by Simon Archer
“I have no idea. Last I saw, they were messing around with some marinated, eighteen-hour crockpot beef dish. There’s something special about it, but I don’t know what.” Theo may have spent all his spare time in the restaurant, but he tended to know very little about what was going on in it. His specialty was running the errands that Bev sent him on and gabbing with the customers.
“Whatever it is, it will be amazing as usual, I’m certain,” Charlie piped up. He folded his hands and leaned on his elbows. “So, Clark, how is VSG doing?”
That was what I loved about Charlie. He was straight to business when needed.
I nodded my head. “It’s great, truly. Macy is one of our biggest assets on the showroom floor, and Kennedi just finished training three more CGs to do the nano-glass cracking,” I told him.
Charlie shot Kennedi a smile. “Of course she did. Kennedi, you are the most versatile cat girl I’ve ever met!”
“Thank you, Charlie,” Kennedi replied. “I find it beneficial to be able to perform a multitude of tasks well.”
“You’ve got that nailed down,” Charlie said, chuckling.
Just then, the door opened, and Bev came blowing into the room, carrying a tray. Ellie was right behind her with a tray of her own. Both smiled when they were in and set the trays down on the table.
“Hope you all are hungry!” Bev was hyped up about something, so her voice was louder than normal.
“They’d better be famished if they are going to eat all this!” Ellie said excitedly.
Theo leaned forward to see what was on the trays. “What have we got here? And why do you expect us to eat all of it?” He lifted a suspicious eyebrow towards his wife.
“Well, expect you to, no. Want you to, yes,” Bev said. “This is our first run of a dish we’ve been working on for quite some time.”
Ellie pulled out the chair opposite me, at the other end of the table, for Bev to sit, then she took her own seat beside Kennedi.
“There is a marinade that is so precise that even ten minutes too long, or not long enough, changes the whole taste of the sirloin,” Ellie explained. “Then it has to be slow-cooked at a very specific temperature until it falls apart. Too hot and it does something that makes the meat taste like vinegar, too cool, and it tastes like common pepper steak.” She reached forward and grabbed the tray Bev had set down on the table. It was piled with pita bread, dressing, fresh-cut black olives, jalapenos, and three kinds of shredded cheese. She held the tray out for Theo to start taking from.
“What is the dressing?” Leah asked Ellie.
“Oh! That’s a cucumber lime reduction sauce mixed with a skosh of whipped cream cheese to thicken it up,” Ellie told her. When Theo was done, he took the tray from Ellie and passed it over to me.
“I’ll still never get used to the whole ‘cat girls dish last’ thing you and Kennedi have going on,” Leah said to Ellie. She’d taken notice that Ellie had reached in front of Kennedi to pass the tray of food to Theo first.
Kennedi smiled and replied, “It’s not really a ‘thing’ as much as a precaution, especially with a new dish. We don’t need to eat, and we want to make sure you humans get all you’ll need first.”
Leah shrugged her shoulders, rolled her eyes, and smiled. Everyone in the room knew that Leah didn’t agree with anything that made cat girls seem less than human.
“So, how are we supposed to put these together?” Theo asked Bev, trying to change the subject and learn how to eat his lunch.
Bev clapped her hands together. “Oh, yes, how to assemble! I almost forgot!” She stood up and waited for the plate with the pita pockets to get to her. Once she had taken a pocket and a little of each of the fixings, she waited until all eyes were on her. “You will take your pita pocket, slice it open at the sides, and lay it out flat, with the inside part facing up on your plate. Then you will spread a thin layer of the cucumber sauce and put an even layer of each of your fixings on the pita. Last to go on is the beef. It has to be a thin layer, as well. After that, you just roll it up and use a toothpick to hold it together while you eat it!”
“It’s like a gyro, burrito, pot roast, pinwheel all wrapped into one!” Theo said happily.
“The best thing about it is the versatility of the beef,” Ellie added. “It’s wonderful for this wrap, which can even be finger-food if prepared in advance, but it can also be delicious as an addition to stir-fry, or sliced and served on its own. We are hoping to get your feedback on it before we consider adding it to the specials menu.” She was always deadly serious when talking about food but excited to see people eat it. With an appraising eye, she sat back in her chair and watched as we put our wraps together.
