I Unintentionally Became Her Kitten

Chapter 106: Choke

It was another work shift. It had been a couple days since I’d seen Alex. They called out the shift after they’d seen my gun, and that was terrifying. Part of me was scared they’d gone to the police or something about it. Another part of me was scared they were just afraid of me now. But they showed up wearing a mask, looking exhausted, and sniffling frequently.

“You doing okay?” I asked, looking up from filling the pitchers. 

“Just a cold,” they explained, their voice was thick and almost sticky sounding. I could tell from the way the mask inflated and deflated against their face, they were mouth breathing because of the congestion.

“Take it easy today, I guess,” I said. “As much as you can. Do you want to run register while I make drinks?” It was a flip of our usual roles.

They shook their head. “I’ll be fine.”

We were still in the quiet of preopen. Charlotte wasn’t in yet, so it was just Kye Alex and me, and Kye stepped outside for a smoke break.

I silently filled pitchers, getting a little lost in the mindlessness needed for such a gruntwork task.

“So,” Alex said from behind me, refilling the espresso machine with more beans in the various hoppers.

I ‘hm’d an acknowledgement at them.

“You don’t feel safe here?” they asked.

I hesitated to answer but gave in. “Not always. I’ve been in worse predicaments, though.”

They nodded quietly.

I was careful with a strawberry concentrate that filled the pitcher in bright red.

“Have you ever had to draw that thing?” they asked.

I froze as I was wiping up spilled liquid. And that was answer enough.

“You don’t have to justify it to me,” Alex explained. “Just know I have your back if anyone does come and harass you here. Even if I have to tell Charlotte to fuck off and she sends me home. Just don’t draw that here. No one needs to get hurt.”

I nodded. “I don’t want to have to draw it. Not anywhere but especially not here.”

They mumbled a vague agreement I wasn’t sure they understood themselves.

I took a deepbreath, letting my chest swell before sighing it back out and putting the pitchers away. The clock ticked through the last couple minutes of the preopen, and then the savages came, looking for pumpkin spice lattes.

I learned to hate pumpkin spice lattes.

After the rush, the stream of customers was just steady, one or two here and there. Just enough for the cafe to never quite be empty. Charlotte had come in after the worst of the rush, put her apron on and promptly went to do ‘ordering’ in the back office.

I sighed, wiped up some legitimate coffee spills for once, but still polished the counter to a needless shine.

Charlotte came out from the office, examined the room and leaned agains the wall with her phone out.

I boxed up the frustration for the moment. I’d vent later, but it wouldn’t be useful right now. 

Alex came over as I was finishing up with the last of the counter stuff 

“I'll be on register,” they said quietly.

I looked up, confused, and saw Sergei strutting in. He made eye contact with me and I gratefully stepped away from the register, instead straightening some of the cups and mixes along the back counter.

Unfortunately Charlotte was now watching me carefully.

My phone stayed in my pocket even if I knew I needed to text Tye and Alisha. 

“Small coffee,” Sergei told Alex. He then leaned around the register to address me directly. “Make it sweet, sweetheart.”

I suppressed the dry heave that built in my throat.

“Anything else for you, sir?” Alex asked, forcing the attention back on themself.

“No,” Sergei said sourly at my ignorance. He paid but lingered by the line. I pushed a black coffee to the side with Sergei’s tag on it and Alex wordlessly stepped over to pick it up and hand it to Sergei.

I dared a glance back as I heard Alex sigh.

“Such a creeper,” they commented.

Charlotte was watching over us scrutinizingly and approached. “Go on a fifteen, Alex,” she ordered.

They hesitated, making eye contact with me.

I gave them a nod. I was going to be okay. Sergei had wandered over to lean against the wall sipping at his coffee while staring daggers at me. He couldnt do much in public though.

Charlotte leaned against the counter.

“I don't get it,” she sighed. “Why do you get all the attention?”

I didn't know how to respond right away. “I don't want it,” I said dryly.

“Yeah but I mean. That dude looks like he just got out of prison. It's hot. I'd love it if he came over and tried to pick me up. But no. He wants you even though you want nothing to do with him.”

I repressed another dry heave. The idea of hooking up with Sergei was fundamentally repulsive to me.

“And the girl you do have comes from old money doesn't she? She pampers you. Has the time to just sit in a cafe for an hour just to talk to you for ten minutes. Probably never worked a real job in her life.” Charlotte gazed at Sergei, even gave him a flirtatious wave.

“It's not that simple,” I said quietly.

I glanced up, watching Sergei frowning as he sized up the room and then quietly tossed his half drank coffee into the trash and sauntered put the door and around the back. I made a mental note not to step foot outside until Tye or someone else was her to watch over me.

“Everyone thinks their life is the hardest,” Charlotte said. “Don't let them fool you into pitying them.”

I was trying to figure out how I could slip away, get my phone out or something, anything to get away from this situation.

And then my heart stuttered.

I set the cleaning rag down.

“What are you doing?” Charlotte said warningly as I started to pull my phone out.

I ignored her, pulled up my messages and started to lumber to the back door, feeling dazed.

“Are you walking off the line?” Charlotte called after me but my focus was entirely on getting to the back door, where Alex was probably smoking. As soon as I entered the kitchen I could smell the cigarette faintly. I managed to send Tye a message, fingers shaking a little too much for me to trust them with another message. He’d have to get Alisha himself, unfortunately. I hated that I didn’t even have time. But time was so precious.

I yanked the back door open, stumbling a little as my foot caught on the frame.

And then I turned to the alleyway and just as I feared, Sergei was there.

Alex was currently in a choke hold in his grasp.

AN: This chapter was split into two, the next part shouldn't take too long to be out.