“He doesn’t like it,” I said. Lucky meowed.
“It’s just for a little bit,” Mark said. “Just until I get down the hallway and into the room. Can you go and be a look out?”
I stepped up into the apartment corridor and peeked into the kitchen, where three of the boys had started up a card game. Inching my way down the hall, I spotted the director’s daughter sitting on her bed. She flipped through a fashion magazine, looking the other way. I waved Mark in and blocked the view from the doorway with my body until he had gotten past me and into the boys’ room. Lucky let out a small meow that I was sure the girl would have heard, but she kept on reading. I turned and mouthed to Mark Thank you! He grinned and closed the boys’ door.
Whew. Lucky was safe, at least until tomorrow morning.
The next day, I snuck out of the apartments early and sat outside on the icy stairs. As much as I didn’t want to call Eliot, I had no other option.
He picked up on the first ring.
“Hello?”
“Eliot?” My voice turned small, shy. I did not want to ask for anything from him.
“Brynn.” A short pause filled the line between us with awkward silence, and I smacked myself in the head mentally for having used his first name. “Why are you calling?”
“I know, I know, I shouldn’t,” I said. “But I need your help. I need you to come take Lucky.”
“I’ve already told the landlady—”
“It’s not that. It’s another girl that has a problem with him. The…the director’s daughter. She hates cats. Can you come take him? Please?” My words sounded strained, desperate. I didn’t know what I could possibly do if Eliot couldn’t take the kitten. Another period of silence passed.
“I’ll be there soon.”
Elated, I snuck inside and to the boys’ room. Before I could knock on the door, however, it opened and Mark peeked out with eyes still crusted with sleep. Lucky sat behind him on the floor, his ears perked up.
“I heard footsteps,” he said. “What’s up?”
“I found someone to take Lucky,” I said. “He’ll be here soon.”
“Good. The little guy needs to go out, I think. He’s been pacing by the door. Is it safe?”
I looked back, but the girls’ room door was shut.
“I think so,” I said. Mark opened the door and Lucky darted out into the hallway, circling around my legs in a figure eight and purring. I picked him up and he licked my nose.
I took Lucky out to the front and he darted behind the granite steps. I sat down and waited for him to finish his business. Soon he jumped back up to my lap for petting. Mark came outside into the street, having put on some warmer clothes, and sat beside me.
“My butt is going to freeze to these steps,” he said. He rubbed his hands together, his breath white and warm in the chilly morning air.
“Amen. I thought winter in California was cold.”
“So who’s coming to take Lucky?” He reached over and scratched Lucky’s chin. Lucky rolled onto his back on my lap and pawed at Mark’s hand, his tiny claws splayed fiercely in the air.
“Um, Dr. Herceg.” As I said the name, my heart cramped with emotion.
“Wait, the Dr. Herceg?”
I nodded.
“How the hell do you have his phone number?”
“I—um—” I really didn’t know how to explain it without giving away everything. Mark cocked his head and looked at me curiously. “He met me when I arrived here early.”
“So you can just call him up to say hello?”
“I guess,” I said, my eyes shifting away uncomfortably. “He said Lucky would be okay here, so I think he feels bad about it.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah,” I said. “He gave me a textbook to study, too.”
“Oh? What’s it about?”
We talked for only a few minutes about the kinds of math we thought we were going to have to work on, and I told Mark all that Eliot had taught me about the basis of his work, without mentioning that he had personally taught me, of course. So engrossed in our discussion, I didn’t notice the car pull up until the engine’s sound registered in my brain. I turned to see Eliot getting out of the car.
Mark jumped up and almost ran down the steps to greet him.
“It’s so good to see you again, Dr. Herceg. Thank you so much for this opportunity.” He shook Eliot’s hand firmly. I held Lucky with both arms, trying not to seem awkward.
“Mark, Brynn. It’s good to see both of you again.” He looked tired, dark circles under his eyes.
“Thanks for taking Lucky,” I said. I held him out to Eliot, who took him gently. The kitten looked so small in his large hands. His gaze turned from Mark to me, as though trying to figure out the answer to a logic puzzle.