Cruelty Read online

  I nodded, taking a sip of my fresh brewed coffee and slipping my almost dead phone and keys into my pocket. “Sure thing. Sounds good.”

  “Okay! See you later then, Ella,” he replied with a wide smile, then turned and headed for the door with a pep in his step.

  I shook my head, not quite understanding his weird mood swings today. Maybe he was sleep deprived like me.

  I quickly refilled the dogs’ bowls with food and water, then quietly tried to exit the apartment. I’d barely made it two feet from the door when a muffled bark sounded from behind me. I turned just as Pretty came trotting up to me, no longer snoozing on the couch.

  “I’ll be back soon. I promise,” I soothed her, but when I tried backing out, she let out a sad whine. I sighed, knowing she likely might be thinking I wasn’t coming back. “You’ll be okay, sweet girl. I won’t be gone long.”

  Another whimper was her reply, and she laid her head against my leg. I knew right then I wouldn’t be leaving the apartment without her.

  “All right,” I relented, grabbing her lead. “We aren’t making this a habit though.”

  Her tail immediately began to wag and she pushed out the door past me, tugging me along. I barely had a chance to lock the door before I was being dragged away. I was just thankful Gus hadn’t woken up to beg to go too.

  I was beyond proud of what I established in Cruel Clothing. I had designed the logo that hung above the door outside and smiled up at it every time I saw it. It was a large C that encased “ruel” and “lothing” inside of it, all glowing a very vibrant and eerie red, fitting perfectly with the style of my store. I hoped if business kept going as well as it was, I’d be able to move my store online and have more time to create more clothes. The dream was to expand into other cities as well, but that was far off.

  I had to admit, Pretty was excellent company anywhere she went with me. She’d laid down behind the counter as I went about the day. She was very well behaved, not once barking or causing any issues as customers came and went.

  I was beyond relieved I’d hired another girl named Tibby to help around the boutique when I wasn’t available. It was great arriving and finding the shop opened now and running smoothly. I had only hired Tibby maybe a couple weeks ago and sometimes forgot I’d done that. She must have arrived after Theo had come to check in on me.

  Having her here allowed me to take up residence in the back of the shop, drawing up new styles and continuing ones I had put away from having zero time to finish them.

  Pretty sat on the floor next to my chair as I kicked back with my feet on the drawing desk and the drawing tablet lying across my knees. I was currently coming up with a pattern for a new summer dress, and it was escaping me what was wrong with it. I turned it every which way, but nothing seemed to be popping in my head. Billie Eilish’s voice serenaded me from my phone as I chewed on the end of my pencil.

  “Ugh. Why is this so hard?” I said to myself, dropping the tablet on the table loudly in frustration.

  My eyes found Pretty who stared up at me with concern in her large, dark eyes. I lowered my feet and leaned down to give her ears a good scratch. I continued racking my brain as I stroked her soft, black and white fur. Dalmatians truly were a beautiful breed of dog. They were so unique and such smart creatures.

  As I sat there marveling at my sweet new dog, an idea popped into my head. I looked at her spots, loving how not a single one was like any other. The stark contrast of the black and the white was eye catching. And it swelled an idea inside of me that suddenly had me picking up my drawing tablet once again.

  Spots. That was what it needed. I began drawing spots in random areas of the dress, making sure that like Pretty’s coat, none were alike. I then picked up a red color pencil and added a red sash around the empire waist, loving how the color stood out against the black and white. It needed more, so I added more red in the form of lace around the sweetheart neckline and ruffled along the under part of the flowing, knee length skirt.

  The end result was a fun, flirty, fifties style dress that immediately begged me to bring it to life. The dress was casual, but also dressy. Sassy, but also modest.

  I set that pad down and gave Pretty a loving and excited scratch up and down the sides of her neck.

  “You were the perfect muse, Pretty Girl.”

  The door to the drawing room opened and Zoe came flying in.

  “There you are! Thank god, you’re here.” She fell onto the red velvet couch I’d bought some months back should any of us need something a bit more comfortable.

