Chapter 10 One Cage At A Time Beau
One Cage At A Time
Beau
“Aren’t you going to break out the camera? I thought we were here for the publicity.”
I’m finding it surprisingly easy to be here.
Even though it’s clear she still dislikes me, I think we can handle this.
But I didn’t volunteer to clean up after smelly creatures to get to know her, as interesting as that’s proving to be.
I’m doing this for our teams to catch the white whale of a donor.
Clearly, that was the wrong thing to say. She rounds on me. Any hint of tolerance is replaced by irritation. “We’re here for the cats. We’re here to help them and make their lives a little better until they find their forever homes. At least that’s why I’m here.”
It’s like a physical slap, throwing my defenses back up so I can’t help pushing back. “Yes, but don’t the videos help bring attention and donors to the rescue? I thought this was a joint venture. Help the teams, help the cats. All in one shot.”
She glares at me, pressing her lips together until they disappear. “We’ll film a couple of quick vids first, and then we’ll go live near the end. We can do a Q&A with the cats after.”
“After?” She wants me to go live on camera cleaning litter boxes. Dad will love that one. Not to mention I’ll have to wash my hands several times to satisfy my brain.
“Yup.” She pops her p. “Is that a problem, pretty boy?”
“No problem at all.”
She demonstrates how to give the cage a thorough clean, and it doesn’t look too hard.
Luna might not believe it, but cleaning is one of my special skills.
The litter box portion, on the other hand.
I’m not even doing it myself yet, and I have to swallow back a gag at the smell.
I’d almost gotten used to the cat smell until she started scooping, and a fresh assault was unleashed on my nose.
“Are you sure you can handle it? If not, we can call it off. I’ll do the live myself, and we can plan something a little more suited to you.”
I know what she’s doing. Trying to goad me into this.
What she doesn’t know is I grew up with a master manipulator.
Also, I don’t go back on my word. I promised I would do this, and I’m sticking to it.
And not just because I’d look like the piece of shit she thinks I am if I backed out.
No animal deserves to be neglected or abandoned.
They’re living creatures we’re responsible for.
“I’m good.”
“Perfect. You can do those five cages over on the right side, and I’ll work on this wall. If it’s occupied, you can take the cat out to roam while you’re working. Make sure you get them back in when you’re done, though. They don’t all play nice, so they’ve got a schedule for their playtime.”
“Great. Can’t wait.”
She passes me a blue plastic caddy full of supplies that thankfully includes latex gloves and heads to her section without a word.
I take my time walking to the first cage on my side.
It’s occupied, and the cat is glaring at me.
The name on his cage says Freddy. I’d swear he was taunting me when I open up the metal gate with a clang.
He darts into his carpeted hidey-hole, blinking at me with luminescent green eyes.
He growls when I reach in to grab him, and sharp teeth close around my wrist. I yank my arms out, backing away.
“He bit me.”
“Like he broke skin? Do you need a first aid kit?”
I assess, glancing at my wrist. Not even a pink mark. Now that I think about it, he didn’t bite down. It was more of a warning. “No, it’s fine. Never mind.” Now I feel ridiculous.
She turns back to the cage she’s working on, leaving me staring at the beast. I reach out again, but the cat lets out a warning hiss. “Can I just leave him in here?”
“No. Did you need me to take him out for you?” Now she sounds impatient. No way am I letting her win this one.
“It’s fine. I got it.” I’m trying to convince her just as much as I’m trying to convince myself.
I take a deep breath and try again. The cat pulls back further until his cranky, multicolored face disappears into the shadows.
I’m about ninety-nine percent sure she’s fucking with me.
Although she doesn’t have any fondness for me, I don’t think it would be good for business to put me in actual danger.
Steeling myself, I reach out again until my hands close around the warm, furry body.
It squirms under my touch, and it takes a couple of tries to get a hold of him, but I manage it.
He digs his claws in as I’m trying to pull him out, and I have to put a little extra effort in to drag him out, so I lose my balance a little when he releases. Now he’s fucking with me.
I stumble back, cat in my arms, turning to see that Luna has paused in her work to check out my progress. One of her eyebrows arches as I struggle with the cat, lifting him up to show her before placing him down on the floor.
“Not so hard.”
