Steph gets a scare

It is a pleasant afternoon, although still cold, with light sunshine and rare clouds and the gentlest breeze.

The moment the limo vanished out of sight, Steph let out a sigh and slumped over.

"I'm so tired." She thought. "I really hope this gets easier."

She straightened herself out again, after a few moments, and preformed a few stretches, showing the white skin below her belly button as her shirt rose. She then massaged her sore cheeks.

"Smiling this much really can't be good for me…" She thought. "Come on, Steph, it's only a few more hours… and then tomorrow and the day after that…

"No. Don't think like that – take it one day at a time. Remember who this is for." Steph clenched her fists and, with a determined expression, and her characteristic smile, she headed to work.

On her way there, she happened to see a small cat and squatted down beside it and let it some to her.

"How cute are you?" Steph asked. She giggled when the cat came over to her and rubbed her little head against her hand. "Are you hungry?"

She took out a biscuit from her bag that she hadn't had time to eat at school. Just as she put it in front of the cat, someone pushed her over.

"Mean old lady, don't hurt Sam or-" Steph pushed herself up and turned to see who addressed her. It's a dark-skinned little boy. "Or big brother will beat you up!"

"I wasn't going to hurt-"

"Liar!" He shouted, not letting Steph have a chance to defend herself. "Stupid old lady."

Steph felt tears come to her eyes, she turned to wipe them so that the boy wouldn't see.

"It's big brother." Steph turned around again and saw another boy much taller than the little brother, probably taller than herself and even Linda. And he is muscular too, it showed through his tight polo shirt. "Big bother, this girl tried to poison Sam. Rough her up."

"Right..." The boy replied, his eyes were on Steph, as he spoke to his little brother. "Mum's calling you, so you better get going."

"But I wanna see."

"Go on now, don't make me ask you again."

After one last scowl at Steph, the little one ran into a house nearby. The big brother watched him go in before holding out a hand to Steph. She accepted after some hesitation, and the boy pulled her to the house.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Could I ask you something?"

Steph nodded softly. She was, indeed, frightened by this strange boy and his serious tone.

"Were you really trying to hurt our cat?"

"N-No. No, I was just…" Steph couldn't hold it in any more and started to cry.

"Hey, don't cry." The boy said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Look, no one got hurt, and I'm not angry, but the stuff in biscuits are bad for cats."

"I'm really sorry." Steph sobbed.

"It's fine, and I'm sorry for scaring you when you were only trying to be nice." The boy said. "Next time, just ask before feeding someone's pet, alright, or you might end up doing more harm than good."