Page 14 of Crash and Burn

"Meow?" The devil incarnate disguised as a cat batted her eyes up at me innocently.

"Don't give me that," I scolded. "You know you're not supposed to be up on the table. Now I'm going to have to put that in the laundry to get rid of all your fur."

Mittens blinked at me again, then settled her head back onto her paws and circled her tail around herself, getting nice and comfy, not in any hurry to leave.

With a sigh, I picked her up in both arms.

"Meow!!" she cried indignantly as I set her on the floor.

"Go take a nap in a sunbeam or something," I told her.

She tipped her nose up and sniffed derisively, then turned her back on me to stalk off with all the poise and grace of a queen.

"Brat," I muttered.

I shook out the fabric she'd been sitting on and took a lint brush to it. Putting it in the laundry would take too much time and I'd wanted to work on this before I had to leave.

I'd taken Mittens home from a shelter, thinking it would be nice to have a cute kitten for company. Little did I know the tiny demon would have an attitude problem. At least this would be another story for Grant. He liked hearing about the mischief Mittens got up to.

Grant liked hearing all kinds of stories from me. He liked listening to me. He showed interest in my life.

He showed interest in me.

I fumbled with the thread, the spool slipping out of my hands more than once. I needed to focus. No more thoughts of Grant.

I'd originally started repairing my own clothes when I'd been low on cash working at Manny's. Turned out I was pretty good with a needle and thread. Soon I was scouring through second hand shops for pieces I could repurpose. I'd started getting more creative than just patching holes. Now it was something of a hobby, although with the time I put into it, it was more like an unpaid part-time job.

Jobs.

Ugh.

My parents had been hounding me again about getting a different job. They didn't understand that I liked working at the bar. I took pride in taking care of customers, giving them a great experience to remember after they left. Not to mention, my boss was awesome and the tips flowed generously.

Ever since Sin and Tonic opened in Manny's old spot I'd been able to build a nice little nest egg, while still having enough left over to splurge every once in a while. The first thing I'd bought myself was a top of the line sewing machine. Stitching by hand had grown tedious.

I knew Grant had spent his first two week's tips on a brand new camera.

Snap.

The thread broke in the middle of a stitch. I groaned and flicked open the bobbin compartment to re-thread it. You'd think with all the money I'd spent on it, the machine would work better.

It wasn't really the sewing machine's fault, though. I hadn't been paying attention. I'd set the thread tension too high and had been pulling the material through too quickly.

I'd been thinking about Grant, even when I'd told myself to stop.

I leaned back in my chair and tossed the fabric on the table.

I'd been hiding my attraction to Grant for so long. For years. We'd started out as colleagues when I'd first joined Manny's, and had quickly become friends. Grant had a steadiness to him that I found refreshing. It felt like nothing could go wrong if he was there. It felt like everything would turn out okay. He listened when I needed an ear and gave thoughtful guidance whenever I felt lost and overwhelmed.

Eventually, those friendly feelings of mine changed, evolving into something deeper, something stronger.

And yet I'd never said a word to him.

It was because of Grant that I'd stayed at Manny's as long as I did, but I could never tell him that.

Or could I?

I kicked back with my heels and sent my wheeled chair rolling across the room. I spun in slow circles as I contemplated my options.