The Cat's Meow, page 5
When they were done eating, Annie stood, grabbed Maggie by the arm and started dragging her from table to table, introducing her to everyone in the diner.
Genghis Khat followed, feeling a little put out that Annie wasn’t bothering to introduce him as well.
Maggie took care of that, though, because she was the best human companion ever.
She scooped him up from the floor and proceeded to introduce him to everyone she met.
Annie would say, “This is Maggie. Maggie, these are the Donnelly sisters, Kate, Mary Lou and Hannah.”
Then Maggie would nod and say, “This is Genghis Khat. He’s the best cat in the world.” Only Maggie never said the same thing about him twice. She came up with new ways to introduce him every time.
“This is Genghis Khat. He’s a warrior with the scars to prove it.”
“This is Genghis Khat. He has the most amazing purr. It rumbles like a steam engine.”
“This is Genghis Khat. He’s a hunter who specializes in decapitating his prey.”
By the time they finished with all the introductions, Genghis Khat felt about ten feet tall. He hadn’t realized all those wonderful things about himself.
Of course, he knew he was a good hunter, but he didn’t know that about his purr or that Maggie loved his scars.
She really was the best human companion ever.
* * *
Maggie got through the ordeal of being introduced to so many people in such a short amount of time by focusing on Genghis Khat. She spent time in between introductions coming up with new ways to describe the best cat in the world.
Suddenly the terror of speaking with new people was almost fun. It was like a game.
A game of words and a way to let Genghis Khat know how much she appreciated him.
It got her through the endless rounds of conversations until finally she had met every single person in the diner for lunch that day.
Grateful she’d survived the onslaught, Maggie was edging toward the door when Annie exclaimed, “You have to come to the party Saturday night.”
Gasps of shock resounded through the room, making it pretty obvious that no one else agreed with Annie’s declaration.
“Oh, I’m not much for parties,” Maggie said with a shake of her head.
She couldn’t help but notice how relieved everyone appeared.
“Oh, but you haven’t met everyone yet. Until you meet everyone, we won’t know if—” Annie broke off with a look of consternation on her face.
Maggie was probably supposed to ask a question at that point, something like “What won’t you know?” But she figured this was just another tactic to get her to engage in the conversation, and would probably result in her being manipulated into attending this party.
As Maggie considered the word party to be synonymous with hell on earth, she had no intention of being manipulated in such an obvious way.
So she simply stood there and waited.
When Annie never finished her sentence, Maggie decided it was time to move on. “I have to go now,” she said.
Annie had never given her the check, so Maggie wasn’t sure how much her meal had cost, but she set a couple twenties onto the counter on her way out.
* * *
The minute the door closed behind Maggie, Annie whirled around and glared at the shifters in the diner. “You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Just because she’s human doesn’t mean we can’t be nice.”
“You invited a human to a shifter party, Annie. What were you thinking?” Paul demanded.
“I was thinking that most of our eligible men and women aren’t even here in the diner today. She could be the mate of any one of them. I figured most of them will be at the party Saturday night, which makes it the perfect gathering for her to find her mate.”
“There’s no way that human is the mate of any shifter,” Bob Wilson said.
“How can you say that, Bob?” Annie demanded. “Her mother’s a shifter, for heaven’s sake!”
“Yeah, a shifter who couldn’t wait to get away from her shifter roots. You never met Sarah Madison, but let me tell you, she was something else,” Bob said. “The woman did everything she could to kill the cougar inside her and then she left this town and deliberately mated with a human. She did nothing to pull him into our world and instead, immersed herself into his. Worse, she had not a shred of compassion, honor or loyalty, and as far as I can tell, her daughter’s nothing but a miniature Sarah.”
“You don’t even know her,” Annie said.
“I know she was pretty damn unfriendly when she came to my office last month,” Bob said. “And I know that nothing I saw in her today convinced me she wasn’t anything but a clone of her angry, hateful mother.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Someone who’s full of anger and hate can’t hide that from us, you know that. Emotions have a scent, Bob, and the only thing I scented around Maggie today was anxiety and uncertainty. It seems to me the only one lacking compassion around here is you.” She sent a glare around the room. “All of you.”
* * *
Jackson was sitting in his office the next day, just about to bite into the burger he’d picked up from the diner on his lunch break when Connie appeared in the doorway, a giant grin on her face.
Jackson sighed and set down his burger.
This was not going to be good.
Anything that made Connie smile that widely was sure to be a disaster for him and hilarious for everyone else.
“What is it, Connie?”
“The crazy cat lady’s on line one again.”
“You’re joking.”
“Nope.”
“What’s the problem now? Cat climb a tree?”
“Oh no. Apparently the catnappers are back.” Connie barely got the words out before she burst into laughter.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Nope. She’s quite serious. She wants you to send Danny back out, only this time he has to actually do his job and dust for fingerprints and take a cast of the shoe print in her flower bed.”
Jackson dropped his head into his hands, then without even looking, grabbed his headset, hit the button for line one and answered the call.
Five minutes later, he was convinced that Maggie Winters was nuttier than a Planters factory.
