5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

" Y ou lied?" Anna stared. "Wait, about what? Speaking Japanese?"

LA growled, frustrated that Anna obviously couldn't hear the tiny imp on his shoulder and snapping, "No! Listen to me very carefully. I asked for a patch. The one you said was only twenty-nine dollars."

"I, I'm sorry, sir!" Anna's eyes widened and she typed frantically. "We, we don't do refunds or, or exchanges—"

"You do today."

"There, there's also a storage fee of fifty-six dollars—"

"A fucking what ?" LA's head throbbed and he shifted his weight, trying to ease the sudden stab of pain in his lower back.

Anna whimpered.

Cass hopped off and grew back to his normal size. He stood behind LA, gently massaging his shoulders. "Deep breaths."

LA inhaled and tried again, asking calmly, "What storage fee?"

"The st-storage fee?" Anna squeaked, typing more erratically. "Because we, we had to keep the vehicle overnight—"

"Yeah, because no one fucking called me." LA's temper bubbled up again, and the pain in his back was relentless. He wanted to sit but there was nowhere to fucking sit. "I had to call you guys to find out what the hell was going on with my car!"

"Sir, we did call you." Anna gulped. "The, the phone number ending in five-six-oh-one?"

"No. Five-six- eight -one."

"We used the information provided by the roadside assistance company and, and—"

"For the love of fuck , get me a fucking manager," LA barked. "Your supervisor. Your boss. Whoever is above you or anyone else who might actually understand how to do your job. Right the fuck now."

"Oh!" Anna's eyes filled with tears. "Sir, please, I'm so sorry. Please!"

"You're sorry? You're sorry ? I'm—" LA squeaked indignantly as Cass slid the very wet end of his tail behind his ear. At least, LA hoped it was his tail. Oh God—

He whirled around to scream at Cass, no care given to how absolutely intense he would look, but there was nothing there.

The fuck?

He turned back to the counter and Cass was right there, small once more—about the size of a labrador—and perched on the edge.

Anna wasn't moving.

She was frozen.

LA looked around, quickly realizing that everything was stuck as if time itself had been brought to a stop. He stared at Cass. "Did you just—"

"Hey, listen to me," Cass said gently. "This is not something you can control. It is completely out of your power, all right? It's not your fault and while you have every right to be upset about it, be cautious of how much energy you invest in a situation you cannot directly affect by screaming at it."

"I…" LA blinked.

"There is a solution. The problem is being solved. It's not what you want, but still." Cass squeezed LA's shoulders. "Big breath, relax, and say… F it."

"F it?"

"Yes." Cass nodded firmly. "Also, be aware of your actions. Those have consequences."

LA scoffed. "Yeah, no shit. You think I—"

Cass grabbed LA's cheeks and turned his head to look at Anna. "Do you see how you're hurting her?"

LA frowned, taking a long moment to study Anna.

She was sobbing, tears frozen in place on her cheeks, and her shoulders were hunched. She was cowering—because of LA.

"Fuck." LA gritted his teeth. "Okay, I shouldn't have gone all Karen on her. I'm in fucking pain, this sucks, and—"

"Wait, who's Karen?"

"It's just a fucking expression!"

"You owe her an apology." Cass patted LA's cheek. "You can reinvest your energy into something more positive right now! Talk to her like a human being who has real feelings and hey!"

"What?"

"I know you're having a bad day, but think about how hers is probably going right now."

LA made a face, guilt sitting like a rock in his gut. "Yeah, got it. I was a dick, but I didn't mean to make her fucking cry."

"Actions always have consequences, often that you can't control. And guess what? You don't get to control how other people feel about what you do. Even if your intention was not to hurt her, you still did."

"Okay. Fine. What do I do?"

"Saying sorry is a good place to start."

"Okay! Just unfuck time or whatever."

"What's the magic word?"

"Please unfuck time?"

Cass smiled and clapped, disappearing in a cloud of rainbow confetti.

Time moved once more and Anna was whimpering, cowering in her seat as if she expected LA to physically strike her.

"I'm sorry," LA said earnestly. "All right? I shouldn't have lost my temper and yelled and… I should not have been such a dick." He raked a hand through his hair. "I'm having a pretty awful week, but that's still no excuse to take that out on you."

Anna blinked owlishly as she wiped at her tears. "You… Do you really mean that?"

