“Packing?” Brendon rocked back on his heels. “Did I hear you say packing? Because we can help with that. I’ll order pizza.”
Olivia’s eyes sparkled with mirth, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. She shot Margot a look, nothing more than a brief flicker of her eyes, but it put a weird lump in Margot’s throat because it was the start of something new, even if it was only a shared understanding that Brendon wouldn’t know subtlety if it bit him on the ass.
Margot rolled her eyes and took a step in the direction of the door. Olivia reached out, cool fingers brushing the back of Margot’s hand. Despite being a whisper of a touch, it made Margot’s pulse roar inside her ears.
A soft pink blush crept up Olivia’s jaw as she dropped her hand to her side and smiled sheepishly. “You’re not allergic to cats, are you?”
Chapter Three
Olivia hovered in Margot’s foyer, Cat mewling softly from the carrier at her feet. Poor thing was probably confused, not understanding why she’d been shoved inside a carrier, put in a car, and driven across the city. Olivia crouched down, slipping her fingers through the plastic grate. Cat leaned in, sniffing her fingers before rubbing her face against them. “I know. It’s been a long day.”
And it was nowhere close to being over.
Margot stepped out into the hall, Elle trailing after her. She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “I didn’t know where the best place was to put to the litter box. The bathroom’s too small, so I set it in your room.”
Olivia’s room. Her room in the apartment she now shared with Margot, for the foreseeable future. Somebody pinch her.
Olivia stood, earning an aggrieved-sounding meow from Cat, who was probably sick of being cooped up in her crate, roomy though it was. “Thanks. I’ve got a mat that goes under it so she won’t track litter.”
Elle ducked low, peeking inside the carrier. It was difficult to see inside, with Cat tucked up in a tight little ball of dark, fluffy fur and glinting green eyes. “What’s her name?”
Olivia blushed. “Cat.”
Elle cocked her head, clearly confused. “How long have you had her?”
“Um.” She did the math. “Almost eight months.”
Elle frowned. “So . . . it’s not just a placeholder? Cat?”
Margot huffed out a quiet laugh and Olivia’s stomach somersaulted at the sound. “It’s from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Holly Golightly names her—well, it isn’t hers, that’s the whole point. She names the cat Cat.” Margot’s lips twitched. “I’m assuming that’s where you got the name.”
It was Olivia’s favorite movie. No matter how many times she watched it, that kiss in the rain still made her shiver and Paul Varjak’s speech about belonging putting an ache in her chest that persisted long after the credits rolled. It was the same ache she’d felt when she thought about Margot over the last decade.
Olivia wasn’t surprised Margot caught the reference. She’d forced her to watch the movie a dozen times, easy.
“I found her by the trash outside my apartment the week after I moved here.” They were both alone in the big city, and Olivia had figured they could be alone together. “It seemed fitting.”
Margot’s lips quirked. “You can let her out of the cage, if you want.”
Olivia cast a glance at the open door that led out into the main hall. Brendon, Annie, and Darcy had made one final trip out to the parking lot, offering to grab the last of Olivia’s boxes, most already stacked in her new bedroom.
“Here.” Margot flattened her palm against the door, shutting it with a soft snick. “No chance of her making a run for it.”
“Thanks.” Despite her squat little legs, Cat was wily. She had a tendency to explore, no space off-limits as long as she could fit. But even that was open to interpretation because Olivia had once found her wedged between the refrigerator and the wall. Cat was better at getting herself into trouble than out of it. Olivia could relate.
She dropped to her knees and unlatched the door to the carrier. Cat unfurled herself and crept closer. She stuck her nose in the air and sniffed, then sneezed. The smell of patchouli was faint, a stick of ashed incense poking up from a ceramic holder shaped like a lotus. Cat took a tentative step into the living room, appraising her new surroundings.
“This is where we live now.” Olivia stroked the fur between Cat’s ears. “You like it?”
Cat mewed softly and circled Margot’s ankles before slinking deeper into the apartment. She leaped onto the sofa and batted at a bright blue beaded accent pillow.