SIXTY-SEVEN: That Cat

If I could panic, an oversized cat bounding through my meditation would induce a mild hysteria.

Octavius sat and watched Arous sleep on the floor of her room behind a screen.  She slept on a futon mattress on top of a mat.

He walked around the screen and sat on the other side of it.  Octavius watched as Simon and Siobhan sat on the floor whispering in hurried tones to one another.

This is what you want me to see and hear.  Good boy, Octavius.

“We have a problem,” she said. “Jude.”

“Tell me something I don’t already know.”

“He knows about you Simon. He knows you work for Ricci guarding Lady Grey.”

“So, what?” he said as he sat at the table.

“Don’t you think this is a problem?”

“No, I don’t,” said Simon.

“Because you’ve got her wrapped around your little finger, is that it?”

“As a matter of fact,” Simon started.

“You don’t!” said Siobhan. “He likes her, Simon.”

“Again, so what? She’ll never give him the time of day.”

“Oh,” said Siobhan, “kinda like she barely gives you?”

“We spent the day together yesterday. We’ve been spending more time-”

“Wake up, Simon,” said Siobhan in a loud whisper, “your cousin is going to blow our cover. You have to do something about him.”

“And, what’s he going to do, love? Tell me that.”

“I don’t know,” said Siobhan, “all I know is that he likes her and she likes him and if you don’t watch it, he’s going cost us both with Ricci.” Siobhan started coughing.

“Are you okay?” Simon got her a glass of water from the kitchen.

“No,” she kept coughing while covering her mouth with a kerchief. “Yes, I’m fine. A while back, maybe a month ago, I had this stupid dream about this fog or something in my room and woke up coughing. I’ve had this tickle in my throat ever since.”

“Maybe you should go for a HaleSpa treatment.”

“Are you kidding? If I go into a HaleSpa, I may never come back out. And if I’m lucky, I’ll get you as my guard,” Siobhan smiled. “Seriously, do something about Jude.”

“Look, he may have a little puppy crush on her but it’s no big thing. Even if he does try to tell her something, we have our insurance.”

“Not anymore,” said Siobhan.

“What?” asked Simon. “You gave her the letter?”

“I had to!” she raised her voice and Simon put his finger to his lips.  “I needed her to trust me.  We both need her to trust me.  If she trusts me, I can make sure she trusts you.  That’s our angle, right?”

“Our angle?”

“Look,” said Siobhan. “I didn’t want to be a part of Ricci’s lets-get-Arous plan any more than you want to share her with Jude.  But this is what we have to work with and it was smart for me to give her the letter. And besides, there was nothing in the letter. Ricci doesn’t have to know about it.”

“Ricci knows everything,” said Simon.

“You’re paranoid about Ricci.  Jude is our problem. At the first moment that Jude looks like he’s going to cause us trouble, you have to handle him. And you can trust me to take care of Arous.”

“Don’t worry,” said Simon. “Jude won’t be a problem.”