Chapter 4

Tuesday morning at breakfast, I told Gus that I was going to see the people at the agency near here about a job.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" he asked, concerned.

"Yes, I'm tired of the drive into the city, and I'm tired of having to dodge the office manager where I work all of the time."

"Is he bothering you?" Gus asked, in a very serious tone.

"He thinks he's a great lover, and he's all hands."

"Let me know if you need help."

"I can handle him," I replied, confidently.

I found the new agency easily. It wasn't too far from my apartment or from Gus's house. The owner and manager was an older man. He seemed very pleasant when I inquired about a position there. It seems that one of their people had left just last week to have a baby and wouldn't be returning, so there was a position open. I told him where I was working and what my training and experience were. He seemed quite happy with me, and said that I could start any time. I explained that I needed to give my notice at work but that I could start next Monday if that was acceptable. It was fine with him.

I phoned Gus on the way to work and told him that I had gotten the new job. He was pleased. When I got to work, I went to Hank's office and told him that I was leaving at the end of the week. He wasn't happy about that at all.

"What's wrong with you, Zoe?" he asked. "That other firm isn't nearly as big as ours and doesn't do the amount of business that we do or have a reputation in the business like ours. You'll never get anywhere there."

"I won't have to drive all the way into the city either," I told him.

"Surely, it's not about money. They can't be paying you as much as you make here," he went on, obviously not hearing me.

"No, Hank. They are paying me less, but I won't have to drive all the way here," I nearly shouted at him.

"You don't need to shout," he said. "I just don't understand you at all, Zoe."

Everybody in the office soon knew that I was leaving. Gena came over later to talk.

"That man of yours must be something," she said, "for you to be giving up a job here and go to work out in the sticks."

"I told you that I was tired of driving in here," I said, "Gus only made the decision easier."

"Well, I hope he's worth it," Gena said before she went back to her desk.

Friday afternoon finally came around. I had started to clean out my desk when Hank called me into his office.

"Have a seat," he said as he closed the door and I heard him lock it. Wolf's hearing had its advantages.

"I'm really sorry to see you leave, Zoe," he continued, standing behind my chair. "You've been a great asset to the firm," he continued as he reached out to cup my breast.

"Stop that, Hank," I warned him. "Don't you mean that my ass has been good for the company's image, also my breasts and face?" I asked.

"Come on, Zoe. You know that I have always liked you. Why do you act so standoffish?"

"Because I don't like you, Hank," I said, "and I don't want you touching me. You've tried it with all of the younger women in the office." I had already closed my fist and was extending my claws when Gus suddenly appeared next to me. Hank was really surprised and squealed, especially when Gus plucked him off of his feet by his shirt collar.

"Leave my girlfriend alone, little man," he said in a low snarl in Hank's face, "If you don't, I'll have you for dinner." He then dropped him back to the floor. Hank hastily scurried behind his desk in retreat.

"Who ... who are you? How did you get in here?" he demanded.

"This is my fiancé, Gus," I told Hank in a pleasant voice. "He came here to insure that I didn't have any trouble this afternoon."

"Well, take him and get out of here," Hank mumbled in a voice that betrayed his fear only too well. I could smell the fear, but by now I had retracted my claws and opened my hands.

When we came out of the office together, everyone was watching. It seems they had all heard Hank squeal when Gus plucked him off his feet. I could see all of the women eying Gus as we walked back to my desk. Gena was there in a flash.

"Is this your new man?" she asked, almost panting.

"Gena, this is Gus, my fiancé," I said, loud enough for all of the others to hear, also.

"I'm very glad to meet you," Gena said. "Boy, you sure work fast Zoe. I guess you wanted to get him off the market before someone else grabbed him."

"No, Gena. Gus and I are kindred spirits. We have a lot in common. That's why I like him," I said, defensively.

As I finished putting the last of my things in the box that I had scrounged, all of the women at work came over to wish me well and to get a good look at Gus. He merely smiled. When I was done, and the women had left, he picked up the box, and we departed.

Later in the car, on the way home, I had to know.

"How did you know what was happening?"

"Tiger came to work with you today. She sensed your unease and decided you might need some help. She transported into your car and rode in with you. Nobody notices a sleeping cat or thinks it unusual. When Hank called you into the office, she transported in under the desk. She had already called me. I just used her as a beacon to home in on when she said it was time."

"But Hank was behind the desk after that, didn't he see her?"

"No, she had already transported back out to the car. She's asleep in the back seat now."

"But should you have done that? Won't that raise a lot of suspicion. No one saw you come in, but everyone saw you come out," I said.

"There's a back door to his office. Haven't you ever noticed it? I could have come in that way. The lock is permanently unlocked, now. Tiger has a real thing for picking locks.

"OK, if you say so," I finally agreed.

