Her Enemy Protector Bear by Cynthia Wilde
Chapter 7
Zoe could not believe what she heard from Nicholas Barrett. When he had walked into her shop, he looked worried and uncomfortable. She knew she was maybe being a little petty, but she deliberately ignored him while she helped several customers. She wasn’t going to lie to herself either. She enjoyed his impatience as she slowly rang up three different sales. He had laid out his plight and she had eaten up every bit of it. Here he was, hat in hand, her boss. It felt great to have him in her debt, it really did.
After listening to his description of the situation, Zoe left the booth, with Devon in charge, for a short while. She had her cell phone in hand and wished that she had already hired a helper as she reluctantly followed him across the lane to his booth.
She stood there, shocked, amid the stinky debris that had once been his inventory. Everything in Nicholas's back room appeared to have been either peed on or clawed or both. Zoe realized that this wasn't some joke he was playing on her; he really was in need. The destruction of merchandise was a tough thing that she wouldn't wish on anyhow.
She took a deep breath, then immediately regretted it as the stench was overpowering. "Mr. Barrett," she said formally. "Many of these fabrics are severely damaged. They will need some deep cleaning, and I don't know how well they will take the treatment to get out all the smell. I mean look we have had our differences, I see you are in a tough spot. I will see what I can do, but I can't promise results. Cat urine is pretty potent, and will eat through synthetics and keep its smell for a very long time. I'm not a professional clothing cleaner, but I will do my best," she said, examining the damage. Though she stood as far away as possible, her eyes were watering. "As for the fraying and stitching, I can sew them back together and fix some of the unravelings, but I must say, in future you really need to consider using a different blend. These will wear and fray quicker than more natural materials." Zoe looked around the room and could not see anywhere that the cats could have breached the building. "How do you think they got in? I mean I wouldn’t want for us to go to all this trouble only for it to happen again."
"I haven't found where they could have entered," Nicholas answered, looking around the back room as well. "But I am sure I will be able to figure it out, and please, call me Nick."
Zoe wasn't sure she liked the idea of being on a first-name basis, but she thought of the old adage her father used to say, 'Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.' Although she wasn’t sure enemy was the word at this point. Jerk? Asshole? Designer cat buying prick? She laughed to herself. Luckily he hadn’t noticed. She nodded in dubious agreement. "This is going to take a considerable amount of time away from my other work. I will need to be compensated, of course."
"Of course," he said. "I will pay you for your time. How long do you think it will take you to do the repairs? I just want to be able to open the doors again."
"I honestly don't know," said Zoe. "I can handle the ones that have the least amount of damage and urine on them first. I should be able to get some of them to you before next weekend. The others will need to soak for a bit before I even touch them. And some I really think you need to just trash. Please pack it all up in a couple of boxes or bags, and I will make a list of all the items I will need. Cassie can clean the place while I work on the clothing. Maybe you can make it like a boutique for the first week. I don’t know. I mean that is going to be the main issue really. I don’t know where I will even be able to do what I need to. No offense but there is no way I am bringing this stuff into my booth. And really to get this done right I will need a washer and dryer, and some space. I'm staying in the campground, in our pop-up, so that’s obviously not going to work. I am sorry but I am not sure how this will work. To be honest I am having trouble getting my own work done. It is one kink I have not yet worked out.” For a minute she regretted showing him that bit of vulnerability.
As she looked at him a look of resignation came over his face. "I will make room for you in my house," said Nick. "I’ve got a big place and I had someone in doing samples for me a few months ago. The space is all set up. We have top of the line machines and they are just gathering dust at the moment. It should more than meet your needs. And if all goes well, perhaps we could talk about letting you use it moving forward for your own clothing. You mentioned you need a space. So maybe we could help each other out?”
Zoe thought about it. To say her sewing area was minimal in the pop-up trailer was an understatement. And truthfully she could use some cash. She had to think about what was best for her and Devon, not what was most palatable. "I charge twenty dollars an hour," she said, making up a number on the spot. "If that works for you, then we have a deal." Zoe held out her hand to him. "I can start on Monday; Devon and I volunteer on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I can come the other days to work on this. Come by at the end of the day for the list so we can start first thing next week."
Nick shook her hand. "It's a deal," he said. The relief in his voice actually made Zoe happy to help, but she vowed never to tell him; she would keep him at arm's length. She knew his type, and she had seen his true colors. She would act professionally.
