Freeing Adalyne

Chapter 34

Adalyne tried to convince me that Vincent needed a playmate and I told her that he is a spoiled, only child, and would probably throw a fit if we ever brought another cat into this house.

She pouted, so she won.

As expected, Vincent wanted nothing to do with the new kitten and hissed at it, or bopped her on the head if she got too close. He also fell into a kitty depression and would only come out from under the bed to eat or use the litter box.

We both felt awful, so after a long discussion filled with regret and a phone call, we loaded up our baby kitten and drove her to Phil's. He promised to take care of her and that we could visit anytime.

It was sad at the time, but not anymore. If I thought Vincent was spoiled; I was wrong. "Tiger" has her own room and Phil wrapped around her paw.

Our bad decision, may have been our best one yet.

Adalyne has been spending a lot of time at the coffee shop with her friends, as they gear up for a final project. I don't want to bother them, so I usually stay home to grade my students assignments, or go out with Phil and Joey. We usually don't stay out too long, because Phil always has an excuse to go home early. It's the cat. He won't leave Tiger alone too long. I know it, Joey knows it, but we don't say anything.

I found myself particularly lonely one Saturday afternoon, so I loaded up my tablet and my students' assignments, then headed down to the coffee shop to be with my wife.

She gave me a bright smile, when I walked through the door and waved, then scooted her chair over, so I could bring one over and sit next to her.

"Hey, babe." I said, kissing her cheek.

"Hey, what are you up to?" She asked as she leaned into my kiss.

"Just missing you." I hummed, then set my stuff on the table.

"Aww." One of Adalyne's friends said.

"Just missing you." Another goaded in a baby voice.

"Shut up, you guys." Adalyne laughed, then threw her coffee stirrer at one of them.

I shook my head, then dove into grading my assignments and Adalyne focused back on her laptop. The chatter was few, but serious, as they compared notes and pointed out differences.

The barista came by and asked if we needed refills, but I didn't bother looking up and just said, "Please."

I saw the baristas hand take my cup, then heard her say, "What about you, Ads? I made something just for you and I know you'll like it."

What did she call my wife?

I looked up finally and took in the young, pretty barista, who was focused on Adalyne with a gentle look on her face.

"Um, yeah. Sure. Thanks, Ash." Adalyne said in a quiet voice.

I watched her walk away, then dropped my eyes to Adalyne, who was back to looking at her laptop with a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks.

Interesting.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Ashley. We have a class together and she works here on the weekends." Adalyne answered, not looking up from her laptop.

"Oh." I muttered, then looked back to the barista behind the counter that was pouring coffee into a cup. She caught my eyes as she placed a cup on a tray and gave me a kind smile.

"She seems nice." I hummed, returning the smile, then focusing back on Adalyne.

"She is." That's all I got from Adalyne and soon a cup was placed in front of me, then Ashley moved around and put a cup in front of Adalyne.