Part Time Problem

Chapter 3

Work was finally over and I jumped onto my motorcycle to head to Pam's club. This was the first time I have seen it since renovations started and it was stunning. It looked so much more put together and fancy. She was waiting for me outside and almost jumping up and down with excitement.
"Pam! The club!" I ran to her and grabbed her hands as she pulled me in through the doors. It looked so much better than the old place she started with, Pam has grown so much as a business owner and it really shows when you look at her new club.
"And this," she said pointing to the stage in the middle of the room, "Is yours." I almost cried, she had my stage name engraved into the lining of the base and I ran my fingers along it.
"The stage name 'Bambi' never made sense to me but now, even when you decide to stop dancing here. You'll still be apart of it." She poured me a drink from the bar and we sat looking at the new place she'd spent her career working towards.
"I'm so proud of you P." I laid my head on her shoulder as she smiled.
"My contractor is coming to opening night, he's gonna bring a few friends. Maybe I could set you up?" She looked at me, she knows that I haven't dated since me and my ex-fiancé broke it off. I haven't been able to trust anyone past a one night stand in 3 years and even then it's rare I have a one night stand.
"Don't be silly Pam, you know I've sworn off relationship indefinitely."
"So dramatic you are Cart." She smiled but I knew she was disappointed, she wants me to have a happily ever after but I just don't think it's in the cards for me anymore. Jonah was my first love and I thought he'd be my only love, but when the person you've loved for 10 years cheats on you with his massage therapist, there really isn't much to do but call off your engagement.
"I haven't been laid in a while though, put them in my area, maybe I'll take one or two home." I wink at her and her mouth gapes open in the most dramatic way possible.
"My best friend is such a whore." She pushes me off the seat and runs when I start chasing her. Romantic love may not be for me but I care more about my friends than anyone else, and that's the best form of love isn't it?
"Getting home around 11pm I lock my door and head in to feed my cat. "Teabag! Where are ya boy?" I cup my hands around my mouth to make me louder and Teabag comes running down the stairs, the reason Teabag got his name is because he was left on Jonah's front door step in a tetley box. Therefore, Teabag was the obvious choice.
"There ya are you pest, what are you feeling today babe? Chicken and rice, maybe fish?" I ask looking up to the top of the fridge where Tea was sat. Chicken and rice it is, after filling his bowl with supplements, vitamins, and broth I laid it on the floor for him. Grabbing my own food I head over to the couch and turn on my tv, resuming the dating show I put on last night while sipping a little more wine than necessary. When Teabag finished his food he came over to sit on my lap and watch these strangers on tv fall in love with each-other in a week and pretending it'll last longer than what it takes to air the show.
"All I need is you Tea, even though you were technically his cat. He didn't treat you right. You weren't meant to be an outside cat, your too sweet for all the scary things outside." Jonah never really liked the idea of having a cat, he preferred dogs. So when he got a German Shepard that didn't like Tea, he threw him outside while I was out getting groceries. It took me 2 weeks to find him. And when I did he had a leg so mutilated it had to be amputated, a chunk taken out of his ear and the tip of his tail missing. He doesn't have the best balance in the world but with me he never has to worry about getting thrown out again. Teabag is my cat and I'd fight tooth and nail for him.
I fell asleep that night crying again, it's been a long time since I left Jonah. Though sometimes around our engagement date, I remember everything I went through for him while he was fucking people in our bed. I promised myself the night I found him inside a girl, that I wouldn't let anyone so close they could destroy me again. It's a silly promise to make, I was never the one to lock my heart up. But for the last few years I was able to hold my promise closer than I ever held a man.