Page 103 of A Lab Rat's Guide to Fated Love
Vir didn’t need to be asked twice.
Covering the distance in a few quick strides, he hopped into the passenger seat with the widest grin plastered across his face.
Nori
Vir navigated the way as Noridrove the short distance to his place. She parked her car beside a large front yard where a plump old man was talking animatedly to a goat with a bell collar. It appeared to be listening intently before bleating in response to each sentence.
The exchange reminded Nori of her own interactions with Goober, and she laughed.
“You live on the upper floor?” she guessed, turning towards Vir, only to find him staring intently at her again.
“Yes,” he said, before quickly adding, “Would you like to come up for some more chai? Or dinner maybe?”
Despite it being wildly uncharacteristic for her, for some reason, shewantedto accept the invitation. But even if they’d been good friends once upon a time, she didn’t know him anymore. Not really. And what if he was just being polite because she’d dropped him home and didn’t really mean it? Would it be weird if she went up to his place after having met him only hours ago? Why did shewantto say yes so badly?
“Nori?” Vir waved a hand in front of her. “Did I say something wrong?”
“What?” she snapped before catching her angry reflection in the rear-view mirror. Composing her features, she took in Vir’s concerned gaze, and it made her laugh again. “Sorry. I was thinking if it was appropriate. We only met hours ago.”
“Sorry, I didn’t—maybe another day.”
Right as Nori offered him a polite smile, in her peripheral vision, something white swished through the window of his apartment. She turned to witness a gorgeous snowy cat jump up on the windowsill to sit and stare directly towards her with the most displeased, judgmental gaze she’d ever seen.
“Magnificent,” she whispered, knowing fully well she’d barge in anywhere, break down doors if she had to, only to squish this fat cat once. Who needed an invite anyway? “Yes, please! I’d love some dinner. And your cat.”
There was a pause. And then Vir barked out a laugh just as it started drizzling outside. “Right,” he said. “I should’ve led with the cat. Her name’s Billie.”
Billie, the fat white cat, came running towards them as they stepped inside Vir’s apartment. She immediately began swatting at his knee till he picked her up to cradle her in his arms like a baby. He kissed her forehead—twice—before moving onto chin-scratches, and all the while she purred like a motorboat.
As Nori watched the scene before her in complete awe, her heart began wobbling inside her chest like a blob of freshly set jelly. Judging from Vir’s and her own relative heights, she noticed how the top of her head perfectly aligned with the placement of his mouth. She wouldn’t mind if he—
She shook her head at the vivid imagery her brain had just conjured—Vir kissingherforehead as he’d kissed the cat’s.Twice.
He released Billie and turned to look at her with a puzzled expression.
Nori gave him another polite smile, hoping the sheer absurdity of her thoughts hadn’t seeped out onto her face.
Evidently not, because he said, “Technically, Billie is Sam’s cat, not mine. But she practically lives here at this point.”
Now that Billie had received Vir’s attention, she wanted Nori’s, too, who knelt down to pet her while Vir put his things away before padding off to the kitchen.
“Please make yourself at home,” he said, taking out a box of mushrooms from the refrigerator and rinsing them at the sink. “There are treats in that jar by the couch. She’ll probably try to get you to feed her some.”
Nori walked over to the couch, and soon enough, Billie was there swatting at the jar, then blinking in a slow, seductive fashion towards her. A true masterof emotional manipulation. Nori tore a few larger chunks into smaller pieces and offered them to the fluffy purring machine in front of her.
Vir chuckled, looking up from the chopping board where he was now cutting the mushrooms into thin slices. She glanced at him, in time to catch himsquintingat the cat, and when she looked at Billie again, she caught her slow-blinking at him in return.
What in the…
She stared from cat to man to cat, her jaw hanging open. They were slow-blinking at each other. And her chest was wobbling again. No, it was melting. The jelly had become soup.
Nori didn’t know where it had come from, but the abrupt rush of adoration threatened to overwhelm her. And she wasn’t even looking at the cat anymore. She was looking athim, smiling like a clown, while her cheeks burned hot enough to resemble glossy red tomatoes.
Vir’s head jerked in her direction, his eyes widening in surprise before he quickly looked away. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he could read her mind.
What waswrongwith her?
Had she been this weird around him four years ago, too? She rubbed her temples as a fresh headache stirred inside her skull, and with a quiet groan, she squeezed her eyes shut.
