Hot Shoppe

Hot Shoppe


It was hot.  It was blisteringly hot. But, then, it was Calico and at this time of year a heat wave was more than to be expected, it was a guarantee. Despite the heat, the cats of the Calico had to go about their daily routines. Life couldn't come to a complete standstill because of a bit of adverse weather. Besides, it was days like this that the Sweet Shoppe had its best business. Nothing fought of the heat like a frosty shake or an ice cold fountain soda. And so it was with that thought in mind that Sweetheart opened her shop for business.

Although it was true that the island didn't come to a halt from the sweltering day, the schools did. Many of the island's school facilities were without central air conditioning as they had been in establishment for many years, most before central air conditioning was even invented. So, instead of forcing the children to attempt to suffer through classes which they were sure to be unable to focus on, schools were simply dismissed.

Amber, Sweetheart's younger and only sister, opted to follow her sibling to work. Most families took outings to the beaches or picnics in the meadows, but with their father, Asho, being of a frail constitution, spending great deals of time under the sun, let alone an unusually hot sun, were not options they could partake. But, being a kitten that didn't enjoy the water anyway, Amber didn't really mind. Moreover, she loved helping out in her sister's shop. It wasn't work for her, but rather more like play. She got to follow the other girls around to learn what they did, help tender transactions, earn tips from patrons who found her especially cute and, of course, she could have all the delicious treats she could eat. All this and the Sweet Shoppe even had central air. No, this was definitely not work for the little yellow kitten. After all, when was work ever this fun?

"Hey, Mint!" Amber called out. "The peach jubilee is ready!" she hollered, rushing over to the pass to set the frothy drink on the handoff counter, nearly spilling the thing over. Had Plum not been just behind her to catch the tumbling drink, it surely would have slipped from its precarious perch well above the girl's head.

"Thank you, Plum." Amber all but whispered.

"You're welcome, Amber." she replied. "Just be a little less eager and a little more careful when you had drinks off, alright? You're not as tall as the rest of us so you have to be a little more cautious, alright?"

"Okay." Amber whimpered, dejectedly.

"Oh, come now." Plum began, patting the kittens curly head. "You can't be gloomy when you come to the Sweet Shoppe. Besides, you and I still have to make the cream cake muffins and you can't very well do that with a frown, right?" she sang, tickling the lass vigorously, eliciting a riot of laughter from the depths of her tiny form. "That's better." Plum declared, abandoning her attack now that all was right, once again. At that moment, Mint appeared at the counter, smiling gracefully at the pair.

"This looks wonderful. Did you do this all on your own, then?" she asked of Amber in her heavily accented voice.

"Almost!" the kitten beamed. "Plum helped me with it but I put the whipped cream on and the cherry, too!"

"Well it looks fantastic!" she praised. "Excellent job, kitten." she sang, before spinning on her heel, setting off to serve the delectable delight.

Amber fidgeted and smiled in her wake. Mint was always so kind to her, but was also so refined and sophisticated that praises from her made her feel like she'd accomplished something worthy an esteemed honor.  "Hey, Plum?" she whispered, tugging on the purple cat's skirt. "Why does Mint talk like that?"

"Like what?" Plum asked.

"Like…funny?" the girl tried to explain. "Like her voice is different."

"Oh, you mean her accent!" Plum reasoned. "Mint isn't from Calico, she's from Kitwa. All Kitwanese speak like that. That's why she sounds different from us. It's just the way her people are."

"Oh." she breathed, digesting the information that had been imparted to her. "But, why?" she needed to know.

"Because…because…just because, I guess. All the islands have different dialects…er…they all have people who speak differently. Sugar's family is from Cathal, for example."

"Sugar doesn't sound different." she countered.

" No, but if you ever visit her home, her parents and older siblings speak with a Cathalean accent." Plum explained. "Sugar was born in Cathal, but she didn't live there for very long. She moved to Calico just before she started school so she doesn't have much of a Cathalean accent since she's live here in Calico for most of her life. But, when she gets angry or when she talks to her family, you hear her Cathalean a little."

"Ohhh…" she cooed. "Well, what about-" she started to say when the sound of a maiden's cry resounded throughout the store.


********************************************


"Thank you for waiting. Here is your drink." Mint said, pleasantly, as she presented the peach shake to its customer.

A handsome tom surrounded by his equally handsome friends raised his gaze as the viridian waitress deposited his drink before him. He allowed himself a more than appreciative gaze across the plains of her shapely feminine figure before replying, "No, thank you, Beautiful."

