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┋ P4: SOMETHING MONEY CAN'T BUY ┋
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The silence didn't last long, interrupted by Norman's growls as he stood in front of Charlotte.
"Stay put. We don't want the host to get upset and do something foolish. You know how humans can be."
"Shut up, stupid cat."
The leopardess's piercing gaze made the feline's whiskers tremble as he took a couple of steps back.
Everyone remained silent, guarding the little cats behind the larger ones.
"Why... is everyone acting so strangely?" Jhon wondered, looking at them all, trying to grasp the reality of the situation.
Charlotte kept her composure, clicking her tongue and moving closer to the kitchen to be nearer to Jhon. She flicked her tail and lifted her head, wearing a displeased expression.
"You... have been too close to my owner lately... Did you steal one of my photos?!"
Norman twitched his ears, this time taking a step back of his own accord, avoiding drawing attention. Meanwhile, Jhon noticed his attempt to flee.
"Calm down... the photo is with him—"
"No one asked you to tell me where that photo is! You can keep it if you want! Got it?!"
"... Can you speak without having to shout—?"
"No one gave you permission to speak!"
Jhon swallowed hard, watching as the other cats began to growl behind her, gearing up for a fight because of the trouble she had caused.
He had no choice but to signal Norman to voice the same question they both had.
The brown feline approached, clearing his throat.
"So... what are you supposed to be here for?"
The feline glared at Norman, making him feel uncomfortable. She flicked her tail a couple more times, glanced around, then coughed lightly before letting out a high-pitched meow in an operatic tone.
"Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii"
Jhon covered his ears until she quieted down. Just then, he was about to ask what that was about.
But the answer came swiftly.
"Did you call, miss?"
Emerging from the door of the room, a man with a white mustache in a black and white butler's suit entered the room, dusting himself off. He walked towards Charlotte, courteously greeting Jhon, and finally stood behind the feline.
..........
"What? He's... her butler? Wait, he could also fit through that tiny gap in my room?!"
Jhon doubted the feline would send her butler to fight him or something similar, so he just coughed to ease the anxiety in his chest.
His house seemed more and more like a place filled with oddities, and he just wanted to rest that day with Molly.
"Oh, her breakfast!"
"Hold on! I'm not finished speaking!" the leopardess protested upon seeing Jhon heading to prepare something in the kitchen. "Alfred, the bill."
Jhon was puzzled by the feline's instruction to her butler, eagerly waiting to see if he too could understand cats like he could now.
Alfred pulled out a calculator from his pocket, starting to calculate large figures. Then, he showed it to Charlotte, who growled in response.
"Add psychological damages."
Alfred swiftly recalculated, producing an even larger result than before.
"W-Wait... What is he even doing here? Can he understand you too?"
"Did I tell you that you could speak? Alfred, take note."
The butler swiftly made a calculation and showed the final result to the young man.
The zeros didn't even fit on the calculator's screen, but a paper would print from it, generating a receipt that he handed to Jhon.
$1,200,000,000.
"What... what is this?"
"Alfred..."
"Wait, wait, you're already scaring me. Please, explain yourself properly."
Coming from a family with the greatest wealth in the city, or possibly in the country considering the exaggerated figures and expectations that were increasingly forming in his mind, Jhon found it very confusing why someone who seemingly had everything would want to extort him in that way.
"Seeing as you're asking in such a pleading manner, I'll be brief."
She walked closer to him, placing a paw on his shoe.
"Listen carefully, and I'll say it only once. You're talking to the most beautiful cat on the planet, the one photographers in the country, no, let me correct that, photographers in the world want to photograph more than any celebrity of the moment. And neither my family nor I are allowed to sell those photos or give the privilege to lazy boys like you."
Jhon was frozen in shock as the feline continued, unsheathing her claws.
"There are only 5 photos of me in the entire world... and those are the ones my owner carries with her her whole life. She's the only one allowed to have them because she's earned it. But the fact that someone of such low class as you has one of them disgusts me. I don't care what perversions you might have in mind... I'll simply file a formal lawsuit against you. And thus, we eliminate the photo and, if necessary, the only person with the memories of it."
"........So, you mean...?"
The feline snorted, hitting the ground with her tail like a whip with a swift movement.
"I know you won't be able to pay even if you win a hundred lotteries on the same day, so I came to offer you a job..."
Jhon managed to gather all his thoughts in his mind, slamming his fist into his palm, realizing what was really happening.
