“She still hates me.” Jake sighed.
“Right…”
“I don’t know if our plan is gonna work, kiddo. She really, really hates me.”
Marley chewed on her spaghetti thoughtfully. “We need to review the cat socialization chart ASAP.”
“Yeah, it might have helped.” Jake rubbed a hand on his chest.
His gut twisted. Jake hoped it was indigestion and not regret making his stomach turn. He knew time was of the essence. If he couldn’t get Gia to stick around, she’d slip through his fingers. He couldn’t let it happen again.
“Okay, I’ll grab my laptop and meet you after you shower. You stink.” Marley scrunched up her freckled nose adorably.
“I do not,” he said, though he turned his head to sniff covertly.
Okay, I do stink.
“Told ya.” She stuck her tongue out at him.
“All right, rendezvous in twenty minutes. Living room,” Jake instructed and got up to clear the table.
Exactly twenty minutes later, freshly showered and dressed in a pair of gray sweatpants and a white T-shirt, Jake bounded down the stairs to meet a stern and unsmiling Marley. On the coffee table in front of her was her sticker-covered laptop, which was opened up to what looked like a presentation. Pausing at the threshold of the living room, he stared at the picture of him side by side with a smiling Gia. He recognized other pictures of her on the red carpet from her earlier movies.
“Should I sit, or…?”
“Sit.” Marley’s tone brooked no arguments.
On socked feet, he cautiously approached the leather couch, grimacing as it squeaked beneath his weight. Leaning forward, he braced his forearms on his legs, hands relaxed in front of him.
“Okay. Ready.”
“Let’s get started, shall we?” Nodding, Marley turned to her laptop and started her presentation. He watched with amusement as a video of kittens started playing. “As cute as kittens are, a feral kitten is a completely different animal. Literally.”
She advanced to the next slide. Replacing the adorable kittens was a feral one, hissing from a dark corner as a rescuer tried to lure it out of the tight space.
“If not handled properly, feral kittens can be quite aggressive and dangerous. This may work in the wild but would not make a great pet. Not that we want Gia to be a pet or anything. We just need her to soften up to you,” Marley rushed to clarify.
“Of course.” Jake nodded in agreement.
“So, in order to socialize a cat, it’s best to start when they are still kittens. Obviously, we have missed the window of opportunity. In terms of cat years, Gia is in the life stage known as prime. Which translates to about three to six years old in cat years.”
“Right. You mentioned that earlier, but what does it mean exactly?”
Marley sighed at being interrupted.
“It means we have a lot of work ahead of us, but it’s not too late to get her to warm up to us.”
“Okay. That sounds promising.”
Pausing in her presentation, Marley turned toward him, a curious expression on her face. Jake braced himself for whatever Marley had on her mind.
“Are you going to tell me what you did?” Marley asked, hands on her hips.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Nonya.”
