Note: The song "The Thing About Love" doesn't belong to me. Instead, it belongs to Alicia Keys.

Chapter 3

"It's about time you guys have finally showed up." George said in relief when Sylvester, Claude, Kitty, and Sylvia got out of Sylvester's car. Sylvester was lucky enough to find an empty parking space next to George's car.

"How long have you cats been waiting?" Sylvester asked as he was pulling out his last cigarette for the day.

"For nearly thirty-five minutes." George said matter-of-factly.

"That long?" Sylvester asked in surprise.

George nodded.

Sylvester noticed that Claude was giving him the I-told-you-so look. Sylvester just ignored him.

"I guess we should go in to see if our rooms are still available." Penelope said while she was stretching her legs. "You know how some hotels are."

George agreed. "Yeah, she's right about that. Let's get check in before it's too late."

"Do you think we should get our things first?" Sylvia asked politely while adjusting her bow necklace.

"Nah. We'll get our things afterwards."

…

"Kitty, do you know when the meeting is?" Claude asked in his characteristic soft-spoken voice while he and Kitty were walking to their assigned rooms. Penny and Sylvia were down at the lobby talking to the owners' two daughters. George was already in his room resting. Sylvester and Benny were at the local sports bar next to the bed and breakfast.

"It's at seven-thirty." Kitty replied as she stopped at her door and looked for her room key.

"At least we have about three hours to relax."

"That's true." Kitty agreed.

Claude was getting ready to asked Kitty if she needed help, but he found himself staring at her figure instead. He couldn't exactly point out what was it about Kitty's figure that appealed to him. Kitty had somewhat of a curvaceous figure for someone so small. She also had pretty blue eyes that stand out as well.

Claude didn't realize that he was staring at Kitty the whole time until he thought he heard a female voice out of nowhere saying very clearly, "Buddy, do you realize staring at females is rude?"

"Huh?" Suddenly, Claude was brought back to reality. He searched with his head where the voice came from.

"What is it?" Kitty asked patiently. She had found her room key without noticing Claude was staring at her.

"Did you hear that?" Claude asked trying to hide his anxiety.

"Hear what?" Kitty asked politely.

"A female's voice."

Kitty shooked her head.

"I must be tired." Claude sighed. "I guess I should get some rest before the meeting."

Kitty chuckled softy. "I think you should." She looked at Claude for a minute, then she closed the door.

Claude went to his room and a few seconds later, he was fast asleep on the top of his bed.

…

"Love
love will come find you
just to remind you
of who you are

Oh love
it will forsake you
threaten to break you
take what you got…"

"Who's that singing?" Claude asked as he rose from his bed. Thanks to his short nap, Claude was more alert and less anxious.

"Everybody laughs
everybody cries
sure it could hurt you baby
but give it a little try
see that's the thing about love…"

It sounds like a female singing. Claude thought to himself as he walked to the door to open it. And it's coming from the hallway.

"Don't tell me that I'm not the only that's going through it all
oh sometimes I feel like I'm the only that's going through it all…"

When Claude opened the door, the singing suddenly stopped. When he looked out side to side, no one was there.

"This does not make any sense at all." Claude thought to himself in frustration.

He was getting ready to go back to his room when someone exclaimed, "What the hell was that?"

Claude looked where the voice came from and saw George peeking his head out from his room.

"You heard that too?"

"It sounded like some lady singing." George replied calmly.

Claude can tell that George was a little nervous about what he had just experienced.

Claude was getting ready to say something about his strange experince that happened earlier today when he felt his phone vibrating.

He picked up the phone to check who was trying to text or call him.

After putting the phone back in his pocket, Claude said to George, "We have thirty minutes before the meeting starts. I guess I should let Kitty, Penny, and Sylvia know."

"You don't have too." George said. "They're already downstairs."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Claude stretched out his hands quietly, trying not to make any popping noises. "I must have taken a longer nap than I planned to."

"You're not the only one."

Claude was getting ready to go back to his room when he thought of something.

Sensing this, George asked, "What is it?"

"Do you think we should tell the others what's been going on?" Claude asked.

George shrugged. "Nah. They're going have to find out sooner or later."