“Have you found out anything new about Faye and Jyri?” Shawn asked Oliver.
The two men were alone in Shawn’s cubicle, no one else in sight. A week had passed since Jyri, Faye, and Ran had moved in. Surprisingly, not one of them blew the place up. Oliver was even starting to feel comfortable leaving Ran alone.
“Not a thing,” Oliver said, leaning against Shawn’s desk. “I’m a little suspicious though.”
“About what?”
“I found what looked like brown fur on the couch the other day. Like one of them snuck in a cat. But I couldn’t find any animals hiding anywhere, or any signs of keeping one.”
Shawn leaned forward in his chair, brow furrowed. “Maybe a cat somehow made its way inside, and one of them put it back outside while you were gone.”
“Maybe. I think whatever it is, I’m happier not knowing.”
“Oliver, why am I not surprised to find you here,” Jessica said, storming up to the cubicle. “I wanted to ask you something.”
Oliver had to keep his eyes from rolling. “What?”
“Why you keep ordering the wrong part! I don’t know how many times I’ve told you that we need a 36 pin connector. Not a 34. Not a 32. A 36. Double header. Not single. Double.”
“Why are you so quick to blame Oliver?” Shawn asked snidely. “It was probably your little boy toy who ordered it.”
Jessica crossed her arms. “Well, I had asked your little boy toy to order these a month ago.” Shawn flushed at her words, and she continued on. “And two weeks before that. Before Jyri ever set foot in this country.”
“Wait, what else do you know about him?” Shawn asked her quietly.
“That is none of your business!” Jessica turned to Oliver. “My customer is yelling at me over why this order is so late. I’m going to send you an email this time. And if I have time, I will track down and send you part numbers of the type of connector I keep asking you for.”
“You do that,” Oliver said.
Eyes narrowed, Jessica flounced off.
“How can Jyri stand her?” Shawn asked as soon as she was out of earshot.
Oliver shrugged. “Who knows. Guess I better go order it. 30 pin, right?”
Shawn smirked. “I dare you.”
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Oliver successfully ordered the 36 pin connector, while showing Jyri how he went about doing so. Though Jyri already knew the exact description of the pin Jessica had been looking for.
“She wanted it to be surface mount,” he insisted. “Surface mount, 36 pin, double-header male connector.”
Oliver scowled at him. “Do you even know what any of those terms mean?”
“Yes!” Jyri raised his chin. “It means it has two rows that add up to 36 pins. The pins stick out so they plug into another connector. They are mounted onto the surface of… whatever they’re going on. I’m not as ignorant as you think.”
“Damn Yar-ee, you’re picking up fast,” Tim said as he popped in to steal Oliver’s last blue pen. “Not even I knew what that meant, and I’ve been here for years.”119Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfa3Mcd4t0o
Oliver wasn’t in the best mood on his way home, and was more than happy to drop Jyri and Faye off at the grocery store to pick up a few things. They agreed to walk home when they were done. So he entered his apartment quite alone. As he closed the door, he spotted a giant cat sleeping on the couch, curled up in a ball. Oliver froze as the animal looked up. Its ears twitched back as its gold eyes met his own. Something seemed oddly familiar about them. The animal, it looked like some sort of bobcat or a lynx, stood up.
Oliver stepped back, raising his hands up. “Nice kitty...”
The lynx leaped off the couch and bolted towards the bedrooms. A door clicked shut. Oliver searched around for a weapon, and found a long, vacuum cleaner attachment in the closet. He grabbed it, and crept towards the rooms. It was likely to be in Jyri’s room, since his was the only closed door. He raised the attachment over his head, and opened the door slowly.
Ran sat on the floor, reading a book he must have grabbed from a box of junk Carlos left behind. He looked up at Oliver. “Is something wrong?”
“There was a… a giant cat,” Oliver said. “A lynx. Did you see where it went?”
Ran shook his head, and let out an awkward laugh. “How would a giant cat get in here? I keep everything shut when you’re gone.”
“It was asleep on the couch when I got home.”
“I haven’t seen any cats.”
A door shut in the distance. “We’re back,” Faye called.
“There’s a giant cat on the loose,” Oliver called back, vacuum attachment still in hand.
Jyri walked into the room, frowning at Ran. “What’s this about a giant cat?”
“There was a giant cat sleeping on the couch when I walked in,” Oliver said. “It ran over here and I heard a door shut but I can’t find it. Oh God. We need to call animal control.”
“Nonsense,” Jyri said. “Why would there be a giant cat in here? You must’ve been hallucinating.”
“But-”
Faye patted his arm. “Come on. You need bed rest.”
Oliver yanked his arm away. “Not until I ransack this room for that cat!”
The window was shut, and Oliver doubted Ran could have popped out the screen, shove a large animal out of it, pop the screen back in, and close the window in the amount of time it took for Oliver to open the door. Not only that, but they were on the second floor. He ruled that theory out. He searched under the bed, inspected every wall of the empty closet, and even checked the dresser drawers.
“Are you done snooping through our things?” Jyri asked irritably. “There’s no cats here.”
Oliver got to his feet. “Maybe it snuck out the door when my back was turned.”
Faye, Jyri, and Ran groaned in unison. Oliver ignored them as he checked the bathroom, the kitchen, the family room, and his bedroom. He opened every cupboard, every door, every drawer. Nothing. He tossed the vacuum cleaner attachment onto the couch. Where the hell did it go?
“I told you,” Jyri said, “you hallucinated it.”
“I didn’t hallucinate it!”
“Then where’s this giant cat?” Faye asked. “What, did it just disappear into thin air?”
“That’s a possibility,” Oliver said, rubbing his chin. “Yes, it must’ve disappeared.”
“You’ve gone mad,” Jyri said. “Absolutely mad.”
But Oliver ignored them all, and left the apartment. He pulled out his cellphone and called Shawn.
“Something weird just happened,” Oliver said the second Shawn picked up.
“What did they do?” Shawn’s voice sounded urgent.
I don’t know if they did anything but… When I got home, there was a lynx asleep on the couch. It ran into their room once it saw me, and when I opened the door, it was gone. I searched everywhere for it.”
“Weird. Where was the brother during all this?”
“In the room. Alone. Jyri and Faye came home from the store shortly afterwards and are convinced I’m hallucinating.”
“Are you?”
“What? Of course not!”
“Hmm… Did you leave the front door open? Maybe it snuck out when your back was turned.”
Oliver struggled to remember if he had or not. He thought he closed it after him. But maybe he didn’t. “That’s... possible.”
A woman’s voice in the background said something. “Hang on a minute,” Shawn said back. “I’ve gotta go. Valerie needs me to help her with something. See you tomorrow.”
“See you,” Oliver said to his phone. He headed back to his apartment. Shawn was probably right. Oliver must have left the front door open. That would explain the animal’s disappearance. But it didn’t explain how the animal got inside to begin with.
Then, there was the matter of the brown fur Oliver had found the other day. Could it have been from that same lynx? Had it visited his apartment before? Most importantly should he continue to trust Ran alone in his apartment?119Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxqFhSnLjK
and then Add to home screen.