Like a Bird (23 page)

The slam of the front door caused both of them to jump.

“Rose!” Gareth shouted from the front door. “I need a garbage bag and gloves.”

Sky pulled Banjo into her chest where he nuzzled his way between her breasts. They both sat quietly, Banjo drifting off to sleep as Sky stared out at the garden, unaware she was holding her breath. Gareth’s heavy footsteps grew louder as he approached. He blew into the room and stood before Sky, who did not move.

“I think you should give the cat a new name,” he said.

Sky looked up at him and blinked.

“Do you have any ideas?” he asked her.

Sky shook her head.

“What about, Annihilator?” he said, rubbing a strong-smelling sterilizing gel into his hands.

Sky smiled then looked down at little Annihilator, warm in the crevice of her chest and unmoved by Gareth’s presence.

“All right, that’s settled,” Gareth said and left Sky alone with her cat and her book.

Sky picked up the drowsy kitten and placed him on top of her knees so his eyes were in line with hers. “Look Annihilator, if you want to stay alive you need to listen to me.” The kitten turned his head away and Sky turned it back with her index finger. “You’re a carnivore, a killer, I get that’s who you are and that’s fine. I want you to be a cat. But you can’t leave four offerings on the porch every day. One is enough. Otherwise I might not be able to protect you from Gareth. Do you understand? No excessive bird slaughter. Is that clear?” Sky kissed its furry head. “I’m going to call you Anni for short, by the way.”

When Sky let go of his head, Anni shook off her scolding and hopped onto the floor. He padded out of the room with his tail high.

Sky tried to return to her book but ended up staring out the window instead, her eyes glazed and the cat’s future seeming bleak in her imagination.

- -

The following morning, Annihilator left only one chickadee on the front step. The next day, a mouse, and a toad the morning after. Sky occupied herself by digging a mass grave with the help of her new arm and a shovel from Gareth.

From his office window Gareth watched her work, and as she headed back to the house she saw him there. He turned away and checked his phone to read a message from Louis.

Your girlfriend just contacted me. She wants to surprise you with a visit. Knowing you don’t like surprises, I thought I’d let you know.

Gareth stopped right there and rang Louis.

“I see you got my message,” Louis said as soon as he picked up the phone.

“How did she find you?”

“She sent me an e-mail. I’m pretty sure she found it online somewhere.”

“Can you forward the message to me?” Gareth walked around the desk to sit in front of his computer.

“Yeah, sure. But hey, don’t get me in trouble for this OK? I don’t want her to yell at me for being a rat.”

“She won’t yell at you, she’s not that kind of girl. Besides, she needs money so she’s in no position to piss me off.”

“Hey I need money too!” Louis said. “If I start a bathing suit line will you give me money?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“No one wants to see you in conjunction with any kind of bathing suit.”

“Hey, whoa! That was harsh. Help me out a little here.”

“I’ve done more than enough for you, Lou.”

“I know, I know, I’m just taking the piss. Gawd, you’re so serious all the time. I don’t want to see me in a bathing suit either!”

“Thanks for letting me know about Kitty. I appreciate it,” Gareth said, his tone softening.

“Hey, no problem. I figured I’d be in big trouble if she just showed up. Especially with Sky there and everything. Boy, that would be awkward.”

Gareth was silent as he stroked his chin, thinking.

“Hello?” Louis said.

“Maybe I will have you bring her out here. But not yet. Let me think about it.”

“OK, but what should I tell her in the meantime? Do you want me to respond or are you going to handle it?”

“Just tell her the truth. Let her know I’ll contact her later.”

“OK, will do.”

They said good-bye and Gareth checked his e-mail for Kitty’s message, which Louis had just sent. There was a photo attached and he opened it to see Kitty standing in her bedroom wearing a white swimsuit. Her cleavage was prominent and her legs looked shapely and strong. A silver chain was draped around one slender ankle and her bare feet were smooth and decorated with glittery pink polish. She held up her bright hair in one hand to reveal the delicate line of her neck, and she smiled into the camera with a fresh face and glowing skin.

“Anni, no!” Sky screamed from down the hall. Gareth startled and snapped out of his lustful trance. Her screams were followed by pounding footsteps coming toward Gareth’s office. He went to the door just as she was about to burst in, wearing nothing but a towel and holding her prosthetic arm by the wrist.

“While I was in the shower, Anni got hold of my new arm and used it as a chew toy!” she sobbed.

Gareth took the arm from her and in the bright light of the office window, examined the teeth marks and scratches from the merciless cat. He held it out at arm’s length and scrutinized it again. Sky stood near his desk, clutching her towel. She glanced at his computer and saw a large image of a pink-haired girl posing in a white bathing suit. It was the same girl from his phone, the same girl she had seen many times before — the same girl she couldn’t seem to escape. The blood drained from her face and she felt dizzy. She stared at Gareth.

“It’s not that bad. You can barely tell from a distance. It’s a shame though. He better not do it again, because these are not cheap,” he said sternly, turning to face Sky.

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. “I know, I’m so sorry. It was my fault. I need to train him better.” She took her arm back by tucking it under her stump and pulling it to her chest. She lowered her head, letting her tears hit her bare feet.

Gareth cradled her face in his hand, turning it up toward him. He wiped the tears from one eye with his thumb as Sky leaned into his palm. “It’s OK. It’s your arm, it’s your responsibility.”

Sky nodded and Gareth took his hand away and turned back toward his desk. Sky took the cue and left. As she made her way down the hall, she began to feel sick and picked up her pace. In her room, she tossed her arm on the floor and the towel fell off in the process, leaving her naked. She dove toward the toilet and lifted the lid just in time.

