Her Jaguars

Chapter 2

Sawyer’s POV

I’m driving down Bowery St, where my storefront is and head towards Holland Tunnel to get into Jersey City. I told Ember that I live in New York, and I might as well be with how much I work, but I moved to Jersey City a couple years ago because it’s not nearly as crazy as New York. Turning onto Canal St, I see a cute little boutique where we can get some clothes for her.

I love shopping. I don’t know if it was the gay in me, or maybe I was a woman in a past life, but I absolutely love picking things out and seeing what they look like on others. It’s one of the reasons why I started ‘Homeless For Hire.’ I love bringing out the beauty that everyone has in them and I especially love seeing their reactions when they realize how beautiful they can be.

I park the car and step out, motioning for Ember to get out so we can go into the store. As I walk in, I start to animatedly talk to her.

“I love shopping in boutiques. You always find something unique in them, no matter what kind of boutique it is,” I pause, clapping my hands together. “Now, you can get whatever you want, a few different items, I know you’ll need underclothes and such. Few different outdoor clothes, sleeping clothes, et cetera. Price doesn’t matter and I don’t care if you pay me back or not.”

She looked wide-eyed around the store, then at me. She looked like she didn’t know where to start, so I took it upon myself to start for her. I grabbed a few sundresses in different sizes so we could figure out her size.I saw a lady looking at us and waved her over.

“Could you help my friend here find some undergarments? She needs new ones and I think she’ll be more comfortable getting help from another woman,” I said, smiling big. “Ember, are you ok with her helping you?”

She nods her head as I hear the woman say, “Absolutely, if you’ll follow me we can get you measurements.”

I go back to looking through clothes, picking up some jeans and blouses, as well as different pajamas. When I was done, I walked to the changing rooms and saw the girl who worked at the shop in front of one of the rooms. I walked up to her and smiled, handing her the clothes I had picked out Ember. I looked down at her name tag and saw her name was Elsa.

I then walk up to the door and knock lightly. “Hey Ember, I gave Elsa out here the clothes that I picked out for you. You don’t have to come out here and show me anything if you’re uncomfortable, but if you like anything let me know. Also, if you need help getting into anything, I’m sure Elsa out here would be more than willing to help,” I say, looking at Elsa.

She nodded happily, “Yes, of course. I have no problem helping you in any way you need.”

Ember peaked her head out of the door. “Thank you so much for doing all of this, Sawyer, and I might need Elsa’s help with this bra. It’s kind of confusing.” All of us laugh as Elsa goes into the dressing room with her. I walk over to the sitting room they have next to the dressing rooms, waiting for them to finish up.

Ember doesn’t really come out that much when she tries on the clothes, but I do see her in a pair of dark whitewash skinny jeans that I picked out for her since she is so short, a pink tank with a cheetah print kimono, and white converse hightops. I think I scared her a little bit because I jumped out of my chair and screeched at her, telling her how cute and gorgeous she was in her outfit. She blushed a pretty pink, whispered a thank you and ran back into the dressing room to change into something else.

********

We walk out of the store, a bag in each hand. We put them in the back seat of my van and got in. I head down Canal St towards Holland Tunnel, turning on the radio to the oldies station. I hum to Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing while I wait in traffic.

Two hours later, I pulled into a parking garage across from my apartment complex, which is across from Liberty State Park; my whole reason for getting an apartment where I did. I could drive over there and run if I needed to.

“We have to walk a block to get to my apartment complex, but that’s ok right?” I ask Ember. She nods, telling me it’s ok and that she doesn’t mind. “Also, right across from the turnpike is Liberty State Park, you could go and run there in your cat form if you want. I know my fox loves it when I do and your cat might really love the trees.”

“That sounds interesting. I might try it out, but I don’t technically need a forest. I’m literally the size of a regular cat. Why do you think I’m hobbit size?” she tells me, giggling at her own joke at the end.

I stop, jaw dropping, and stare at her. I finally recover and say, “Not to sound inappropriate, but if I wasn’t gay, I’d be in love with you right now.”

“Why?” she asks, raising her eyebrow.

“Because I love Lord of the Rings, and I can’t believe you just made a hobbit joke about yourself.”

“I’ve only seen the first one, but I liked it,” Ember commented after a minute.