  “Something up?” I asked her.

  “Oh nothing, just you leaving me high and dry on the details from this morning! All I could think about through my meetings today was your phone call!”

  “Is lawyering really that boring?” I joked.

  “Ha ha,” she replied sarcastically. “No. I’m actually working a case against a corporate company accused of polluting a lake about fifty miles away. It’s pretty riveting, and I’m excited to stick it to the man. But you have to admit this is juicy stuff.”

  I laughed. “I mean, not really. Nothing happened.”

  “Bullshit. Those two were the hottest thing that ever happened to you and I highly doubt nothing happened. Spill. Now.”

  I sighed and got up to join her on the couch. “Really, nothing happened. I think we were all a bit in shock to see each other. Not a lot has changed with them.”

  “And by not a lot, you mean they got even hotter and it made you mad,” Zoe prodded.

  “It’s really fucking unfair,” I whined exaggeratingly.

  “Ha! Called it. I get it though. They broke your heart. They shouldn’t be allowed to get hotter. But they aren’t the only ones who aged well, you know? Have you seen your ass in leather? I still hate you for it.”

  “Shut up,” I laughed. “Seeing them did stir up some old feelings though.”

  “The sexual type of feelings? I wouldn’t blame you. It’s completely okay to lust after your sexy exes,” Zoe said with a wicked grin.

  She really was impossible. “No,” I drew out. “The bitter feelings. Sure, they’re sexier than they were when I last saw them, but they broke me, Zo.”

  Zoe immediately snatched my hands into hers, holding them tightly and forcing me to stare directly into her eyes.

  “You listen here, Ella Devlin. Those sexy bastards didn’t break you. They made you stronger. They taught you that you deserved better and to take no one’s shit ever again. How many relationships have you had in the last eight years since being with them that you walked away from with your head held high because you knew what you deserved?”

  I mentally counted. She wasn’t wrong. Any guy I got close to again never quite lived up to what I knew I needed in a relationship. They were good company while it lasted, but never quite right. Unfortunately, my pickiness only made it so I hadn’t been laid in a solid year. It had made turning down Theo’s continuous advances very hard. But still, I resisted because I knew better.

  “I see those gears turning and I like it. Did they flirt with you while you were there? Make any mention of what happened in the past?”

  They had been a bit flirty. Luca had acted like time hadn’t passed at all, and Rollins had given me the same ‘fuck me’ eyes he used to.

  “Luca had asked if I was coming back and both seemed interested in the idea I would.”

  Zoe let go of my hands and clapped. “There you go! Exploit that! Show those assholes you’re still hot shit and they missed out on a great opportunity. You never know, maybe you’ll finally get those answers you’ve wanted since they left you.”

  I wrinkled my brow. “I’m not sure I really want to know anymore. What good does it do me?”

  Zoe shrugged and pushed a few of her braids behind her ear. “Closure? I don’t know. But I bet anything subconsciously you still want to know why. Might as well find out now that you’ve been given the chance.”

  “Find out what?” a voice asked, bringing ou
r attention to the door.

  Theo stood there looking confusedly between us.

  “Oh nothing. Just Ella’s old boy toys.”

  Theo’s eyes grew wide before he once again schooled his features. “What about them?”

  “Nothing. It’s not important.” I shot Zoe a look, trying my hardest to relay to her how much I didn’t want to talk about this in front of Theo. It was just weird.

  “Whatever. I came to show you something.” Theo pulled out his phone and sat in between me and Zoe on the couch. “The news is covering the shelter break in.”

  Zoe and I exchanged worried glances as Theo pulled up a video and turned the volume up.

  “Last night, Darling’s Dogs and More Animal Shelter was the victim of breaking and entering, where persons responsible took more than thirty animals from their cages in the middle of the night,” the lady newscaster explained.

  “Bullshit. We didn’t take that many,” Zoe argued.

  “Shh, that’s not the worst of it,” Theo hushed her.