- -

“Shit, Creep. He knows. Louis told him and the surprise visit is off. Now what the hell am I supposed to do?” Kitty said with her phone sandwiched between her shoulder and her ear. A shopping basket rested in the crook of one arm and she held a can of pasta sauce in the other.

“I don’t know, it was just an idea. How was I supposed to know his partner would be a snitch?”

Kitty wandered up and down the red-and-white checkerboard aisles of the corner grocery mart, where rows of goods were lit by poor fluorescent light. “I think I should just send him an apology e-mail. With pictures.” She said. “All I want to do is show him the results, show him what he paid for. I shouldn’t have been so . . . covert. I know he doesn’t like that sort of thing. I just don’t want to upset him again. I don’t even know if he’s still willing to invest.” She bit her lip.

“Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to make this happen. You know him better than me.”

“Yeah, well, if he’s not on board, Angelo isn’t either. It was only when I said I had another investor that he finally took me seriously.”

“Well, you can always pretend you have another investor just to secure Angelo,” Creep offered.

“Isn’t that called
lying
?”

“No, I think that’s called
business
.”

Kitty sighed. “I don’t know if I’m cut out for this business bullshit.”

“It’s not for everyone.”

Kitty frowned and stared blankly at a package of mac and cheese on the shelf in front of her. “I gotta go.”

“All right babe, chin up. OK?”

“Yeah,” she said weakly, “OK.” Kitty dropped her phone on top of the bananas in her shopping basket. She brought her random goods to the checkout and paid with her credit card, her breath on hold as she waited for it to be approved.

Kitty released her breath only when the cashier handed her the receipt. With the bag over her shoulder, she walked home in the relentless sunshine, her earphones blasting a chipper pop song and her eyes on the pavement.

She walked into an empty apartment. Johnathan was gone during the day now that he had a real job, and Daniella was sleeping, working, or out. Kitty left the bag on the kitchen counter and shuffled to her room to lay on the cool cotton bedsheets. She closed her eyes and tried not to imagine schemes to win Gareth’s attention. She put her pillow over her face and screamed into it, her lipstick staining the cover and smearing across her face.

From the kitchen, her phone announced a new text message, but she waited until it reminded her again before she finally went to pick it up.

It was only Dougie, who wanted to show her off at some nerd conference the following week. If she could get a new pair of shoes out of him it might be worth it. Might be.

Kitty typed a new message to Johnathan.

Are you around? I need a friend.

Lying on her side with her arm under her head, Kitty slid into a light slumber where she dreamed of handing a cardboard box to Gareth to load into the back of a truck. He tossed it in and she handed him another and another, for what seemed like an eternal life of manual labour.

An hour later Kitty woke slightly damp with sweat and her head in a fog. She checked the time and her nonexistent new messages before she could summon the motivation to sit at her computer. Out of habit, she reviewed her site messages to clear out the backlog from the past few days. Many of them were silly, shitty, offensive, or lame so she deleted those first and then scanned the remainder.

A small image of a pretty girl with dark skin and black hair caught her eye. It was Allesandra, one of Kitty’s longtime followers and a top contributor to her site.

Kitty! We miss you, where have you gone? Have you given up on us? I sure hope not because I am very excited about your new swim line and can’t wait to see it. You are so creative and original, I’m sure it’s going to be beautiful!

Love Alle

Kitty put her hand on her heart and read Alle’s words again, the compliments ringing like a clear bell in her ears. She read through the remainder of her high priority messages.

Can’t wait to see what you’ve got cookin’! Post some pics when you can, OK?

Me and my girls are so excited you’re making swimwear. We spend all summer at the beach. So bored of the other stuff in the stores. We want something hot and sexy to wear, please save us!!! ;)

Hey lovely lady. Where are you? We need more Kitty vids. Life is boring without you!

Kitty found one of her new swimsuit images from the other day, blurred it, and posted it online with a teaser.

Sample shots coming soon!

She took a long shower and steamed up the bathroom so badly she had to put her makeup on in her room. With a thick coat of liner, mascara and lipstick, Kitty decided was ready for a real photoshoot. She tossed her tripod, camera, and other necessities in a purple duffel bag and slung it over her shoulder. A few blocks from her apartment she reached Edward Park and crossed the grassy field toward the trees behind the soccer field. She found a private clearing with its own sunbeam and a patch of small white flowers.

She stripped down to her new bathing suit. Barefoot on the grass she set up her compact camera and took a few test shots. The first few fired on auto. Kitty had her head down and her hair held back slightly to reveal part of her face. She turned around to show off her backside for the camera then took a few close-ups, holding one of the white flowers between her fingers.

As the camera clicked away, a chocolate lab burst out of the bushes and beelined for Kitty. When it began licking her bare legs she let out a screech. She tried to escape the saliva bath by hopping around the clearing, but even when she accidently kneed him in the snout he persisted.

“Baxter stop! Enough! Enough! Get over here,” a guy ran into the clearing shouting, and grabbed the dog by the collar. He looked up at Kitty with clear green eyes. “I’m so sorry. He’s kind of a leg guy. It’s really embarrassing, I’m so sorry,” he gushed, still holding onto his dog and sweeping short waves of sandy hair out of his eyes. He put a leash on Baxter to hold him close.

He looked at the camera and back at Kitty, who stood smiling at him with her arms behind her back. “Uh, are you a model?”

Kitty shrugged. “Not exactly, but I designed this suit and needed some good pictures of it.”