I gasp, "Girl, we will be fixing that as soon as we can, cause they are all amazing!" I squeal and shake her shoulders, making her giggle.

By the time we finish our little conversation, we are out of the elevator and in front of the door to my apartment. I unlock the door and allow her to enter first, closing the door behind me. I gesture for her to follow me as I take her to my second bedroom. Opening the door, I set the two bags I’m carrying on the bed and turn to face her.

“You have your own bathroom and a walk-in closet,” I let her know, pointing out the doors to the right of the bedroom door. “I’ll leave you alone and let you settle in. How do you feel about pizza?” I ask her as I make my way to the door.

She thinks about it for a minute. “It’s been awhile since I last had pizza, so I suppose that would be fine for dinner. I usually just had pepperoni when we had it at the orphanage.”

I nod and say ok as I close the door. I walk into the living room, bringing up Toni’s Pizza Parlor app to order three pizzas for delivery.

An hour later, Ember and I are sitting on the couch, eating pizza and watching Harry Potter, since apparently she’s never watched them. She is completely fascinated by them.

After we finish the third movie, she stands and stretches. “I’m exhausted; I think I’m gonna head to bed,” she looks at me, smiling. “Thank you for helping me and giving me a place to stay. I will forever be in your debt.”

I stand up, grinning, and step forward to give her a hug. “It is my pleasure. I know we haven’t known each other for even a day, we aren’t even the same species, and we aren’t really apex predators, but my fox has me feeling a little protective of you. There is no debt.”

I hear the door open and slam shut, followed by my boyfriend yelling, “Sawyer! I’ve had a horrible day and I need your ass and some cuddles!”

Ember had disappeared, shifting into her margay and climbing up onto my shoulders to wrap around my neck. It was then that I realized that not only was she super tiny, but that my boyfriend had scared her with his yelling.

“I am so sorry Ember, I forgot Leo was coming over tonight,” I whispered to her. I then said to Leo, who had just entered the living room, “Leo, why are you yelling? It’s not like we live in a house. You scared my new roommate.”

Leo paused in the doorway between the entryway and the living room. He looked between my face and the shivering margay on my shoulders. “Why the hell did you buy a cat?” he said, then his eyes dropped to the floor where Ember’s pajamas had dropped.

“Are you cheating on me?” Leo asked with a straight face. I rolled my eyes at him, ignoring his ridiculousness. Pointing at Ember I say, “Leo, this is Ember. I’m helping her; she came to my Homeless For Hire storefront. Ember, this is Leo, my not always here boyfriend. He travels a lot for work.”

Leo looked at the cat on my shoulders. “Why is she a cat?”

“She is technically a margay, and I believe you freaked her out with your loud, obnoxious noises. She’s been homeless for five years, and I believe most of that has been in her cat form,” I explain to him as I pick up her clothes, setting them on the couch as I unravel Ember from my neck and shoulders, putting her on the couch as well.

“We are going to go into the kitchen, where I will chew out my boyfriend while you shift back and get dressed. Then I can properly introduce you to each other. Come into the kitchen when you are done and I’ll make you some hot chocolate.”

I turn around, glaring at Leo as I shove him into the kitchen.

“Prema, I’m so sorry. You have never brought one of your homeless people to your place, but they have also never been shifters. Besides, you should have told me you brought someone back home with you,” Leo whispered as fast as he could. I started making hot chocolate for Ember.

Leo came from a big Indian family, so he was naturally loud. Being the youngest, he kind of had to be in order for anyone to hear him. “I know I should have, and I am sorry for not doing that. But you didn’t tell me you were back in town,” I said to him, melting the chocolate in a pot of warm milk.

I heard Ember before I saw her. She lightly knocked on the doorway to the kitchen. “I’m sorry. Did I cause y’all to fight?” She says quietly, her eyes looking big.

“We aren’t fighting. There was just a miscommunication between the two of us. We forgot to talk to each other about our exciting day today,” I laugh, making Leo laugh and Ember smile shyly.

“I am so sorry for scaring you, Ember. I am the baby in a big family, so loud is my normal volume,” Leo said, smiling at Ember while I poured the hot chocolate into three mugs. Ember slowly walks into the kitchen, sitting at the dining room table. While we sat down and began drinking our hot chocolate, Leo and I told Ember stories about our childhoods, while Ember told us some doozies about her bullies.