Page 21 of She’ll Steal Your Heart
“Thanks.” Lauren gave them a grateful smile. Everyone at the café seemed so nice, which made her even more glad to be here. She knelt to peek at the two cats inside the cage. They were curled up together, fast asleep, looking deceptively sweet and innocent. Both were gray with tabby stripes, their coats long and fluffy. They were gorgeous cats.
“I see you’ve met our newest troublemakers.”
Lauren turned at the sound of Mia’s voice. “They don’t look too troublesome at the moment.”
“I expect they’ll live up to their names once we let them out of that cage, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.” Mia stepped closer to the crate, gazing affectionately at the cats inside.
The black-and-white cat Lauren had seen the last time she visited approached, pawing at Mia’s pants to get her attention. She crouched to pet him, and Lauren watched quietly, fascinated. Mia usually seemed so cool and a little bit untouchable, but that faded when she interacted with the cats, and Lauren was a bit smitten with this softer side of her.
“Now,” Mia said, straightening to face Lauren. “Let’s get you started.”
7
Mia flipped the sign on the door to Closed with a sigh. Her head throbbed with an impending migraine, and the Tylenol she’d taken at lunchtime hadn’t done a thing to help. She avoided ibuprofen and aspirin as much as possible because they could aggravate her ulcer, but sometimes it was unavoidable, and this might be one of those nights.
She closed out the cash register and took its contents to the safe in her office while Jordy cleaned the counters and tables. Lauren had spent most of the day in the cat enclosure with Wendy, learning the ropes. When Wendy left an hour ago for her job at the theater, she’d told Mia that Lauren seemed like a hard worker, but she’d been concerned about Lauren’s lack of experience with cats.
Wendy had a point, but at the same time, whenever Mia had observed Lauren today, she had seemed at ease both with the cats and with the café’s customers. Mia entered the cat enclosure now to show Lauren how to get it squared away for the night. The space was empty except for Lauren, who sat cross-legged on the floor in the back corner, facing the wall.
How…odd.
“Lauren?” Mia said quietly so as not to startle her.
Lauren waved a hand over her shoulder, gesturing Mia toward her. She approached cautiously, hoping Lauren wasn’t upset, but when she got closer, a most unexpected sight greeted her. Gilbert, the black cat who was so shy the rescue wanted to move him into a foster home, was curled up in Lauren’s lap, eyes closed as she stroked a hand down his back.
“I didn’t want to move and disturb him,” Lauren said.
“When I hired you, I had no idea you were a cat whisperer.” Mia sat beside her, leaning against the wall as she stretched her legs in front of herself. “That’s impressive.”
“I’m not a cat whisperer,” Lauren said. “In fact, I think Wendy was ready to send me packing this morning when I told her I’d never worked with cats before. I just sat here and started talking to him, and the next thing I knew, he was in my lap.”
“Definitely a cat whisperer, then,” Mia said, “because Wendy and I have been trying to earn his trust all week. You’re a natural. Here, let me document the moment, and Wendy’s opinion on your suitability for the job might change.”
Mia snapped a couple of quick photos of Gilbert in Lauren’s lap. Lauren grinned cheekily for the photos, a lightness in her smile that hadn’t been there when Mia first met her. She texted one to Wendy before sliding her phone into the back pocket of her pants. As she rested her head against the wall, she resisted the urge to flinch at her rapidly intensifying headache.
“How did the rest of the day go?” she asked Lauren.
“It was wonderful,” Lauren told her, shifting slightly so her back wasn’t to Mia. Gilbert lifted his head at the movement, looking up at her with those big yellow eyes. “I loved interacting with the cats and the customers too.”
“You seem to be good with both humans and felines, from what I saw.”
“I’ve done a lot of bartending and waitressing, and the customer service skills are basically the same, although people seem to be much nicer when they’re here to play with cats than when I’m serving them food.”
Mia laughed under her breath. “I bet. You enjoyed it, then?”
“I loved it,” Lauren told her. “And Wendy was super helpful. She showed me everything I need to know for working with the cats and what’s allowed and not allowed when the guests are interacting with them.”
“Wendy’s wonderful,” Mia agreed, and speaking of Wendy, Mia’s phone buzzed with an incoming text from her.
I had my doubts when I first met her, but she did great today, and this pic confirms her rapport with the cats. She has my approval!
Mia smiled. Ultimately, all staffing decisions were hers to make, but she preferred to have Wendy’s approval on employees who’d be working with the cats. “Looks like it’s unanimous. Gilbert and Wendy both think you’re great, and I happen to agree, so if you’re interested in the job, it’s yours.”
Apparently deciding he’d had enough attention, Gilbert hopped out of Lauren’s lap and darted back to the cat tree. She turned to face Mia. “I’d love to work here,” she said. “My only concern was that you were hiring me for valid reasons and not out of pity.”
“I don’t pity you, Lauren. To be frank, I’m not charitable enough to hire someone if I don’t think they’ll do a good job.”
Lauren blew out a breath. “I promise I won’t let you down.”
