News Boy - Susan Hawke Page 0,6
you for bringing her home. I’m sorry I was later than usual—I had a meeting.”
Mr. Dylan looked over my shoulder, concerned. “My apologies. I didn’t realize you would have a guest. I could have entertained Lady K a while longer with my ball of string.”
“Don’t worry. It’s only Mr. Brody. He’s my—”
I didn’t get a chance to finish because Mr. Brody interrupted me. “I’m his houseguest, and I’ll be staying here for a while. And you would be?“
I hugged Lady K to my chest, glaring over my shoulder at Mr. Brody. “Don’t be rude. Mr. Dylan saved Lady K. Whenever she gets out, she always seems to end up at his house.”
An odd expression on his face, Mr. Dylan studied Mr. Brody. I didn’t blame him. I would probably act weird too if someone had been rude to me for doing a favor for a neighbor.
Mr. Dylan held his hand out as if offering it to shake. “I’m Dylan Becker. I live right next door, and like Neil said, this little beauty always comes over to smell my roses when she gets out. I swear, you’d think I had catnip hidden in my flowerbeds.”
I held Lady K up by her armpits to make her stare me in the eye. “What do you have to say for yourself, Lady Katniss Ever-Klean? We’ve discussed this. You’re not allowed to go out visiting if I’m not home. Or even if I am,” I ended with a giggle.
Ignoring the outstretched hand, Mr. Brody tapped me on the shoulder. “Unlock the door, Neil. We need to get inside so we can discuss a few things, and Mr. Becker needs to get back to whatever he was doing when your cat interrupted him.”
His rude and bossy behavior mortified me. Telling him no crossed my mind, but I didn’t want to make a scene in front of my neighbor. Swallowing my frustration, I thanked Mr. Dylan one more time.
“I very much appreciate you catching her and bringing her home. Forgive me for being rude, but we really do need to get inside so I can show Brody his room.” I didn’t bother calling him Mr. Brody this time because I was too mad to be respectful.
Smiling, Mr. Dylan patted Lady K’s head before nodding. “No need to worry, Neil. I know what it’s like to be barely arriving at your destination only to find yourself getting held up at the door by unexpected company. We can chat later when you’re alone.”
As he walked past Mr. Brody, Dylan whistled an old Disney tune. Mr. Brody called after him. “Don’t count on him being alone anytime soon. We can work out a time for you to visit, but you can expect me to be present.”
I gasped and entered my security code, suddenly anxious to get inside. As soon as I opened the door, Mr. Brody got right behind me and hustled me through with his hands on my shoulders. Once we were inside, he locked the door. I stared at his back for about five seconds, then let him have it.
“How dare you be so rude to my neighbors? Mr. Dylan is a perfectly nice man, and he was doing me a solid by bringing my cat home. If you’re going to embarrass me, then you can consider yourself fired.”
Mr. Brody slowly turned around and waited until I was finished before lifting an eyebrow. “Are you quite finished? I will do what I was hired to do—protect you. You don’t know if your neighbor can be trusted. Bringing Lady K home only earns him a second of your time to say thank you. Hell, for all we know he took her in the first place so he could have an excuse to talk to you.”
I stared at him, then stomped my foot and let out an ear-piercing screech. “You need to go. I don’t want you in my house. You’re mean, and mean people are sucky.“
“Too bad my contract is with your producer, so no one else can fire me. Don’t worry. I will be giving Jim a call in a moment. You could have saved us both this entire scene if you had stayed in the car like I told you until I came around to escort you. I don’t say things to hear myself talk. When I give you an order, I expect it to be followed. Got me?”
“Ugh! Whatever! I already hate you. I’m going to my room.” I spun on my heel and stomped down