The Unexpected Mate

Chapter 2 : Little Cousin

Her phone kept making low vibrations, indicating that they were still chatting in the group. Elinor didn't dare check it. She was mostly worried about her deadlines.

Work was as hectic as ever, so in order to complete some work, she'd dedicate her weekends to the computer and work until she fell asleep. Her cat is the only comfort in life.

If she wanted to join them for the weekend, it was essential to complete all the work. It was Wednesday. She had two days to complete all the work and get away.

It didn't sound as hard as it was.

The document loaded on the computer screen. The harmful light reflected over her rimless glasses until seven. Once she was done reviewing the document, Elinor made a small draft of all the changes that had to be made and shut down her work station.

A few employees left when she did, some even before her and a handful remained in their seats with their work pending, casting envious eyes at the ones who were leaving.

Elinor's straight back dropped as soon as she breathed in the biting cold air. It was just the beginning of October, so the weather was chilly but not to the point where they needed coats. The city was bustling at that time. Traffic was at it's peak and the markets were open.

Elinor took a detour to the supermarket and got some groceries and cat food for two days before returning home. The place where she lived was nothing special.

It was a common one bedroom apartment on the fifth with a view of the city. The building was in a decent enough location where she didn't have to worry about being mugged, and the rent was covered just fine with her current salary.

She turned on the lights with a flick of the switch. The living room lit up instantly, giving a glimpse of her ginger cat who was peacefully sleeping in her bed with a few soft toys surrounding her. Although Elinor lived paycheck to paycheck every month, she never skimped on her cat's comfort. That cat was worshipped every day after work and was kissed a few times before leaving the next morning.

Too bad the cat was grumpy all the time. Elinor was looked down upon by her cat as much as her employer. But the difference was that one was human and the other was a lovely cat. Hence, Elinor's tolerance towards both differed accordingly.

With the office bag on the floor, Elinor slumped on the couch. The living room was only big enough to accommodate one full-sized couch, a small table and a TV on the wall. It was enough for someone without a social life and big enough for her cat to roam around. The couch had miscellaneous items on it. Dodging a towel and a few random cereal bits, Elinor turned over to face her ceiling.

"Ruskin...." Elinor called out in a desperate tone. The ginger cat meowed and scratched its head a few times. It was reluctant to leave the comfort of its bed. But the owner called it a few more times so it stood up and strutted over.

Elinor held up her arms to catch Ruskin when it jumped. The cat was fat. Elinor's only comfort was rubbing its soft belly and running her hands through the silky fur. Although the cat squirmed in her arms, Elinor was way too deeply in love with it.

She ruffled and squeezed until the tightness in her heart was gone. Then she placed the cat on the couch with its toys and left to wash up. The apartment was small yet equipped with all the things a person would need to live a decent life. The washroom was big enough to have a bathtub and a big enough sink.

Elinor took a shower, changed into a loose shirt and shorts and put on a sheet mask. Stress wasn't just a mental problem, it showed on the skin too. After putting on the mask, Elinor laid down on the bed for twenty minutes, skimming through the messages in the college friends group. Those people were still as lively as they were in college.

With a sigh, she removed the sheet mask and went to prepare dinner. It was just her and the cat, so it was nothing fancy. The cat got its premium cat food, and for the single human, a leftover vegetable and egg fried rice was enough.

Elinor's life had few activities that could be considered fun. Other than cuddling the fluffy ginger cat, the most interesting time of the day had to be the sitcom she watched every day after work. Sometimes she would miss it due to overtime, but thankfully it had a repeat telecast on weekends.

She watched the sitcom while eating dinner post eight pm. Since it was late and Elinor had to go to work again the next morning, she didn't sit to watch it for long. Once the food was eaten, she washed the dirty dishes of the day and went to sleep.

The next morning was a typical Thursday morning when she woke up to her cat sitting on her face butt down. As much as she loved her fluff ball, waking up to it's butt was not a good way to start the day. Hence, the cat was given a few spankings right after Elinor woke up.

"It's going to be a long day, so be good and try not to break anything at home. Mom doesn't have the money to replace it, understand?" Elinor instructed Ruskin before heading out to work.

Pants and shirt were the comfiest pair she could find for the day. Thursdays were the worst days of the entire week. It was close to the weekend, which made everyone excited, but they also couldn't wait for it to end. It felt like the longest day of the week. For Elinor, it was hell as it was for everybody else.

