The Kat comes back and a knock at the door

Kat finally checks back in at 4:00 which finds you in the shower with a spray bottle of white vinegar scrubbing away. Nothing does a better job removing soap scum and it's a lot better for the environment too people say. You stop scrubbing and tell Siri to pick up. Kat will just have to deal with the echo, there's no way you're cleaning vinegar off your phone.

"Simone speaking," you say in a raised sing-song voice. Kat replies and she sounds perturbed.

"Strawberry, my roomie has fled to Idaho! I mean actual real potato land! I'm not sure I grok this shit!"

You are so glad you didn't have your phone to your ear for this one. She's practically screaming at this point and you have no idea how good FireBox's audiology coverage is.

"Kittycat dear, please calm down. Idaho and Island City aren't particularly close to each other. So what went wrong here?"

"Tell me about it! She ran home to her parents. I missed her Greyhound by an asshair and 15 minutes!"

You chuckle under your breath, this is a damn soap opera and you aren't making a flipping dime off it. Maybe Agra will be interested in a series about Kat's life. It'd have sex, ****, and comedy in spades. You shake your head and get back to the call.

"So what's your plan?"

"I'm probably going to hunt a party down, get wasted and laid. I don't have work until tomorrow afternoon and I'm about to lose my mind."

"Yeah well I still have my landlord popping by at 6 and I'd really appreciate it if you'd be here when it happens."

"Why is something up?"

"Yeah. He creeps me out and I'd really like to not be alone when he's here. You can motor out to wherever after he goes but it'd be nice to have someone here watching my back."

"Is he really that bad? Do you think he'd **** you or something?"

"I don't think so but I just don't wanna deal with him alone alright?"

"You're creeping me out here a bit, Berrygirl. I mean you had the meeting set up before I came over," she reasons but quickly backs off that train of thought. "Of course I'll be there if you need me! The old guy doesn't look too tough but I can sweet talk someone else into coming over if you like. A couple of the jocks at school would kill for a chance to hang with the two of us you know. If you'd just practice wiggling your ass at the right guy, you wouldn't need me around to protect you, sweetheart."

"I'm working on it, Kat. I've been told a couple of times at work now that butt-stuff is really important in my line of work."

"Oh my god! You didn't just go there, girlfriend!"

You both bust out laughing. It takes you a couple of minutes to calm down so you can resume talking.

"Seriously, it's honestly probably just nerves. A day or two ago I had a freaky dream and I think it's getting to me some again. I got over it pretty quick at the time but for some reason, it's really bugging me right now."

"Got it. I'll grab some wine and be there in a few ticks. We'll deal with the creep and figure stuff out from there. I'll let ya go, strawberry. I probably drive better with my attention on the road anyway, tata!"

She hangs up and you smile, glad something is going your way for once. You rinse the vinegar from the shower walls, finish putting stuff away and do dishes. A half-hour later while you are mopping the kitchen floor, the door pops open and Kat strolls in carrying a pair of grocery bags.

"Look alive, girl. I have some drink and eats for us and I'll let you handle the flicks. We have an hour and a half before the landlord of Mordor arrives."

She slides the bags on the counter and sits on a stool. You retreat from the kitchen mopping your footprints up along the way.

"Ten minutes before we can put it in the fridge. Any good news from your trek around the city?"

You walk out on the back balcony and glance down. Seeing no one in the grassy area below, you quickly toss the dirty water off the side and leave the mop in the bucket out there. You walk back inside and sit on a stool next to Kat.

"Except for the bitch fleeing the state, everything is good I guess. I mean I still have a job so that's working in my favor."

"I promise I'm looking into an appointment for you. The talent guy is booked to the roof at the moment but my agent and I are going to talk tomorrow about how to speed things up. Worse case is the end of the month but I'm pretty sure we can do better than that. Maybe I can try the ass wiggle thing," you offer an exaggerated wink and you both start laughing.

"Remember it's all in the hips, Berrygirl! With the right skirt, your legs will have them eating out of the palm of your hand."

You give her a quick hug and then go to the closet to put the rest of the cleaning stuff away. When you get back out, Kat has moved to the couch and has some fashion show on. She glances over and looks you up and down for a second.

"You'd look great in anything but dirty baggy sweats might not make the best impression on your gentleman caller, Ms. Stewart!."

Kat's drawl has you giggling as you head to the kitchen and put the groceries away. You grab a pair of juice bottles and carry them to the living room. Handing one to Kat, you sit down at your desk and look over at her.

"I don't care to make a good impression on that man, Ms. Chiang. He's not proper company at all," you say faking the best southern accent you can muster.

Both of you laugh as you log into the college website to make slides for the professor's next class. It feels like a productive way to kill time until Decard shows up. You're definitely not looking forward to dealing with him but having Kat around has tamped your anxiety about it down some. Given the last week or two you've had, the trade-off seems well worth it.

You finish your graphic work and log your time in the spreadsheet provided. You check the clock and see it's 10 of 6. So you get up and wipe the bathroom down one last time. Kat as usual is engrossed in the makeover show she found and pays you no heed. You just finish your work when you hear the doorbell buzz. You walk through the living room towards the door and see Kat look at you, so you stop for a moment.

"That's probably the apartment manager now. Need to do anything before I answer?" You ask her as the door buzzes again.

"Nope. Best to get it over with," she stands and runs her fingers through her hair really quick.

You laugh because you know there's no way she's ever going to look out of place. She wakes up looking cute for crying out loud. The rest of the world has to work to pull that off.

You walk to the door and get on your tiptoes so you can look out the peephole. You are fully expecting to see old Jim looking back at you. . .