37. A Dark Clowder on the Horizon
Thursday Afternoon
Jenny was feeling very pleased with herself as she left the local office for what might be the last time. It was always nice to make new friends, and it was especially nice to make new Pet friends, at least to her way of thinking. She and Kara had enjoyed getting to know each other as people during their actual lunch hour, trading biographies and learning that they had a fair amount in common aside from their desire to be sexy animals sometimes. Kara had two children as well, a son who was a little older than Maddie and a daughter who was twenty, and actually attended the same college as Jenny's girls. She tried to cautiously sound Kara out about whether or not her kids might be into petplay as well, but the other woman didn't seem to get the hint so Jenny let the matter drop for the time being.
Knowing that there would be an empty house waiting for her, Jenny decided to swing by the pet boutique to see if Hoshi was working. She'd tried messaging the younger woman a couple of times but got no response, so she was a little worried about just dropping by. Still, it wasn't like she was inviting herself to Hoshi's home or anything like that. The worst that could happen was that the girl wouldn't be there or would be too busy to chit-chat, in which case Jenny could just pick up some treats for Bubbles.
As it turned out, the worst that could happen was a little bit beyond Jenny's expectations. When she arrived at the pet store Hoshi was indeed behind the counter, but she didn't look anything like the chipper, cheerful girl she usually was. Her expression was glum, her shoulders were sagging, and she had apparently scrubbed the smiling face from the 'O' in her name tag. Jenny frowned as she approached the counter, not the least because Hoshi had noticed when she entered and blushed, turning away and looking at the floor.
"What's wrong, Hoshi?" she asked with concern. When the younger woman stayed resolutely silent Jenny started to get really worried. "Please, talk to me," she asked quietly and urgently.
Hoshi took a deep breath and mumbled, "I'm not supposed to talk to you anymore."
Jenny was gobsmacked. Of all the things she had considered might be wrong, she had completely failed to imagine such a situation. Becoming somewhat angry, Jenny asked, "Who told you that?" There really seemed to be only a couple of possibilities, and this time Jenny's guess was correct.
"Sir and Ma'am," Hoshi said quietly, still not making eye contact.
"Are one or the other of them in the back room?" Jenny inquired, struggling to maintain her temper.
Hoshi nodded and confirmed, "They both are."
"I'll go have a word with them," said Jenny sternly, marching toward the back room and ignoring the 'Employees Only' sign on the door.
Ma'am was making tea in the small break area and looked up with surprise, then got a very cold expression when she saw who it was. "I figured we'd be seeing you sooner or later," the other woman observed, eying Jenny's catty attire and accoutrements with much less appreciation than before.
"Care to explain why you're telling Hoshi who she can and cannot spend time with?" Jenny demanded, doing her best to remain civil despite her outrage.
"That depends," responded Ma'am. "Do you care to explain why you convinced her it was okay to stop wearing clothes in public?"
Jenny was baffled. "What does that have to do with anything?" she asked, genuinely perplexed. "She's a petgirl; as long as she's got her collar on, she can wear as much or as little as she wants."
Ma'am set aside her tea and raised her voice, almost yelling, "She wasn't a petgirl until after she fucked you and whoever else was at your house on Monday! She was a normal, happy girl who enjoyed being our pet a few times a week! Now she wants to be a petgirl all the time! She wants to work the counter naked except for her leash! She opened the store Tuesday morning, and when we got in, she was crawling around on the floor fetching things for a customer with her mouth!" Ma'am's voice had risen steadily during her tirade, and Sir had emerged from the office as his wife finished shouting.
"But why is that a problem?" yelled Jenny. "If that's who she wants to be, she's only unhappy because you're telling her she's abnormal for being herself!"
Sir put his hand on his wife's shoulder, temporarily stalling further argument, and calmly said, "We're running a pet boutique, Jenny, not a petgirl club. She won't get into any trouble for being a petgirl, obviously, either from us or from the law, but we could lose our business license if she's working for us in that capacity. Kids shop here, and if only one parent had complained, that's the end of the store and her job. We told her the same thing Tuesday that I'm about to tell you now. If she insists on being a petgirl all the time, she has to find a job somewhere else, and she'll have to find other people to play with, because that's a bridge too far for us, especially if she forces us to fire her."
Jenny's anger abated somewhat in the face of the calm explanation, and she couldn't help but admit that some of his points were entirely valid. "So, how did you get from those reasons to telling her not to talk to me anymore?" she inquired more evenly.
Sir looked a little uncomfortable and admitted, "A bit of jealousy and anger, I suppose. We were happy to share her and ourselves with you, and ordinarily we wouldn't have cared too much that you two got together for playtime with someone else, although it's nice to be told. But like I said, it was all a game before and the boundaries were well established. Suddenly she's treating it as a lifestyle instead, and talking about you and your friend like you're all in some kind of cult or something. We got scared. We thought you were just a woman reaching a new phase of life, an empty-nester, looking for some sexy adventures. Apparently it's more than that, and we care about Hoshi and don't want her to go down that road."
Jenny eyed Sir and Ma'am thoughtfully for a while, then said, "Well, you're right. I guess it is more of a lifestyle for me than just a game. But we're definitely not a cult, and we weren't trying to brainwash Hoshi. But if she likes being a petgirl, I guess the question is, how far are you two going to go to try to stop her?"
Ma'am and Sir exchanged uncertain looks and then they both shrugged. "Honestly, we were hoping not to have to find out," said Ma'am with a sigh. "Are you going to force the issue? Tell her to quit her job?"
It was Jenny's turn to look uncertain and she admitted, "No, but if you're putting her in a position where she has to choose your job or being my friend, I'm damn sure going to make certain she knows that I won't abandon her."
Turning on her heel, Jenny marched back to the counter and slapped her hand on it, startling Hoshi and making her look up. "Hoshi, they explained the situation to me. I'm sorry that you're in the position of having to make a choice. Obviously I don't want you to lose your job, and I understand that they're in an awkward position about the whole pet thing, too, but if you eventually decide that being a pet means more to you than working here, come find me. Hell, come find me even if all you need is a place to be yourself for a while. I'll never turn you away."
Jenny leaned across the counter and gave Hoshi a kiss on the cheek, tasting the salt of tears that were leaking from the girl's eyes. She patted her friend goodbye and walked out the door without a backward glance.
