often, and I looked forward to our time together. In so many ways, it was like we’d always known each other, despite still being virtual strangers.
At first, they were mostly to show Ronny how big Bosco was getting and any new tricks he learned. Some days, I just held Bosco so Ronny could chat with him. But as time passed, it became more than that. At least, to me it had.
When Karma had told me that Ronny wasn’t a star yet, I could see why she phrased it that way.
There was something magnetic about him. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him when he was on the screen.
Sure, he was attractive, but most stars were.
It wasn’t about that. It was that whole je ne sais quoi Jones said his wife had.
I didn’t understand it then. After meeting Ronny, I did.
In the beginning, our conversations were kind of on a surface level. But as time progressed, they got deeper and more personal.
He knew all about Jeremy, the asshole, and the mess I’d been in before moving here. Not once during that conversation did I feel judged or like he thought less of me because of it. It would’ve been so easy to look down on me for making bad decision after bad decision after bad decision.
Last week, I fitted Bosco with a new collar and harness and we went over to see Jones. Jones loved Bosco almost as much as I did. Leroy was still on the fence, but he was a really good boy about it.
I’d taken to going to have tea with Jones at least once a week after fixing something around the house.
He told me that I didn’t have to and that the work could wait.
He was right. Nothing had to be done immediately, but helping around the house had been my excuse to visit and it felt great giving back to him.
I switched a light plate cover or fixed a drip and in return, got some time with the closest person I had to family.
My coworkers were great. I loved them and enjoyed spending time with them inside and outside of clock hours. But for most of them, it felt like they were always kinda keeping secrets from me. And at first, they had been.
Most of my coworkers were shifters. I had no idea that shifters were not only real but transformed into a wide variety of animals. The name of the club was so on the nose. If they had trusted me from the get-go, maybe I wouldn’t feel like there was still a barrier between us. But they hadn’t.
It wasn’t until I turned the corner to see a wet kangaroo that hadn’t shifted outside because of the rain, that I so much had suspected anything was unusual here.
At the time, the rain had caught me more off guard.
For some reason, I had in my mind that deserts meant no rain ever. How did I ever pass geography?
I still felt sort of like an outsider. Not fully, but there wasn’t that comfort I found when I was with Jones or when I was on the phone with Ronny.
He’d quickly become like a bestie to me.
I’d complain to him about customers or how I couldn’t get a stain out of my shirt.
He’d complain it was too cold to be doing a swimming scene.
I’d drink beer while talking about the scores of the latest game.
He’d eat takeaway and tell me about all the gossip on the set.
The one thing I never was brave enough to ask him was if he too was a shifter.
I suspected not, since he had a cat. What kind of cat wants to live in a house with someone who turns into a lion or a bear or a dragon?
And he wouldn’t be the only human here, if that were the case.
Obviously, I was one, but so were some of the others as well.
“Bosco, I need to stop overthinking life.” I took out his jar of treats and gave him one. He instantly dropped it to the floor and batted it around, chasing it. Apparently, the hunt for the treat was what made it taste good.
“Your daddy’s coming home soon, Bosco. We should do something nice for him.” I’d already planned to deep clean. Everything was already surface clean, but I wanted it to be extra nice for him.
But I also wanted to cook, which sounded great, in theory, if you had never eaten my cooking. My repertoire was pretty limited. I could make instant noodles, mac and cheese, omelets, that kind of thing. Nothing too fancy. But for him, I wanted it to be.
He told me once how he loved baked spaghetti, and I looked up how-to videos until I found one I could manage. I went to the store to find all the ingredients and had to ask for help for the ricotta and some of the spices. The people were nice enough, but judging was happening.
While I was there, I spotted a chocolate cake that looked delightful. Adding the fixings for a good salad, and I was feeling pretty good about things. It was hardly gourmet. More like really good cafeteria food, if I were to categorize it, but I was going to make sure that it was the best.
Because after being away from home for that long and only seeing his cat in video and working the hours he did, he deserved the best.
At least I lied to myself about why I was so vested in this meal. I wasn’t quite ready to admit that I couldn’t wait to have him near me—just the two of us and the fur ball that had stolen both our hearts.