Enduring Mr McGregor

chapter 13

It was Sunday.

And after the not so interesting activities of the day before, she opted to stay in and do nothing. She deserved the break. Her mom had gone for the Sunday morning mass taking an unhappy Ana with her.

Blinking, Nia stared at the ceiling. She had the apartment all to herself for the morning. She could play her songs. Ana wasn't there to complain about her old lady music and her mother wasn't there to preach about it. She could do whatever she wanted.

Throwing the covers off her, she ran into the bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth. Then she ran into the living room grabbing a blanket on her way. Jumping over the back of the couch, Nia folded her legs beneath her and covered it with a blanket.

Missy jumped onto the space beside her and settled in. Nia pressed a button on the remote and settled back to watch as the first episode of SpongeBob came on. She barely watched TV anymore. She was always so busy. And the few times she had some time to spare, Adriana was there watching her music videos.

And no, no one dared to collect the remote from Ana when she was with it.

She was halfway through the fourth episode when her phone rang.

Her hand hovered over the phone. If it was Robert, she could just ignore it and pretend she never saw the call if he asked. But it wasn't. It was Kate.

"Hey Kate, what's up?" Nia asked once the call had connected.

"Uh, nothing really. I was wondering if you wanted to meet up for coffee, like now. It's urgent business. I have a lot of things I need to talk to you about."

"Sure. Where do you want me to meet you?" Nia asked as she snatched up the remote before Missy could push it off the couch.

What was it with cats and pushing stuff?

She couldn't even count the number of mugs Missy had pushed off the counter. Ana said it was a cat thing but she didn't believe. Missy was just... Bad.

"The coffee shop. Meet you there in twenty minutes?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, sure."

Walking into her room, Nia quickly dressed in a loose black tank top and leggings. Pulling on her running shoes, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was a mess. Taking care of her kind of hair was not easy. It was high maintenance. But she wouldn't have it any other way. She used her fingers to detangle the curls and then grabbed her phone.

"Hey Missy," she called.

Missy blinked at her and yawned.

Lazy cat.

"Tell mom I've gone to meet Kate okay?"

Missy turned and walked away.

Nia gently closed the door. She was turning the key in the lock when she heard the door behind her begin to open.

Oh hell no.

Pulling out the key, she ran down the hallway towards the elevator.

"Buenos diás," Rosita called but Nia wasn't there anymore. "I think I hear the door open?" She wondered.

She looked down the hall and saw Nia running.

"Nia? Wait! I want talk with you... "

Nia ran even faster and flew into the elevator. She quickly pressed the button before Rosita decided to come after her. Exhaling in relief, Nia rested against the wall as the elevator went down.

She'd managed to get Rosita's son a job. It was just dumb luck, they needed a new janitor and the boy had been available. But now Rosita was thinking she had the power to employ all her family members.