“We really need honest feedback, though. Brutal truth. If you don’t like it, we need to know!” Bev followed up.
“Well, I’m ready when you are!” I called across the table to Bev. She looked around to make sure everyone had their wrap prepared.
“Alright! Dig in!” Bev looked at Ellie, and they both looked around the table. I think Bev was holding her breath to judge our reactions to their new recipe. It didn’t take long before the responses started coming.
“Bev, Ellie, you’ve outdone yourself again,” Charlie said as soon as he’d swallowed his first bite. “The cucumber dressing is the perfect way to cool down the kick from the jalapenos, and the cheese lightens the richness of the meat. The meat… I don’t know just how to describe it. It’s perfect!” Charlie took another bite of his pita roll as soon as the last word came out of his mouth.
“The sauce was Ellie’s creation,” Bev beamed proudly, looking at Ellie.
“Ah, yes, but the marinade that makes any of this possible was all you!” Ellie complimented Bev back. If left to their own devices, Ellie and Bev would spend all day trying to give the other credit for the amazing things that come out of their kitchen, so I piped up.
“You both have created a special-event-only dish that people will wait impatiently for until you decide to add it to the menu!” I winked at each of them and went back to my wrap. The room got very quiet because everyone was devouring their food. By the time we were done eating, the tray that had looked too full to finish was empty.
While we were waiting for coffee after our meal, Theo leaned back in his chair and smiled. “That was just good enough to make a man want to go home and take a nap!” We all laughed because he wasn’t wrong.
“Speaking of home, how is the house coming along, Clark?” Charlie had just cleaned his plate and slid his chair out to relax.
He had recommended an architect when he found out that I would be building a home on a plot of land that Theo and Bev had gifted me. They’d never had children of their own and had become family to Kennedi and me, so I accepted their offer. Now that Ellie and Krysta were with us also, a house was needed for space considerations, if nothing else. For the time, Kennedi, Krysta, and I were staying in the barn loft at Theo’s place while Ellie was living in the house since she and Bev were cooking together so often.
“It’s going well!” I was very happy with the progress we’d made so far. “We settled on the plans a while ago, and the foundation was just laid last week. Kennedi and I were just talking about having you all over for a little framing party here soon.” I winked at Kennedi.
“Yes, we thought it would be fun!” Kennedi stated. “We settled on a five-bedroom Victorian-style design. It will even have a tower! Don’t worry, though. We won’t lock anyone in it!” She was so excited that she almost didn’t notice the weird looks she was getting at such an odd comment.
“Honey, why would we worry that you’d lock someone in your tower?” Leah asked.
Kennedi’s brow furrowed at Leah’s question. “Because someone is always locked in a tower. That’s just the way it is,” Kennedi stated as if it was truly a fact. “Certainly, you know this?”
“Why do you think that?” Leah spoke quietly. She still wasn’t used to Kennedi’s ability to be completely clueless about some things.
See, Kennedi had a defect that didn’t allow her to update like regular cat girls, so she relied on manual learning. While she was an incredibly fast learner, some things about humans, our ways, and our sarcasm got her switched up occasionally. Once Bev had asked her to throw some potatoes in a pot to boil, and that is just what she did… stood across the room and threw potatoes into a pot of water.
“Books I have read,” Kennedi responded to Leah. “They are usually about princesses, or sometimes children, but if there is a tower, someone is always locked in it, and it takes a hero to get them out.”
Ellie patted Kennedi’s hand and smiled. Ellie wasn’t one for beating around the bush. “Kennedi, people are not locked in all towers. In fact, they’re not locked in most towers. Those stories are fairy tales and fiction, not to be confused with what actually happens.”
Kennedi looked at Ellie for a moment and started laughing. “Well, that explains all the goofy looks I was getting just now!” she exclaimed, and the whole table started laughing with her.
