Page 14 of Fruit
“Yourcat?”
“Yes. You stolemycat.”
Jasmine clears her throat. “Um, as interesting as this is…” We both turn to look at her. “We’ve got a situation with Joshua,” Jasmine says. I step away guiltily, even while still reeling with suddenly seeing Sebastián again, that dirty, sneaky—
“What happened?” Sebastián asks Jasmine.
“He got a little bruised up. Black eye. Some kids on the train, apparently, although they go to his school, so…”
Sebastián sighs. “I’ll try to convince him to let us tell the school.”
“Good luck with that. Did you want something, by the way?”
“Oh yeah—it was about those blueprints I’ve been chasing, for the back-lot renovations…”
“They’ll email you them by tomorrow.”
“Great. Thanks, Jasmine.”
“No problem. And, Sebastian, give Joshua a moment. Jackson’s with him now. Let him cool off.”
“Yeah, all right,” Sebastián says. He turns to look at me. “Let’s go to my office,” he says. I scrunch up my nose but nod and follow him through the side door.
We go down a narrow hallway, passing a break room, judging by the smell of coffee wafting from it, and into a small office. He sits behind a desk taking up the majority of the room. I remain standing, stubborn.
“So. What’s this about me stealing your cat?” he asks in an irritatingly calm voice. My hackles rise automatically.
“Don’t treat me like I’m one of the kids you’re sorting out,” I warn, pointing a finger at him. He raises his hands, palms towards me, but his expression barely changes. “You took my cat out of the shelter!”
“Okay. I’m confused. I thought you found her under that dumpster? And you told the vet you weren’t going to adopt it.”
“I…well, Iam.”
“What you mean is you changed your mind about adopting it, and now you’re blaming me because I got there first.”
I open my mouth, choking on my retort for a moment. “I…look. I found her, okay? Like, thanks for helping out, but it took me like four days to go pick her up. It’s not like I left her there for a month.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but she’s mine now,” he says. His expression is flat and unapologetic, and I realise I haven’t seen this guy crack a friendly expression since I met him. I gape at him. I get that what he’s saying is technically true, but couldn’t he be a little more fucking flexible? Or kind in his delivery?
“Dude.”
“Don’t call me dude,” the humourless asswipe says.
“Dude. Come on. You’ve had her for like two weeks. Dumpster Kitten is mine.”
“Did you just call her…Dumpster Kitten?” Sebastián asks slowly. I roll my eyes.
“It’s just a nickname.”
“Look,” Sebastián says, pinching the bridge of his nose, the condescending bastard. “I’m sorry, but I’ve already filled out all the paperwork. Find yourself another cat,” he says.
I clench my teeth. Animals aren’t like that. You can’t just replace them like objects.
“I—”
“Thanks for helping Joshua out. Really. But let the cat thing go,” Sebastián says.
I breathe out harshly through my nose. This dude has no idea who he’s talking to.
