Big City Hero UNOFFICIAL BOOK TWO

Chapter Two: All Grown Up.

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck, nodding my head and then feeling like an idiot, remembering that mom couldn't see the movement. I readjusted my phone, holding it to my ear with my shoulder while I slipped my shoes on.

"Yes, mom, I already brushed my teeth." I rolled my eyes and cocked an eyebrow at The Cat that was sitting on my bedpost. I mouthed a 'can you believe this?' to The Cat, expecting to get some head rubs and scratchy licks.

The Cat just yawned.

"And have you washed your sheets lately?" mom asked on the other line.

I groaned and let myself fall back onto my bed. I stared at the ceiling, cursing my bad memory. "I'll do it later today. Listen, mom, I really need to get going or else I'll be late to work. Love you. Bye."

I hung up before mom could say anything else. Trust me, mom could keep going nonstop. With her multiple phone calls a day, it was almost like I never moved out.

"Remind me to wash my sheets today, Cat," I mumbled, sitting upright and scratching The Cat's head. I sighed loudly when it only yawned again. "If cats could talk, they probably wouldn't."

The Cat was the latest addition to my apartment studio. It was an unnamed stray ginger who claimed me as his owner. He followed me home one day and literally refused to leave, I'm serious that the cat stomped its paw when I tried telling it to leave. So, here it is, unnamed, fed more than it probably should and hogging my entire bed. And all this time I always considered myself more of an iguana person.

I jumped off my bed and gave the cat another pat. "Okay, Pepperoni, I'm off to work."

Pepperoni hissed at me.

"No? Not Pepperoni? You seriously prefer Cat over Pepperoni? Fine, then I'll keep looking for a name."

The Cat hissed again as I headed for the door.

I sighed loudly and grabbed my keys, made sure the coffee pot was turned off and turned to face my cat, hand resting on the doorknob. "Yes, I know. I work all night and day. That's the life of a superhero and you need to get used to it, rote Katze, chat roux, gato anaranjado."

Unimpressed by my unmatched multilingual skills, Cat went back to cleaning his ear.

It's official. I'm going crazy, I'm talking to my cat again.

With a shake of my head, I slipped out my front door and locked it behind me. I breathed in deeply, I could tell it was going to be a good day, it was already very warm and I was loving it. Great, now I'm hungry for McDonald's, but then again I'm always hungry for McDonald's.

I turned on my heel to leave, breathing in a strong smell of McDonald's all the while.

"Hey."

I shouted and jumped a foot in the air in surprise. My hand clutched my throat and it took several seconds before the urge to slap my current worst enemy silly went away.

I could only imagine if Ben heard me scream like that, he would not let me live it down. Not one bit. If I ever had kids, Benjamin would never stop telling them the story of their father making Mariah Carey jealous.

There is a chance I, Coal Black, could actually be a... Father. I shook the disturbing thought from my mind and snapped myself back to the present.