Brittany was thrilled to see Hunter at the fundraiser, even if he’d been kinda mean to her before. But if she wanted to be a good cat-mom, she had to forgive her cat’s boyfriend’s cat-dad for being so confusing; he was family now. She all but bounced over to him, grinning from ear to ear as though their last conversation had completely left her memory. She had a very important item to deliver to a very important friend. “Oh, I’m not here to ask you about the guy you beat up!” She usually didn’t pay attention to the news unless it was about her, but there had been so much about that particular incident that it was hard to miss. Not that it bothered her much. She didn’t like violence, but hunter was her in-law now. “I’ve got a gift for you! Well, not for you, for Mr. Puss. Lord Tubbington made it by paw for him and wanted me to deliver it at the first opportunity.” She hadn’t been sure that Hunter would be here, but she’d carried it around with her everywhere she went since Lord Tubbington made it, just in case. After rummaging around in her bag, she pulled out a cute cat collar then held it out for Hunter to see. “Lord Tubbington says the rainbow colours are to celebrate his love for Mr. Puss.”
That voice. Hunter recognized it immediately and any shred of hope that maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to get out of there without incident was gone in an instant. He didn’t turn to acknowledge the girl. Instead he took a moment to down both glasses of champagne, returning them to the tray within the waiter’s hands a little too roughly. He watched the tray tip slightly as the waiter struggled momentarily to keep it steady and, perhaps, he may have felt an inkling of remorse. Yet, as it was, he could only feel growing agitation the more the blond spoke. He hesitated, a part of him wanting nothing more than to walk away, to pretend that Brittany hadn’t dared to approach him but he knew better. Especially when he looked around to find a pair of eyes glancing curiously in their direction. With a sigh, he turned to the blonde, his eyes dropping to the collar in her hands. “For fuck’s sake,” He began before quickly silencing himself, teeth gritting against the desire to lash out at her, to call her a moron and release a slew of expletives. And, God, how he wanted to smack that collar out of her hands but, fortunately, restrained himself from doing so but only barely. “Put that thing away,” Hunter hissed, eyes sweeping their surroundings in hopes that few had taken the time to pay them much attention. “And do refrain from even mentioning my cat, love, and your ball of lard in the same sentence. I’ll say this only once more, Brittany, in hopes that it’ll finally sink through that thick skull of yours: Cats do not speak. Mr. Puss is not romantically involved with anyone, least of all the heart attack waiting to happen that you call a cat. This entire scenario in which these two cats are madly in love and will live happily ever after is nothing more than a delusion. The sooner you accept that, the better off we’ll both be.”