Greeting the receptionist, Elinor made her way to the sixth floor where her department was. They had thirty-three staff members on the sixth floor, which was quite a crowd for the amount of space they had. Among those humans were a few potted plants for the sake of it. Maybe the director thought it would make the office look more like human habitat than hell.

It never worked though.

When Elinor reached her desk, she found another file on the computer. On the file was a sticker with the word URGENT written on it with erasable marker. She rolled her eyes and sat with a huff.

It wasn't new, but it made her man every damn time. She laid out all the important items in her bag and began working. Rimless glasses stared at the computer screen like they were mortal enemies. She hated this job.

"Elinor, make a copy of these for me, will you? I need to finish this last page and submit it within ten minutes!!" One of her colleagues came out of her small cubicle and gave her a stack of papers. Elinor glared for a few seconds before getting up to do the job. Well, it wasn't like she could refuse... She'd asked for help like this multiple times.

The machine stuck ten times in the twenty minutes that it took to copy all those pages. Then she brought the hot copied papers to the colleague with a heavy heart. She watched the colleague run into the director's office.

Following her arrival, within three minutes, came the director's loud criticisms. All the employees flinched and buried themselves in their computers, including Elinor. She was in that colleague's place yesterday.

The girl came out of the office with teary eyes and dumped the papers into the trash can on her way back. Elinor pursed her lips in annoyance.

Those were twenty minutes wasted on nothing!

During lunch time, Elinor usually ate in silence. Sometimes she'd join others in the cafeteria, or just get some food and eat at her desk. Today she wasn't in the mood to socialize and, since work had to be finished by tomorrow, she chose to eat at her desk. She took a sandwich from the cafeteria and ate it while typing on the computer.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated. It was a long vibration which meant a call. Elinor wiped her hands and picked up her phone, only to see it was her aunt calling.

Elinor answered, "Hey aunt Rissa."

Elinor rarely had contact with her relatives ever since she graduated. Her parents got divorced when she was in high school. It wasn't wrong to say that neither of them were really present in her life. After graduating and getting a job, she cut off all forms of contact with them. However, she had a pretty good relationship with her relatives. They often checked up on her and helped on some occasions.

Although contact was rare, it was still there. Unlike her parents who didn't worry about her. Both of them assumed that she was doing well and didn't bother asking her. Well, Elinor was not about to bother about them either. Each was happy on their own.

"Eli! It's me!" the young girl answered instead of the gentle aunt. Elinor smiled at her cousin's enthusiastic tone.

"Ginny? Why did you call?"

Ginny turned 14 a few months ago, which became a huge headache for her mother. The young girl had a child's mind but wanted to do things like an adult. It was a challenge for Elinor's aunt to keep Ginny under control. Now she suddenly called Elinor like this. She was wondering what had happened.

"I am coming to Seattle!!" Ginny said loudly and laughed, showing off her excitement.

Elinor was surprised, "Coming here? Aunt and uncle as well? And when?" As far as she remembered, it wasn't vacation time yet.

Ginny giggled a few times and replied, "Nope, just me! Something came up at school, so they gave us a two-week vacation. I wanted to go on a trip with my friends but mom didn't allow me to go. So I said I wanted to go to Seattle to stay with you for the time being. They wanted me to ask you first. I thought it was unnecessary. You won't refuse, right?!"

Elinor would definitely refuse if she was given the choice. It wasn't that she didn't like Ginny. She simply wasn't free enough to take care of her. Elinor barely cooked for herself. How would she feed a fourteen-year-old growing girl? And she was out all day working. Ginny would be bored to death all by herself. It wasn't ideal to keep Ginny at home like this.

But here Ginny didn't give her a chance to refuse. When she said it like that, Elinor couldn't say no.

"O-Of course. When are you coming here?" Elinor asked with a distressed frown.

"Tomorrow! I'll be there in the morning!" Ginny said.

"Okay then. I'll pick you up from the airport. Is your mom around?"

"Yes."

"Give her the phone."

"Okay!"

"Elinor dear, I am so sorry to inconvenience you like this. Ginny is not ready to listen to us. It was either going on a trip with her friends or spending two weeks with her. We thought it was much better to leave her with you ..."

Elinor couldn't bring herself to say the things she was about to say or refuse the small request. After all, these relatives were the ones who still asked her if she was okay and inquired how she was doing all by herself. Hosting a young cousin shouldn't be that hard, right?