She was absolutely convinced someone kept breaking into her house to steal her cat.
“Lady, why would anyone want your cat?”
“A better question would be why wouldn’t they want him? I’ll have you know that Genghis Khat is both a warrior and a lover. He’s utterly perfect in every way and there’s no other cat like him. Anyone would be thrilled to have him as a companion cat, and I daresay, many of those people wouldn’t hesitate to catnap him if necessary. Now why don’t you do your job and catch the crooks who keep traumatizing the two of us?”
“Have you tried the diner yet?”
“Why on earth would he be at the diner? Genghis Khat may have escaped the catnapper yesterday and found refuge in the diner, but there’s no guarantee he’ll manage to do that again. He needs rescuing!”
Jackson heaved a huge sigh, then said, “I’m going to put you on hold for a moment, ma’am. I’ll be right back.” He didn’t wait for a reply, just stabbed the hold button and yelled, “Connie, call the diner. See if the cat’s shown up over there.”
A few minutes later, Connie appeared in his office door, once more grinning like a loon. “You’re psychic, Sheriff. The cat walked into the diner ten seconds into my conversation with Bud.”
“Wonderful. I hope this isn’t going to become a daily occurrence.”
Connie chuckled. “Well, if it is, you might want to start eating your lunch at the diner rather than bringing it back here. Maybe then you’ll catch those catnappers in the act.”
* * *
“What do you mean my cat’s at the diner again? What is up with these catnappers?”
“Well, ma’am, I think you should perhaps consider the possibility that your cat is managing to escape your house on his own.”
“Seriously? Sheriff, I don’t have a whole lot of confidence in your investigative skills if that’s the conclusion you’ve come to. Do you have any idea how far of a walk it is from my house to the diner? It takes me a good fifteen minutes by car. Are you seriously suggesting my cat walked that distance all by himself, all without being attacked by any of the local wildlife?”
The sheriff sighed. “All I’m saying, ma’am, is we don’t have the resources to investigate missing cats. Maybe get a better lock for your windows. Have a good day, ma’am.”
Then, quite unbelievably, he hung up on her.
“Oh, that man. He makes me crazy!” Maggie grabbed her purse and stormed out to her car.
The entire way to the diner, she fumed and mimicked his superior attitude, sneering, “I’m sorry, ma’am, your cat just isn’t important enough for us to investigate his disappearance. Bastard.”
By the time she got to the diner, she was so angry, she completely forgot to be nervous. She stormed inside and immediately started searching under every table.
She didn’t even pause to greet any of the people whose tables she was peeking beneath, regardless of whether she’d met them the day before or not.
“Hey, Maggie!” Annie called from behind the counter. “Genghis Khat’s around here somewhere.”
Maggie waved a hand in acknowledgment and kept peeking under tables, refusing to make eye contact or greet anyone along the way.
She was peripherally aware of the conversations above her pausing every time she peeked under a table, then starting up again as she moved on.
A few people tried to engage her in conversation, greeting her by name, but she just focused on the job at hand and ignored their overtures.
Finally, at the table in the opposite corner from the diner’s door, she found Genghis Khat sprawled on top of a pair of boots.
Maggie didn’t acknowledge the owner of those boots in any way.
She simply crawled under the table, scooped up Genghis Khat and backed out with him in her arms.
She ignored the sound of the owner of those boots chuckling and refused to look at him when he reached out to pat Genghis Khat on the head.
She climbed to her feet and turned away from the table, intending to leave immediately, but found Annie blocking her way.
“I’ve got you and Genghis Khat all set up in the same booth as last time, Maggie,” Annie said, nodding to the booth across the way.
A saucer of milk was already sitting on the table.
“So what are you thinking today, Maggie? Turkey club again, or maybe a tuna melt, or the meatloaf or—”
Maggie sighed. “Let’s try a tuna melt this time.”
Genghis Khat let out a loud, rumbling purr and Maggie grinned, barely registering Annie’s, “You got it,” as she walked away.
“Yes, I know,” Maggie murmured to Genghis Khat as she headed for the booth. “Tuna makes you very happy.”
She’d barely settled in the booth, Genghis Khat still in her arms, when two women swooped into the seat across from her. Between the two of them, they were carrying three wine glasses and two unopened bottles of wine, both of them red.
“Hi. I’m Kate and this is Olivia, in case you don’t remember us.”
Maggie did.
“Call me Livi. And we love your cat.”
Maggie smiled a bit. “Did you hear that, Genghis Khat? They like you.” She settled him on the seat beside her, then watched as he immediately set both front paws on the table in front of him and stared across it at Kate and Livi.
“Sorry, no wine for you, Mr. Khat,” Livi said as she opened one of the bottles of wine. “But the good news is that means more for us.” She poured them each a glass and lifted hers in the air. “Cheers.”
Kate held hers up, so Maggie did the same and watched as they tapped their glasses to hers.
This was an odd ritual she’d never before participated in.
Both the toasting and the drinking.
“Bottoms up,” Livi said and she drained her glass.