"Could it be that Charlotte... could she be..."
"Now that you have the gift of communicating with my species, will you help me gather information about the boy who's causing my owner to ignore me? What do you think?"
John knew that Eleanor was his owner, but what she had just told him left him confused and shocked.
"Wait, is that all...?"
"And couldn't you have asked me as a request instead of extorting me...?!"
"I have cats watching over the entire city for me, but even though they follow my owner's steps, they can't find the boy who keeps stealing her attention. I've heard rumors that you've been getting close to her lately, so I thought you might find out better than anyone else..."
"And... why not hire a private investigator?"
The feline sighed, deep in thought.
"She already knows all my tricks. She has a sharp gaze and an ability that lets her know who's around her just by their scent and the noise they make. She even knows my human-cat suit trick."
John glanced at the butler, who had remained silent the whole time.
"Does your butler understand you...?"
"I wish. If you could tell him to start coming quicker, you'd do me a great favor."
John clicked his tongue this time, choosing to ignore and not engage in the strange game. He glanced sideways at Norman, signaling.
"He has the photo. Can't we just give it back and be done with it?"
"Traitor!" growled the brown cat, feeling Charlotte's tail smack his face, knocking him to the ground. "Kuuuh..."
"I told you, I don't care. But thanks, at least it keeps me more at ease knowing a human doesn't have it. Cats are cleaner, at least."
He felt uncomfortable being insulted now by the millionaire cat too, so he turned to look at the butler.
"Sir, couldn't you calm her down? She's very agitated..."
"..."
The butler remained silent, glancing sideways at his boss. She only raised her paw, signaling him to stay quiet.
Until now, he'd only had two requests, and he was beginning to doubt whether any of this was worth something good enough that Norman could offer for Molly.
However, he felt he couldn't refuse any of the requests already made. One, because disappointing the little kittens shook his heart, and the second because... Who knew what a cat with such power in a wealthy family was capable of?
She was crazy.
"Well? Choose, the debt or the mission. I can give you the other option to work as my butler; that's what happens to those who can't pay their debts on time. They become indebted to me for life." With that, she let out a slight, innocent laugh.
John glanced up to see the butler and determine if what she said was true, but he simply remained silent again, looking away.
John swallowed hard, knowing that wasn't a valid option. He couldn't see himself serving as a butler for the rest of his life...
But if he agreed to the mission, he'd have to get closer to Eleanor, who might uncover Molly's secret and cause them problems.
He had decided to temporarily distance himself from that girl, but now, with the situation at hand, it seemed like fate wanted to play a cruel trick on him.
As if the inevitability of Molly being discovered was a fact he couldn't avoid no matter what.
...............
However, he clenched his fist, looking at the feline.
"I'll accept the mission. But, you'll have to help me. If I go alone... she'll also discover me."
He would find a way to ensure that never happened. He promised.
And nothing in the world would ever separate him from her.
Charlotte began pacing the room again, looking at all the cats present.
"Are they enough? I could buy their lives for a few cans of tuna, and some for less."
"No, and don't treat them that way," he said, limiting himself to just that upon seeing her threatening gaze. "What I suggest... is that there be a plan for this that you can provide."
"Humph, that's why I'm hiring you. That's your job; otherwise, I would have done it already."
Given the feline's attitude, he began to fear for his classmates, including himself. He didn't rule out being on the possible list due to being of the opposite gender.
He cleared his throat and carefully considered his question.
"What... do you plan to do to the boy after he tells you who he is?" he asked, pouring oil into a frying pan to crack a couple of eggs. He shouldn't waste much time if there was a cat waiting for her breakfast.
"Enough! Stop! Too many questions. That's none of your business, or anyone's. What happens in the torture room stays in the torture room, understood?"
<
The cats' growls were escalating, so he hurried to end the situation once and for all.
"Fine... I'll do it. Now, if you could please leave..."
The feline huffed, letting out a slight meow as she turned to her butler, who put on latex gloves and carried her in his arms, opening the door and leaving the house.
Norman cleared his throat, raising his paw to bid farewell to Charlotte, who shot him a murderous look.
"..."
John finished frying the pair of eggs and placed them on a plate, scooping some rice from the rice cooker. He added a piece of bread and some tuna, then went to deliver Molly's breakfast.
"...I think she likes me too," Norman blurted out, his cheeks under his whiskers showing a faint blush.
