A Conflict of Duty and Heart

A light bit of reading

The target was a tall, dull orange tom with sealpoint markings and a cream patch of fur on his chest. He was described as having green eyes and navy blue hair. He looked to be in his mid twenties, early thirties. Other things of note were the notch in his right ear and the fact that he was always seen wearing a large, red coat.

"Last seen downtown near the Primrose Cafe." Constance muttered aloud.

Constance set down the paper and picked up one of the photos. She whistled softly, this man was either very handsome or she was very lonely. It could very well be both, probably both. If it wasn't for the fact that he was likely a rebel anarchist Connie honestly might've considered taking him on a date or two. Then again, that in and of itself wasn't entirely out of the question.

Constance leaned back and considered how she was going to go about gaining this stranger's trust. After debating briefly she came to the conclusion that she would have to get a gauge on this guy's personality before she decided on anything. She decided that the best way to begin approaching this would be to stake out the Primrose Cafe where he had been sighted recently. If she was lucky he would be somewhere close by perhaps she could even make some sort of contact with him directly.

It bothered it bothered her to a certain extent that she didn't have a name to put to the face. All she could do for the moment was refer to this fellow as the man or this guy. I'd honestly the general lack of information surrounding this individual frustrated her greatly. She hated not having much to work with and subsequently not much to prepare for. She wasn't particularly fond of the thought of walking into something so important blindly.

One bit of information that fortunately was available regarded the target's enchantment status. An enchantment was a magical ability tied to the very soul of an Abyssinian. About one in every four Abyssinians were born with an enchantment. The power of each individual's enchantment varied from cat to cat. Some were powerful enough to flatten cities if left unchecked, others were as tame as sneezing bubbles.

Constance herself was one of the Mundane, an individual born without an enchantment. Quite honestly she was just fine with that. Fortunately for her the target appeared to be Mundane as well. That was a relief, this would be much easier without having to worry about any sort of magical shenanigans.

Constance returned everything to the envelope with a dejected sigh. With so few leads it was highly unlikely that she'd be able to finish this job in a timely fashion. She set the envelope aside and pulled out her phone to do a bit of her own research on the Primrose Cafe and the area surrounding it. With a bit of luck she might find something of actual use.

Several hours of fruitless research later Constance felt about ready to scream. She had found the cafe menu, it's hours, a detailed history of the building, and the autobiography of the individual who'd started the business. Was any of that of use to her? Possibly, if she'd been writing an essay for a highschool english class. She tossed her phone on the coffee table and sank into the couch, only to jump as it began vibrating with a jarring loudness on the glass surface.

Constance quickly picked up the phone and checked the caller id, it was Djoser, again. She sighed and decided to just rip the bandaid off and get this conversation over with.

"Hey Djoser."

"Hey Connie! Did I catch you at a good time this time around?"

"Yeah, I've been off work for a little while now."

"Perfect! Did you remember to request some time off like we discussed?"

"I did," Constance replied hesitantly, "but...."

"Don't tell me they shot you down again"

"Actually, that's exactly what happened."

"Connie!"

"I'm sorry Djoser but that's just how things are!"

"If you aren't coming down next month then when are you planning to visit?"

"About that....." Constance grimaced, "I won't be able to come down for a while."

"How long exactly is a while?"

"Six months," Constance tentatively replied, "at least."

"Connie!!"

"I'm sorry, my boss insisted!"

"What could possibly be so important that they aren't able to spare you for SIX MONTHS?"

"I'm working on a really important company project and it's not something that I can take care of quickly."

"And no one else could have taken care of it?"

"I guess not apparently, I'm not exactly happy about this whole situation myself."

Constance could practically hear Djoser pinching the bridge nose in frustration.

"My boss did say that if things go smoothly for a little while I might be able to come down sooner but I'm not sure what that all entails." Constance mentioned hopefully. "I'm going to try my best to get this taken care of as quickly as I can, I promise."

"And what makes you think that they won't just assign you something else once you're done with this like they've been doing for months now?"

Constance didn't respond, she didn't have an answer for that one.

"You need to put your foot down and establish some boundaries. Let them know that you need a break after this project is done and don't take no for an answer."

"It's not that simple Djoser, I can't just tell off my boss."

"Well you need to do something! You can't just work your life away."

"I'll see what I can do." Constance promised half-heartedly.

"That's what you said this morning." Djoser replied, a hint of exhaustion creeping into his voice.

"I'm sorry Djoser, I really am." Constance apologized genuinely.

She took note of the time, it was a little past ten in the evening. If she wanted to be fully rested and alert tomorrow she should probably get to bed soon.

"I'll talk to you later okay? I think getting some sleep might do us both some good." Constance suggested.

"Alright," Djoser sighed, "but I'm serious about the whole taking a break thing. Good night."

"Goodnight" Constance repeated before hanging up, trying her best to swallow the feeling of guilt that had begun to rise in the back if her throat.

With that Constance walked over to her room and plugged in her phone before setting it on her nightstand. She quickly changed into some light pajamas before flicking the lights off and climbing into bed. As she began to drift off to sleep Constance quietly hoped that tomorrow would go at least a little smoothly.