Owen, however, had let me poke and prod at it to my heart's delight. Of course, I hadn’t been able to touch it too much because Owen’s face flushed. I’d asked if it hurt and he had said it was the opposite. Awkward.
“I know you don’t like surprises but I’m pretty sure you’ll forgive me.” Ric said from the open passenger side door, he was holding his hand out to me and I took it begrudgingly, letting him pull me out of the front street. We were parked in downtown San Francisco, people were milling around everywhere either dressed in office attire and going to work or clearly a tourist visiting the city. The street had an uphill incline and I was glad I’d pulled on my sneakers rather than any of my other shoes.
“Is the walk super far?” I asked as we began to walk uphill, people moved to get out of our way and a beta woman gawked at Ric who was wearing a pair of gray pants and a lavender t-shirt. I had to admit he looked hot. I looked down at my jeans and sweater and idly wished I’d dressed up a little bit.
“Nah, we’re already here.” I didn’t miss the sound of humor in Ric’s voice as he turned us to look at the storefront we’d begun to pass by.
“... a cat cafe?” I asked, excitement already building as I looked at the Nekomimi Cat Cafe. It was decked out in pastel colors with a bubblegum pink awning that led to a clear glass storefront. I could already see a fat tabby sleeping on a cat tree that was pushed against the window.
Ric slid his fingers through mine and tugged me towards the door. I let myself be pulled as we stepped inside of the cafe, a little bell on the door pinged announcing our arrival.
“Welcome in!” A cheerful voice called from the back as a woman dressed in, well, in a maid’s outfit, stepped out from one of the back hallways. She had a pair of pink cat ears pushing back her black hair and she greeted us with a friendly smile.
“Mr. Zhao, it's lovely to finally meet you.” She held out a hand to Ric who shook it.
“Likewise, thanks for letting me do this today.”
“Of course. You must be Eloise right? I’m Stacia, I’ll be your waitress for the day.” She turned her attention to me with a friendly smile and I shook her hand. It was strange to talk to someone in a maid outfit but my attention was soon off of her and onto the cats that were beginning to wind around my ankles.
“Oh my gosh, hello sweet baby.” I crooned and stroked my hand down the spine of the nearest cat. I was rewarded with a kitty purr before it scurried off to jump onto one of the many couches in the cafe. Overall the cafe was a cozy space, pink sofas and chairs were placed everywhere with little stretching post boards attached to all available corners. A little cafe counter sat towards the back of the store and I could see a few workers making food and coffee. Then there were the cats. God I loved cats and being surrounded like this made me feel like I was in heaven.
“What can I bring for you two?” Stacia asked as we settled down on one of the couches, cats immediately made themselves at home on our couch. I scratched as many as I could, completely distracted.
“Eloise will have a cup of your hot chocolate and I’ll have a cup of coffee. Eloise, would you like whip cream?” Normally someone ordering for me would irritate me, but I was so wrapped up in all of the kitties around me that I just smiled and nodded so that I could turn my attention back to the cats as soon as possible. Stacia took our orders and headed back to the kitchen, her maid outfit swishing around her as she went.
Ric leaned back on the couch and let one of the cats on the back of the chair sniff his hair, “Do you like your surprise?”
“You bet your ass I love my surprise. How did you know I liked cats so much?” I didn’t think I’d ever mentioned it before.
“Madeline told me and I am eternally grateful that my sister is such a good listener.” Ric tugged on one of my braids playfully, “And this was only part one of your surprise. You can pick any cat from here you like; they are all available for adoption.”
I blinked at him, trying to process his words. “Are you serious?”
“As the plague.” Ric waggled his eyebrows and I couldn’t help the girlish squeal that tore it’s way out of my throat as I threw myself at him, giving him the squeeze of a lifetime.
“But what about Leon? There’s no way he’ll let me keep a cat in the house.” I had never had a cat before but I knew that they had things like a litter box which was kept in the house. I didn’t think any of the guys were pet people.
Ric picked up the cat on his lap and placed it in mine, “It’s all taken care of. As you know Leon’s been in a scarily good mood lately so it wasn’t very hard to convince him.” Ever since Leon had bonded with Owen things had lightened up immeasurably in the house. Leon no longer walked around like the world was ending and had actually sat down to watch a movie with the pack the other day. It was truly bizarre that he’d gone through almost a complete one-eighty in personality over the last week. Bond marks were truly a thing to behold.
“Are you sure…?” I looked around at all of the cats, nibbling on my lower lip.
Ric cupped my face in my hands and forced me to look at him, “Eloise, pick a cat.”
Well, I didn’t need to be told twice. Our drinks came out and as we sipped on them my eyes went from cat to cat in the room. They were all so cute, I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to pick one. After I finished my hot chocolate—which was delicious by the way—I stood up and began to make my way around the space. I petted the slender orange tabby who was on top of one of the cat trees and played for a bit with the little gray kitten who seemed to have more energy than it knew what to do with.
After about twenty minutes of playing with cats I wasn’t any closer to deciding when a growl came from under one of the couches which sent one of the kittens who had been pawing at something in the shadows scurrying away. I could barely believe my eyes when the fattest cat that I’d ever seen dragged itself from under the couch. It was a long haired cat that was almost all white except for the black marks on it’s ears, face and feet. It had a smooshed nose and one single angry blue eye, the other was just a pit of darkness that had grown over with hair.
I was instantly smitten when the cat trundled up to me and looked up at me as if it was saying, ‘Where the hell have you been, I’ve been waiting for you to feed me all morning.’
I scooped it up with a grunt because it was so heavy and was pleased to hear a rumbling purr that sounded like an old car engine.
“Seriously? That one?” Ric asked, stepping behind me and reaching to pet the cat who gave a low growl. “Yikes, I’m sure it’ll warm up to everyone eventually.”
Stacia, who was standing behind the counter, piped up at that moment. “Ooh I see you like Lucifer there. I’ve never been able to pick him up myself, but it looks like you two were meant to be.”
“You named the cat after the devil?” Ric sounded a little bit incredulous as he and Lucifer engaged in a staring contest. Ric blinked first, losing.
“It’s not after the devil! Cinderella’s evil stepmother has a cat named Lucifer in the movie.” I scolded Ric, nudging him with my shoulder as I nuzzled into Lucifer’s soft fur.
