I Unintentionally Became Her Kitten

Chapter 123: Recovery

By day four of Alisha staying at home, she started to find routine again. It wasn’t dramatic.

It was getting up a little late, getting coffee, drinking coffee, staring at the coffee mug like it held answers to life’s impossible questions, and then almost acting like she was going to go into work. She took her shower, did her hair and makeup, filed her nails back so they were smooth and proper. And then she sat on the foot of the bed as I finished the traumatic process of coming out of sleep.

Since I’d dropped the safeword on her she had reverted a little to double checking herself. “Do you want this? Would you like that? Is it okay if I…” I reassured her I was fine with our usual activities, though I appreciated the extra attention to my mood. I also reminded her we had safewords. I would use them if I felt like I needed to. She said I should use them if I wanted to, like that distinction was vitally important to her.

To be honest, some of the time I felt like I was going crazy next to her. She fretted over me even more than usual, frequently pulling me closer to straighten out my hair, adjusting the way my jacket sat on my shoulders, checking my nails whenever we were sitting at the table.

Then the next phase of the pampering started. Xue, her private chef, came and cooked food. Gong bao chicken, jasmine rice, stir fried summer vegetables, and crispy eel, all on the same night. Then the next night it was lobster thermidor, a dish that left me more confused than anything. Lobster tasted like seafood, but not particularly good enough to warrant its price tag. And of course with it came hasselback potatoes and blanched green beans with a gentle salt and pepper seasoning. Alisha poured wine, even talked to Xue about something called tannins and something about the wine having legs.

She had her shopper stock her fridge and pantry with ingredients I didn’t really recognize, some of them Japanese. I went down the steps on day six to find Xue there early and Alisha talking to him.

I approached anxiously. Xue wasn’t imposing like some men were. He wasn’t big, wasn’t really tall.

“Kitten,” Alisha greeted me, holding an arm out to pull me close when I came within range. “Is ramen good for dinner tonight?” she asked.

“Huh?” I managed, clumsily trying not to look like she was smothering me.

“We don’t have to,” Alisha reassured me. “I just thought you might be interested.”

“I like ramen,” I told her. “But Alisha,” I protested lightly. “We don’t have to eat like royalty every night,” I said.

She hesitated. “I want to make sure you’re fed properly.” The tone wasn’t quite right though, like she wanted to tell me something else. I couldn’t resist a glance at Xue, before pulling her a few paces away.

“Is everything okay?” I asked her quietly.

She looked at me, still debating the response and finally whispered. “We both lost weight.”

“Oh,” I followed. “But you don’t have to forcefully shove food down your throat to put it back on that fast.” I had read some pretty informative articles about why that was actually quite unhealthy.

She patted my head. “I know, Kitten, but it’s easier to eat tasty food than just the standard rotation of salad and avocado.”

I agreed, but still gave her a brief hug.

With that she gave Xue the go ahead and he started preparing something surprisingly elaborate for a bowl of noodles with toppings.

But the entire house smelled amazing for most of the day and for the first time I saw Alisha actually unwind herself. She’d spent days warping between devastating anxiety and depressive episodes and now she was finally starting to be just her.

I knew because she smiled at me and it didn’t look like it was guilty. And she laughed when I tried to get settled against her on the couch and ended up sliding off the cushion and fell to the floor with a thud and tangle of limbs.

Even if it was just that one moment before she started to numb again, I was happy with it. She deserved it, after everything she’d dealt with the past few weeks. 

I ended up with my face resting against her thigh, gazing up at her and I desperately wished Xue wasn’t here because I absolutely would’ve started pulling her pants off if he hadn’t been.

But he was so I settled for a quiet gaze of affection before picking myself up and letting her pull me tight against her chest. I ended up between her legs, her face pressed into my hair.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve someone so sinfully cute,” she murmured.

“You were terribly kind,” I told her, still a little high from the oxytocin rush.

She went quiet again and I realized what I said too late.

“Alisha,” I started. My voice lowered. “I stand by what I said: that you aren’t evil, and that you’re doing what you can with what you’ve been given.”

“...I should contact the feds one of these days,” she mumbled, even quieter now.

“Huh?” I asked, turning my neck to get a glimpse of her face.

“I should turn the business over,” she explained. “That’s what a good person would do isn’t it?”

“You’d probably get contracts put on your head… right?” I asked. 

“Among other things,” she agreed. She gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek. “I think… the power vacuum would make a massacre. A bad one. Then whoever replaced me… who knows what kind of person they would be. Definitely not a good one.”

I nodded. “Yeah…” it was still a nice thought.

We settled back into the remainder of the moment. It was fleeting already and only evaporated into thin air when my phone rang.

My phone never rang.

So I got it out of my pocket and saw Tye’s name. A rock dropped into my stomach like a lead ball.

Alisha gazed, her old stoic expression leaking back as I swiped to answer and put the phone to my ear.

“Tye?” I asked, anxiously playing with the hem of my shirt.

“You and Alisha are home?” he asked immediately.

“Yes,” I told him.

“There’s a car approaching– triggered the road sensor– I don’t know who it might be yet but you should be ready for the worst.” His voice was stark in my ear.

I nodded with a resigned, “understood.”

“I’ll be there in about twenty minutes,” he said, then hung up.

Alisha was already moving behind me and I got up, already moving to go upstairs.

I caught Xue’s shadow in the kitchen doorway and went to say something but Alisha pulled me, rather harshly, toward the stairs.

My instincts told me to warn him, but she shook her head, leaning close to whisper, “one moment at a time, okay?”

I nodded. I didn’t understand but she was experienced with this and I was not.

We went up the stairs, Alisha sounding suspiciously casual in doing so.

I understood as she took a place standing next to the tinted window, narrowing her eyes at the portion of driveway visible.

We waited. I got the gun from the closet, tucked it into my waistband and made sure the holster was barely off the metal so when I pulled it, it would come without any snags or resistance.

The car came eventually: a grey hon-yoda civil with a large scrape down the passenger side doors.

I sighed, relieved.

Sophia.