I Unintentionally Became Her Kitten

Chapter 14: The Business Never Sleeps

I woke up to a ringing and confusedly picked my head up.

Alisha untangled herself from me and rolled over, sighing heavily as she did so.

There were some clacking sounds before I heard her voice, tired and annoyed. “What is it?”

The voice on the other end was muffled too much for me to understand but it went on for what felt like a long time.

“Okay,” Alisha said simply after. “I'll take care of it.”

The voice went on again.

“Yes, I understand. Thank you for letting me know.”

Another quick burst of chatter.

“Have a good night,” Alisha said with a sense of finality and hung up.

With a sigh she set her phone down again and slid out of the bed, reaching down to pick up her towel from the night before and wrapped herself with it.

I watched her go, wanting her warmth back in the bed with me.

She went into the bathroom and pulled on one of those black robes before going and sitting on her couch.

I held my head up to watch her, curious about what she was doing and missing her company. She scowled at her phone screen which lit her face up with an eerie blue.

I slid out from under the blankets and the chill immediately started to try and rob all of my former warmth.

Alisha looked up at the sound of my movement.

“You can go back to sleep, Kitten,” she said. “I'll be fine.”

“I miss you,” I said and picked up my t-shirt from yesterday and then some pants, pulling them on to help keep out the cold.

She turned back to her phone until I approached and sat on the couch next to her, leaning my head against her side.

She began to try to pet me while typing out a message with her other hand but it was awkward. I shifted further away from her and then curled up to rest my head on her lap.

She smiled and ran her fingers through my hair a couple times before turning back to her phone.

“I'm gonna make a phone call, okay?” She asked 

I nodded and let my eyes close as she rested one hand on my head.

She shifted  to put the phone up to her ear. And mindlessly twirled a strand of my hair as she waited for the answer. The gentle pulling was soothing and I eased back into drowsiness.

I heard the other line pick up after several rings to a disgruntled, “what?”

“Good morning, Sergei,” Alisha said icily.

“Yes, Ms. Takeno. What can I do for you?” There was an undertone of grumpiness to his voice.

“I thought I was very clear about staying out of the North Block,” she said and continued twirling that one strand of hair.

“What are you talking about? I'm in bed, I was having a good sleep, even.”

Alisha’s scowl turned into a displeased smile.

“I'm not an idiot, Sergei. Keep your men out of the North Block. I'll start taking fingers every time someone's found where they aren't supposed to. Is that what you want?”

“You think I care about fingers?” He grumbled.

“I'm talking about your fingers,” Alisha clarified. “I know how proud of them you are.”

There was silence on the other end. “And how is that fair to me?” He asked.

“I gave you orders. You haven't executed them correctly so I'm giving you a warning. Ignore the warning and you're going to get punished. Have I made myself clear?”

“Alisha

,” he started to protest, talking sweetly.“Have I made myself clear?” Alisha repeated.

“Eh– rm. Yes.”

Alisha held the phone long after the answer.

“I will do as you say,” Sergei continued.

“Which is?” Alisha asked.

“None of my men are allowed in the North Block. Under any circumstances.”

“Good,” Alisha said. “You understand I'm being lenient with you?”

“Yes, Ms Takeno,” he said. “Your patience is greatly appreciated.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Alisha told him.

There was hesitation before he agreed, “Yes, of course.”

Alisha hung up, still annoyed.

“Sergei’s kind of a jerk,” I said.

“Yes, he can be,” Alisha said. “But he does keep things under control as long as they’re in his favor.”

“But he’s lost access to whatever you call the North Block,” I followed.

“Yes, it was a necessary compromise.” She inhaled deeply, looking frustrated with the situation.

“What is the North Block?” I was barely awake but there was still some curiosity. It sounded like Sergei valued it immensely.

“It's a territorial region we defined as starting right around where I found you and extending south into the main city. It’s only four city blocks long and wide but there's the main road that goes through there and the bus station where most of the city’s buses end up passing through,” she explained. “Which means it's very accessible by a lot of people.”

“I see.” I didn't fully understand.

She stroked my hair a few more times.

“It means Sergei can have his men just hang out there to get sales. And that means a lot with illicit trades. More often than not, someone has to know someone who is a street level seller.”

“Oh,” that did make it more clear. “So Sergei deals drugs then?”

“Among other things, yes.”

I didn't need to know what other things could be. Everything he could sell to make some money, I was sure. But Alisha supported his trade, so that meant that she too, dealt drugs and other illicit goods, or at least condoned them.

“What are you thinking about Kitten?” Alisha asked and poked my forehead. “You're making a face.”

“Does it bother you that your business hurts people?” I asked.

She looked down at me with those grey eyes. “I don't know,” she said.

“Huh?” I sat up, slowly.

“If I wasn't in control it would just be someone else. People are people. Drugs and sex and violence are all part of what makes humans people. I'd rather regulate it than let it run wild.”

That didn't make much sense.

“Think of it as like a dam. It controls the flow so the torrent of water doesn't destroy everything in its path. I can't change the fact there's water on one side and trying to block it off completely will only make it build up until everything breaks. So instead, I keep most of it out and let what's necessary through. Minimal people get hurt, the animals still have a stream to drink from and an equilibrium can be maintained.”

“I see,” I said. I supposed that made some amount of ethical sense.

“It's still unpleasant sometimes,” she said. “But I wouldn't have met you had I not chosen this path.”

That was right. I wouldn't have met her either if I hadn't decided to live in the streets.

She leaned down, craning her entire body to give me a gentle kiss on the top of my head.

“You should go back to bed,” she told me softly. “There's no reason for you to stay up.”

“I want to stay with you,” I said. “Are you going back to bed?”

She shook her head. “I have to organize some people to patrol the North block boundaries. I thought Sergei would get the message if I sent Matteo to stare at him all day but apparently not and I very much don't want to start a territorial dispute.”

“Mm,” I mumbled. “I'll stay with you. I mean if it's just talking it shouldn't be a problem, right?”

“Okay, Kitten,” she said. She ran a hand across my cheek. “As long as you know the risks.”

I nodded. I was a liability the more I knew about her business. But I trusted her and I knew I wouldn't talk about anything I heard behind closed doors. I thought she trusted me, too. Otherwise she wouldn't be so accepting of my presence. 

I settled in as she typed on her phone and found myself feeling sleepy again. She did make a few more calls, and continued to play with my hair as I stayed curled up on her lap but it wasn't so disruptive to hear her voice. She could be very firm with people, but it almost felt safer that way.