The Maverick Pride Tales - Chapter 166: Chapter 166

“Toni. Hellloooooo. Earth to Toni. Your phone has been beeping all morning,” Adrianna grumbled in Toni’s ear.
“What?” Toni jumped up from her slouched position on the sofa.
Dammit.
She fell asleep going over the new advertisements in the living room of the apartment she shared with her only remaining single sister. Shaking her head, she looked at the phone Ade was currently waving in front of her face.
“Dammit, Ade, stop,” she grumbled and pulled on the thing.
“Eat my fur!” Adrianna replied snarkily and walked away.
Her sister refused to wear pajama bottoms, and she was currently sporting a crop top with the words Farm Fresh Peaches printed across it, and two images of the fruit right over her bazonkas. Beneath it she had on a pair of red granny panties, half of which had ridden up one cheek of her ample ass.
“Oh yeah? Well, pick your jam!” Toni called back, ignoring the middle finger Ade threw her way.
Beyotch.
Toni unlocked her phone, hard to do since she couldn’t even see straight yet and frowned. There were like fifteen alerts from the legal department of Eat Well Live Proud and a furious email from her boss, Marion Bixby.
“Oh fuck,” she moaned.
“What is it?” Ade said, returning with a cup of coffee so strong it was likely to put hair on her chest.
Undesirable side effect? Yes.
Necessary to function? Also, yes.
It sure wasn’t easy being a woman in today’s world. But that was not up for debate right then. Toni was re-reading each and every email to make sure she understood.
“My marketing campaign is being pulled,” she said, disbelief filling her.
“What? Why? It looks so good,” Ade questioned.
“They’re saying I used copyrighted images illegally. I’m being sued! And not just me, the whole company!” Toni said, jumping up and dropping her mug.
“Toni!” Adrianna yelped as coffee spilled everywhere.
“Shit. I’m sorry, Ade, I have to go.”
“Go, go. I got this,” her sister said, concern written across her face.
Toni took the fastest shower ever, got herself dressed, and was in the office exactly thirty-seven minutes after reading her email. She’d been trying to locate the photographer she’d used for the ad shoot, but he was gone.
“I don’t understand,” she moaned aloud. “I did the research. I had him vetted. He came in here and we interviewed him together,” she told Mr. Bixby, but the older male simply frowned.
“Ms. Golden, your work up till now has been exemplary, but EWLP cannot afford this sort of scandal in today’s environment. I am afraid we have to let you go.”
“You’re firing me!” she gasped.
Toni had given everything to this job. It was all she had. What would she be without it? The room shrank. Its walls closing in on her, and Toni gasped. She sat, more like fell, down hard into the empty chair in front of his desk.
“Not firing, no. You are on a leave of absence while our investigators and lawyers work on this matter. Please turn in your work laptop and refrain from moving anything work-related to your home computer. You must not interfere with the process, Ms. Golden. Thank you, you are dismissed.”
Toni left the building, not even looking at her sisters, who watched her go from their cubicles. She was supposed to be the savvy one. The one who excelled at her job. The ice princess with no other life besides work.
Without work, what did Toni have?
It was a tough question, and it would require some thought…and tequila, she decided.
Lots of tequila.
Lots of tequila later…
“Oooh! Owie, owie,” Toni moaned, rolling over from where she was splayed out on the floor in a perfect face-plant.
“There you are, sugar cub!” her mother screeched in a shrill voice.
“Mom?”
“Here you go,” her mother said, so disgustingly pleasant it hurt Toni’s ears.
Toni blinked and tried to sit up, missing twice before she got it right. What the hell happened last night? She recalled going to the palace, telling her mother she was basically fired.
She did not get into specifics, but her mom was ever the sympathetic one. She’d had the palace chefs prepare mountains of tacos and nachos, and she busted out the good tequila. Likely it had been spiked, Patricia Golden-Crowley was known as being partial to a little highly concentrated catnip.
Added to food or drink, that stuff could send the average Cat Shifter on a bender and a half. Toni and her sisters would know. Their mother, who was lovingly called Aunt Patty by most everyone who knew her, was a notorious prankster. But that was precisely why Toni had gone there. To help her forget the nightmare her life had become.
“Come on, kiddo, drink this,” her mother said and handed Toni some godawful concoction.
Toni got a glimpse of whatever crazy gold caftan her mom was wearing, but it was too bright, so she closed her eyes again. Sounds of whimpering to the left and one good sniff told her Ade had joined the party at some point. As the only two single siblings left, it was only right they got wasted together.
I can’t believe I might lose my job. Shit. Shit. Shit.
“What’s in it?” Toni asked skeptically.
“No worries, my dear. It is not laced with anything by your mother. I made that brew for you specifically,” a familiar voice said.
She blinked, wincing at the brightness of the room, and found the speaker almost instantly. Mortified at being discovered in such a state, Toni drank the thick liquid like a good girl. It was sluggish to swallow, bitter too.
“Ugh, this is terrible,” she murmured and tried to finish it in one gulp.
“Medicine usually is my dear,” Uncle Uzzi said gently.
Toni closed her eyes, willing herself not to puke whatever magic potion Uncle Uzzi had given her. In the background, she heard her mother and sister talking, well one was cajoling and the other was being a brat, but that was the norm for those two.
“Come on, Ade, you’re next,” Patricia said to her sister.
“No! Leave me alone,” Adrianna retorted, her voice muffled by a pillow.
Toni just closed her eyes and exhaled. She stood up slowly, aware she was probably supposed to say something to the male Witch watching her as if she were a museum piece.
“Um, I am going to shower now.”
“Wunderbar! I will be here when you get out. We have much to discuss, Antonetta Golden,” Uncle Uzzi replied, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief.
