"Honey, I'm home!"
Katerina laughed to herself as the only response was a curious *mrow?* from her cat. The silky orange feline didn't stir from where she had been lounging in a sunbeam, but treated Kat to a yawn and few seconds of loud purring upon hearing her name before returning to her nap.
"Love you too," said Kat, dropping her purse next to the door and sparing Honey a scratch behind the ears before collapsing onto the couch with a sigh. It had been a long, hard day at work, complete with a shouting boss and a few tearful moments where she was sure she'd be fired for misplacing a file, and she wanted nothing more than a long, scented bath and a glass of wine.
The wine she could manage, but her tiny apartment bathroom did not feature a bathtub. A nice hot shower would have to do. First, though, a few more minutes of lying insensate on the couch.
Hours later, Kat awoke with a start. A few moments of confusion ensued before she realized she'd drifted off. It was dark out now, moonlight streaming in through the open window. Kat frowned at that. Had she opened the window when she got home? The weather was mild enough, but she rarely left the window open, worrying that her cat would escape and get lost. She must have opened it assuming she would be awake to supervise.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she got up and closed the window, then went searching for Honey. She found her in the bedroom, pawing at the closet door. Kat kept the catnip treats in there, and evidently Honey though she deserved some for staying indoors even though the window had been open. Kat laughed at the thought and scooped the little furball into her arms.
"Not so fast, little lady. You haven't even had dinner yet!"
----
Having fed herself and her feline companion, Katerina finally felt ready for that shower. She undressed in the bedroom, not even bothering to turn the lights on, and tossed her clothes haphazardly onto the floor as they came off. Naked, she considered just going to bed as she was. She was incredibly tired, and felt like her nap on the couch had only made her sleepier. Hands on her bare hips, she surveyed the bed, which she had made up rather hastily that morning in her rush to get to work on time. Although the baby-blue comforter was wrinkled in odd places and a little skewed, it did look awfully cozy...
The king-size bed was the nicest piece of furniture in the 26-year-old's apartment, having come to her only secondhand rather than third or fourth. Being the youngest of four had its pros and cons, but Kat firmly considered the hand-me-downs to be among the pros. Why pay for furniture when you could get an older brother's old bedframe *and* mattress completely for free? Either one would have cost her a pretty penny new, probably more than she could afford.
As luxurious as it looked, Kat knew she would sleep better if she were clean. With one more longing look at her comforter, she grabbed a towel and headed into the adjoining bathroom.
Kat's bathroom was tiny and cramped, as if whoever had designed the apartment had left this room till last and realized too late that they hadn't left enough space. The toilet was wedged awkwardly into a corner, requiring Kat to practically fold herself in half when she had to sit on it, and she was a fairly small person. It was lucky she had never brought a man home since she moved in here two years ago; anyone much taller than her would have trouble getting in there.
The shower wasn't much better. It was the kind with a semi-transparent plastic door, only the room was barely large enough to allow the door to swing out. Kat always had to maneuver a little carefully to get in.
After starting the water running and hanging her towel near the shower door for easy access, she took a moment to examine her figure, or what she could see of it in the small mirrored cabinet above the sink. With her work schedule, she hadn't had much time to hit the gym lately, but she was still fairly toned. Her position was supposedly a desk job, but she ended up on her feet much of the day, running back and forth with messages, files, and coffee orders, so she was far from sedentary. She was still a little curvier than she really would have liked to be, but that had been the case her whole life, no matter how much time she spent on the treadmill.
With a sigh, Kat turned away from the mirror. Reaching up, she released her hair from the bun she kept it in for work, allowing the silky brown waves to tumble down her bare back until they just brushed the curve of her ass. Normally a practical sort of girl, Kat's long hair was her one indulgence. She had been growing it out since she was thirteen, and took a lot of pride in keeping it healthy. The more expensive hair products required to achieve that were one of the few non-essentials she was willing to splurge her meager paychecks on.