Chapter 4

Stephanie returned and made her way to her office while holding Titan in her hands. Her phone vibrated, so she pulled it out of her pockets to see the message before she even got there.

I'll stop by tonight, so make sure you have something to pay. No excuses anymore. It's already passed the deadline!

She sighed and flicked her head up as she walked on until she arrived at her office.

"Meow!" The cat meowed softly, while Stephanie kept moving,

As she approached their office, Titan was silent.

When she did, Ms. Gonzales, her supervisor, greeted her right away and started to raise an eyebrow when she noticed Stephanie holding the cat.

From the surface, Ms. Gonzales appeared unremarkable and typical, but inside, she was a bitch who matched her enormous size and terrified the bulk of the young workers.

She was known among the interns as "Big Mama" because of her size and her stern demeanor. The business required her expertise in the human resources department despite her rigid tactics.

Given her educational and professional background, Big Mama has been the most qualified employee, according to the seniors Stephanie has spoken to.

Ms. Gonzales has been on the lookout for Stephanie for the past thirty days, keeping track of every action and activity that needs to be completed.

In fact, she was the one who pressured Stephanie to finish the report despite the fact that it was getting close to dawn, which resulted in meddling in Titan's covert affairs.

Ms. Gonzales cleared her throat and moved toward Stephanie as she and her boss exchanged glances, holding a document in one hand and her arms crossed.

She looked at Titan, rolled her eyes, and then glared at Stephanie, which caused the young intern to gasp and become more and more anxious.

"Stephanie, what is this?" Everyone turned to look at Ms. Gonzales' yelling.

The cat widened its pupils in response, pressing its tail to its stomach and quickly wagging it while Stephanie flinched in surprise.

"Eh, Ms. Gonzales, I'm sorry." She was gradually becoming so overwhelmed with anxiety that she was unable to gather her thoughts in time to make an explanation.

The cat moved its head to look at Stephanie, who was already flushed and at Ms. Gonzales.

"Is this your cat?" Even though Titan was purring softly, the supervisor petted the cat by placing a palm on its head. Yet, she winced in fear of being harmed by some idiotic home cat.

Stephanie rubbed her hand against the cat's head and petted it to soothe its aggression.

The cat then began to slowly blink whenever she placed a touch on his head as he listened to the two people converse.

Stephanie responded, "Yes, Ms. Gonzales."

"Why did you choose to bring it here, exactly?" Ms. Gonzales paused and raised her gaze to the ceiling before glaring angrily. "Does this place look like a veterinary hospital to you?"

"Nobody could look after him at home while my relatives were on vacation today, so I thought I could bring it here," Stephanie reasoned, looking down.

She raised her face to gaze at Ms. Gonzales, shaking her head and clucking, after looking down to notice Titan's fur standing up.

"Haven't you read the Titan's Rule Book, Stephanie?"

Stephanie gave a nod. "Yes, I did."

She was drenched in sweat and had a throbbing in her chest as she worried that inviting Titan into the workplace may harm her reputation and harm her chances of being evaluated after the probationary period.

She will have fewer chances to be hired as a regular employee the more demerit points she will receive from senior officials. Furthermore, it wasn't the result she wished would never occur to her.

She had a number of reasons why she needed the job, so she wouldn't dare put Ms. Gonzales' patience to the test.

In any other case, it might have an impact on her evaluation outcomes, causing her to lose all she had fought so hard for as an intern. Training. Evening work periods. Living costs.

"You are aware that it is prohibited to bring pets into the workplace, correct?" Ms. Gonzales put her hands on her waist and sighed in frustration.

As she drew nearer to Stephanie's face, her eyes became wider and her brows wrinkled. "Look, Ms. Reyes, it's best to stop attempting to fit into our company if you can't follow basic guidelines like that. You're wasting everyone's time!"

Stephanie, who was in tears, sought to collect herself after hearing those remarks by looking down and staring at Titan with a bloodshot face.

It was then she noticed that the cat had been progressively growling and hissing while staring at Big Mama with dilated pupils.

Before the cat could attack her supervisor, she stepped back and turned the cat to face her shoulder. "Don't worry, Ms. Gonzales. I'll look for places where I could leave it. I promise I'll get back here as soon as I can."