Inwardly Mint flinched. The tom's roving gaze hadn't gone unnoticed by her. In fact, she would have to have been blind to have missed it. A polite glance in her direction she didn't mind, but being devoured by the eyes of a male who wore his desire across his visage as plainly as he wore his nose was just disgusting.  "Is there anything else I can do for you?" she bit out.

"Well," he purred, licking his lips as his hand flew to the hem of her skirt, lifting it to peer beneath its folds, "what else are you offering?"

A piercing shriek left Mint's chest as she snatched her garment from the tawdry paws of her offender. Bright, hot anger blazed across her green eyes as raised her hand to strike the belligerent tom, but before she could even fully draw her arm back for the blow, the male's head came crashing down onto the stainless steel table before him. Mint took a careful step back as she absorbed what was happening and the sight of the powerful male who stood fiercely behind the randy tom. His cinnamon colored hand reached out to grab the shaggy hair of the cat whose face he had just pummeled into the table, roughly pulling him upright. Dazed and confused, the cat looked up into the face of he who had just attacked him and blinked with a mix of surprise and intimidation at the robust individual who held fast to him by the locks on the crown of his head.

"Look here, pal," the newcomer ground out, "I don't know what brought you here today, but if that's the kind of action you're fittin' to find here, you're in the wrong place. This isn't a brothel and these girls aren't seaside whores! If all you want is a piece of tail then you'd better take yourself to a bathhouse or better yet, a bordello, but either way, you'd better not EVER come into this place with this kind of attitude again! Is that clear?" he hissed.

"Y-yeah!" he gulped.

"Good. Now apologize to this girl, NOW!!"

"I- I'm really sorry, ma'am!" he stammered, looking unabashedly sheepish.

"I believe you." Mint said in her usual graceful tone. "And I forgive you."

"Do you want me to kick 'em out, Darlin'?" the cinnamon tom asked.

"No, Boomer." she replied. "I think his words are sincere and I don't think he will try that again. Besides, his nose is bleeding and I don't want him to have to go outside in this heat with an unclean nose. But, thank you, all the same."

"No worries." Boomer said. "I'll fetch him some ice and rags so he can clean himself up. Come on." he beckoned to the lad who instantly leapt to his feet to follow the other tom out of the dining area and into a back region of the establishment. The issue resolved, Mint let out a sigh of relief.

"Mint!?" a voice called. Turning about, Mint smiled kindly at the approaching form of the shopkeeper, her manager and friend, Sweetheart hurried over. "Are you alright? What happened?" she asked, hugging the queen gently.

"I am fine, Sweetheart." she promised, returning the embrace. "It is taken care of. Boomer saw to it."

"Boomer did?" she asked, incredulously. "Just," she started, looking beyond the minty maiden to the table of toms looking everywhere save for her direction, "what happened?"


****************************************************


Tucked away in one of the storerooms of the shop, Boomer tended the male's, whose name he learned was Ricky, injury. Upon examination the injury wasn't as bad as it looked. His nose was fairly undamaged, only bruised a little. Boomer had dammed the bleeding and applied an icepack to reduce the swelling. All in all, Ricky was healing handily.

Ricky was surprised at the level of concern the larger cat afforded him after what he'd done to Mint and how obviously Boomer cared about her. Why was he being so gentle with him now? He found out through the brief time they spent secluded in the storeroom, that Boomer was seven years his senior. Was he feeling guilty for beating up a younger tom? He doubted it, but he couldn't arrive at an answer to it all. It was very puzzling.

"There, that'll do it." Boomer announced, dusting his hands together as he finished up.

"Thank you." Ricky breathed, nervously.

"Ease up, will ya?" Boomer sighed as he left the crate he sat perched upon while he tended the other male. "I'm not gonna attack you…again." he swore, moving to return assorted items he utilized from a first aid kit back to their place.

"Ah…yeah…" he stammered, watching nervously as Boomer went about his tasks. "Look, I'm really sorry!" he blurted at once. "I didn't know she was your mate! I would have never done that if I knew she was your queen, I swear!"

"Hmm?" Boomer mused, glancing over his shoulder as he shoved the kit back onto its place on a nearby shelf. "My mate?" he repeated.

"Yeah! I mean, I didn't know and I am really sorry for it! I just…I'm sorry." he added, quietly.

Boomer studied the other male for a moment, trying to get a hold of the trail of his inaccurate thoughts. "Is that the only reason why you wouldn't have accosted Mint, because she was mated to someone else?"

"Eh?!" Ricky mused. "Ah…well, no that's not…what I meant…I mean…" he groped, struggling to find the words.

Folding his arms over his chest and leaning against the metal floor-shelving, Boomer continued. "Ricky, tell me, have you any sisters?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Seven."