There’s no defeat on her face, just another smug little smile, eyes locked on the ground. I track them down to see the chunky cat’s butt twitching.
“No.”
I bend down trying to scoop him up, but he’s too fast. He leaps back into his cage, surprisingly agile for such a big boy. The look he gives me is just as smug as hers before he disappears back into the void.
“Come on.”
“Might want to close the cage before you put him down. Thought I explained that to you. Sorry.”
Sure she is. I grumble, cursing under my breath before I start the process all over again.
She finishes hers first, darting over to the sink to wash her hands.
I catch her smoothing down her hair and swiping shiny pink gloss over her lips before she steps over to her bag.
She pulls a fancy ass looking tripod out of it, setting it up on the table next to the door.
I’m still staring at her when she finishes fiddling with her phone.
“Okay. It’s all set up to go. This is an auto-tracking tripod, so it’ll follow us as we move around the room.
I’m going to do a little spiel to introduce the live and then I’ll come help you finish the last cage, then we can have a little Q&A session while we play with the cats.
You never know. We might even get some of these guys adopted today.
That would be fantastic. Failing that, I’ve got a link to the rescue’s website to donate. You ready to go?”
“Um.” I reach up to swipe at my hair before I remember what’s all over my hands. Now I’m all off balance. I haven’t had time to pull myself together. I hate that.
“We can take a pause if you’d like to brush your hair or put on your stage makeup. Whatever you need, pretty boy.”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“Perfect.”
She makes it across the room with a couple of long strides to stand beside me and turns to face the camera with a huge smile spreading across her face.
“I scheduled this live ahead of time, so I’ve got a bunch of followers subscribed for notifications.
That means we’ll probably have a handful join right off the bat.
Then others will jump on as we go. Three, two, one. And we’re connecting.”
She pockets the remote, and her gorgeous smile gets even bigger as she faces the screen. She wiggles her fingers in a wave.
“Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining me on my live today. As promised, I brought a very special guest to join me at Paws For Thought. Beau Whitaker!” She sounds so enthusiastic and positive.
I almost believe she’s excited to have me here.
“Now I know how much you all love the Elles, but the men’s team is not too shabby, either.
And of course, they couldn’t do it without their fearless captain. ”
I reach back into the cage, trying to stall my on-screen moment, but there’s an insistent tug on my sleeve.
“Come on, Beau, say hi to my followers.”
I school my face into a practiced smile before unfolding myself carefully to avoid smashing my head and turning around.
“Hello.” I wave at the camera.
“Looks like we already have comments coming in, but those are going to have to wait until we finish our cleaning. Beau and I have been working in Room B here at the shelter. We’ve only got one cage left to look after, and then we’ll get to play with some kitties and answer your questions.
I promise. Feel free to talk among yourselves in the chat.
Click the link in the comments if you’d like to donate to help Paws keep things running here.
Or if you’re ready to welcome a cat into your life, you can check out the adoptable sweeties on their website. Anything else to add?”
She turns to me, and my mouth drops half an inch. I was not expecting to talk yet, so I wasn’t exactly planning a speech. My breath catches in my throat, and I’m forced to pull out all the years of practice I have to hide my anxiety.
“I’ll match any donations that come in to Paws for the month of January.” Put on the spot, I come out with the first thought that pops up. I force my lips up into a smile as Luna goes quiet.
She turns to me with wide eyes and one eyebrow stretching toward her hairline in a what-the-heck look, which I return, but then she pulls herself back together.
“Okay, I’m just going to mute us while we finish up here, and then we’ll be back for a chat session. Talk soon.”
She wiggles her fingers again, approaches the camera to fiddle with it, then spins back around. The look on her face is fear-inducing. Even for a hockey defender used to giving and taking hard hits.
“What the heck? You can’t spring that on me. They could get thousands of donations this month. What am I going to tell my followers when you can’t follow through on your promise?” The words tumble out in a low hiss as if she’s afraid she’ll get overheard, even with the audio muted.
She’s attacking the cage so viciously I’m pretty sure she scrubs an entire layer off the bottom.
“I’m good for it. You put me on the spot. It seemed like a good idea.”
“You’re good for it? What if it’s five thousand dollars? Ten, Twenty?”