  “Police have stated that the break in is probably related to a series of other shelter break ins over the past year, and have yet to get any kind of clue as to who is behind these string of break ins. The owners, Nita and Robert Darling, had this to say when interviewed.”

  The video switched from the woman in the newsroom to two people who looked visibly distraught, though I wasn’t buying it for a second. They were both well dressed and appeared to play the parts of upstanding citizens. The woman, Nita, dabbed at her eyes with a tissue daintily, yet I couldn’t spot a single tear coming from her eyes. It was all an act, but I knew people would eat it up without question.

  “We are heartbroken that anyone would take the animals we care for from their safe and loving environment,” the man, Robert, said to the camera. “We have a near ninety percent adoption rate and pride ourselves in finding homes for any animal who deserves to be loved. We don’t understand why these people chose us, but we will do everything in our power to find the animals and make sure they’re safely returned.”

  The video switched back to the newscaster. “Authorities are actively looking into the case and ask that anyone who might have any information on the stolen animals, to please contact SFPD immediately.”

  Theo ended the video and looked between us.

  “More bullshit!” Zoe exclaimed irately. “They have a high euthanasia percentage and treat the animals like shit!”

  “I know. But we don’t have any evidence of that and odds are the police are in their heavily lined pockets. Even seeing the nasty cages out back should’ve shown the deplorable conditions, but I doubt anything was filed about it.”

  “We need to be careful, El,” Theo said, concerned. “No more break ins for a while ’til everything cools down.”

  I nodded, agreeing with him. I hadn’t planned to anyway, but seeing how the police were starting to connect the dots between past break ins, it was paramount we kept our heads down.

  “We can bring the truck to my parents’ property up north, just in case. We don’t know if anyone saw us there or not and it’s better it be away from us. They won’t mind. My dads would probably hide a body if I asked them to,” Zoe offered with a laugh.

  By dads, she meant exactly that. Zoe’s parents were super chill and lived a very happy polyamorous lifestyle. Her mom Grace was a big hippie back when she was younger and fully believed in free love. She married her first husband, Carl, right out of high school. Then, Andrew came along and got along great with Carl. They were all so open with being together that they even brought in Anthony a few months after Andrew. Zoe was born a year after her mom married the other two and to this day has no clue who her dad is. And doesn’t care. They’re all pretty amazing and were probably why Zoe and I grew up loving however we wanted. My parents weren’t really around and didn’t care where I was half the time, so Zoe’s helped raise me.

  Zoe was bi and had dated both men and women all her life. She was currently seeing a girl off and on the last couple of weeks, but it was still too new for her to call it anything. I knew her name was Becky, but that was about it. Zoe has showed me a picture of her from her Facebook, and I had to admit she was pretty. Which wasn’t a surprise because of how pretty Zoe was. She could get anyone she wanted.

  And well, obviously I had adopted a bit of that polyamorous lifestyle seeing as how I had no issues dating more than one person at once. It was other people that had the problem.

  “I’ll go with you. You’ll need a way back anyway and I’d like to see your folks.”

  “Perfect,” Theo stated. “You ready to get that Chinese?” he asked me.

  “I’ll meet you out front in a bit. I’m going to help Tibby close up.”

  “Okay, awesome. Later, Zo,” he said, before getting up and leaving.

  As I began putting away my drawing stuff, Zoe cleared her throat, gaining my attention.

  “What?” I asked, seeing the weird smile she was aiming my way.

  “Are you going on a date with Theo?” she asked curiously, the smile only growing wider when I blanched at her.

  “No. We’re just grabbing some food to take back to the apartment. We do it all the time.” I shrugged her off and finished putting everything away.

  “Yeah, but did you see the way he looked at you when I mentioned your boy toys?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Please stop calling them that. They’re not my anything. Except my exes. As in, no longer mine.”

  Zoe held up her hands in surrender. “All right. I’m just saying. He looked a bit jealous hearing about them and had a pretty hopeful look on his face when you agreed to food.”

