I Unintentionally Became Her Kitten

Chapter 11: Alisha Returns

Alisha came back, looking tired but accomplished. I went down stairs as soon as I heard her voice, leaving one of her books behind. There wasn’t much to do in the privacy of the bedroom.

She looked up at my footsteps, gave me one of those soft fleeting smiles and went back to addressing Tye about something.

I hesitated at the bottom of the steps, observing the two of them. Tye was intense in his focus as Alisha explained the situation to him.

“I’m going to be withdrawing people from the North block. Sergei won't be happy but it was necessary to prevent significant fighting.” She sighed. “But as long as Sergei is cooperative we should avoid major issues for the time being.”

Tye nodded. “Should I send Matteo to keep an eye on things down there?”

“That's a good idea,” Alisha agreed. “I'd send him directly to Sergei and have him hang around. Sergei’d only be more offended if we were sneaky about it.”

I waited as they seemed to think together for a long moment. 

“I don't want to give him more territory in the central area but it might keep him pacified while we work on a way to reclaim the North block.”

“Will he cooperate at all if you don't?” Tye asked. It sounded more rhetorical than anything.

“Probably not.” She rubbed her temples briefly. “I'll make the calls if you want to send Matteo over now.”

“I will,” Tye said and went into the other room with his phone.

Alisha turned back to where I was waiting by the stairs. I approached, unsure of how much affection to display. I wanted to hug her, but the expression on her face was still guarded so I couldn't be sure if she wanted open affection.

She reached out with a hand and plopped it down on top of my head to ruffle my hair.

“How was your day, Kitten?” she asked.

“It was fine.” I wanted to tell her I missed her, if only for the emotional security, but again couldn't be sure how open she wanted me to be with people like Tye around.

“There probably isn't much for you to do here.” She thought for a moment. “I'm free tomorrow, as long as nothing else happens tonight, so how about we go shopping. We can get you some proper clothes and some snacks you might like.”

“I couldn't–” I started to protest as she had already been more than generous to me.

“It's okay,” she cut me off. “I know it feels like a lot but I promise I don't mind. I'd rather see you happy than hoard my money. Do you understand?”

I nodded.

“For now, let's get you fed for the night. Have you eaten anything today?”

“I had some coffee,” I told her.

“I see. How about we get some nutritious food in you?”

She went toward the kitchen leaving me to follow after her. She went with her usual routine of preparing a salad, though looked annoyed at the lack of ingredients in the fridge. “I need to get my shopping done anyway,” she grumbled and took out an almost empty bag of cranberries and some more walnuts to make us some very simple salads. Then she gave one to me before going to sit at the table.

I sat at the table with her and started to eat the salad. It was pretty much the same as the night before but with less toppings. 

Shortly after, Alisha's phone rang and she got up, giving me a quick pet on her way past.

I watched her go. It was lonely but I knew she needed to take care of work things. From the beginning her work would pull her away. In the future, I didn't know if I wanted to witness her work. The fact she had no hesitation to murder someone and was completely unphased afterward was rather alarming. But when she looked at me with that soft expression, I tended to melt. The people she worked with needed a strong unforgiving presence to keep the system from devolving into anarchy. As sane and level-headed as Tye and Alisha both acted, I had observed the other criminals on the streets and they were more impulsive and prone to anger. If Alisha wanted to keep control of that, fear had to be in the mix. And the best way to instill fear was death.

For all I knew, Alisha could feel guilt about shooting that man. I wouldn’t ask her, but it wouldn’t be that surprising if she had simply learned to bury everything like that deep deep down where no one could see it from the surface.

The blankness to her expression when she came back after a tense discussion only reinforced that idea. Nothingness sometimes signified that something was there. Just hidden better.

Once she sat down I leaned over closer to her and finally rested my head on her shoulder.

She hesitated but decided to pull me closer. Her arm wrapped around me in a protective embrace.

I closed my eyes, feeling more at peace. Alisha was going to be complicated. I couldn’t be sure if she felt guilt or if she cared much at all about other people. But she had done nothing to hurt me in any way and that was more than could be said for a lot of people.

Tye didn’t give any indication of surprise when he saw us like that, but I did sit up once he came back in the room, feeling awkward. Shortly after, he left with a farewell to us, even gave me an acknowledging nod on his way out.

Alisha cleared away our dishes, with me trailing behind her curiously. 

“Was Tye okay today?” she asked. “I know he can be rather wary of new people.”

“He was fine,” I said. “He didn’t really say much of anything. Only asked if I was formerly a member of another criminal circle.”

Alisha snorted. “Not that you’re incapable but I can’t imagine you doing much I would care about, even if you did commit crimes before.”

I felt my own confusion on my face so she continued.

“Hypothetically,” she said. “If you were a criminal you’d be in the lower tiers, people who don’t do any management, so your actions would be reflective of your boss. If you’re doing something you shouldn’t be and they don’t do anything to stop you, that’s on them, and they know that. So even if you were a thorn in my side, it would be whoever was giving you orders that I’d have a problem with, not yourself.”

“Is that really fair though?” I asked. “For someone else to pay for the actions of another?”

“It’s why we have ranks in the first place. I can’t control every individual criminal on my own, so I hire… managers, if you will. Their job is to control the people underneath them. If they don’t then they’re not doing their job and need to be corrected.”

“I see.”

“The only other situation where you might be a threat is if you were under orders to gather intel or wait for an opportunity to attack me, but I have to live my life too .”

I nodded.

“Anyway, we should get some sleep before it gets too late,” she said this and began to head toward the stairs.

“Are you sure it's going to be okay, though?” I rushed. “I mean I have no assets, no job, no way to contribute to our relationship and–”

Her hand plopped on top of my head again. “You don't have to go without anymore,” she said. “It’s okay to have basic needs and clothing is one of those. And I want to make sure you're eating food, too. It's not good for you to simply go without for convenience.”

“I … see.” I wanted to continue to protest but she had made up her mind like it was never even a question. Simply a part of reality. Alisha then went up the stairs with me following.

Without much discussion, I got ready for bed with her and she handed me a set of pajamas to wear again. In the end she pulled me closer and rested her head on top of mine to sleep.