Beep. Beep.

The alarm startled Marina and Tiamet, shushing them into silence as a loud yawn entered the living room.

Marina quickly closed locket, clasping the necklace around her neck.

“Good morning,” Reese greeted groggily, rubbing her eyes. Her undercut evolved into a messy red nest of bed hair. As her vision grew clearer, she stared at Tiamet sitting on top of Marina’s lap widely eyeing her as the tip of her tail flicked left to right.

“Good morning,” Marina greeted coyly, finding her voice as she reentered reality. A tint of red colored Marina’s cheeks as her hand moved up to her tangled aqua locks.

Ugh, my hair must look so bad right now.

Marina looked away from Reese’s amber eyes, staring down at her socks with embarrassment. She wanted to hide from her sight, feeling vulnerable and exposed like an uncomfortable high school girl changing into gym clothes in a locker room.

“Do you want brea—“

“Umm…” Marina quietly interrupted squeezing her fists, her face entirely flushed. “Is it OK if I use the bathroom?”

Reese gazed blankly at her. “Uh, sure… You don’t need to ask though.” I guess she’s not hungry yet.

Marina scrambled to her suitcase. She avoided eye contact with Reese, hiding her face as she fumbled to get clean clothes.

A smirk peaked on the corner of Reese’s lips as realization hit her.

Marina’s hand grabbed the bathroom doorknob, quickly shutting the door.

She’s kind of cute, Reese mused as she entered the kitchen. Bed hair and morning faces were nothing to be embarrassed about. They were normal, but maybe she was just used to it.

The smirk disappeared from Reese’s face as she looked down at the furry cat brushing against her legs.

“Meow!” the three-eyed cat cried loudly, pawing Reese’s leg.

Reese followed Tiamet’s gaze to her empty food bowl. The tuna she gave last night was licked clean. Not a single trace of shredded tuna was left in the bowl.

The short-haired woman chuckled as she brought the food bowl to the sink.

“What would you like to eat for breakfast?” Reese asked, looking down at the gray cat.

Tiamet purred, marking Reese’s legs as her territory.

Reese opened the cabinet, taking out the bag of unopened dry cat food. “What about kibbles? It’s kind of like cereal for cats, right?”

“Meow!” Tiamet’s olive eyes widened with excitement.

A grin appeared on Reese’s lips as she opened the bag of cat food.

The delicious smell of turkey wafted through Tiamet’s nose, waking up her natural instincts. The fresh kibbles made the three-eyed cat even hungrier.

Reese poured the round brown kibbles into Tiamet’s food bowl. The three-eyed cat circled the human impatiently, meowing like a hungry kitten.

“Meow! Meow!”

“Woah, hold it right there—“ Reese exclaimed, stepping away from the cat. The last thing the short-haired woman wanted was tripping facedown and kibbles flying across the kitchen floor, especially not when she mopped the kitchen a few days ago.

“Breakfast coming right up!” Reese quickly placed the food bowl down before Tiamet could get to it. She ran like lightning stuffing her face into the bowl.

A giggle drew Reese’s attention as she looked up.

Marina was standing by the entrance. A sleeveless mauve dress decorated with an earth tone plaid layer replaced her pajamas. Her dress perfectly matched the scenery of an autumn forest. Marina’s long aqua locks were braided neatly into a single ponytail as if she had spent hours brushing her hair like a princess before a vanity mirror. Marina was simply striking that Reese could not stare straight into her teal green eyes.

Marina grinned at Tiamet, amused by the feline’s ungraceful behavior.

Even though Tiamet is the Guardian of the Stars or whatever she said, she’s still a cat in the end.

Reese laughed, placing a hand behind her hair. “She’s acting like she hasn’t eaten for days.”

Marina grinned, examining the cat eat. “She’s a glutton.”

Kibbles flew out from Tiamet’s mouth as her head snapped up, littering the food on the floor.

“I’m not a glutton!” the three-eyed cat exclaimed, glaring at Marina.