"So, when did I become your fiancé?" Gus asked me.

"The minute you stole my heart you big lug,"I replied.

"When was that?"

"When you first stuck that big dick of yours in me and made me scream," I told him.

"Oh, OK!"

"Is that all you have to say," I asked.

"Um ... no. I guess I need to get you a ring."

"That would be nice," I assured him.

When we got home, I just left the stuff in the car. I would need it on Monday. I did pick Tiger up and carry her into the house. I never realized how heavy an eighteen-pound cat is.

"Thank you, Tiger, for watching out for me," I told her.

"Your welcome," she replied. "And I'm not fat, just a little chubby," she added, in indignation.

We had dinner and then went into the den. Gus wore the both of us out Friday night, and we slept late on Saturday. When we finally did got up, we sat in the hot-tub for a while. I felt much better when we got out later, but I still needed to go for my run.

When I got back and showered, we had brunch. Then Gus took me to a jewelry store to see a woman who he knew there.

"Zoe this is Tess. She's a jewelry designer. We have worked together some. She will be showing you some of her work. See if there is something that strikes your fancy!" Gus told me.

Tess was a little older than I am with blond hair, about 5'-6" tall, but around 160 pounds. She was a hefty girl. She had some fairly nice things in her collection. I didn't care for all of it but one piece in particular caught my eye. It looked like a wolf's head. There were two small red rubies for eyes, a large diamond made the mouth, making it look like it was swallowing something. There were two smaller diamonds where the ears would be. I loved it, instantly.

"Oh, this one definitely," I said, when I saw it.

"I told you," Gus said to Tess.

"Yes, I guess you know her pretty well," she said to him. Then to me, "Gus told me on Wednesday that you would like that ring. It's the one that we designed together. He did the original in iron with glass gems. Then I did the smaller copies in gold with real gems. I'm glad that you like it. I haven't sold many of that design. It only appeals to certain people."

"I didn't know that you did jewelry," I said to Gus on the way home.

"I don't. I wanted to learn how to set gems in some of the edged wares that I make and Tess offered to help if I would show her how to do metal work in the fire and on the anvil. It was a pretty one-sided agreement. She got a lot more out of it than I did, but I did do the ring with her, and I'm glad that you like it."

"Oh, yes. How could I pass up anything with a wolf in it?" I asked.

"Good," he said with a smile.

When we got home, Gus went into the living room and came back with a small box, and handed it to me.

"I have this for you, too," he said. 'This' was a pendant. It was a wolf's head in iron with red stones for eyes, yellow stones in the ears, and white stones like teeth in the mouth, and it hung from a gold chain. I was amazed.

"Thank you, Gus. This is amazing!" I breathed as I put it on. It hung down in my cleavage. Initially, it was cold but warmed up very quickly. I didn't notice though, because I was in Gus's arms and we were way to busy. After dinner, we talked about me moving in here and getting married. We decided on the third Saturday in October. That would give us plenty of time to get ready, and there was a pretty good moon then, too.

Monday at work, I called my apartment manager and told him that I was moving out. He informed me that since it was after the tenth of the month, I would have to pay for October, even if I wasn't there. If he got the apartment rented during October, I would get some of the money returned, depending on when it was rented. I wasn't happy, but what could I do, it was in the contract that I had signed.

My new job went fine. I managed to get two new accounts and had several renewals. Being a good looking, young woman definitely doesn't hurt, and my new boss was quite happy with my work.

Saturday, we went to the apartment. I packed everything and Gus moved it to the SUV and then he took it to his house while I started cleaning the apartment. We worked on it the rest of Saturday and finished on Sunday morning. Gus took pictures with a digital camera, in case the management disputed the condition that we had left it in.

I spent Sunday afternoon putting my life back together at Gus's. We were both tired on Sunday night and just slept. It hadn't been much of a weekend, but at least that detail was taken care of.

Gus was very busy for the next several weeks. He had a knife show to attend the second weekend of October. I talked to my boss and arranged to be off so I could go with him. I had never been to one and was excited. We packed the SUV on Thursday night and drove most of Friday to get there. Then we did the set-up on Friday evening. We were beat and just collapsed in the hotel on Friday night.

Saturday, we were up early and spent the entire day at the show, either at his table or checking out the rest of the show. I wondered around and looked at all of the displays, grading them from an advertising point of view: a few were great, some were terrible, most were fair, but I had no way to grade the quality of their products. When I returned to Gus's table, I mentioned my observations to him, and he was quite surprised.

Quite a few people stopped at the table to talk to Gus - people that he knew. A lot of other people stopped to look at the knives and things, but also to look at me. People at some of the other tables kidded Gus about bring 'a model' to attract customers. Gus introduced me to all of his friends as his fiancée. Many of them were amazed.