  I sighed and pushed her out of the back room as I lead Pretty out behind me, closing and locking it up. “Knock it off, Zo. He’s not jealous. Theo doesn’t get jealous of anything.”

  “Except you. That guy has followed you around and done everything you asked since the moment he first saw you. I see things,” she stated matter-of-factly. I hated that tone.

  “You see nothing.” I ignored her grin and continuous comments about the subject as I went about helping Tibby turn off all the lights and putting away the money from the register into the safe. I turned to Zoe just as Tibby walked out the front door and pointed at her. “Just stop. No way will anything ever happen with me and Theo, because Theo only wants in my pants. He doesn’t do relationships and I’m not dumb enough to ruin our friendship over a quick game of Bedroom Rodeo.”

  Zoe laughed loudly. “I doubt it’d be quick from the looks of him. But Bedroom Rodeo? I like that. What about Glazing the Doughnut? Or Hiding the Bishop? Mattress Dancing? Pelvic Pinochle? Oh! Sexual Congress!”

  I quickly pushed a hand over her mouth. “Dear god, please shut up.”

  Zoe laughed harder and shoved my hand away. “I bet if you let him Tickle Your Turnip I wouldn’t need to be the one shutting up.”

  “Agh!” I groaned pushing her out of the shop and locking it up. Theo stood leaned against the wall outside his grooming business and I glared at Zoe. “Not another word,” I whispered, hoping she would love me enough not to use anymore sexual euphemisms with him right there.

  “Okay, okay. Have fun and I’ll see you later at home. I’m going to drop by the apartment if you want me to take Pretty back.”

  I knelt and gave Pretty a quick scratch and a kiss, then let Zoe take Pretty’s lead from me.

  “Oh, and don’t wait up for me tonight. I think I’m going to see if Becky wants to do a little basket-making,” Zoe added as she shot me a wink, letting me know making baskets wasn’t at all what she meant.

  “That doesn’t even make sense!” I shouted after her as she turned away, blowing me a kiss and still shaking with laughter.

  I was never going to get any of those ridiculous terms out of my head now.

  “What doesn’t make sense?” Theo asked, coming up behind me.

  My breath caught in surprise and I jumped at his presence behind me, praying with all my migh
t that he hadn’t heard a word of any of that.

  “You don’t want to know. Just Zoe being Zoe. How about that Chinese?” I quickly tugged him in the opposite direction, getting as much distance from Zoe as I possibly could.

  As we walked to the Chinese place that practically had memorized our orders we’d been there so many times, Theo regaled me of his adventures in pet grooming today. Telling me how one rather obnoxious poodle tried taking a chunk out him when he’d started clipping her toenails. According to the owner, the dog wasn’t a fan of having her lovely nails shortened. She only stopped trying to nip at him once he went about repainting them the vibrant hot pink the owner always had him do. It took me a solid five minutes to stop picturing Theo painting a dog’s nails pink. It was decidedly the most unmanly thing he’d ever admitted to me.

  “Hey now, I have a sensitive side too,” Theo argued, knocking his shoulder into mine as we stood waiting for our food.

  “Yeah. Okay. And I hate clothes,” I joked, not believing for one second that Theo was sensitive. Sure, he was just as much a hardcore animal activist as I was, and that was admirable, but Theo’s version of sensitive was usually whether his most recent lay had taken less than five minutes to get him off.

  Trust me, I did my best to tune those conversations out. Zoe was the one who always asked for details. She was nosy and was fascinated by his many encounters. Though I think she secretly just liked making fun of how long he didn’t last with these conquests.

  Our food arrived and we each grabbed our own then headed back out, walking the short distance back to my apartment.

  “Really. I can be sensitive,” Theo replied, his tone becoming more serious.

  “Name a couple times you were sensitive,” I countered with a raised brow.

  He looked thoughtful for a moment, then snapped his fingers. “That one time you came down with the flu. I brought you some hot soup and a grilled cheese from that food truck you like so much on my lunch break.”

  I snickered. “That was just a nice gesture and I asked you to pick it up for me.”