Page 4 of Lane's Lost Kitten

“Fuck.” I grabbed my keys and ran out, calling for her, running the halls, going through the staircases, over and over, around, and back again. I searched everywhere and when I was done, I searched again, With no success. I went back into the apartment on the impossible chance that she came back.

She hadn’t, but that didn’t stop me from looking again. This time, I even I looked places I knew she couldn’t be, including the medicine cabinet, which was a whole inch deep.

“I need to plan.” I took in a few deep breaths. Running around like a chicken with no head wasn’t finding her. I could do this. I had to do this.

Once again, I went back out only this time before I managed to accomplish anything, I collapsed on the floor and started to cry. Not a few tears down the cheek kind of crying, either. I full-on ugly cried with both tears and snot. I had her for one week and already put her in danger. And the worst part? I didn’t even understand how.

“Why? Why did I let her do that?” I sniffled and buried my face in her hands.

“Are you okay?” a familiar voice asked. And when I looked up, it was my landlord—landlord McHottie. Sure, he was straight, but that didn’t make him any less sexy.

I looked up at him, and he squatted down until we were eye to eye.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“Cat-terine, she’s gone.”

I instantly saw the terror on his face. He probably thought I meant “gone” the way one does when their elderly relative passes away.

“She’s… I can’t find her,” I explained. “I can’t find her anywhere.”

“I’ll help you find her,” he offered. I pushed myself up and threw my arms around him, hugging him close. It was the only thing I could think to do.

And then he hugged me back, hugged me close to him. And I felt safe. He was going to help me find my cat. I just knew it.

Why did he have to be straight?

Chapter Four

Elio

Hugging a tenant was certainly not in the How To Be a Landlord manual, if there was any such thing. But he’d been so bereft, how could I not? When I rented the unit to Lane, he’d been very worried about having a pet. And now that he had her, Cat-terine was family to him. He’d found nearly a half dozen apartments in his price range that either had a no-pet policy or charged such a large additional monthly fee—and hefty extra deposit as well. He’d confided that he didn’t know if he’d ever find a new home where he could have a fur baby.

It didn’t help that the reason he’d moved was a new job, making him coming into this place without any knowledge of the various neighborhoods and which landlords to watch out for. Rent control was not a thing in our area, and some people took advantage of that fact. I told him that Gramps often said he’d had to clean up a lot of messes made by people and by very well-cared-for animals. He had not charged anything extra to those with a pet or two, and neither did I.

I hadn’t seen much of him since he moved in, nothing more than a wave or hello in the hallway, but once or twice I had passed him with Cat-terine in a backpack with a clear panel so she could see out. Adorable—both of them!

“It’s going to be okay.” I patted his back gently, knowing I should step away but not wanting to. Not while his shoulders were still shaking with suppressed sobs. “We’ll find her. I promise. She can’t have gone far.”

He tipped his face up to me, eyes glossy. “I’ve looked everywhere. She must have gotten out of the building and probably someone picked her up. Or maybe she got hurt.”

“No.” I brushed a single tear that fought its way free to trail down his cheek. “She’s here somewhere. So the door was never left open, correct?”

“Y-yes.” He nodded. “But she must have found a way because I looked everywhere.”

“Windows?”

“Open, some of them. But the screens are still in place.”

“Good.” I stepped back and fished in my pocket for the old-fashioned handkerchief I carried with me. A Gramp’s thing. “It’s clean.” I held it up to his nose. “Blow.”

He did, with a honk, then moved farther away, covering his face with a hand. “I can’t believe I did that. Is that a real hankie? Like in the movies?”

“That’s what they’re for.” I shrugged. “My gramps said that gentlemen carry them and they are good for the environment. He hated piling the landfills with disposable everything. Also, if you have a cold, a soft cotton hankie is way easier on your nose.”

“You would make a great salesman for handkerchiefs.” His smile was wobbly but there. “Do you really think we’ll find Cat-terine?”

“I do.” Turning him in the direction of his unit, I gave him a small push. “We will begin at your place and expand our search if needed.”

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