Kate followed suit.
Maggie wasn’t sure this was a good idea, especially since she had to drive herself and Genghis Khat back home later, but she was curious to know what red wine tasted like, so she tried a sip, found it to be palatable and took a larger drink.
Surprisingly, she didn’t hate it.
She’d had a sip of champagne once and the bubbles had made her shudder.
This was smooth though and rather tasty.
She had another gulp and then drained the glass as she’d seen the other two women do.
“Right on!” Livi exclaimed, then poured them each another round.
This glass, they drank slowly.
Maggie savored the taste and found it surprisingly soothing.
She might have to add a red wine subscription to her monthly orders.
“So, how are you liking Greensboro so far?” Kate asked. “Is it super different from the last place you lived? Did you live in a big city or a small town like ours?”
Questions.
Always questions.
Maggie shrugged and took another large gulp of wine.
“Don’t mind Kate,” Livi said. “She chatters like that all the time. You don’t have to answer her questions, especially since she rarely gives anyone a chance to get a word in edgewise.”
“Hey!”
“You know it’s true, Kate.” Livi topped off Maggie’s glass.
“That’s beside the point,” Kate said.
Maggie took another big gulp.
So good.
Genghis Khat lost interest in staring at the women and dropped his front feet back down into the booth, where he circled and kneaded the seat for a couple minutes before finally curling up and falling asleep.
Maggie found him to be so adorable lying there, she turned her attention to petting him, and for long moments, lost track of the conversation as Livi and Kate argued good-naturedly.
She drank down her glass of red with her left hand while adoring Genghis Khat with her right.
“So, Maggie.” Kate dragged her attention back to the two of them. “Do you have a boyfriend? Girlfriend? Gender neutral friend? Lover? Significant other? Whatever you want to call them?”
“Uh.” Maggie snickered, unexpectedly amused by Kate’s frenetic questioning style. “No.”
“Cool. Would you like one? And if so, which would you choose? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Gender neutral—”
“Please, do not go through that list again,” Livi said as she filled Maggie’s glass once more.
“Psh.” Kate waved a hand. “So?”
For some reason, Maggie was charmed enough that for once, she didn’t mind answering a question. “I guess boyfriend if I wanted one, but I don’t.”
“Well, why not?”
Maggie shrugged and drained her glass. This was not a conversation she’d ever expected to have, but definitely not with two virtual strangers.
Livi filled Maggie’s glass again, which was a really welcome development, given the subject matter.
Maggie took a gulp.
“Come on, why not?” Kate asked.
“Why not what?” Maggie couldn’t remember the question. What were they talking about again?
“Why don’t you want a boyfriend?”
“It’s not that I don’t want one. It’s that people don’t like me and it’s just better to not even try. A boyfriend would be too much hard work—trying to make him like me, trying to be whoever he wanted me to be instead of who I am. No. I’m better off alone.”
At that moment, Genghis Khat stood and put his front paws on Maggie’s left shoulder and nuzzled her cheek, thus reminding her that she was not alone at all.
“Aw, you’re the best, Genghis Khat.” She scooped him up and kissed his forehead, right above his nose. “I love you, baby boy.”
Annie arrived at that moment, delivering Maggie’s tuna melt, Livi’s burger and fries and Kate’s fish and chips. “Enjoy, ladies.”
The rest of the afternoon passed in a bit of a blur for Maggie.
When they finished eating, Livi, Kate and Annie, who ended her shift early to join them, dragged Maggie to the local salon, where they got manicures and pedicures.
Unbelievably, they insisted that Genghis Khat accompany them and no one at the salon protested his presence. Instead, all the workers in the salon fussed over the cat and treated him like the king he was.
The women talked and laughed while their nails were being painted, and enjoyed a third bottle of wine provided by the salon.
Maggie chose a brilliant red for her nails and spent a bit of time envisioning all the different outfits in her closet that would look amazing against that red.
Once their nails were done, the women dragged Maggie and Genghis Khat to the only movie theater in town where they watched a terrifying film about a serial killer clown.
The women ate too much popcorn and washed it down with a gallon of coke, all the while cringing and squealing and peeking between their fingers at the screen during the intensely scary parts.
Genghis Khat was the only one who seemed undisturbed by the events onscreen. He snoozed quite happily in Maggie’s lap the entire movie, not even waking when Maggie shrieked and sent popcorn sailing everywhere.
The movie was freaky and terrifying and Maggie wouldn’t give up the experience for anything in the world.
In the end, it was the most beautiful day of Maggie’s life.
By the time they made it back to the diner, Maggie was no longer feeling the effects of the wine, but she was giddy with the realization that at thirty-six years of age, she may have finally made her very first, real friends.
Chapter Seven
WHEN BYGUL SHOWED up and cast a bit of magic at the kitchen window the next day, Genghis Khat was ready for him.
He sailed through the window and just like that, Bygul transported them both to the alley behind the diner.
Genghis Khat decided he was beginning to like this job. The diner was a wondrous place, full of yummy food (the tuna the day before had been divine) and people willing to scratch any itch he had.