Boomer flinched. "Seven sisters. That's a lot of females in one place."

"I know." Ricky groaned.

Boomer chuckled. "I can only imagine. …but, let me ask you…if Mint had been one of your sisters and someone did to her what you did to Mint, what would you have done?"

Ricky opened his mouth to reply, but closed it as a rush of shame lodged the words in his throat. He sighed, then after a moment he said, "I guess I would have done to him what you did to me."

Pushing himself away from the fixture, Boomer returned to the younger cat's side, settling before him as he sat just moments ago. He reached out his hand toward Ricky's head, earning him an exaggerated flinch from the youth. Ignoring it, he gently placed his hand on his head, giving him an encouraging pat. "Now you understand how I felt."

Ricky blinked. "You…did?" he asked with surprise.

Once again, Boomer chuckled. "Yes, I did. Ricky, Mint is not my mate, she is just a friend. But, I look upon her and the other girls as though they were my own sisters. …well, most of them." he corrected. "They are all very dear to me and I would do anything to keep them safe. As beautiful as they all are, it's not uncommon for the wrong kind of tom to come sauntering in here with the wrong ideas and then…I gotta slug 'em one."

A small remorseful smile touched his lips as he realized the depth of his mistake. "I understand. …I really am sorry."

"I know you are." Boomer said, patting his head once more. "I think you're a good kit. If I didn't believe that, I would've thrown you out as soon as I got my hands on you. Everyone makes mistakes, but as long as we learn from 'em, they're mostly forgivable."

"And it's only because of that that you're still in my store." Sweetheart declared, stepping into the small enclosure with arms folded tightly across her bountiful bosom.

At once, Ricky was on his feet, ears pulled back in a show of submission and regret. "Ma'am, I'm really very sorry!" he apologized. "I didn't…I wasn't thinking and I was just-" he started to explain, but fell silent when Sweetheart waved her hand to silence him.

"Mint already told me what happened. I need not hear it again. Showing off in front of other toms is the single cause of more acts of stupidity and tavern brawls than any other force in the world. Just remember that you were lucky this time. Mint could have had a very big, very jealous mate and if that were the case…well…you'd need more than Boomer putting ice on your nose to set your broken body right."

"Y-yes, ma'am. I realize that now, ma'am. And I'm really sorry."

"I believe you." she sighed. "Now, if you're all cleaned up, you should get back out front. Your friends are beginning to worry about you."

"Thank you, ma'am." he said, hurrying to the door.

"Hey, Ricky!" Boomer called.

"Yes?!" Ricky yelped in surprise, pausing in his escape.

"We should hang out some time."

He blinked in surprise and confusion. "We…us, hangout?" he repeated.

"Sure. I mean, I can't imagine that you have a whole lot of privacy in a house with a gaggle of females. I just figured that you'd want to get out sometime and do guy stuff. Have you ever learned how to fish?" A gentle shake of the head was his answer. "Well, I told my little brother that I would teach him on Sunday. I've got an extra pole if you're interested in learning, too. I'd be happy to show you how."

A beaming glow lit up the young tom's face at the proposal. "Yeah! Definitely! I would…really? Ah, Sunday? Sure!" he stumbled, tripping over his words.

A hearty male chuckled left Boomer as he listened to Ricky's eager words. "Good. Let's meet here Sunday at eight."

"I'll be here!" he cheered. "Thanks, Boomer!" he sang, grinning merrily as he ducked out of the room calling, "See you then!" as he disappeared from sight.

Sweetheart stood dumbfounded after witnessing the exchange between the pair. What had happened between now and the time the lad had harassed Mint to make Boomer go from pummeling the kit to inviting him out for a Sunday excursion?

"He's really not a bad kit." Boomer said, breaking the silence. "Just needs a little guidance, I think."

"A little guidance?" she repeated. "Boomer, he lifted Mint's skirt and acted lewdly and-"

"And if he had more guidance, he may not have acted that way."

She paused. "You think he has no one to guide him?" she asked with concern.

"I think he has no male figure to guide him." he corrected. "He's basically a good kit, but I'm fairly certain he has neither father nor brothers. And with no male role model and surrounded by so many females…he's got seven sisters, by the way," he informed her, "he's lashing out in deplorable ways to assert his masculinity. If there was more of a male presence in his life, I don't think he'd be so wayward, so I don't mind stepping up. If it'll better his life and make him a better tom in the end, it would be enough."

She sighed, clearing the distance between them to envelope her lover in her arms, resting her head against the comfort and strength of his chest. "My sweet Boomer." she cooed. "Always trying to save the world." she whispered, leaning up to meet his lips with her own. "And always seeing the good in people that they don't even notice in themselves."

