Chapter 5

While Megan showered, Tasha called the volunteer coordinator at the shelter to get approval for Megan and Sophia to join her. There were some hesitations, but Tasha explained that some cat therapy might do her friend some good. She knew that the volunteer coordinator believed strongly in the power of cat therapy, and approval was quickly granted.

Once at the shelter, Tasha explained the most important rule, which was to respect the feelings of any cat that they might socialize. Sophia seemed to grasp the concept quickly, which eased Tasha’s one big concern. The shelter had recently released a small litter of kittens from foster care, and Sophia quickly gravitated toward them. It was hard to tell who was having more fun—Sophia, or the kittens.

With Sophia distracted, the two adults focused on socializing the adult cats. Tasha went off to complete an adoption interview with a young couple. When she came back, she found Megan sitting in a chair with a big fluffy creamsicle boy in her lap. She leaned against the doorframe and watched her friend gently rub the blissful orange tabby, whispering softly to him. Eventually, Megan looked up and smiled at her.

“How are you?”

“I’m better. It’s hard to feel sad when you have a purring cat in your lap.”

“That is so true,” Tasha responded as she bent down to scoop up a wandering tuxedo. “Isn’t that right, little man? Purring cats make life better, don’t they? Don’t they?” His feline dignity grossly affronted, the tuxedo quickly slipped from her arms. “Okay, Fred, you don’t want to be held. Maybe you’ll like a string toy.”

“Fred?”

“Fred Astaire. Tuxedo cat. Look, I don’t get to name them. Well, sometimes we use a name that I suggested.”

“It’s cute! I don’t think that I’d keep that name, but it’s cute.”

They watched Fred chase the string toy around for a few minutes. Eventually, he got bored and went to sit under Tasha’s chair. Megan took advantage of the break in the action to ask, “How often do you volunteer here?”

“The first and third Saturdays of every month, and the fifth, if the month happens to have five Saturdays. I also cover for people if my schedule is clear.”

“That’s really sweet that you do this.”

“Thank you. It’s good for me as well. I enjoy spending time at home with Nocturne, but helping these cats is a good break for me as well, especially after a stressful week at work.”

“Yeah, how’s that going? Are you still doing… uh, graphic design?”

“I still do some of that. I also work on user interface design for apps. The job is okay, I mean… I like the work, I just hate my boss and the soulless corporate grind. I’d really like to work for myself. I’m good at this, and I feel like I’ve built a good reputation in the field.”

“Why don’t you, then?”

“One word… insurance.”

“Ugh, I get that.”

“Hey, not to change the subject…”

“But, you are changing the subject.” Megan grinned at her.

“Look, I don’t know how long you are planning on staying in Portland, but I want you to stay with me, okay? I know it’s a bit cozy in my apartment, but we can make it work.”

“Thank you, Tasha! That means the world to me. I… Honestly, right now, I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to go back to Brad. My parents moved to Florida and couldn’t take me in anyway—but I also don’t want to cramp your style, either.”

“Well, there’s not much style to cramp, so that’s fine.” Tasha smiled. “You’re a teacher, and I’m pretty sure that PPS is always short on teachers, so if you decide that you want to stay in Portland, I’m sure that you can get a job there.”

“Oh, damn! My job! I need to call my principal and tell her that I’m not coming in on Monday, or maybe ever. She was supportive yesterday when I called out for my last class. She might be the only other person in town who knows that Brad was cheating on me.” Megan started to choke up.

“It’s alright, Megan. Just keep petting Julius there. Listen to him purr.”

“Julius? Oh, because he’s orange… I get it.”

“Megan, I know that you need to do what’s best for you and Sophia, and I’ll support you no matter what, but this could be a good opportunity for you to start over. I checked while you were in the shower. The teacher’s strike is still going on, but PPS offices are open this week. So, if you want, we could see about getting Sophia enrolled, and also maybe see what you would need to do to be a substitute or something.”

“Thank you for doing that, Tasha. Let me think about it.”

“Meanwhile, we have another priority to take care of.”

“Uh oh, what?”

“That hair! It’s time to wash that blonde right out of your hair.”

Megan laughed. “You’re obsessed!”

“Guilty! That blonde makes you look so Stepford. Your natural red was always gorgeous anyway. I know someone who can help, plus I have a gift card and a coupon.”

“You? Your hair looks just like it always has.”

“Yeah, so you’d be doing me a favor, getting rid of this gift card and coupon for me.”

“How did you end up with a gift card and coupon anyway?”

“I went halfsies on a raffle basket at roller derby a while back and we won.”

“I’m sorry… Did you say roller derby? What is roller derby?”

“It’s a sport, on roller skates. It’s uh… hang on.” Tasha whipped out her phone and quickly started typing. “Oh, yeah.” She typed a bit more, then looked up and grinned at her friend. “Oh yeah, you and Sophia are in for a treat! Guess what we’re doing tomorrow afternoon?”

“Uh, I’m not playing roller derby.”

“We’re not playing, we’re watching. There’s a juniors doubleheader tomorrow. Trust me, you’re gonna have a blast!”

“I could tolerate watching softball because I played it, and I always enjoyed watching you play soccer, but I’m not sure that I want to watch a bunch of dudes on roller skates hitting each other.”

“That’s the thing. It’s not dudes. This is primarily a women’s sport. It’s very open and inclusive. Body positive. It’s all the things you’re gonna want Sophia to learn. Oh…”

“What?”

“Okay, you might hate me later, because I bet that Sophia might get hooked.”

“Tasha…”

“It’s cool! You probably won’t really hate me. More like that love/hate kinda thing.”

“Tasha…”

“Trust me, this is going to be the best thing ever.”

“And how did you hear about roller derby anyway?”

“Uh, I went on a date a while back. This guy was super excited about seeing hot chicks hitting each other.”

“You’re not helping your case.”

“Well, he was super disappointed. I think that he was expecting fishnets and fistfights and what we saw instead was this amazing sport played by people who kept their clothes on. Anyway, that was our second date and there was not a third. I did hook-up with one of the skaters another time.”

“You hooked up with one of the skaters? But, you said that this was a wo— Oh…”

Tasha looked over at Megan, desperately hoping not to see disgust on her face. “Yeah, I wasn’t sure how to bring that up.”

Megan’s expression stayed pointedly neutral. “Well, some things have definitely changed since college.”

“Yeah. I guess you could say that.”

Tasha breathed a small sigh of relief as she saw a devilish grin start to form on Megan’s face. “Oh no, Tasha! You’re not getting away that easily. I want details, girl! I mean, I don’t need every detail, but how did this happen?”

Tasha grinned back, glad that her friend seemed fine with this bombshell. “Okay, here goes…”