In a Cat's Eyes

In a Cat's Eyes

Chapter one: Beginning

By ms_c_mouse

The characters and story belong to me; all rights reserved. This original story was first written for and posted at Live Journal for the community bb_shousetsu. My humble thanks to Link, my beta reader, for helping me improve this story.

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Bobby checked his watch again. Damn it, why couldn't the last fifteen minutes of his shift pass by at a decent pace like the rest of the day? Tired of the long hours of catering to customers, he looked forward to going home so he could take off his uniform and change into some shorts. It wasn't that he disliked working at the grocery store, or working in general, but it was summertime and he would have preferred to be out with his friends.

In all honesty, the job was a self-imposed burden. He wanted to make sure he had enough money to spend on the clothes he liked to wear when he went back to school in September and not just make do with what his parents were willing to buy for him.

As soon as his relief arrived, Bobby left the check-out counter and breezed down one of the brightly lit aisles that led to the back of the grocery store. After darting through a pair of swinging doors that were marked "Employees Only", he crossed the storage area and entered a narrow hallway that lead to the small, windowless box that was called the employee break room. It really was just the place to clock in and out. He shoved the door open with a sigh. Inside the room there was a plastic table with two chairs set beside it, but not much of anything else. A fine layer of undisturbed dust coated the floor under the table because no one ever spent any time in the room when they had a chance to take a break.

Whispers drifted through the open door. Bobby hesitated and looked at his watch once more when he saw the assistant-manager, Mrs. Stratton, standing in the room. Even though Bobby had worked for eight hours, it was possible that she might ask him to stay longer. He didn't want any extra hours, so he had an excuse prepared: dental appointment. But Mrs. Stratton was not alone.

Bobby didn't recognize the gray-haired man talking with Mrs. Stratton. They were standing very close to one another, like lovers. Quite uncharacteristic of Mrs. Stratton, who usually insisted on speaking an arm's length away from the person, regardless of if the person was customer or employee. Was the man flirting with Mrs. Stratton? He held her hand against his chest as he leaned in, his mouth positioned by her mouth as if he might kiss her at any moment. And he was whispering to her, although from what Bobby could hear it didn't sound like he was speaking English. In fact, it almost seemed like, in the most illogical way, that the man was growling at Mrs. Stratton. In his other hand, the man loosely gripped a number of papers

Bobby had an uneasy feeling as he took in the whole scene, even though he wasn't sure why. He told himself to stop overanalyzing the situation and just get the hell out of there. This would be the perfect time to leave, while the assistant-manager was distracted.

Neither one seem to notice Bobby as he walked past them, though the man drew the assistant manager closer to him, his deep growls increasing in volume subtly. However when Bobby glanced at Mrs. Stratton's face, the word hypnotized came to mind. Her glazed eyes and slack jaw did little to improve her features, giving her a faraway, alien look. Bobby looked away quickly. She was panting in rhythm with the stranger, seeming distressed or maybe aroused. That thought was enough to make Bobby shudder. He really didn't want to think about a woman, who was the same age as his mother, being aroused.

Suddenly he realized what was bugging him. The man was a bully. Bobby was certain of it. The growl was surely a menacing noise, and Mrs. Stratton must be paralyzed with fear. Having always been one of the shortest boys in class from grade school to high school, Bobby had dealt with more than his fair share of bullies. As he assessed the situation again, it became increasingly apparent to him that it could be nothing else but harassment. He decided right then that he should speak up Getting picked on or seeing someone being picked on by a bully always made him angry enough to fight, and needless to say that had landed him in trouble on many occasions. As much as he disliked Mrs. Stratton, he felt the need to save her. It only seemed right.

"I'm clocking out now, Mrs. Stratton," said Bobby, as he put the stress on the word Mrs. His tone of voice was louder and deeper than it really needed to be in such a small room; nevertheless, it brought about the desired results. Mrs. Stratton shook her head and stepped away from the man. She slowed her breathing, but left a lingering hand on the stranger's chest, as if reluctant to leave his embrace. Bobby started to second guess his thoughts. Maybe she was just an old lady trying to get laid. "I have a dental appointment today, so I can't work any extra hours," he added, just in case his actions brought on her wrath.

Mrs. Stratton blinked at Bobby as she pulled her hand free from the man's grasp. She appeared bewildered, running her fingers through her short, dark hair. Little strands stayed erect as she released her hair, making her seem even more aroused. Bobby tried to make eye contact, but dropped his eyes when Mrs. Stratton looked at him. He became increasingly uncomfortable. She kept swaying, as if she was having trouble keeping her balance. "What – oh, yes – that's okay. I – we have plenty of people for the afternoon." She cleared her throat, although her voice continued to sound a bit raspy. "Robert, did you see the lost pet flier that Mr.…?" She paused, momentarily regaining that lost look. "I'm sorry. I forgot your name." Bobby noticed that she avoided making eye contact with the man and that she was blushing, which wasn't typical behavior for her.

"Please call me Felix." Bobby was surprised by the man's deep, smooth voice, sexy by movie star standards. There was also an accent that Bobby couldn't place. The voice matched the tones of the "growls" Bobby had thought he'd heard. He felt his own face start to heat up. It was no wonder that Mrs. Stratton wasn't her usual take charge, confident self. "Thank you for allowing me to place the flier here," said Felix, touching Mrs. Stratton's arm lightly. She started, shying away from him. The obvious attempts to catch her gaze again, met with failure.

Mrs. Stratton glanced at her watch. "Oh my, look at the time. I should have been out front ten minutes ago. Robert, please show – Felix the way out when you leave." Without waiting for a reply, she dashed through the doorway. Bobby watched her retreat with both relief and amusement.