The aqua-haired woman sighed. “Gosh, I was just kidding…” Marina murmured. “You’re such a sensitive cat.”

“Meow! Meow, meow, meow!”

Reese slowly glanced between Marina and the three-eyed cat as they bickered.

“Marina,” Reese began, tearing Marina’s attention away from Tiamet, “are you a cat whisperer?”

“M—me?” Marina choked out incredulously.

She thinks I’m a cat whisperer? No way!

A smirk spread over Reese’s face. “There’s nothing bad about being a cat whisperer.”

Marina rolled her eyes. “The cat can just ta—“ Oh right. “Yeah… guess I am one...”

Reese grinned. “I’m going to shower now,” she began, turning to leave the kitchen.

“Wait—“ Marina exclaimed, causing Reese to turn to her attention again. “Is it OK if I use your phone? I just need to call my dad. M—my phone… I don’t have service—”

Reese smiled. “Of course you can,” the short-haired woman answered, fetching her phone from the counter. Her amber eyes never left Marina’s face as she handed her phone to her. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

Marina nodded understandingly. “Thank you!”

The aqua-haired woman returned to the living room, sitting back on the couch. Taking a long shaky breath, Marina stared at Reese’s phone in her hands.

I have to do this. I need to call dad… I can’t keep staying here. Marina’s palms felt sweaty as she turned the phone on. I can do this. I’ll count to three…

Marina squeezed her eyes closed.

One...

Two..

Marina held her breath. Three.

She dialed her dad's number reluctantly, wishing a part of her had forgotten his number. She last called him two years ago which ended terribly in a bitter argument. Marina vowed she would never speak to him, but now she was breaking that promise. She was relying on her father once again, and she hated herself so much for it.

I can’t believe I’m doing this.

A familiar gruff voice answered. “Hello?”

“Da–Dad… this is Marina,” the aqua-haired woman stuttered.

“Who?”

“Marina…” she repeated more loudly. Marina bit her tongue for how stupid she sounded right now for repeating her name.

“Marina??” her dad asked sharply. “What do you want?”

Marina winced at his cold greeting, already expecting it. “Dad, is it OK if I move back home?”

Her father grew silent.

“No…” he harshly answered after deep contemplation. “There’s no room in the house. Your brother and his wife had a baby boy last month that sleeps in your room now.”

“Oh…” Tears welled up in Marina’s eyes as her throat tightened. She was hurting a lot more than she expected. “I understand… but I’m going to be homeless. I have nowhere to stay.”

Another long awkward pause.

“What do you mean…? Aren’t you living with that girl?”

That girl. Marina winced at those words. He always called Abbi ‘that girl’. “We broke up.”

“A man wouldn’t leave a woman,” her father stated flatly as if he had been saving those words. Marina cringed at his voice, imagining that smug look on his face whenever he thought he was always right. “You turned out just like your mother.”

Mother. She left us for a woman when I was 6 years old. I never heard back from her again.

Marina could not blame her father’s grudge against his ex-wife for leaving him, but he should not hate his own daughter for loving women.

Marina bit down hard on her lower lip.

I’m nothing like mom, but I can see why she left you.

She wanted to argue with him, calling him a horrible selfish unloving father. Instead, Marina took a deep breath tossing his heedless words aside.

Just ignore him. Just ignore him.

“Can’t I sleep on the couch?” Marina prodded, clenching her fists in frustration. “I’ll move out as soon I have a jo—“

“Are you deaf?” her father snapped angrily, causing Marina to jerk the phone away from her ear slightly. “I already said no! Your brother and his wife started a family in this house. You’re an adult. You’re on your own. If you didn’t move out with that girl, you would still have your bedroom. Just go to a homeless shelter or find yourself another whore to sleep with—”

The phone slipped from Marina’s hands, dropping to her lap.

Marina’s eyes blurred with tears. Her father brilliantly destroyed her heart into a million pieces again. This was why she never wanted to speak with him again. He would never accept her no matter what.

I give up.

“Need a tissue?”

Marina sniffed, looking up at Reese offering her a box of tissues.

