Adventures in Cat-Napping

Chapter 2.

"Nora Torres?" Nora pivoted in surprise, her mouth filled with chips as her eyes narrowed on the source of the voice. Standing before her was an older, strikingly familiar man that despite how long she stared, she failed to identify.
"Y-you are Nora Torres, right?" He asked again, his eyes burning intensely as he awaited her confirmation. Nora could feel the gaze of Mr. Bilal and the waiters she knew also anticipating her answer, but she didn't know this man, and she didn't really want to talk to him either.

"Nope," she popped the 'p,' attempting to remain blasé as she turned and ate another chip, choosing to step around him as if she was leaving the premises. She wasn't going to tell the stranger that he'd approached her at her home; she didn't even know who he was.

"Wait," the man begged, "please," she sighed, holding her dinosaur lamp tightly in case she needed to use it. "We met last week; he said you could help me," he added as her brows crossed in puzzlement.

"We've met?" She repeated, her frown a small indication that she couldn't recall the man for the life of her. " And who's he?" She pressed further, negating her previous response to her identity by default, as she appeased her own curiosity. 

The stranger's ageing brown eyes, were bright with distress, and it was quickly causing her to feel uncomfortable as she awaited his response. "Jerry Stokes, the man at the pet store," he expressed as realisation clicked into place. This was the man she'd seen, head in hands on the step; only now she could see his face. And according to him, they had also met last week?

'Damn it, Jerry!' She mentally cursed, as she realised that actually she'd met this man several times over the period of her employment. 

"You're the worker that registers my cat into the hotel," The man detailed as she sighed, tucking a strand of her dyed hair behind her ear.

"Right, well, I don't work there anymore," she expressed, taking a step and another chip as the stranger outstretched her arm. She flinched and stepped back as he pleaded once more.

He was beginning to cause a scene, and it was the last thing Nora wanted to be dealing with. Patrick, the dinosaur, was starting to feel heavy on her shoulder, and the pain was a subtle motivator that he wanted to be placed in her television nook. Yes, of course, she had named him. And in her opinion, Pat was a wonderfully fitting name for the green creature who could hold three mini lightbulbs.

"-I need your help, and you're the only one who can help me; I could pay you..."
The stranger had continued, not even realising that she had lost interest, but the hint of money returned her attention at full force. Nora wasn't a gold digger or someone who only cared about money, but she wasn't exactly a rich person either.

Plus, she could feel Mr. Bilal's eyes glowing with interest, and if she didn't pursue the matter and then struggled to pay rent, she knew her landlord would bring the topic up, instantaneously.

"Alright," She interrupted with a sigh of defeat, holding a hand up to stop the stranger's pleas. "Look, why don't you take a seat, and I'll just...sort myself out, okay?" She was still drenched from her trip to the fountains, and the smell was beginning to tingle her nose. She felt disgusting.

"How do I know you'll come back?" He asked sceptically as she sighed, placing her chips on a nearby table.

"I've left my chips," She displayed, "and anyone who's anyone would know,  I never leave my chips," The stranger remained suspicious, but Mr. Bilal's knowing harrumph of agreement seemed to encourage the man to take a seat.  "I'll be back in two ticks," Nora promised.

She skipped away, almost slipping by the door as she walked around the shop to use the back entrance to her apartment. She wasn't about to divulge to this stranger that she lived upstairs.
After removing her shoes and wet socks, she changed into a ratty sweater and sweatpants that she kept as her day-pajamas before wrapping her hair into a towel. Nora wasn't too bothered about how she appeared, and she climbed back down the fire escape and into the shop where the man was waiting.