Author's note: This chapter marks a pause after the very intense and massive chapter 17. There is almost no kink or sexy stuff in this chapter, but I hope you won't be too harsh in your judgement. The goal of this short chapter is simply to describe the environment of the penthouse so the reader will be able to visualize it better. There is also a few more details about different pets to make them feel more real. Hopefully you'll still appreciate this little slice of life about your favorite pets.
"So, what do you want to do, Clara?"
"I don't know, Asha. Lucy didn't say anything about that."
"Hehe, you are funny. Lucy is not going to choose which bed you are going to sleep in."
Today was a huge day. I was officially moving to the pethouse, this luxurious penthouse perched atop a tall insurance building in the middle of the downtown business area. Asha and Vix were supposed to welcome me, but the small fox girl wasn't around. Apparently, Lucy had decided to keep her an extra day at the café, possibly because she didn't want to overwhelm me on my first day in my new home.
It was okay since Asha was my friend, and I didn't mind spending the day alone with her while she showed me around the place. I've been here before, so I was somewhat familiar with the apartment's layout, but there was one room I had not seen yet, the second bedroom, and it raised an unexpected issue.
From what Asha told me, whoever came back to the pethouse on any given day slept together in the same bed. As an example, if Trixie and Misti were to be off, they would share the same bed just because it was more fun that way. The other bedroom was only used when one of them was ill or desired to be alone for whatever reason, but that was relatively rare.
This arrangement was convenient for them due to their erratic work schedule and because they got to sleep with whoever was off at the same time. As far as I knew, all the petgirls were good friends and loved to cuddle with each other... and more. Asha said that spending intimate time with one of two different friends each week was something they all appreciated a lot.
That said, my presence would introduce a slightly different dynamic. Whenever a pet would be off work, it would come back to the pethouse, and I would always be there. This could become problematic for petgirls who liked the variety. Asha said it wouldn't be an issue, but my confidence level was not that high, I didn't want to feel like I was in the way, disrupting a lifestyle they loved.
So I had two options. I could sleep in the same bed with whatever pets would be at the pethouse on any given night, or I could use the second bedroom to make sure I didn't impose myself on them. It was not an easy choice.
Asha wrapped her arms around me. To her, there was only one right choice.
"I prefer that you sleep with us all the time."
"Are... are you sure?"
"Of course, I am."
"What if... you want to sleep with someone else... without me?"
"Oh, I don't think I want that, Clara! The way you licked my crotch a while ago, I want more of that."
Instantaneously, my face turned beet red, and some steam came out of my ears. Of course, Asha wasn't going to forget the time when I gave her a big orgasm thinking she was Trixie. I opened up a bit more about sex since seeing a therapist, but I was still not as comfortable as the other girls when it came the time to talk about it.
"Haha. Poor Clara. Sorry, I shouldn't tease you like this on your first day. Tonight it's just the two of us here. Vix will only come back tomorrow, so you have plenty of time to think about what you want to do. Come with me. I need to tell you about another rule of the pethouse."
"Okay."
So far, the rules Asha explained to me were just plain common sense; not to break anything because none of the furniture in the pethouse belonged to us, not communicate with the building staff unless necessary, going out for a few hours on Wednesday afternoon because people would come to clean the place and restock the fridge, and not ask Lucy questions about the pethouse, or at the very least not insist if she doesn't want to talk about it. There was nothing complicated about any of this.
As I followed Asha downstairs, I realized something funny that made me giggle.
"Pffhaha!"
"Hey, what!? What's funny?"
"You walk like... Asha the rubber snow leopard! Haha."
"I... I do?"
"Yes. It's like you still have a tail and cushy paws."
"Mmm... I guess I built a bad habit..."
"Haha... No. It's very cute."
"Awww! Stop it, Clara! Now I feel self-conscious!"
After she poked me in the stomach, we went to the living room with the big window wall. It was still as impressive as when I came here the first time. Our view of the city was as beautiful as it was dizzying. I still had a tough time believing I would live here with all my friends.
Asha wanted to show me the dresser in the corner, the one from which I saw the pets getting their money. She pulled out one of the unlabeled drawers and placed it on top of the desk.
"So, each of us has a drawer like this. That's where we keep our personal items like our keys, phone, and money. We don't need any of this when we go work at the café, so we just leave it here."
"Why... are you doing it like that? Aren't you scared that someone would... steal?"
'Steal!? No! We all trust each other very much. The worst that ever happened was when Oreo forgot a half-eaten yogurt inside her drawer and went to work for five days."
"A yogurt?"
"Haha. Yes... It's a long story. Anyway, let's make you a personal drawer."
She pulled a stack of blank labels from another drawer and detached one of them. She then grabbed a bunch of markers of different colors and showed them to me.
"What color do you want for your name? I think blue suits you. It was the color of your face when you first showed up at the café."
"Ashaaa! That's mean!"
"Haha. Okay, let's just use black. It's easy to read."
I nodded.
After writing my name on the label, she slid it in the plastic sheath in front of the drawer and placed it back in the dresser.
"There. It's yours. You can put your stuff in it."
"Thank you."
I didn't have much on me; some keys, a few dollars, and a couple of ID cards. My unemployment was deposited in my bank account directly, so I had no cash on me.
"You don't use a bank, Asha?"
"Oh yeah, we all have a bank account. Lucy is trying to educate us because some of the pets are pretty bad with money."
"... Like Trixie?"
"Oh my God, yes. Trixie is the worst with money. Lucy said that we could only spend part of our income from the café, and the rest is going to our savings accounts for when we are ready to move on. When it's payday, a sum is deposited automatically in our bank, but she gives us a portion of it in cash to enjoy life outside the café. She also said that if we spent more than our cash amount, she would fire us."
"Hehe. She would not do that."
"I know, but it's better not to take the risk. You'll have to talk to her about this. You are not one of her pets, so I can't see her controlling your finances."
I scratched my head. Asha just said something that made me think. Now that I moved into the pethouse, I didn't need to pay rent anymore, and I didn't need to pay for food either, so money kind of lost its relevance.
"I... I don't need money."
"What? What do you mean?"
"I have no rent, and you said there is always food here."
"Yes, but don't you want to spend money on fun stuff?"
