Hostage of the Heart

Little Stripper, Big Plumber (Six)

Glancing toward her watch, Piper saw that it was almost four o'clock in the afternoon. She had been sitting there by the crystal blue lake, back propped up against a large oak tree for nearly two straight hours. She considered that she ought to start heading back to the cabin since her captive was still handcuffed to the refrigerator. As she thought about that, Piper felt the guilt overtake her once again. She felt bad about locking the young woman up and storming out of the cabin without so much as a word. Piper could not explain why, but if there was one thing in this world that she did not want to do, it was hurt Desiree. She grudgingly admitted to herself that she cared for the woman, and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would protect her to the best of her ability.

"Great, just great," Piper murmured. "Rule number one. Never fall for your hostage, dumbass."

With that, Piper got to her feet and checked the seat of her pants for grass stains. Pleased to not see any, she headed back to the cabin. To Desiree. 

 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

"I wonder if she's coming back?" Desiree mused out loud. I hope so, she thought, kneeling on the tiled kitchen floor. I hope so? Desiree realized that she really did want Piper to return. One reason was because she seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere, which meant that Piper might be the only one who could get her back to civilization. Not to mention the irritating handcuffs. Also, no matter how much of a pain in the ass she could be, Desiree internally admitted that she just wanted to see that face and hear sentences produced by that mouth. Crushing on my kidnapper. I've heard of Stockholm Syndrome, but this is ridiculous. I've been here two minutes!

Detecting the creak of a door opening, Desiree craned her neck, spotting her cat heading in her direction. Upon reaching her, he stretched while yawning, tiny white teeth showing. Tobias looked at his owner's predicament curiously while cocking his little head to the side.

"Good afternoon, Tobias." Desiree patted his head with her free hand, making the feline purr with much delight.

"Did you have a good nap?"

Tobias briefly meowed as if to respond that he had.

"I wish you could get me out of this." Desiree pointed to her handcuffed wrist. At that moment, the cat spied something much more interesting and hurried over to a green plastic bowl on the floor, which was what Piper had put his liver pate in earlier. She grabbed the liver pate, litter, litter box and even a couple of toys for the feline while at Desiree's apartment, but she left the crystal goblets behind. Desiree wondered how she was able to get Tobias to eat out of the bowl. She mused that her cat must have been very hungry to eat out of the plastic instead of his usual crystal. She frowned acknowledging that she spoiled him way too much. Maybe being there would teach Tobias some discipline. It was worth a try, although it was not as if she had much of a choice.

Tobias walked back over to his owner and started his 'I'm hungry' crying, after discovering that the horrid pea-colored plastic bowl was empty. He drank the remainder of the water in the matching bowl next to the empty food dish, yet it failed to curb his appetite.

"I'm sorry, Tobias," Desiree apologized. "Mommy can't get you any food right now." Then it dawned on her that she was attached to a refrigerator. She would not be able to put the food in a container for her cat, but he could eat out of the can. Getting to her feet, the young woman opened the refrigerator door. After looking around for a minute or so, she discovered the rest of Tobias' food from earlier.

"Here we go, Tobias," she said, taking out the can. Desiree closed the refrigerator, knelt down on the tile, and took the lid off the can, placing it on the floor. Tobias bowed his head to gingerly sniff the half-filled can of liver pate. He peered up at his owner as if to say, 'Now you want me to eat it out of a can?' Bad enough that she expected him to eat the food out of a can, but it was cold too. He preferred his food to either be room temperature or heated in the microwave for precisely eighteen seconds. That wasn't too much to ask, now was it?