"Yeah. I'm an asshole. A big one." LA sighed. "Look, can we… Let's start over, okay?"

"Okay." Anne managed a little smile. "I really appreciate you apologizing. Heh, you might be the first customer who's ever done that."

"Well, I'm sorry for that too. 'Cause people are jerks."

"It's all right."

"No, it's not." LA shook his head. "I had no right to blow up like that and hell, I hate it when people do that to me. Jobs are hard enough with shitty bosses and last minute bullshit without dealing with crap customers like me. So, please, I'm sorry."

Anna perked up. "Hey, well, I have another job lined up. About to put in my two weeks and the only time I'll have to deal with customers is on the phone."

"That's not so bad, right?"

"Better than being yelled at in person."

LA cringed. "Yup."

"Besides, if people get too nasty, I can just hang up on them!" Anna laughed as she typed on the computer. "Gonna go work with a friend of my mom's actually. It's gonna be another office clerical kind of thing."

"That sounds—" LA wanted to say sounds like a fucking nightmare because he was thinking of his own mother, but Anna looked happy, so he finished with, "Really nice!"

"Yeah. This job pays okay, but it's stressful. So many giant dickheads." Anna grinned sheepishly. "No offense."

"Hey, I was being a giant dickhead. No offense taken."

"Okay, well." Anna typed a bit more. "For giant dickheads who apologize, I can waive the storage fees since we had the wrong phone number. I'm pretty sure my boss will approve that. The tires though, well…"

"You know what, I was probably due for some new ones anyway."

Anna blinked. "Are you sure, sir?"

"Very sure. I shouldn't have assumed you understood me, especially since I kinda hung up so fast."

"Like a jerk," Cass whispered from behind him.

LA jumped.

"Are you okay?" Anne frowned.

"Yes! It's just, uh, my back." LA smiled nervously. "Flares up now and again, no big deal."

"Oh! Here!" Anna stood and dug around behind the counter. She walked around holding a small folding chair. "It's not much, but it's better than you just standing there!"

"Thanks." LA took the chair so he could set it up and sit with a relieved sigh.

"Let me go talk to my boss real quick about waiving the storage fee and then I can get you rung up." Anna went behind the counter and headed toward a door in the back. "Your car should be ready by now too, okay?"

"Hai," LA said with a smirk.

Anna laughed. "Be right back!"

"You do speak Japanese!" Cass gasped, plopping on the floor beside LA's chair.

LA snorted. "Not quite."

"Well! Look at how this little situation turned out!" Cass nudged LA's thigh. "Getting rid of those pesky fees and hey! You got a chair!"

"Yeah, yeah. Being nice and understanding is so cool," LA drawled. "I feel so good about myself right now."

"You should! I'm proud of you! Patience and empathy are wonderful things to share with the world and make it a little brighter. It's not always easy, but the end result is always worth it."

LA's phone dinged with a text and he made a face when he saw it was his mother. He was definitely not in the mood to share any kind of patience with her, so he ignored the message. He already had a pretty good idea of what it was going to say.

Cass propped his chin on LA's knee. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Your phone made your face grumpy again."

"It's nothing, all right?" LA shifted his legs to move away from Cass. "One fucking nightmare at a time, okay?"

"It's your mother, isn't it?"

"It's the King of England."

"Hmm. I don't think you are telling the truth right now."

"No shit."

Anna returned with the approval to waive the extra fees and rang LA up. Once he'd paid, Anna asked for his keys so someone could drive the car around for him. With Cass following behind him, LA headed out front. His butt hurt from sitting in the metal folding chair and he was looking forward to being home.

He'd done enough for today.

An employee drove the car around, parked, and got out to offer LA the keys. He thanked them after Cass glared at him and then slid behind the wheel with a wince. His car was fairly low to the ground, and getting in and out was not particularly comfortable.

Cass shrunk himself down to his mini size and poofed into the passenger seat. "I think we should bake a cake!"

"A cake?" LA pulled out onto the road to head home. "What kind of cake?"

"Whatever kind you would like!" Cass smiled, bubbles appearing around him. "I really am proud of you, Elly. Today was a huge first step in the right direction!"

"Because I apologized for being an asshole?"

"Because you apologized and you meant it!"

"Not sure what that has to do with regaining my strength, but sure."

