Page 20 of She’ll Steal Your Heart
The results were somewhat overwhelming. She’d had no idea there would be so many options. Was there an app specifically for lesbians? This was going to take some time and research.
* * *
Lauren pushedthrough the door of Whiskers Cat Café promptly at ten on Tuesday morning, feeling a burst of excitement to be here. She’d worked lots of odd jobs in her twenty-nine years, but she’d never worked with animals. She’d never had a pet either, but she’d always wanted one. Once she was back on her feet and had a place of her own, maybe she would get a pet. Maybe she’d adopt one of the cats from Mia’s café. The thought made her smile.
“Morning,” Mia called from behind the counter. Another employee stood beside her with their back to Lauren, working the espresso machine. “I’ll be with you in just a minute,” Mia said, gesturing to the line of customers waiting at the counter.
“Sure, no problem,” Lauren said.
“You can leave your bag in the break room.”
“Thanks.” Lauren went down the hall to the room Mia had shown her when she visited with Ash and Fatima. She found an empty cubby and tucked her bag inside. Her backpack was still upstairs in Mia’s apartment, a fact that made her vaguely uncomfortable. Or maybe uncomfortable wasn’t the word. Maybe it was vulnerable.
As much as Lauren appreciated everything Mia had done for her, she didn’t want to feel indebted to her. She wanted their friendship to be on equal footing, which meant she needed to find something she could offer Mia in return for the kindness she’d shown Lauren. But what did she have to offer? Not much.
With a sigh, she headed back into the café. Mia had said she needed help with the cats, so since she was still busy at the counter, Lauren let herself into the cat enclosure. She walked to the back, drawn by two small cats in a wire cage that hadn’t been here the last time she visited.
“Are you Lauren?”
She turned to see a young woman of Asian descent with shoulder-length black hair and a warm smile walking toward her. Her nametag read Wendy, and Lauren smiled to see that the Whiskers nametags also included the employee’s pronouns. That was a thoughtful touch.
Lauren nodded. “I am.”
“I’m Wendy,” she said, extending her hand. “I volunteer with 4 Paws Cat Rescue, and I also work here in the café when my schedule allows. I’m a lighting technician at the Sapphire Theater, so it usually works out for me to pick up a few hours here earlier in the day.”
“Oh, that’s so cool,” Lauren said. “You work the stage lights?”
Wendy nodded. “I love it. You should come to a show sometime.”
Lauren wouldloveto attend a show. Seeing a Broadway show had always been an unattainable dream for her, something she’d fantasized about as a child, but couldn’t afford. “I’d love to.”
“We just ended an eight-month run forIt’s in Her Kiss, which was one of my favorites,” Wendy said. “Anyway, we’re about to start blocking a new show, which means I’ll be working days at the theater for a few weeks while we work out all the lighting arrangements, so I won’t be able to be here at the café as much as I usually am.”
“Okay.” Lauren was relieved to learn that Mia really did need an extra set of hands and wasn’t just taking pity on her.
Wendy gave Lauren an inquiring look. “Mia said you’re going to fill in for me?”
“Yeah. Well, I’m not sure if it’s definite,” Lauren hedged, since Mia had mentioned it kind of casually yesterday and Lauren hadn’t signed any paperwork yet. “She asked me to come in today and see how it goes. I don’t have much experience with cats.”
“Oh.” Wendy’s brow wrinkled. “How much is not much?”
Lauren felt foolish all over again. “I like them. They like me?”
“Okay,” Wendy said, but she didn’t look as enthused about Lauren covering for her as she had a minute ago. “I’ll check with Mia to see what she had in mind. In the meantime, you can spend a few minutes getting to know the cats. These two arrived this morning, so they’ll be in the crate for a day or two to adjust before they come out into the room. We usually integrate new cats after the café’s closed, when it’s quiet.”
“Makes sense.” Lauren peered at the placard on the front of the crate, introducing the cats. “Chaos and Mayhem?” she asked with a giggle.
“I’m told they’re aptly named.” Wendy’s lips twitched with a grin. “They’re six-month-old kittens who were adopted a few months ago, and guess why they were returned?”
“They caused chaos and mayhem?”
“You got it. They’re very energetic and playful, so we thought they might do well here in the café with lots of other cats and people to interact with,” Wendy told her. “They’re like teenagers right now…immature minds in nearly full-grown bodies. They’ll settle down.”
The employee Lauren had seen earlier working at the counter with Mia entered the cat enclosure, waving at Lauren. “Hi, I’m Jordy.”
“Lauren. Nice to meet you.” She noted with a quick glance to Jordy’s nametag that their pronouns were they/them.
“I’ve got to get back behind the counter,” Jordy said. “Just wanted to introduce myself.”