"You better take that away from here." She checked the wall clock nearby. "Alright, I'll give you half an hour... But, please, don't do this again, Stephanie."

"Half an hour?" Stephanie raised her eyebrows, dumbfounded.

Ms. Gonzales cocked her head, raising her eyebrows as well while showing sarcasm on her face. "Why? Is there any problem?"

Stephanie shook her head, even though she thought the time was too short to look for nearby pet care centers, given that the company was in the Central Business District.

She was aware that finding a safe place to leave the cat would be difficult. Despite her reservations, she walked out of the office and toward the main entrance.

Titan was moving quickly and growling and hissing as she got further away from the company grounds.

Stephanie continued walking in the scorching heat of the sun, carrying extra weight due to Titan's size. She grunted as she felt the pressure on her feet and continued walking until the cat escaped her grasp.

She twitched. "Oh my goodness!" When she saw the cat crossing the street, her eyes widened. She tried to run quickly, but the cat was too fast for her.

When she attempted to cross the street while chasing the cat, one of her heels broke off. "Damn it."

She took off her shoes and ran again, but Titan had vanished before she could reach the corner where she had last seen the cat.

Then, she grabbed her phone tucked inside her skirt's pocket and dialed Simon. "Hello, Simon."

"Hey, Stephanie."

"Titan's gone. I lost him."

"Fuck! What do you mean you lost him?"

Stephanie didn't answer.

"Don't tell me... Fuck! Where did you lose him?"

"It's blocks away from the company. I tried to chase him but he was gone."

"Can you manage to find him? I'll talk to the board of directors and explain Titan's absence."

"Okay, I will do..., and thank you for doing so."

After Simon hang up, Stephanie checked her wristwatch and recalled Ms. Gonzales only gave her an hour. It was the main problem.

So, she began to run, with no time to waste, trying to find Titan in every nook and cranny until she lost count of the number of streets and highways she had crossed.

She not only crossed a few streets barefoot, but she also tried entering houses and small shops, hoping to see Titan interacting with other cats.

She began looking for him in various cat shops and cat sellers, including veterinary clinics and alleys, the moment she considered that possibility. She went on to explain her situation to the vet personnel, but to no avail.

Despite the cat's size, they have never seen the cat she described.

Stephanie was exhausted and frustrated when she found herself sitting in a park with her hands pressed against a bench before leaning against the wooden surface. Looking down, she inhaled and exhaled a sigh.

"Sir Titan, where have you gone?" She shifted her gaze from left to right, checking to see if Titan could appear at any time in the lush surroundings.

The park was densely forested, with many trees, bushes, and flowers.

There were stalls nearby where people could buy food and drinks. There were also some buskers and balloon sellers. It was a lively park, but Stephanie was drenched in sweat and was feeling unhappy, which contrasted with the atmosphere.

After a few minutes, she stood and continued walking, bringing her shoes out of the park, until she arrived at a nearby residential area known for the elites. It was a silent area where most rich people live, although it was surrounded by busy streets and skyscrapers.

She then became aware of a cat's growling and hissing sounds. It sounded like it was in trouble.

Even though she wasn't sure if it was Titan, she followed her instincts and followed the noise, hoping to find him once she found the source.

She turned around the corner after crossing several busy streets. Her eyes widened when she saw Titan being grabbed by two men from the local animal control agency who had mistakenly thought they had found a stray cat.

Drenched in sweat, her hair was messed up, her makeup was smudged, and she was a bit disoriented from exhaustion and the heat.

While she didn't think about how embarrassing it was for her to stand in front of these two men, Stephanie ran and was hit by a car, leaving loud screeching sounds from the breaks that were echoing throughout the area.

After being struck, she rolled to the ground in discomfort when she realized one of her feet was dislocated.

The witnesses simultaneously exclaimed, "Oh my gosh!" While some of them went toward her to assist her, others raised their arms to record everything with their phones.

Determined to get her hands on Titan, she stood, shoved people's help, and continued walking with her injured foot as she approached the two men, raising her arm while panting. "Hey!"

The men turned around and saw her in such a state.

"That's my cat."

Surprised by what they saw, the two young men tried to give her a hand but she shoved their hands, yet, they insisted to grab her until she was nearer to the cat.

"You don't look okay, miss. You need to go to the hospital."