"Now, if you'll excuse me," she said. "I have to get back to my booth, I’ve left Devon on his own and he’s just a kid, albeit supernaturally gifted at charming the pants off my customers.” She laughed, and then caught herself. What’s gotten into you? She felt a little giddy she realized. shaking her head. She walked away without waiting for his reply and kicked herself mentally the whole way back. I hope you know what you are doing Zoe.Too late now, she thought, I'm already committed. I should be committed, like to an asylum, but twenty dollars an hour will help us a lot. Zoe smiled. And if she could work on her own clothing there it could be a game changer. Maybe she could afford a better camper after all this was done, and she and Devon could live more comfortably.
Devon was waiting for her in the doorway. He was such a good kid. He was bright and knew just what to say to customers, which, by this time, were many. She thanked him and threw herself into her work for the rest of the afternoon. There was something very satisfying in seeing her customers' eyes light up as they touched the fabric of a piece that caught their attention. It was even better when they tried it on, and the delight was written all over their faces. Every time she ran a credit card and watched one of her babies go out the door to their new home, she felt a surge of pride.
By the end of the day, she was exhausted, and Devon was literally asleep on the cash box. Zoe let him snooze a few minutes before waking him. He'd worked hard today. She needed to hire some help so he could be a little boy again and have some time to make some friends his own age around the faire, instead of acting as a hired hand. Zoe decided she would check back in with the office, tomorrow, if they’d put up the ad for a good salesperson looking for work.
As she started putting things away, she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she saw a cat staring at her. This time it was a gray Siamese with strange blue eyes. It sat there, disconcertingly looking at her. Zoe stopped what she was doing and watched the cat watching her. It just sat there with its steady gaze trained on her. Zoe walked over to it, clicking her tongue at it in little kissy sounds, hoping to sound non-threatening. The cat didn't run away. In fact, it met her halfway in the lane and bumped its head against her hand affectionately, purring and drooling as it used her hand to rub itself. A Siamese stray?How odd. In Zoe's experience, a Siamese stray was almost unheard of. She thought of Nick’s pure-bred comment for some reason.
"Where did you come from?" she asked. "Would you like a treat?" she asked the cat in a singsong voice. Zoe could have sworn it nodded at her before it meowed a sweet little squeaky mew, as though it had a scratchy throat. If I had some time I could wipe you up a real treat. But she had other things to do. Besides, she knew she had a little bit of her sandwich left from the afternoon; it was tuna fish on rye. The cat followed her up the steps and into the booth. It looked around and then settled in the middle of the rug on the floor and laid down in a pool of silky gray fur. Zoe cautiously walked over and offered the tuna on a small wooden plate.
The cat mewed again, and then devoured the food as if he hadn't eaten in a while. Zoe knew better than to pet it while it was eating, but afterward, it butted her hand again, purring and demanding more petting. Zoe obliged.
"Were you the one who peed all over the clothing?" She asked the question to the cat as if it were a human. For a split second it looked up at her as if it understood, before quickly reverting to a very cat-like push of its head against her hand again. “Of course you didn’t,” she answered herself. You look like to much of a high class kitty for such things.” The cat just continued to accept her chin rubs.
As soon as Devon saw the cat he engaged it with some string from a spool of laces. Zoe took the opportunity to go to back room and quickly fold and stash all her remaining clothing into the watertight plastic bins that she kept for travel. Classy looking kitty or not she was now a bit paranoid. There was no way she would allow her stock to be ruined, no matter how cute the culprits might be. When she finished, she locked the back room and went up to the front to get Devon.
When she returned two more cats had joined the first. They sat on the carpet, staring at her. One was a white and gray tabby with yellow eyes, and the other was a fat calico that looked pregnant. "Where did these two come from?" she asked Devon.
"I don't know," he said. "They just walked in a second ago like they owned the place. I guess they like us. I think they are strays too. Can we keep them?"
"No, honey," she said, sitting down with him and the cats. Now she was really glad she had sealed up her wares. "We can feed them though. Then, we had better wash up before Furdi smells them on us and gets jealous."
"Right," said Devon smiling. "Maybe we can keep just one?"
Zoe threw her arms around her son. He had such a big heart and a love of animals. She knew, eventually, she would have to give in. "Let me think about it," she said. "But for now we need to close up and head home. Let's shoo these guys out and go have our dinner. We can pick up some cat food next time we’re in town in case they come back again, okay?"
Devon nodded. "Okay," he agreed. The cats didn't fuss when herded out of the booth and into the lane. The three of them sat and watched Zoe and Devon leave. The hairs on the back of Zoe's neck stood up a bit as she looked into their eyes. There was something sort of unnerving about them. What it was she couldn’t really say though.