“I’m all for you meeting her. But moving? Don’t you think that’s a little extreme? What about your work? What about your mate? Don’t you want to try and reconnect with her?”
I shake my head. “No. Piper doesn’t want to see me.”
“Are you sure, lad? She spent the whole weekend with you, right? That sounds like there was a connection.” He sounds almost desperate.
“I’m not even sure she’s over her ex. I moved too fast, Ness. It’s my fault.”
“What did you do?”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Have you apologized?” Loch drums his fingers across his desk so violently that I can hear them through his speaker. Then he waves a hand, dismissing any response I might have. “You should go to Canada. You deserve a break.”
“We both deserve a break, Loch.”
He ignores that. “Go and spend some time with your family. But don’t move yet! Maybe when you get back you’ll have a change of heart?”
“Maybe.” I mutter.
“Or I could speak to her for you?” Loch says.
“Don’t you dare,” I growl.
“Alright.” He laughs lightly. “Just go. We’ll survive without you Pontius, take your time, enjoy your holiday.”
“I’ll talk to you later." I’m already reaching for the ‘end call’ button. He’s my best and closest friend. The one person I’ve been able to talk to about these things, and I can’t even tell him the truth about how badly I really fucked up.
Leaving is my best option. I’ll visit Canada, for a couple months at least. Maybe things will be different when I get back. There’s just one thing I have to arrange before that.
15
PIPER
I'm honestly not sure how long it is between when my family leaves and the owner of the cafe comes over to check on me. I've completely disassociated, staring at a blank space on the wall, waiting for Anam or Kelly to message me back. I don’t even know who else to turn to.
“How are we doing?” The cute woman from behind the counter steps into my line of vision.
I startle, jostling my lap. The cat makes a noise of irritation before he resettles himself. I scratch him behind the ears.
“Pretty crappy, actually,” I say automatically, the cat purrs under my fingers. “I mean—he’s great. I feel better having him around.”
The woman gives me a bright smile that lights up her whole face. “Mercutio’s always good at knowing when people need a little comfort.”
“Well, he really picked the right lap today,” I mutter. Mercutio blinks up at me slowly with bright yellow eyes. “Is he up for adoption?”
“Absolutely. All our cats are.” The woman waits a brief moment before speaking again, clearly full of nervous energy.“Are you interested?” she finally blurts, her enthusiasm is infectious.
“I really, really am.” Maybe it will help, not being completely alone in my house. Mercutio isn’t exactly a watchdog, but I’ve always wanted a pet.
The woman leaps to her feet and scurries across the room to a pile of papers.
“This is actually so exciting! This’ll be the first adoption we’ve had from the cafe. We just opened a couple weeks ago. I’m the owner, you know? This place has been a dream of mine for a long time. I’ve been working with cat fostering and adoption for years. This cafe has been an absolute whirlwind. That was your family, right? The birthday party? They were cute! I’m glad I could rent out the whole space to them!” She continues rambling as she returns with a clipboard, pen, and papers, bouncing on her toes as she hands them to me. “Normally, we recommend getting two cats at the same time, so they are well socialized and don’t get lonely, but Mercutio doesn’t really have a bonded partner.”
“Me neither,” I joke. “Peas in a pod, huh buddy?”
The cat doesn’t respond.
“I’m Bailey, by the way.” The woman is all smiles.