Stephanie shook her head. "No, I need my cat."

Without objections, the man handed her the cat.

She immediately hugged Titan tightly and whispered in a soft, high tone. "Are you alright?"

The cat didn't answer back and simply closed its eyes, pressing itself into Stephanie's arms, as they walked back to where she walked from.

She pulled her face and smiled at the two men. "Thank you."

As Stephanie turned her back, the two men were left wondering if she would be alright. They kept calling her attention but she kept ignoring them, too.

"Hey, you need to go to the hospital," the eyewitness and the driver, who had hit her, screamed almost simultaneously as she walked past them. But she simply shook her head, refusing their offer even though she was limping and still disoriented.

***

Titan was still encircling Stephanie's arms as she continued to move. She was embracing the cat tightly all the way there despite having a hurt foot. And it wasn't even close to the company where she was supposedly heading back.

She continued on the road through the grassland that was surrounded by an array of tombstones. They were set up in an array that stretched as far as the eye could see. For those who had left this planet, it was a limitless, wide land.

Stephanie pulled Titan down and touched the stone as she sat on the tombstone she had been seeking. She removed a handkerchief from her pocket.

The cat wandered away, curiously looking about, then came back to Stephanie while her hands traced and wiped the stone with the fabric. She was sobbing as she continued to look at the names engraved on the stone surface.

Her sniffs caught the cat's attention. "Mama, papa, how are you doing today?" Stephanie paused to wipe her tears. "Sorry for not having visited you recently. Work was pretty hectic lately."

She picked up the dried flowers which scattered around and arranged some of them that remained inside the dried bottle. "I didn't even buy you new flowers. What kind of daughter am I?" It was then she started sobbing. "I couldn't even pay the rent. I might lose the house."

She pressed her hands as her cries were getting louder while trying to deny her rough situation.

"But you know what, I managed to get into the Wise Cat Real Estate company," she paused to wipe her tears once more, sniffing. "It was your dream for me, right?" She let out a smile while staring at the stone. "It would have been nice if you were still here to see me going there, working there like the others sending off their children to work."

Titan was sitting close to Stephanie's feet, staring at her as she was sobbing, so Stephanie looked down.

When she noticed that it was too late for her to return to the office and looked at her wristwatch, she started crying again.

Tears continued to moisten her face as she was aware that she would lose her internship.

She flinched when she saw the cat sitting on her lap and creeping. After wiping her tears, she put her lips together and gave the cat a light caress.

"I don't know if you could hear me or understand me right now, Sir Titan, while you're in this form... but, working for your company was my parent's big dream for me."

When Stephanie's hand was placed on the cat's head, the cat remained motionless while slowly blinking, wagging its tail, and closing its eyes.

"I vowed to them that I would realize their aspirations before they passed away. I quickly submitted an application after seeing your job posting, and as a result, I was hired as an intern. I think it was a happy day for me. Not even my cat joined me in the celebration."

She was thinking about something as she was patting it. In retrospect, she might have had reservations about the cat because it was her obnoxious boss.

But at least it wasn't the same feeling as yesterday as Stephanie felt more linked to the cat as a result of what had occurred and what she had done to herself for the cat. That made her think of an earlier beloved cat by the same name who had passed away a few years before.

When she glanced up and saw the clear skies, she grinned and took in the eerie calm of the cemetery. She laughed out loud. "I find it amusing that you share the same name. Titan."

Since she was already several hours behind schedule at work, Stephanie decided to stay there with the cat until she started to get hungry.

When she looked at her watch, she saw that it was already late in the day.

As the sun fell, the blue skies disappeared and the temperature began to drop. She stood and leaned on the rock. Before placing her hand on the chilly surface, she kissed her palm and pressed her parents' tombstone.

"Now, I have to leave. I'll return next time with lovely flowers. I promise."

Before she could move, Stephanie grasped Titan and struggled to raise herself while carrying the cat once again in her arms. She looked down to see Titan's eyes, which were the color of a sunset and sighed as she walked away, limping.

"Meow..."

She nodded in agreement while grinning.

"Yes, I am aware, Sir Titan. You're famished". She muttered once more as she tossed Titan about a little to help support his weight. "You know, sir, you're really heavy."

"Mrrreeooow!"