The Lady and The Fox

Chapter 5

   The next day, Katherine gets ready to go back into work, since she's been gone for three days. Though, she is really worried about leaving Nova alone.

   "Do you really have to go?" Nova frowns.

   Katherine puts on her green contacts, "Yes. Trust me, I would love to stay home with you, but I need to go to work."

   She tilts her head, "Why do you put those on?"

   "To cover up my eyes. People don't like unusual stuff, so I hide my eyes so they won't notice," she replies.

   "I like your red eyes better," Nova mumbles.

   She picks up her purse, "Alright, I'm leaving now. Remember, don't go outside or open the door. If anything happens, call me and hide in the closet. Got it?"

   Nova nods, absorbing the information given. She says goodbye to Katherine and watches her drive away. Nova is alone in the the house. She throws herself onto the bed then watches any movie on.

   Katherine drives down the road towards the bar. Eventually, she pulls up to her work place. Katherine steps into the bar and Charlotte immediately tackles Katherine for a hug.

   "Yay! My Kathy isn't dead!" the copper-haired woman exclaims, squeezing her friend.

   "Charlotte...Can't breath..." Katherine struggles.

   "Oops, sorry," she apologizes. "I'm just happy to see that you're back."

   Katherine chuckles, "It was just a cold, Charlotte. I'm fine now."

   Katherine and Charlotte serve beers and other types of alcohol to the customers. Charlotte notices that Katherine was a lot more cheery than usual. This was weird to Charlotte, since Katherine was never the cheerful type.

   During Katherine's break, Charlotte decides to ask her dark-haired friend about her sudden change of behavior.
   "Katherine, do you have a boyfriend?" she asks, bluntly.

   Katherine choke on her beer, "What?! No!"

   Charlotte smirks, "Oh I see, you have a girlfriend."

   "I don't have a boyfriend or a girlfriend! What makes you think that!?"

   "Well, you have been acting a lot more cheerful since I last saw you," Charlotte explains.

    Katherine sighs, "No, I'm not going out with anyone, not after last time."

   Charlotte nods, "Right so, why the sudden change of behavior?"

   She shrugs, "I really don't know." Then she begins to wonder why is she suddenly so chipper.

   For the rest of her shift, Katherine would occasionally space out or glare at a customer who tries to flirt with her. Katherine didn't know what got into her, but her thoughts wonder to Nova. 'I hope she's alright without me,' she says in her mind. Her heart aches at the thought of Nova alone on the house.

   Finally, her shift ends and Katherine was able to go home. She drives down the same road as the sun slowly sets. Once she arrives home, Katherine steps into the house full of silence. "Nova, I'm home," Katherine announces, tossing her purse on the couch.

   There was no response and Katherine starts to get worried. She walks to the bedroom then removes her green contacts. "Nova?"

   She hears giggling coming from ther closet. Katherine realizes that Nova is playing hide and seek, which causes her to relax. "Hmm...I wonder where Nova can be?" Katherine chuckles as she steps in front of the closet.

   Katherine can hear more giggling from the closet. She grabs the closet doors and swings them open only to be tackled to the ground, followed by fits of laughter.

   She boops Nova's nose, "Boop, I found you."

   Nova laughs, "How was work?" She gets off of Katherine and pulls her up.

   Katherine shrugs, "It was alright. Serving drinks and watching them get drunk. Anyway, I don't have to go to work until Monday, so we got Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to ourselves."

   Nova perks up, "That's great! I don't like being alone."

  She pats her head, "I don't like leaving you alone, ether. So, do you want to watch anime?"

   The blue-eyed fox nods, vigorously. She jumps on the bed and wraps herself with the blankets. Katherine rushes downstairs to make some popcorn.

   As she listens to the popcorn pop in the microwave, someone pounds on the door. Katherine walks to the door and opens it to get hit by the scent of alcohol. Charlotte stood in the doorway with a bottle of beer. She had a lazy smile and her hazel eyes were half open.

   "Hey Kathy! Mornd if I come in?" Charlotte asks, slurring some words.

   Katherine steps aside, allowing the drunk Charlotte to stumble into her home. She forgot that Charlotte likes to get drunk on the weekend.

   Charlotte wobbles around the living room, bumping into the walls and furniture. "Charlotte, you need to lie down. You're drunk," Katherine says.

   "Nooooooo! I want to party with my favorite girl," she yells.

   Nova hears the commotion from downstairs, so she climbs downstairs to investigate. In the living room, Nova sees Katherine helping her copper-haired friend stay on her feet.

   Her ear twitches in curiosity. "Katherine, what's going on?"

   The women turn to Nova and a smirk grows on Charlotte's face. "I knew you were hiding something from me," Charlotte giggles.

   Charlotte scans Nova from head to toe then whistles, "Damn Katherine, you got yourself a hot chick. I'm so proud of my bisexual child."

   Katherine scoffs and plops the drunk Charlotte on the couch. Charlotte instantly passes out when her face made contact with the cushions.

   Katherine turns away from Nova to hide her blush, "Sorry about that, Nova. Charlotte gets drunk and then crashes at my house."

   Nova, who is also blushing, giggles, "It's alright, Katherine. I think she's funny."

   Katherine smiles, "Anyways, you can go back to the room. I'll get the popcorn."

   Nova follows Katherine into the kitchen to ask her something. "Um...Katherine, what does bisexual mean?"

   The red-eyed woman curses under her breath as she takes out the popcorn from the microwave. Her face is red from embarrassment. "W-Well, it means that a person can love a boy or girl," Katherine explains.

   She dumps the popcorn into a bowl and walks to her room with the white-haired fox following her. As they watch anime, Nova gets sleepy, so she leans her head on Katherine's shoulder.

   Katherine madly blushes and tenses up. Nova feels Katherine tense up, "I'm sorry, I could get off if you want."

   "Uh...n-no, you c-can stay there if you w-want," Katherine stutters.

   Nova remains on Katherine's shoulder, slowly falling asleep. Katherine, subconsciously, pets Nova's ears. She leans into her touch with her tail wagging.

    Katherine smiles at Nova's cuteness. Then it hits her, Katherine Hollow is falling hard for Nova Harper. 'Oh shit.'