Cass patted LA's leg. "It takes strength and great inner fortitude to admit when you're wrong and even more so to make an effort to repair the damage. Maybe from now on you'll be a little nicer, hmm?"

"Uh-huh. To everyone but you."

Cass gasped.

"For the love of fuck, I'm joking." LA laughed and reached over to squeeze Cass's arm. His fur was incredibly soft, the muscle beneath firm. LA hesitated to pull away but he finally did, again reassuring, "Promise, just kidding around, okay?"

"Okay." Cass sounded sad and a quick glance revealed he was pouting.

"Oh my God. Don't look like that." LA groaned. "How about I agree to bake with you or whatever? Will that make you happy?"

"No, because then you're only doing it to placate me."

"I wouldn't do it if I really didn't want to." LA stopped at a red light and then looked at Cass to say more sincerely, "Come on. Let's bake somethin' to celebrate me being slightly less of a douche today."

Cass grinned, baring all of his sharp teeth. "I'm not sure if I can fit all of that on a cake, but we can certainly try!"

"There. It's settled. We'll bake something and I'll even let you wreck the kitchen again." LA chuckled.

"The kitchen was wrecked because I was in a rush."

"Uh-huh."

"I am normally not that messy."

"Right."

Cass continued to try and convince LA right up until the moment he was parking outside of his home. LA grunted with effort and pain as he pulled himself out of the car, surprised when Cass was suddenly right there to help him.

LA stared at his hands in Cass's big paws. "Uh, thanks."

"Of course!" Cass beamed.

LA held one of Cass's paws as he headed to the front door, telling himself it was only because he was sore from the drive and wanted the support. It had nothing to do with how warm and firm Cass's paw was, especially one he'd returned to his full stature.

Once inside, LA excused himself to change back into more comfortable clothes while Cass headed off into the kitchen to get everything ready. LA had no idea what they were going to bake, but he was weirdly looking forward to it.

It was nice to think about something else other than his ruined relationship, decimated career, and the steadily building drip of anxiety and guilt that was brewing from ignoring his mother.

His phone buzzed.

He ignored it and finished getting dressed into a T-shirt and sweats.

His phone buzzed again, and a stupid voice in his head thought it might be Gavin.

LA hated how quickly he grabbed it to check, making a face when he saw his initial guess was correct and it was only his mother harassing him again. He refused to read her texts and instead scrolled over to a few social media apps to see if Gavin had posted anything.

God, what was wrong with him?

LA figured it would be better to contact Gavin once he had the job situation sorted and could think of a good way to apologize, but—oh.

The newest picture on Gavin's timeline made LA freeze up and stare.

It was Gavin kissing another man.

The caption made LA's iced-over blood melt as it boiled over.

Me and THE LOVE OF MY LIFE! Gotta love a man who makes time for what's really important — our beautiful relationship and showing me he cares unlike SOME PEOPLE

LA took a deep breath and set his phone down instead of hurling it across the room like he wanted to. Gavin was being an immature asshole, as usual, and LA thought about what had happened earlier with Anna.

It wasn't as if LA didn't know that he was being a jerk. He knew he was, but he'd been too angry to care. Gavin knew exactly what he was doing with that post and his entire aim was to hurt LA.

And to what end?

To make LA message him and beg him to come back?

Maybe that would have worked before, but LA wasn't going to give in.

He did love Gavin, he probably always would, but Cass was right—actions had consequences. Although LA hadn't intended to hurt Anna when he'd lost his temper, Gavin had absolutely made the post to piss off LA and bait him.

And this time, LA wasn't biting.

He plugged in his phone to let it charge and left it there as he made his way back downstairs. He had a cake to bake with a giant fluffy monster.

Who had a really nice smile and strong paws…

Whatever.

Monster or no monster, Gavin could eat shit and fuck off.

It was easy to say, but LA didn't know if it would actually stick.

Scowling more with every step, he tried not to think about how many times he'd been through this same crap with Gavin. Their fights were explosive, especially on LA's end because of his fiery temper, and Gavin would simply wait for LA to come crawling back like he always did.

No.

Not anymore.

LA paused in the kitchen doorway.

Cass had shown him a new perspective and it was pretty revealing when turned on the other situations LA was struggling with. LA watched as Cass flitted around the kitchen, gathering bowls and various ingredients, and he smiled a little.

Cass's ridiculous happy bubbles were floating everywhere, prompting LA to tease, "Those aren't toxic, are they?"

