"This is all their keys in case you need them. As I said, don't try to take them out of their suit unless it is absolutely necessary. It would be the best way to make them angry at you."
"... Yes."
"So, all their meals are in the fridge, and I labeled each bottle with their names. They each have an extra, just in case."
"... Yes."
"Oh, and this is my cell phone number, don't hesitate to call me if you need anything!"
"... Yes."
"Don't forget, Vix loves to cuddle with you, so when you go to bed, it would be nice if you could let her sleep with you."
"... yes."
"... As you know, Trixie likes when we play her boobs, or else she gets grumpy."
"... yes."
"... And... And... I'm being too motherly... right?"
"..."
It's been like this since I got here at 8 am. Lucy was out of control, trying to ensure everything was perfect during her day off. It was Monday, and I would be keeping an eye on all her pet girls until tomorrow morning. I expected to be nervous but quickly discovered that Lucy was the anxious one.
"Clara... You'll be okay, right!? I am not asking too much of you?"
"... It's... fine."
"Good, good. Sorry... I tend to treat everybody like pets these days... I'm so used to being on my own with them. I didn't mean to be bossy with you."
"... It's... okay..."
"Alright! Okay! I'm going now. I'm going to visit my family. It has been forever. Thank you so much again for accepting to do this for me. Please, try to enjoy yourself as much as possible. I fully trust you to do the right things and keep everybody happy, including yourself."
"... Thank... you."
Out of nowhere, Lucy pulled me into a big motherly hug... It was the first time she did that to me. Before I could even raise my arms, she let me go and headed to the door, throwing some more advice at me.
"Don't forget... Oreo hates apple juice, and Asha needs some cuddling after eating! It helps her digestion."
"..."
"Okay, okay! I'm going! See you tomorrow, Clara! You are fantastic!"
Lucy walked out, and I headed toward the door to lock it; the shop was not open today, and the last thing I wanted was to face a stranger that had no business in the café. But just as I was about to put my fingers on the lock, the door opened brusquely... Lucy wasn't done...
"Oh, and if you sleep with Misti, she prefers to be on the left side of the bed. Okay ... Bye now!"
"..."
As soon as the door slammed close, I hurried and locked it... Right before Lucy tried to open it again, unsuccessfully, this time.
I stayed there for a minute or two, making sure she was really gone this time, and headed toward the lounge where all the pets were undoubtedly waiting for me. Who knew how they would behave now that Lucy was gone. There was potential for this to turn into a nightmare pretty quickly.
I swiped the access card in front of the reader and pushed the door open. Either they would rush to me and cause trouble or behave like little angels as they always did in my presence.
I stepped in carefully and closed the door behind me...
There were five of them today; Vix the fox, Trixie the bunny, Oreo the cat, Asha the leopard, and Misti the black cat. The doggy had finished her shift last night, or maybe Lucy just knew I was not that much of a dog person.
All the small animal girls stared at me, and I didn't really know what to do or say to them... I guess we were stuck together until the next day, no matter what happened next.
"Lucy... is gone."
That was apparently the little critters cue to start converging toward me. I kneeled to welcome them, but they quickly overpowered me, and I ended flat on my back, with all the pets trying to get cuddles.
"Eep! ... Careful!"
It was intimidating, for sure, but they were so sweet. The latex animals just wanted to give me some love and probably a preview of how our day together would look like.
Being covered in small rubber pets was fun. I took a moment to appreciate how much I changed since I started coming to this café. A short while ago, I would have panicked if this had happened to me, but now I could cope with it. It made a world of difference to know that none of them would make fun of me because of my communication disorder. All they wanted was to give me affection and receive some.
"I... I have... to make you eat. Go... Go sit. Okay?"
The pet girls made it so easy for me. They knew I wasn't good at talking and gave me some slack because that was what I needed. While they were getting off me, one by one, I thought about this for a second.
Around Lucy, they often misbehaved and could get annoying as hell. So why would they act so differently around me? The only thing I could think of was that they adapted to the person they were dealing with. Perhaps Lucy loved receiving affection in a different way than I did. She was very motherly, so maybe her pets were giving her a run for her money because she liked her life action-packed.
I slowly raised back on my feet and went to the kitchenette to retrieve the food bottles for breakfast. There were five rows of squeeze bottles on the shelf labeled with their names, so I proceeded to grab one of each.
"Vix, Asha, Oreo, Misti, Meeka... Meeka!?"
Why was there a Meeka bottle? She was not even here... Trixie's was the one I needed. I looked deeper inside the fridge, but there was nothing else... Did Lucy, anxious as she was, made a mistake and provided me with the wrong food for Trixie?
Well, food was food... It was not like they were real animals... It was probably all the same anyway, and the labels were more for roleplay than anything else. That said, I didn't like olives... I would be pretty mad if someone forced me to eat something I didn't like.