"Such a loud little monkey," said the man, "although you do have potential."

He looked up sharply to find Felix smiling at him. Perfectly straight teeth formed a superstar smile to go along with the sexy voice. The man's eyes were an incredible shade of green and Bobby had to grudgingly admit to himself that he too might have taken an interest in the guy if he hadn't seen him putting the moves on Mrs. Stratton. He turned away, trying to ignore the man's snide comment and telling himself he didn't care what the geezer thought about him. Even so, Bobby was slightly puzzled at how much the man's remark had disturbed him. He shook his head sternly, clearing away the thought. So the guy was attractive and had women falling at his feet; nonetheless Mrs. Stratton was the mother of one of his friends and Bobby didn't want to see her get hurt by some idiot.

As he ran his time card through the scanner, he glanced at the flier in the man's hand. Bobby was shocked when he recognized the orange tom with the big, golden eyes. "I've seen that cat," he blurted out. He immediately wished he had kept his mouth shut. But the man looked at him with renewed interest, silently urging him to disclose further information. "It's been hanging around my parents' house for the last three days."

"You are certain? There's a reward if you find him." Now Bobby was interested. The money would allow him to take more days off work, let him spend more time with his friends. The idea was intriguing. He nodded.

Now the tall, lean man was standing too close to him and holding on to Bobby's arm tightly. Bobby felt the man's eagerness, an inexplicable hunger. That was too much for Bobby. Once again he sensed that this person was a threat and he shook Felix's hand off forcefully. "Don't touch me," he snarled, backing away. It was then that Bobby noticed some scars and bruises on the man's face. He also realized Felix didn't appear to be very old, despite the gray hair. In fact the gray hair was really more of a silvery white color. The smooth skin around the man's mouth and eyes made Bobby rethink Felix's age. If he had to guess, he would say the man was in his mid to late twenties, but no older than that. Bobby felt vaguely attracted once more. He squashed the feeling by replaying the incident with Mrs. Stratton again.

Felix didn't show any signs of being the least bit intimidated by Bobby's warning. "Jinx is a valuable show cat. He ran away when a thief broke into my apartment and attacked me. I would be very grateful if you returned him." Felix was now gazing intently into his eyes and Bobby was alarmed to find that he couldn't look away or move his own feet. "Jinx likes hamburger. You might be successful if you tried tempting him with some." Felix blinked, and Bobby felt his frozen limbs relax. He rubbed his eyes, feeling slightly dazed. Felix's hand brushed against his belly as the man leaned down to whisper in his ear. "You don't seem convinced. Would a different reward bring you around?"

"No," Bobby said, "I need the money."

"Yet you're reluctant. Perhaps an additional reward? I really do value my cat." Bobby remained silent. "Perhaps a companion?" Felix suggested.

"I don't want a pet."

"A pet? I think he'd be offended if he heard you refer to him as a pet."

Him? Bobby's stomach clenched. It wasn't a secret that he was gay although his parents never wanted to discuss it. They hoped it was just a confused phase he was going through. He even had friends at school who knew he was gay. Yet it was truly disturbing that this stranger could read him so easily. And it was even more disgusting that the shit-bag imagined he could be inspired by such an offer. Simply because he wanted to keep his job, Bobby didn't punch Felix in the nose. But the temptation was there, and Bobby had to fight hard to resist it.

"I know the way out," said Felix, as he turned to face the doorway. Bobby followed him, making sure that the silver haired man didn't take anything or bother any of the other employees. As soon as they were both outside the store, he watched for awhile as Felix sauntered off towards one end of the mall. The whole time he wondered if he should call the police and warn them about the man's suspicious behavior. Yet what could he offer as proof that Felix was dangerous? He was only going on a gut instinct and that didn't count for much. It was probably best if he just let the whole matter go unreported since he didn't even know the man's last name or home address. Bobby hoped they wouldn't cross paths again even if that meant he wouldn't receive the reward money.

He thought about the lost cat and decided that he really did want to find it, if only to keep it away from Felix. That was, without doubt, a crappy attitude and he understood that resorting to such an action would get him in trouble if he was caught. Yet Bobby was certain that Felix wasn't revealing the whole truth about the cat. Maybe the guy actually had a fight with his girlfriend or partner over who owned the cat. Or maybe Felix had stolen the cat, and was taking advantage of the kindheartedness of people as a way to retrieve it. In that case, Bobby reasoned, he should definitely keep the cat out of harm's way.

Once Felix was out of sight, Bobby trudged to the far end of the parking lot and opened up his car to let out the heat that had built up during the day. Bobby wished for the millionth time that summer that there were some trees planted around the parking area for shade, but in the worst tradition of old strip malls, the area was paved and sterile.

Despite the sunshade that was resting against the inside of the windshield, the inside of the car was still miserably hot. The heat was a suffocating pressure and sweat covered Bobby's face as he sat down in the driver's seat. His slacks absorbed the heat like a sponge, and soon Bobby felt like he was sitting in a puddle. After folding up the sunshade, he closed the door and started the engine. The pathetic air-conditioner didn't do much to cool the interior of the car. Bobby was thankful he didn't have a long drive home.

As he left the parking lot and entered the flow of traffic on the main road, his stomach rumbled. The peanut butter and jelly sandwich he had wolfed down during break several hours ago was only a distant memory. Although he knew there was fresh food at home and some leftovers from last night's meal, he still headed for his favorite drive-thru. He had an unshakable craving for a hamburger and a soda.

***Continued in part two***