*Chapter 12*
~Evil Monday~
Kitty sighed despondently. Why was it that during weekdays there was nothing decent on until after four or five PM? Nothing but bad soap operas, small children's programs, and infomercials, she almost wished she was back in school! At the moment, she found herself watching a really, really bad soap opera about several severely dysfunctional families in Utah. Kitty glanced at the VCR/DVD player clock to check the time. The digital display showed it as being 12:05 AM, two minutes past when she had last looked. With a yawn and a stretch Kitty settled back into the ragged couch and waited.
Last night had been almost perfect. She'd had a great time talking with Amanda and hanging out with Lance. She'd danced until she could dance no more and spent the remainder of the evening sitting with Lance and enjoying herself. If only that night could've lasted forever. But no, the clock struck one, Sunday night turned into Monday morning, and things began to unravel from there. She lost track of time, Zero ditched her, and she almost got into serious hot water with Logan. Goddamn Mondays!
Kitty severely disliked being in a bad mood for extended periods of time so she set about cheering herself up. So what had she heard or seen lately that was funny? Lance told her all sorts of jokes and silly stories over the past month, but they seemed more amusing when he told them as opposed to remembering them. Amanda told her funny things too and Kitty giggled a little at the memory of them, but it still failed to fully erase her bad mood. So what else was there that was funny? Then she recalled one particular memory of last night and burst out laughing.
She'd gotten Zero so bad last night! The look on his face when she'd come on to him was priceless! Oh, if only she'd had a camera. His eyes had gone so wide and his face had turned so red it had taken all her self-control not to burst out laughing on the spot. As her laughing fit subsided, she sighed. He was so easy to push around once you knew how to get under his skin, er, fur. Despite his boring personality, he could be so much fun sometimes. Too bad her fun had been spoiled the instant she walked in the door.
Kitty shuddered at the memory of that minor nightmare. Logan had been sitting on the arm of the couch facing the door and grinding a cigar stub between his teeth while he waited for her. The questioning session that followed had not been pleasant. It had been difficult, but she managed to deflect any questions from Zero and consequently was forced to shoulder most of the blame for their lateness. Now she was grounded for the rest of the week while Zero got off with nothing more than a warning. Kitty was now prohibited from using the phone and leaving the apartment without taking Zero with her. The only good thing about this grounding was that she still could watch TV or mess with her laptop. It didn't make up for losing the phone and being chained with Zero if she ever stepped outside of the apartment door though.
Aww crud, there goes my good mood again. Kitty mentally grumbled to herself. Well it could've been worse. Logan could've found out about Lance. Then I'd be grounded for the remainder of the mission and have no life whatsoever. Kitty sighed boredly as some woman, Jenny maybe, tried to seduce her mother's current boyfriend in some twisted plot for revenge. It may not be as bad, but this still sucks. Kitty wrinkled her nose in disgust as the twisted soap plot turned towards a passionate love scene. This really sucks. Kitty quickly flipped the channel. Now she was watching a weight loss infomercial. Oy vey...
Kitty's mind drifted aimlessly for a while before settling on Lance Alvers. He was the closest thing to a 'knight in shining armor' she'd ever experienced. When she and Amanda had been harassed by a rowdy drunk, he'd stepped in to save them. So what if that was what he was paid to do, Kitty still found it kind of like a childhood fantasy come true. He was strong, handsome, and kind of sweet in his own way, and Kitty found him fascinating overall. Lance certainly wasn't a poetic or highly intelligent individual like Piotr was, but he was much closer in age making him far more attainable than the older Russian instructor. And Lance was better looking than Zero (the only other guy her age that was around), though she secretly thought the German's elfin ears were cute. All in all, Lance was her best bet for a possible boyfriend.
Too bad it was highly unlikely that Lance would ever be a long-term boyfriend (if he ever became her boyfriend). When this mission ended, she would head back to New York while Lance stayed here. Kitty guessed she could try a long distance thing, but she highly doubted that it would last. And if she did enter into a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship with Lance she would have to be very careful. Not only would she need to be careful about what she told him, she also had to be careful about how close she got to him. If she got too close things could get really complicated really quick.
A second reason that she had been interested in him was that he was a club employee. The Blue Lotus was supposedly a front business for the criminal group that they were sent to investigate, so if she gained Lance as a contact she might finally get some useful information. So what if Lance was low on the food chain of this business, he'd already bragged to her that he had other, more important jobs to do besides bouncing, he only worked at the club for spare money and to suck up to his other boss. Hopefully she'd learn just how he was involved in this mess though she was sure that he was just an innocent pawn in the whole scheme of things. Lance was just too nice and cute to be really bad.
Kitty was jerked out of her musings by a loud blast of obnoxious music followed by the equally annoying voice of an announcer. The weight loss infomercial which had been on before had ended and now a very loud and energetic man was demonstrating the virtues of various cleaning products. Kitty grumbled some incoherent curses under her breath and changed the channel again. The next channel was just as bad, as was the next channel, and the next. After Kitty had cycled through all the channels at least three times she switched off the TV and tossed the remote down in disgust. God! Why do Mondays have to be so evil?
***
Zero lay flat on his back on his bed and stared blankly up at the white, featureless ceiling. He'd only just woken up two hours ago, and after a quick shower and combination breakfast/lunch, he'd come back here and hadn't moved since. The reason for this was to avoid coming into contact with Kitty as much as possible. After last night's (or was it early, early morning's?) sequence of misadventures he was certain that the American girl hated him. He almost smiled at the memory of the scene he had witnessed when he had finally entered the apartment.