"It's not a hard thing to see, Love." he whispered, finding her lips as she had found his, kissing her soundly. With practiced ease he pulled his mate more closely against him, molding her soft, pliable curves to his taut, muscled hardness. Tearing away from her honeyed lips, he began nibbling her neck and throat and any other place she offered him. He heard her moan his name against cheek and wondered if she was going to remind him that she had work to do or if she was going to surrender to the moment instead. A moment later, he wondered no more.

"Boomer!" Sweetheart panted, breathing heavily as she pressed her small hands against the expanse of his chest. "I…I have to get back to work. We're short today since I had to send Candy home."

He groaned…painfully. "So, she was the one who was in heat."

"Eh!?" she gasped. "How did you know?"

Without a word, he tapped his nose, while holding her gaze with his smoky eyes.

"But, she was hardly here for a moment!" she exclaimed. "And that was over an hour ago that I sent her home with Tange."

"Sweetheart," he began, "for a queen, the scent dissolves shortly after the female in question leaves the area. But, for us toms, the perfumed aroma lasts well after she's left the room, the building, the area…it lingers as potently as though the lass had never left the room and wreaks havoc on our senses." he added, huskily, tightening his hold on her.

"Boomer…" she sighed, feebly struggling against his hold.

"Do you know what it does to me?" he whispered against her ear, his words thick with yearning.

"Boomer…" she breathed, somehow forgetting why it was that she was trying to escape him.

"Do you know what it's doing to me now?" he purred, lapping hungrily at the sensitive area behind her ear.

"Boomer…" she whimpered, her arms having willed themselves about his neck, holding him anxiously against her.

"Oh…Sweetheart…" he moaned, nipping her, biting her, sending her spiraling into a topsy turvy place of ecstasy while, at the same time, her dulcet whimpers of pleasure sent him into a frenzy of need and urgency and want. He had to have her. Right there and then, he needed to feel her surrounding him. He needed to taste her, to touch her, to free her from the confines of those damnable clothes. Unconsciously, or perhaps consciously, he was no longer aware which, his hands slid down the sloping contours of her back, down and over the voluptuous curves of supple derriere, to grip the fringes of her mini skirt. Slowly the cottony fabric rose within the trappings of his fingers, ascending upward revealing little by little the glorious golden-

"HERE SHE IS PLUM!" Amber's tiny yet booming voice called out, shattering the moment the two lovers had found themselves blissfully in. "I FOUND HER! SHE WAS DANCING WITH BOOMER!" she announced as to her young eyes that was what it seemed like they were doing.

Of course, Plum, being a fair amount more knowledgeable than Amber, knew well what "dance" the two were engaged in and so wore a knowing expression as she stepped into the storeroom behind the youngster, chuckling to herself as the amorous pair hastily attempted to straighten themselves up. "You're such a good helper, Amber." she sang, innocently. "You found her. Sorry to break up your 'dancing'," she teased, "but we're swamped out there and need more hands than we have so let's get a move on, Boss!" she grinned, grabbing Sweetheart's hand and pulling her out of the room. "You know what, Amber?" she added. "Since Boomer has time to dance, I bet he has time to buss a few tables. Why don't you both work on that together?"

"Okay!" Amber cheered, gleefully. "Come on, Boomer!" she said, grabbing his hand and leading him out of the storeroom. "I'll show you how to wipe the tables. I'm good at that!" she declared, proudly.

"I…I bet you are, Darlin'." he sighed, forcing a smile upon his face, but allowing himself a glower in Plum's direction as they hurriedly passed her.

"Always a pleasure." Plum sang in a dripping sweet tone, waving the two off. "And you," she said, directing her words at Sweetheart, "next time, 'dance' in your office! For goodness sake we keep the baking supplies in here!"

"Then it would be the best place to make the sweetest love, don't you think?" Sweetheart grinned.

Dumbfounded beyond all belief, Plum stared at her friend without words to retort.

"Cat got your tongue?" Sweetheart teased.

"Utterly." Plum replied, flatly, but after a moment, the two girls laughed and shared a moment's embrace before starting off to the front of the house. "What an odd expression." Plum remarked.

"It never made much sense to me, either." Sweetheart agreed. "I mean, whenever Boomer's got my tongue it's usually-"

"I don't want to hear this." Plum interjected.

"I was only going to say-"

"I'm not listening."

"Okay okay…I'll tell you when you're older."

"I'd appreciate that."

"…I love you, Plum."

"I love you, Sweetheart."

"…and I really love it when Boomer's got my tongue!"

"SWEETHEART!" Plum roared.

Sweetheart giggled.