Ellie patted Kennedi’s hand once more and stood up. “I’ll get this cleaned up. I’m happy you all got to try the new dish. Bev and I have another confection we are working on this afternoon, and then we have to prepare for our dinner rush,” she recited her afternoon plans.
Bev stood as well. “Yes, we’d better get to it.” She reached for a tray, but Kennedi snatched it up before Bev could get to it.
“Bev, you go ahead. Ellie and I will clean up,” Kennedi instructed.
“Oh, alright. If things weren’t so busy, I’d argue with you!” Bev said, only half-joking. She walked around the table and kissed Theo on the cheek before exiting to return to the kitchen. Shortly thereafter, Kennedi and Ellie left, each carrying a stack of trays and plates. When the door shut after them, Leah turned to me.
“Where is Krysta today?” She ripped off the top of a wet wipe that she’d pulled from her purse and started wiping her hands.
“She is back at the store with Macy,” I replied. “Those two are quickly becoming inseparable.”
“Macy does adore her,” Leah agreed. “I am so happy you got her away from that nasty Alan Graves.” Her nose wrinkled up in disgust at the thought of the Omnicorp executive who used to abuse Krysta. He ended up in jail with another Omnicorp executive, Henry Blackwell, when I brought it to light, in front of everyone at the Platform, that they were data mining illegally and stealing financial information. I had forced Alan to sell Krysta to me for a penny at the same time.
“Speaking of Alan,” Charlie chimed in, “I read through the charges that he and Henry were convicted of, and there were quite a few on there that I wouldn’t have expected. Did you turn more information into the state before their trial?”
“No, I just made sure they had the proof Kennedi, Ellie, and Macy gave us.” My curiosity peaked. “What other charges did they get?”
“There was embezzlement, trading of company secrets, assault on a coworker, insurance fraud, and a few others,” Charlie said, shaking his head. “I know they are scum, but honestly? I didn’t think they were smart enough to pull off something like fraud or embezzlement.”
“That is a little peculiar.” I thought it over for a few seconds. “What I don’t understand is that Omnicorp, as a whole, is who should’ve gotten slapped with charges related to data mining, but I didn’t see anything about that. The news was all about what Alan and Henry did.”
Theo sat up to the table and said, “I don’t know how that company sweeps shit like that under the rug, but it’s not the first time. About five years ago, there was talk of a whistleblower who was being held in protective custody. Rumor has it that he received a visitor and, after that, completely recanted his story and was never heard from again.”
“Yeah, I heard something along those lines, too,” Leah joined in. “That is one of the reasons Charlie and I have always refused to intertwine our businesses with Omnicorp.” She and Charlie looked at each other and nodded simultaneously. Ever since I met the couple, I had admired the way they seemed to be able to communicate with each other without saying a word.
“Well, that seems like it was a sound business decision,” I said, chuckling a little. “You two must be pretty good at business. We should talk about joining forces sometime.” I winked at both of them and hoped that regardless of my humorous tone, they knew my compliment was sincere. Charlie raised his eyebrows, and his face suddenly looked almost surprised.
“I can’t believe I didn’t mention it sooner!” he started excitedly. “I was at the Zendrake Gala a couple of nights ago and overheard something interesting.” Charlie leaned forward like he was about to tell us all a secret. “There is buzz about Mirai Gurasu wanting to end their association with Omnicorp. Now, the Mirai rep was so drunk he could barely stand on his own, so I don’t know how credible the information is, but I’ve often found that a bit of alcohol can get secrets spilling all over the place!”
Charlie always got a little extra energetic when it came to Omnicorp getting the shaft. He was a true, honest, moral businessman and never did like catering to the pompous asses that Omnicorp tended to employ. I considered the impact that Mirai leaving would have.
“Without Mirai Gurasu, Omnicorp wouldn’t have access to the nano-glass they need for the wires in their cat girls,” I pondered out loud. Mirai was a Japan-based conglomerate that had created a special glass wiring which was what Omnicorp used to create the ‘spinal cord’ in their cat girls. All the downloaded information and artificial intelligence systems traveled through that cord. Without it, there was just a shell in the shape of a cat girl. “That would literally put them out of business. I don’t know of any other company that makes nano-glass wiring.” I glanced at Charlie, who was smiling and nodding his head.