Kitty had been sitting slumped back on the couch while Mr. Logan slowly paced back and forth in front of her. He stood in the doorway and watched the interrogation session for a while and found himself feeling very glad that Kitty had forced him to give in to her demand. The probing questions Mr. Logan had asked and the way he'd asked them brought back painful memories of his early experiences with General Schwarzbaum. After ten minutes of watching, Zero found he didn't feel very well and hastily headed for bed. Thankfully Kitty kept Mr. Logan from interrogating him as she had promised she would.
Zero almost smiled again when he recalled the events of breakfast/lunch. He and Kitty had both just finished eating when Mr. Logan appeared. Where he'd been or what he'd been doing before didn't matter to Zero, though Kitty did ask about it. Instead of answering her, the man revealed their punishment. Kitty was forbidden from using the phone and leaving the apartment alone for one week. Zero received a warning and was charged with being Kitty's chaperone when she went outside. The look on Kitty's face upon hearing this announcement was rather amusing. She'd looked so mad he was almost afraid that she might explode at the older man. But she calmed down some and settled into an exaggerated pout.
Her pout brought up another, more confusing memory. She'd pouted at him not long ago, last night actually. Zero squirmed as he remembered how she had hung on him and the looks she'd given him. His face began to feel warm and his heart rate increased along with his confusion. Why did he react that way? Why had he so quickly given in to her? He didn't have any answer and this confused and slightly frightened him. Did she have some secondary power over people that made them so uncomfortable and confused they'd agree to anything she wanted them to? Zero swallowed nervously and shifted to his side and stared at the dark blue wall. He decided to stop thinking and let the day pass, his favorite activity back at the Facility.
After a few minutes Zero experienced a terrible epiphany. He couldn't stop thinking. The more he lay staring at the wall, the more utterly random thoughts moved through his head. He found himself comparing the blue of the wall to his fur and the blue of the sky. He briefly wondered why the sky was blue before a memory of his adoptive mother's legendary blueberry muffins made him realize that he was starting to get hungry. He pondered whether he'd ever see a bluebird in this cold, windy city of tall glass spikes that scraped the sky. The blue wall made him wonder if his biological parents were blue or if it just him. He remembered his mama's favorite flowers, the bluish-purplish Forget-Me-Nots and the story she told him about how they got their name. And his last thought, before he realized he was still thinking, was about Kitty and how her eyes were the most beautiful and expressive blue eyes he'd ever seen.
Zero's eyes widened and his face began to grow warm again. Now where had that come from? Where had it all come from? He'd been able to stop thinking millions of times before, so why wasn't it working now? And why the heck had he thought about Kitty and how pretty her eyes were? Zero squirmed and his face felt warmer. Gah! I did it again! Before Zero could think further, things took a turn for the worse.
"Hi!" Kitty cried in an overly cheerful voice. "Wake up Fuzzy Elf!"
What the Hell? Fuzzy Elf? Where does she come up with this stuff? Zero wondered.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" She chirped.
"I am awake." He growled in response.
"You don't look awake to me." Kitty teased.
"Well I am." Zero growled and rolled his eyes.
"You don't look like it." She teased.
"Why does that matter?" Zero asked.
"It doesn't. I'm just saying that you don't look awake." Kitty innocently explained. Zero felt an inexplicable urge to bang his head against a solid object.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Zero asked slowly.
"Nothing really." She replied.
"Then why did you say it?" He asked.
"Because I felt like it." She answered brightly. Zero growled quietly to himself.
"What do you want?" Zero snapped.
"Would you go on a walk with me?" She pleaded. Zero slowly turned over until he was facing her directly.
"No." Zero replied coldly, adding a glare for good measure.
"Why not?" Kitty whined.
"Because I don't want to." Zero firmly stated.
"Why?" She whined.
"Because." He snapped.
"Oh come on, please?" Kitty pouted. Zero swallowed hard, his face was heating up again.
"No." He growled. Oh please stop asking, just go away. He prayed in vain. She walked up to the bunk bed and climbed the ladder until her blue eyes were level with his yellowish ones.
"Puh-lease?" She begged. Zero trembled.
"Go watch TV." He commanded, or at least he tried to.
"I already tried that. There's nothing on." Kitty complained.
"What about your computer?" Zero asked weakly.
"I already tried that too. There's nothing else for me to do on it." Kitty whined. Zero desperately wished he could disappear into the mattress. "Please?" She begged again.
Zero turned away from her, maybe if he didn't look at her she'd get bored and go away. She didn't. Zero's first clue to this was the sensation of being poked in the back repeatedly. After a few minutes the poking in the back stopped and she started poking him in the ear and neck instead. Zero growled loudly, hoping to scare her off. She paused for a moment before tweaking his pointed ear.
"Pretty please?" She whispered in his ear, Zero shivered. "Please, for me?" Kitty begged softly. Zero tried to growl again, but it came out sounding something like a whimper. "Pretty please with sugar on top?"
"F-fine, whatever." Zero sighed in defeat. What was it about this girl that made him unable to say no to her?
"Yes! Thank you!" She cried as she slipped off the ladder. Zero slumped down on his bunk in a boneless heap as his tense muscles instantly relaxed. He hadn't even realized he was tense.
"Ich haße Montagen." Zero sighed. I hate Mondays.