"<<...So, that's why you stole my photo! Look at the trouble you've caused me with your silly romance>>" John thought about telling him seriously, but he just sighed and went to see his partner.
He knocked on the bathroom door three times, and it immediately swung open, pulling him in carefully and shutting it again.
"Why did you take so long?" she growled, hugging him with concern. "I heard another person leave the room, and before that, there were lots of shouts. Are you okay? If it weren't for that other person, I swear I would've gone out and kicked whoever was bothering you."
Molly seemed agitated and worried about John, who carefully placed the plate on the floor and approached her to hug and stroke her head...
Then, he looked into her eyes, with a confused expression.
"I really would like to know too..."
With a slight chuckle, he kissed her lips for a moment. Slowly pulling away, he offered her the plate of food and gave her another hug, smiling at her.
"Have you... had breakfast?" Molly asked, starting to eat hungrily.
"I'm working on it. I'll let you know when you can come out. I've taken care of the biggest problem for now. How are you feeling now? Do you think if you come out, they'll still uncover what happened yesterday?"
Molly nodded quickly with her mouth full, to which John nodded and grabbed the door handle to leave.
"I won't be long. Stay put, okay?"
Finally, he stepped out of the bathroom, closing it carefully, making sure none of the cats present in the room had gone to snoop around looking for him.
He returned to the kitchen cautiously, scanning for Norman to see how he had handled the situation; however, Norman was gone, and the door of his house remained open. Only the stray cats were left inside.
"...Where did he go?"
"He left after the grumpy cat," Tommy meowed, quickly silenced by his mother.
"That rascal... at least I have something to bother him with if he keeps up that attitude with me as always."
John sighed and left the door half-open, gesturing.
"If anyone wants to leave, they can go out through here. It's much easier than the gap they came through," then he turned and walked back to the cushion, sitting down again. "If... you still have any doubts, you can tell me. But I don't think I can accept any more requests for today... or I don't know until when. Sorry for all the inconvenience, this wasn't planned."
He was honest with them in part, trying not to disappoint them.
"But... if you still want to ask me something another day... We could discuss it at a next meeting, but not here. Maybe... at the park?"
The stray cats started murmuring among themselves, nodding. Among them, he recognized some from the park, and others who had been spying on him in his classroom with Norman the last time.
As a cat stepped forward to sit on the second cushion, John attended to its question, doing his best to explain in the most understandable way. One by one.
"Why don't humans have tails?"
"...Good question. Maybe we lost them at some point, and that's how we stayed."
"Who is the most powerful human?"
"The President of the United States."
"What can I do to kill my owner without them noticing?"
"You're going to see them, ask them to take you to the vet, and ask for tranquilizers. Then, you take them yourself."
The cats' questions were really uncomfortable as fewer cats remained. Each one asked more uncomfortable things than the previous, sometimes making him shudder just thinking about an answer.
Fortunately, he managed it. And after the last cat, he closed the door, realizing it was already noon.
"Half a day... here dealing with unknown cats... Norman, this better be worth it," he muttered, letting out a sigh.
Luckily, checking that no one else was around, he prepared his breakfast similar to the one he gave Molly. He ate it quickly and headed to his room, where he placed a table over the gap, at least until the problem was fixed.
John touched his forehead, feeling his body warm.
He still needed rest... But there was still something he had to do.
He walked toward the bathroom door and knocked three times.
"You can come out now, everyone's gone, including Norman."
Molly hesitated for a moment but finally opened the door, finding herself face to face with her partner.
"Are you... sure?"
"I've checked every corner of the house. There's no one, but don't worry, I'll talk to Norman about this later."
Molly smiled nervously, hugging him tightly.
"I-It hurts..."
"You are... warm. You should rest, I'll prepare the meal. Take a hot shower and go rest, then you can tell me everything. Whatever it is, or whoever bothered you, I'll do my best so you don't have to face any more trouble alone."
"All these cats... they're too extreme with their personalities," John thought, noting the overwhelming affection Molly had for him as she rushed toward him, analyzing in his memories the behavior of all the cats he had encountered in just one day.
His heart overflowed with tenderness and joy at so many purrs and meows, having experienced one of the scenarios he had longed for. However, the meows that were now mere words with a different tone from what he imagined from the street cats shattered his illusions a bit.
Apart from the odd questions, there was only one more thing that made him uncomfortable about them.
"I didn't expect cats to be more extreme than humans themselves... It's frightening."