“Mmm. That’s so good.” She wipes her mouth with a napkin.
“I’m glad you like it,” I answer, taking a sip from my glass of water.
She does the same. “I guess you’re not thinking about flirting with me anymore, after seeing me eat so much.”
On the contrary, I find myself more fascinated than ever, but I don’t tell her that.
“I wouldn’t have brought you here if I didn’t want you to eat to your heart’s delight,” I point out, maybe a little facetiously but it makes her laugh, which was the point.
“You have a point.” She sets down her glass. “You know what would have been nice? Unlimited drinks and I don’t mean just water.”
“Yeah.” I nod. “Drinks don’t come cheap at restaurants here. But we can go to a vending machine and get some soda, if that’s what you want.”
She taps her fingers on her empty glass. “Actually, I think I might want something stronger than soda.”
“KAMPAI!” CLARISSA SHOUTS as she raises her third mug of beer, some of it spilling over the brim and trickling down the glass.
Then she gulps as much of it down as she can, which is about a fourth of the glass, before setting it down on the counter, making a satisfied sound after.
Well, she drinks like a human.
“Are you sure you don’t want another?” She stares at my empty glass.
I shake my head, my jaw cradled in the palm of my hand. “I’m fine.”
Alcohol isn’t really good for us Cats, nor can we hold it well. I’m already feeling the buzz.
“Suit yourself.” She takes another gulp.
“Do you usually drink this much?” I ask her, noting her red cheeks.
“No,” she confesses, moving her mug away from her lips, which she wipes with the back of her hand. “But you tend to drink more when you’re upset.”
I sit up, my curiosity piqued.
“May I ask why?”
She strokes her glass. “Well, for one, it’s because everyone seems to want to talk about my parents when I’ve made it very clear I don’t want to talk about them. They’re dead. End of story.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
Clarissa frowns into her beer. “Why is everyone saying that?”
I rub my temples. “Oh, no, you misunderstand. What I meant was I’m sorry that it got brought up.”
“Oh.”
“You’re the only one who has the right to bring up stuff like that.”
“Damn right.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “That’s not the worst of it, though. The worst part is that I’m starting to feel like I don’t really know myself. I mean, I seriously have no idea who I am!”
Which means that even she doesn’t know what kind of primal she is. Interesting.
“And I got so confused and frustrated and people were trying to cheer me up but I just pushed them away.”
I wave that off. “Well, people should know when to leave you alone. If not, then they’re asking to be pushed away.”