His Phoenix

■Reigning Cat and Dog■

"Nonononono!!! Stop! Bad puppy! Bad! Bad!"

Harley, formerly known as Stella, maintained eye contact with me as she squatted and released a transparent pool of liquid on my tiled floor.

It had been three days since I got Harley and Tom and the duo was driving me insane. We had spent the weekend together and I had spent the time mopping pee, sweeping poop and making sure they weren't ruining my curtains and furniture. Although they were cute and funny, taking care of them was harder than I thought. It was like taking care of babies. Babies who could run and bite and scratch.

I scowled at Harley's panting face before checking the time. Great! I was late for work. And worst of all, it was a Monday. John would have my head. Tom was sprawled out on the couch and his eyes followed my movements lazily.

"How many times do you have to pee in a day?", I queried Harley and she barked at me and cocked her head to one side.

"I can't stay mad at you. You're too cute.", I sighed and went to get the mop to clean up the mess she had made on the floor.

She barked and run to me as I started to mop. I groaned in frustration when she started chasing the head of the mop.

"Seriously, do you want me to lose my job?!"

She ignored me and went on chasing after the mop till I finished cleaning up. After making sure everything was in place, I gave each of my furry babies a pat and left for work.

My heart was hammering in my chest when I got to the office. I had run up two flights of stairs in heels. My legs were already feeling shaky from the strain, making me realize how unfit I had become. I vowed to exercise as soon as I had the opportunity.

John was waiting at my desk with a scowl when I got there and I swallowed. How was I going to explain to him that I was late because of my dog. It would just sound like a badly constructed excuse. "I'm sorry sir.", I said as soon as I got to him and he held up a finger angrily.

"I don't pay you to come to work at your own time, Kimberly. Next time, I won't be so lenient." And with that dramatic ending, he turned on his heels and marched into his office. I sighed as I sat down and turned on my PC. John had sent me several emails to review and I rushed to do just that. Knowing my boss, it was a miracle that I still had a job.

It was close to six p.m when I finally walked out of the bank. Walking to the roadside, I fidgeted with my phone nervously. I had been staring at Yohann's contact for the last hour but I couldn't seem to muster the courage to text him.

I was suddenly feeling nervous about texting him. It was silly, I know, but I couldn't stop myself from overthinking. Was he still interested in talking to me? Would he reply immediately? Or wait for three days like I had. I don't even know why I stuck to the stupid three day rule. I blamed the romcoms I watched frequently for that.

Deciding to rip the bandaid off, I quickly typed "hey" and pressed 'send' before I could chicken out of it. I watched as two ticks appeared under the message, showing that it had been delivered. He was offline though. Letting out a sigh, I shoved the phone into my bag and gave myself a small pep talk in an attempt to calm my nerves.

It was no big deal, if he answered, fine. If he didn't, cool. Yeah right, a small annoying voice said in my head and I ignored it.

Too tired to endure the claustrophobic atmosphere of the trotro, I decided to stop a taxi. I managed to stop a few but they ended up driving away because we couldn't agree on a price. The drivers thought they could rip me off but I was no match for them. I knew the standard price of the fare and I wasn't paying an extra pesewa.