"Hmm?" Cass looked up. "What? Oh! My bubbles? Gracious no."

"Not gonna make me grow a second head or anything if they get into the batter?"

"No, you silly man." Cass snickered. "Now! You have to tell me what kind of cake you like."

"I dunno. Cake?" LA shrugged.

"Flavor?"

"Chocolate, I guess. I like stuff with peaches too, but those don't really go together."

"Well, let's start with chocolate, hmm?" A tub of unsweetened cocoa powder appeared on the counter, and Cass continued mixing what appeared to be sugar and flour into a big bowl that LA didn't even recognize. "This is my personal recipe for an Imp's Food Cake," he said cheerfully. "Not to be confused with a Devil's Food Cake, hmmph. This is much better."

"Okay." LA reached around Cass to grab the rum, ignoring how Cass's fur brushed against him. "What can I do?"

"Here." Cass stepped aside to give LA access to the bowl. "In just a moment, I'll start pouring the liquid ingredients in and you'll stir."

"Yup. Can do. One sec." LA pulled a can of Dr. Pepper from the fridge.

"Ah, time to drink?"

"Yes, and keep your judgy eyeballs to yourself." LA got a glass. "Let me mix this and then I'll mix whatever you want." His damn back hurt and maybe seeing Gavin with someone else so soon was bothering him more than he wanted to admit.

Cass watched him pour the rum heavily. "Is everything all right?"

"Peachy."

"Are you sure?"

LA took a big sip of the potent concoction, staring back at Cass over the rim of the glass. He took another, making Cass wait for him to finally reply, "Never been better."

"You are an awful liar."

LA set his glass down. "Fine. Whatever. Gavin made some shit post. He's already moved on."

Cass cringed. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I was wondering when you'd see it."

"Wait, you saw it? How?"

"Duh. I checked his page."

LA laughed. "Seriously?"

"What? As your imp, it's my job to help you to the very best of my ability! Which means being up to date on anything that may affect your progress."

"Which means stalking my ex online," LA teased.

Cass appeared flustered and nearly spilled the vegetable oil as he poured it into another bowl. "I do whatever is necessary, thank you. So, yes, if that means stalking your ex, then yes." He frowned a little. "Are you all right?"

"It hurts," LA admitted. "But then I got to thinking. About some of the stuff you said. You know, about Anna and me being an asshole…"

"And?"

"Gavin did this on purpose. The post, I mean. He even wrote that shitty caption knowing I would see it. It's like everything else shitty he's ever done." LA took a deep breath. "He did it to hurt me, manipulate me, and I'm not going to let him do that anymore. I deserve better than that."

Cass cheered, and a flurry of bubbles and rainbow confetti rained down on them. "I am so happy to hear that! This is magnificent news, Elly!"

LA wrinkled his nose, swatting at the bubbles. "Hey, hey, come on now. It's not a big deal."

"Do not think so little of your revelation." Cass clasped his big paws on LA's shoulders. "Today has truly been wonderful indeed! You've already grown so much."

"Uh." LA blushed. "Maybe you're just really good at your job."

"We both know you don't mean that."

LA grinned. "No, not really, but… Thank you. Seriously. For helping me pull my head out of my ass."

"I don't think that will fit on the cake either, but I will certainly try." Cass squeezed LA's shoulders before letting go. "You deserve a partner who will listen to you and support you, who will care about the things you want."

"Like you do?" LA hated how quickly the words came out of his mouth and he tried to drown any others with a chug of his drink.

Cass squeaked and all the bubbles in the air popped. "Oh! That, that is literally, heh, my job. Uh." He stirred even harder, his tail twitching wildly as he added in the cocoa powder to make a chocolatey goop. "I, I would do anything for the people I'm called on to help."

"Oh yeah?" LA smirked. "Even… snuggling them?"

"What? No. Yes." Cass stared helplessly. "I have no idea how to answer that."

LA chuckled. "It's all right. Is it time to stir that crap in the other crap yet?"

"Yes. That. We should be doing that." Cass cleared his throat, raising his bowl of goop over the one LA was supposed to be mixing. "Ready?"

"Yup. Go ahead." LA waited for Cass to pour so he could start stirring. "So, you got a girlfriend waiting for you back in monster land? Maybe a boyfriend?"

Cass squeaked again and spilled some of the chocolatey goop on the counter.

