Page 8 of The Griffin, the Tiger, and Their House Cat Omega

“That’s unfortunate.”

Jack ass.

“Please tell me you still have the place for us to stay while we figure this out.” It was the least they could do.

“No, that only came with the job.”

“And what about the contract I signed?”

“Well, that was for a position that technically no longer exists. So, we’re sorry, but there’s nothing we can do.”

There was absolutely no way that this was legal. At least I hoped it wasn’t because who does this to employees?

I had so many choice words I wanted to say, but with Flora in the back, I simply hung up and started typing on my phone.

“Uncle Daddy? What’s wrong?” Either my tone had been really intense or she knew exactly what was happening.

“Nothing, sweetie. We’re just changing our plans, pivoting away. Oh, look! I found a place called Animals. Want to go there?”

“Yeah! Maybe it’ll be like that fish place where they had that alligator in the water that moved but wasn’t real.”

“Those are called animatronics” They had been neat, but it was also, like, decades old.

“Yeah! Maybe it’s one of those places.”

“Maybe.” I hoped so, for her sake, but my reception was shit and not much more than the name popped up.Please don’t let it be a pet store with a snack bar.Although, she’d probably love that, too.

As we pulled into the parking lot a short while later, I saw it was not. If anything, it looked like a bar.

“Oh, honey, I think Uncle Daddy made a mistake. We’ll find someplace better.”

“I gotta pee, Uncle Daddy.”

I learned early on that if she said she needed a bathroom, the clock was ticking down, and I’d better hurry up and find one. But still, this was a bar.

“Okay, can you wait till we get to the next stop?”

“No.”

“Okay, well, let’s go in here, and who knows? Maybe it’ll smell good.” And I didn’t have a problem with eating in a bar with her, but I wanted this to be special because after tonight we were probably going to be in a campsite or worse—still in the van.

We got out of the car and walked in. It was definitely a club—not at all an animatronics-filled wonderland. But a wonderland just the same. There was something special about the place that I couldn’t put my finger on.

“You’re here for the job, right,” A man—wolf by the scent—came up and shook my hand.

“We came here to use the bathroom.”

“Uncle Daddy needs a job.” As helpful as she was trying to be, I’d have rather she didn’t.

“Well, this is the perfect place For a job. We have a few right now. A server, a bouncer, and a tech guy. And they all come with housing. What did you say your name was?”

I felt bad for whoever’s interview I was taking, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

“I’m River and this is my niece Flora. I’m here about the tech job.”

Chapter Six

Matthew

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