Page 3 of Little Rabbit

Well, mostly. Sometimes, she ends up rolling in the mud with whatever bounty she’s chasing, but she’s never lost one. She’s like a dog with a bone when she has to chase after them. They might run, but they can’t hide.

“Bitch, I’m thirsty, so that better be for me,” Rori’s sultry voice declares as she flops into the seat across from me, already reaching for the cup next to my own. Rori and I couldn’t be farther apart in looks. She has an edgy look that earns her second glances everywhere. I’m a typical brunette, while her hair is a natural blonde, but she’s taken to bleaching it so that it’s almost white in color. Her eyes are a sharp green, always lined with thick black liner and long lashes, and paired with dark red lipstick. She recently cut her hair to shoulder length, and lets it fall down in soft waves around her face. Today she’s wearing a white t-shirt with a skull and crossbones covering the front, rips along each side, and a pair of black leather pants that hug her like a second skin. Where I have curves, Rori is lean and toned, but I suppose with her line of work she has to be.

“Long day?” I ask her in amusement as I take a sip of my own drink. So good.

“Not really,” she replies with a shrug. “Mostly cleaned the apartment and checked to make sure there wasn’t anything that needed my attention. Must be a slow day in the crime world because there’s nada today.”

“Didn’t you just get back? The one where you had to track him through the swamp and came out looking like one of the mud monsters?”

She grins. “Yeah, but you know I don’t like to sit idle for long. I get antsy and then I do something crazy. Like paint all the walls in my apartment black.”

I groan. “No,” I tell her firmly. “I’m not helping you do that. Remember last time? We ended up having to replace the floor because you got paint all over it.”

Her grin widens. “Oh come on, you have to admit it looked so much better, and the place needed new floors. Besides, it’s not like the landlord complained when he realized I boosted his future earning potential. He’d be stupid to be mad.”

She has a point, but I try not to fuel her delusions. Not to mention, she won’t stop at black walls. She’ll want me to design something, and I don’t have the time for fun projects anymore. “Be that as it may,” I say in amusement, “I’m not doing it, so get it out of your head once and for all. Now, tell me about your date with that guy you talked to online.”

Her face instantly morphs into an expression of disgust and annoyance. Uh oh. “He showed up with a monkey in his shirt,” she huffed. “When we sat down in the restaurant, he pulled it out, and it proceeded to hop around the table and jump in my food, throwing it everywhere and screeching. He got it in my hair, on my face, and all over my new shirt. The restaurant owner demanded we leave. I pointed out I was on a date, and that I wasn’t the one who smuggled a monkey into a restaurant. It was embarrassing on all fronts.”

I try not to laugh, I really do, but it slips out before I can stop it. Rori glares at me as I lay my head down on the table and let the laughter roll. Finally, once I have myself under control, I lift my head and gasp out, “What was the monkey’s name?”

She stares at me incredulously. “That’s what you want to know? The monkey’s fucking name? What the fuck, Sienna?”

“Oh come on,” I giggle, trying not to burst into laughter again. “You can’t tell me that kind of story and leave me hanging like that. Get it? Hanging?”

“You and your stupid puns can fuck off,” she says mildly. “I don’t know what his name was, because all I saw was a furry missile coming at me and throwing food. And my asshole date just laughed because he thought it was hilarious.”

I wipe the tears from my eyes and blow out a breath. “I mean, it kind of is now, right? Would you have predicted that in a million years? You will look back on this in a year and laugh too, just you wait.”

She gives me a look that says not-fucking-likely. Then she sighs. “All I want is a man who is decent, has a stable job, doesn’t have strange pets, and can fuck me well enough that I don’t need to pretend to have an orgasm. I don’t think that is too much to ask, but apparently the universe has other ideas. What about you? When was the last time you went on a date? Or had your cooch polished?”

“Ugh, why do you have to say shit like that?” I groan. “It’s been a bit, but no one has interested me beyond a few conversations, and that’s normally with me doing all the work. At least I have work to take my mind off things.” I briefly think about my apparent stalker, but I let it slip away. Rori doesn’t need to worry about that, and I can handle myself. If I need her, I’ll tell her, but I’m sure he’ll move on soon enough and that will be the end of it. It helps to have a boring life sometimes.

“The dating pool is drying up,” Rori agrees. “Maybe you and I need to call it quits, buy a place on the ocean somewhere, and live the hermit life, only leaving home when we need to get food or laid.”

I scoff. “Babe, you becoming a hermit is about as likely as me giving up the internet. But sure, we can live in that dream world of yours if things get bad.”

She smirked. “You have more options than me. You have two continents’ worth of men for your perusal, whereas I only have one.”

I roll my eyes. “The men in London aren’t interested in me, trust me. I’ve tried, and they’re either after my parents’ money, or my connections. Or, they only want sex and nothing more.”

“Well, that hermit life is looking more and more promising,” Rori jokes. “How are your parents? Getting closer to retirement?”

“Yep. They’re more than ready, but at the same time, Dad doesn’t know how to let go. Mom’s been harping at him to scale back, or at least start the process of semi-retiring and letting me handle some things, but you know how he is. This is his baby, and he’s not about to let go too easily.”

“Your mom will get through to him. She always does. She’ll keep chipping away at him until he can’t ignore it anymore. Are you ready to take over, though? That’s a lot of responsibility about to fall in your lap.”

“I think so. And you’re right, it is, but I’ve been doing this for so long now it feels like it’s the natural course. It does worry me I might not be here as much, since the main headquarters are in London,” I add with a frown. “Which would mean you and I wouldn’t see each other as often.”

Rori gives me a pitying look. “As if. You know I’ll be over there as often as possible, or I’ll drag your butt back here. We’re sisters for life, bitch. There’s no getting rid of me.”

I grin. “Good thing I’m okay with that or it would be damn annoying. And you know you have a job at the company in a heartbeat with just one word.”

She makes a face. “Ew, hard pass. The idea of working in an office all day gives me hives, not to mention, you know I’m shit at anything more than the basics on a computer.” On that we can agree. “But don’t worry, if anything changes, you’ll be the first to know. Oh, speaking of, did I tell you about the perp I caught a few weeks ago that tried to hide out at his brother’s lake house and almost ended up being fish food?”

By the time Rori and I leave the cafe, I’m feeling very relaxed – and maybe a little worried my friend gets off on some weird shit. I mean, who gets this excited over chasing criminals into dangerous places? I love a good chase now and again, but hers are a little extreme. Not to mention, she’s almost gotten herself killed a couple of times by not being as careful as she should have been. But there’s no talking her out of it. She loves her job, and I don’t ever want to stand in the way of her happiness.

I make my way back toward my apartment, scanning the storefront windows as I go. I have quite a bit of work to do, but no drive to do it. I’m technically ahead of schedule, so I can take a little bit more me time. I stop at one shop with a display full of pretty glass items, taking in the way the glass reflects the warm sun mixed with the shade of the awning above the window.

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