"You all right?" LA tried not to grin, but it was really cute to see Cass so flustered.

"Hmm? Oh yes! Just fine!" Cass quickly grabbed some paper towels to clean up the mess. "You, you just keep stirring."

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I was just curious."

"Oh, well, it's okay!" Cass grinned. "You, uh, I was, hmm. I was surprised. That's all."

"Why?"

"No one's ever asked me before." Cass lumbered over to the trash can. "But uh, no, I don't have anyone waiting for me. If that's, uh, what you were asking."

"No?"

"No." Cass fidgeted and his wings flapped. "I'm, uh, open to any sort of partner, gender doesn't really matter to me, but other imps, well… Let's just say I'm not their cup of tea."

LA frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Do you remember how I told you there were all sorts of imps out there who help mortals?" Cass sighed as he came back over. "Imps of virtue? Well, the truth is that most of them stopped wanting to help a long time ago."

"Why?"

"Humans aren't… easy to help." Cass smiled sadly. "They're often stubborn, resistant to change, and aren't willing to accept advice. Many of my kind gave up. And by many, I mean most. And most, well, is all."

LA frowned. "What about you?"

"I'm the last one," Cass replied with a little shrug.

"The last?"

"Yes. You wanted to know why you'd never heard of us before. It's because I'm the last one. Well, the last one still working anyway! There's still plenty of other imps in my world! But everyone else severed their connections to the items that call us here, shut down all their portals, and uh… Yeah." He fidgeted with the edge of the counter. "Even though it makes everyone else look at me like I am a joke, I… Well, it didn't feel right to stop helping."

LA had never seen Cass look so down, and it was a frighteningly stark contrast to his otherwise disgustingly bubbly personality. It was as if all the light had simply melted right out of him, and LA wasn't sure what to do.

"Uh, are you okay?" he asked hesitantly.

"Me? Oh yes. Fine. Right as the rain!" Cass forced a smile.

"Uh-huh. You know, you're not a great liar either."

Cass turned his nose up and flapped his wings. "I do not know what you mean."

"Well." LA set down the bowl and spoon. "I'm glad you didn't give up."

"Really?"

"Yeah." LA offered out his arms.

"What are you doing?"

"You look like you could use a hug," LA said. "You know, one of those award winning type ones, right? I mean, mine probably aren't that great, but—" He grunted as Cass wrapped him up in his powerful arms. "Agh, Cass. Back, watch my back."

"Oh! Right. Sorry." Cass relaxed his grip.

LA closed his eyes, letting himself enjoy the gentle embrace. Cass's wings curled around them next, adding a unique level of warmth. He swore that Cass's tail was even teasing down by his legs, and he hugged Cass's neck tighter. "Thank you."

Cass shivered. "O-oh? What, what for? Exactly?"

"For not giving up." LA breathed in Cass's fur, finding it oddly sweet. It was almost like cotton candy. "If you weren't here, I'd probably already be begging Gavin to take me back and I wouldn't have made things right with that girl at the towing place—"

"Anna. Her name is Anna."

"Yes, Anna. Whatever. Look, I just…" LA rubbed Cass's fur. "I guess it's been a long time since anyone has believed in me, that I could be better, so… Thank you."

Cass lightly squeezed LA's middle. "That's my job. To lift you up, to help you find that strength, and uh…"

"You never did answer me."

"About what?"

"Do you snuggle all the people you help?"

Cass's arms tensed. "I did answer it. Perhaps not very well, but I did!"

LA pulled back to grin up at Cass, but he forgot what he was going to say. He was lost in Cass's bright eyes, his crooked little pout, and the sweep of his horns. Cass was very handsome and LA had always thought Belle looked pretty disappointed when the Beast turned into Prince Adam.

Maybe LA's problem was that he'd kept giving the same asshole countless chances when he should have been willing to give one to someone else.

Perhaps even a monster…

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Cass whined.

LA's face instantly ignited. "I'm not staring."

"Is there something on my face?"

"What? No!" LA coughed. "There's nothing."

"Are you… okay?"

"I'm fucking fine, shut up." LA stared at the bowls. "Uh, are we ready to keep stirring or what? We got a cake to make."

"Yes! Let us continue, Elly."

"Still not my name, Cassie ."

"Aw, I like that! A nickname! Yay!"

"Ugh."