“Yes, sir. I don’t know of one either,” he stated. “I’m sure someone would figure it out eventually, but as of right now, if Mirai pulled the plug on Omnicorp’s glass supply, production of cat girls would have to stop.”
I felt Leah smile before I actually saw it. “Good! That will give me more of a chance to impact the cat girls out there that need help without their numbers compounding so quickly.” Leah’s foundation, UsForThem, focused on helping abused, mistreated, and abandoned cat girls. The CGs had access to hundreds of resources Leah had organized. The majority of them were able to be modified and then re-homed, so they’d never be in such situations again. The magnitude of such a huge blow to Omnicorp was still sinking in when she asked, “If Mirai doesn’t have anyone to sell the glass to, won’t it be a big hit for the company?” She was a very smart businesswoman.
“Mirai has its hand in so many things, I doubt the company would even feel a hiccup if glass sales stopped,” Charlie answered his wife. Just then, the door to the meeting room opened, and Kennedi came bouncing in with a smile on her face.
“Clark, we will have to be leaving.”
“Why is that?” I was enjoying the chance to just relax.
Kennedi sat down beside Theo. “Macy needs help at the store. You know how good she is at managing operations on the showroom floor, yes? Well, she just sold a modification to every single pod, and some of them bought more than one.”
I saw Leah beam proudly out of the corner of my eye. “That’s my Macy.”
Macy had been a gift to the Lindys from Omnicorp. Before she was modified, she was timid, scared, and the only thing that seemed to make her feel like living was to be serving them. Leah was not a woman who needed, nor wanted, servants in her household, but she saw something underneath Macy’s terrified exterior and kept her. After Kennedi and I had modified her, Macy grew into the confident, sweet-natured, charming cat girl that Leah suspected she was all along.
“Well, ladies and gentlemen,” I said dramatically, “I suppose this lunch is going to have to be cut shorter than I’d like.” Theo stood up and shook my hand.
“Let me know if there is anything I can help out with,” Theo said. “I’m sure the girls
have everything handled here.”
“I appreciate that, Theo,” I replied. “For now, if you could just let Bev and Ellie know how delicious lunch was again, that would be great.”
Charlie and Leah stood as well.
“Yes,” Leah agreed. “Echo that sentiment for the both of us.” She pointed a thumb towards her husband.
“Will do,” Theo assured us. Charlie offered me his hand as I walked around the table.
“Good to see you, Clark,” he said. “Same time next week?”
“Sounds good. See you then,” I confirmed. I turned to his wife, who had just finished hugging Kennedi goodbye. “Leah, always amazing to see you. I promise I’ll have Macy out of the store on time tonight. It would be so much easier if she wasn’t a workaholic!” I laughed and winked at her.
“She sure is,” Leah agreed. “Good to see you too, Clark. I’ll be stealing Ellie and Kennedi for a girls’ day here in the near future, just so you are aware.” I was used to Leah planning random outings and activities for Ellie, Kennedi, Macy, and herself to go on.
“I’d expect nothing less,” I told Leah as she and Charlie turned and walked toward the meeting room door. Theo, Kennedi, and I followed them out into the main part of the restaurant and around to the entrance. Theo bid us goodbye as we walked outside, then turned around and went back in.
Charlie and Leah crossed the parking lot and climbed in the back of a black Cadillac Towncar. The car shone in the Nevada sunlight like it was brand new off the showroom floor. Kennedi and I waved as they pulled away. When Charlie and Leah’s car was out of the parking lot, Kennedi and I walked to my car. It was a pre-owned Toyota 4Runner. I had recently traded in my beat-up old Honda for it. Charlie didn’t understand why I hadn’t bought something new even though I tried to explain to him my lack of desire to purchase something that would instantly lose resale value once driven off the lot. The 4Runner was metallic gray and in excellent condition. It had been a dealer’s vehicle, so it only had seven-thousand miles on it. Those seven-thousand miles saved me almost eight grand off the sticker price.