Her concerned amber eyes displayed sympathy for the aqua-haired woman.

“Hello?” Reese glanced at the loud voice coming from the phone. “Hello?”

The dark red-haired woman took her phone from Marina’s lap, ending the call.

“I’m assuming it didn’t go very well…” Reese murmured as she slipped the phone into the pocket of her short black jeans.

Her dad speaks really loud on the phone. When Reese came out of the bathroom, she heard half of the conversation.

Marina blew her nose into a tissue. “I’ll have to go to a homeless shelter…”

Homeless shelter? Reese stared at Marina with pity and sat down on the couch beside her. “No you don’t. Stay here until you can move out again.”

Marina sniffed, taking another tissue from the box to wipe her eyes. “I don’t want to be a freeloader. I applied to over six hundred jobs and still unemployed. I’ll never be able to pay you back.”

Reese frowned. Life has really torn her apart to kill her confidence. She instinctively grasped Marina’s hand.

“Look,” Reese began, squeezing Marina’s hand reassuringly. “Look at me.”

Marina met Reese’s gaze hesitantly, tears flowing down her cheeks as her lower lip trembled.

The dark red-haired woman smiled. “You’ll be OK. What did you want to do?”

“I—I…” What do I want to do? Marina was at a loss of words.

I knew what I wanted to do after college, but now everything changed. She could not answer Reese’s question. Thinking about what she wanted to originally do hurt so much. Marina buried all her failures, never wanting to revisit them.

“Anything…” Marina simply answered, lowering her voice. “I was willing to try anything… but even I was too overqualified for minimum wage jobs.”

Anything. Reese suddenly had an idea and stood up excitedly.

“I know, how about working with me? I run a donut business and can use another hand.”

Sorrow dissolved from Marina’s teal green eyes. “Re—Really?”

Reese nodded with a big grin. “Yeah. In exchange, you can live here and I can pay you weekly for your help.”

Everything felt too good to be true; the excitement for her new life was too hard to contain. Marina jumped up, hugging Reese tightly.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” You saved my life again.

Reese blushed taken aback from Marina’s excitement and laughed as she returned Marina’s hug. Her face was in Marina’s hair and she inhaled it deeply, noticing that Marina had a pleasant comforting scent.

She smells just like fresh rain.

The short-haired woman realized she was enjoying the hug too much. Feeling bashful, she quickly pulled Marina away and cleared her throat.

“Kitty Donuts is closed today,” Reese began, “so I can start training you tomorrow.”

Marina nodded understandingly. “What days are you opened?”

“Five days a week, except Mondays and Wednesdays.”

Marina nodded, listening intently to take in all the information she can on her new job. “Don’t businesses usually close on the weekends?”

“Yes, but…” Reese beamed. “People have days off and usually go out on the weekends. Weekends are the top selling days.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Marina remarked with her index finger on her chin.

Reese grinned. “I’ll teach you my business tricks when you start working tomorrow.”

“Meow.”

Reese and Marina both gazed at the three-eyed cat chasing a fly around the apartment.

“What should we do about Tiamet?” Reese asked. “Should we be looking for her human guardian?”

Marina stammered incoherently as she tried to find an excuse to keep Tiamet. “I—I don’t like the idea of giving her away. I mean, she—she already found us.”

She doesn’t even belong on Earth since she’s from space. An alien cat?

“Hmm…” the dark red-haired woman contemplated, rubbing her chin. “I guess I can adopt her until someone starts posting a lost three-eyed cat flyer. But let’s hope that won’t happen.”

Reese bent down to pet Tiamet, temporarily distracting the cat from the fly as she purred with delight. “She’s pretty cute even though she has three eyes.”

Marina nodded, chuckling nervously. A talking cat.

Grumbling stomach noises churned through Marina’s body, drawing Reese’s attention. Marina’s cheeks turned bright red as she squeezed her insides to make the embarrassing sounds stop.

Reese’s amber eyes gleamed with amusement. “Let’s go out and get breakfast.”