Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
In one of the partitions sat my pink suitcase so I grabbed some clothes from home from the same bin and stuffed them there. Zane walked down an aisle and returned with a stack of clothing. I looked at his face and tried to gauge his mood. I couldn’t get a read on him.
He handed me the stack of clothing and two electric toothbrushes, one of them the one I’d been using, plus a smaller one. Ollie’s.
I put everything into the suitcase and then rolled it down to the far end where I saw him move through plastic drapes into what I guess was a glass walk-in refrigerator because he returned with three Chili bottles, while consulting with his phone. He put those supplies on the counter, went back, and returned with three large glass bottles. He gave me a dark look and then looked back to his phone.
“Zane?”
“Hm?”
“Sorry,” I looked down at my feet. “I know Chili’s only here because I insisted.”
He didn’t answer so I looked back up and met his gaze. He was sucking on his teeth.
“I’m not angry with you,” he muttered.
“Okay,” I whispered, looking away.
“Tanya. Look at me.”
I looked up and he was right there. Right there. He put his hands on my biceps and sighed. “Do you not believe that I’m not angry with you?”
“The whole Chili thing was my idea, so…” I shrugged.
He shook his head while caressing my arms. “I’m pissed about the mess but I’m not blaming you.”
“Okay.”
“I should’ve known better. I checked and the locks were engaged before I left him here, but he watched me fasten them. Each time we opened and closed those locks today, he likely watched. I underestimated his intelligence. He hasn’t had another feeding yet, so he wanted out of the cage to find his way back to his fluffle. He thinks my bedroom is his warren and we are his fluffle. I wanted us to have some time alone tonight and didn’t want him to disrupt Ollie’s sleep, which would’ve in turn interrupted our time, so I tried to do this as a shortcut. He got in through two different areas of vulnerability and tore up wiring in the walls in his efforts to find his way out of this room to us. They’re said to have long-distance tracking abilities if they get separated from their fluffle. The damage in the walls is so erratic that re-wiring’ll be faster than troubleshooting and spot-repairing. I can get it started and then the house will finish the rest through the night. It’ll be fine.”
“Yikes.”
“Let’s go.” He opened my suitcase and stuffed the three bottles of liquid in there as well as three larger bottles and closed it. He made a call while fetching Chili’s cage from the countertop. He opened the door and gestured for me to put Chili in.
“I’ll hold him for now. He’s stressed,” I said and held my hand tight against my chest.
Zane rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.
He carried the cage and reached for the suitcase.
“I got it,” I said and reached for the handle.
“No. I’ve got it.” He grabbed it and started walking. I scurried along behind him, gulping.
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “You don’t have to be frightened of me, Tanya. I won’t hurt you.”
“Okay,” I squeaked.
“She doesn’t fucking believe me,” he grumbled and thrust his hand through his hair.
I stared at his still naked back as I followed along as he spoke into his phone.
“Father. I need you to let Tanya and Ollie sleep there tonight. I’m bringing them over now… a fuschialala-viscacha is what happened. I’m gonna be up all night making repairs. I’ll explain when we get there.”
***
Ollie had only half-woken up, confused when his father carried him out of the treehouse with his blanket still on him and I followed as we went down in the elevator and then across the backyard to the gate that separated the two properties where Zane’s dad greeted us with a smile. He said he’d get me tea while Zane carried Ollie upstairs out of sight.
I carefully lifted a sleeping Chili out of my shirt when left alone in the family room I was in as Zane’s father left with the bottles and ingredients for Chili’s milk to put them into his refrigeration and house inventory. I got all four locks closed. As I was closing the final lock, Zane was coming down the staircase, heading to me.
“He’s asleep. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said and leaned over and put his lips to mine.
I startled.
“I’m not angry with you, Tanya.”
“Okay,” I said hoarsely.
“Stop being timid with me,” he ordered, holding my face.
“This is who I am,” I snapped. And then I felt immediately guilty for snapping.
He sighed. “Sleep well. I’ll send for you both when you can come back. I just don’t like the mixture of items that were spilled coupled with liquid getting into a hole in the wall with some wiring, and… you get the idea.” He caressed my face and put his lips to my forehead.