“My life is so weird,” she murmured, walking to the guest room she used whenever she stayed at the palace.
Toni had some clothes and toiletries stashed there for sister and mother sleepovers. Now that her mom was married to the King, they never had to worry about space again. Besides, she was tired of them trashing her apartment.
She felt sick. And not because of the exorbitant amounts of catnip laced tequila she’d imbibed last night. Was it even possible she’d been so grossly mistaken about the photographer?
Spike Jensen was highly recommended to her by Marguerite, another Lioness working in the marketing department at EWLP. Toni was new to that division, but she’d been with the company since her internship right out of high school.
She got her MBA before she was twenty-five. She worked in various departments, including sales with her sisters, before being given this opportunity. Just last week, Mr. Bixby had praised her for her marketing genius. Now she was being sued, could lose her job, and her professional reputation was in the literal crapper.
Everything was going great—or so she’d thought. Damn. Damn. DAMN.
Dressed and feeling a modicum better, Toni found Uncle Uzzi waiting for her in the small sitting room just outside the guest bedroom. The palace was known for its tasteful, though opulent décor, and this room was no different. High ceilings, thick carpets, lush furniture, classic paintings on the wall—it was, in a word, lovely.
“Come, my dear. Would you like some tea?” Uncle Uzzi said.
“Yes, please,” Toni replied politely and joined him for a cup of the fragrant vanilla bourbon blend.
He poured, handing her the cup and saucer, and she fixed it with sugar and cream. After they were both settled, Toni started the ball rolling.
“Look, I know last time we chatted it might have seemed I was open to starting a relationship, but well, it’s just not the right time,” she said, stumbling over the words.
“Darling, it never seems like the right time. I understand your job is important, but is it safe to say you might be putting your eggs in one basket? A mate could help bear this burden with you,” he told her gently.
“You know,” she began, gearing up for what was doubtlessly going to be an uncomfortable confession. “Uncle Uzzi, I was almost mated once. That is, about a year ago, I was dating someone, and it got serious. He wanted to claim me, but I was reluctant.”
She paused here. This part was hard for Toni. Ever the overachiever, knowing she was defunct in this particular thing, had her inner cat bristling, and her heart squeezing with pain and embarrassment.
“I see. Go on,” Uncle Uzzi said, waiting for her to continue.
“I did not want to get mated. At least, not right away. I was busy at work, and well, I wanted to wait to have a family. You know, being a Golden is not all that easy. My family has a reputation,” she began, smiling tightly when Uncle Uzzi chuckled.
“My dear, your family is one of a kind. Truly, I have never met a group of female felines so supportive, so fun-loving, and so fiercely protective of one another. You Goldens are truly golden in my book,” Uncle Uzzi said, shocking Toni to her core.
“Wow,” she replied, placing her cup and saucer on the table. “I never heard anyone refer to us like that. Thank you, Uncle Uzzi.”
“Why don’t you tell me what this delusional male said to you, my dear?”
“Alright,” she said, mustering her courage. “Stefan, my ex, said I was crazy to let him go because no one else would want me as a mate. He said my looks were the perfect trap.”
“A trap?”
“Yeah, he told me men liked pretty faces and nice bodies, and mine were nothing more than an ad. But the reality would turn off all suitors besides him.”
“I am not following, dear,” Uzzi said, shaking his head. “What is the reality?”
“Well, according to Stefan, I’m a cold fish in bed,” she said, hurrying through it. “He said my lack of sexual skills could be overlooked if I accepted his claim and started bearing him young,” she told him tightly.
“What? Outrageous!” Uzzi growled. The older Witch’s eyes blazed blue and little lighting sparks were buzzing along his fingertips. Toni raised her eyebrows and cleared her throat. She had never seen him so mad, wanting to ease his anger, she continued her story.
“Look, he’s right. Our sex life was pretty bleh, and I am willing to take my share of the blame. I’m no Mata Hari. I mean, despite my family’s rep, we don’t sleep around, and honestly, after what he said, I have not taken another man to my bed⁠—”
“In over a year, child?”
Toni shrugged uncomfortably. Yes, she missed sex. But who would want a repeat performance after being savaged by a lover?
“Living without sex is not really difficult,” she lied, wincing when his expression changed to disbelief.
Of course, he could tell. Uncle Uzzi was not a Shifter, but he was magical.
“Sorry. I am just not used to talking about my sex life out loud,” she apologized.
“I understand. But you should know, I have been doing this job for a very long time. I have seen your face when you see your sisters with their mates. You can’t tell this old man you don’t want that, too. Tell me what’s stopping you. Maybe you will feel better after you unload it all,” he told her gently.
Toni exhaled. Could it be that simple? Maybe he was right. Either way, Toni was no coward. She was a Lioness. Not a kitten.
“Look, I have toys and romance novels to keep my needs met,” she began. “But maybe that’s why I’m no good at real sex. Maybe romance novels have gotten my expectations too high.”
Toni shrugged. It was a plausible notion. The men in novels were simply unattainable in real life. Then again, maybe she was just too high maintenance for real men.
“Darling, I do not believe that for a second. Sex is not a singular sport. Sexual partners each have a responsibility, and really it should be more than that, it should be a desire, a need even, to see to the other’s needs. If one partner is not wholly involved, then the other partner should speak up, ask questions, find what works.”
“Ideally—”
“Not ideally, actually. Look, Toni, I am not sure what made you date a man like that, but if that scoundrel had to put you down and deliver ultimatums, he was just not the man for you. Relationships are complicated, no doubt, but they should be based on mutual respect and caring, not on unrealistic demands and criticisms,” Uncle Uzzi said with conviction.
Toni exhaled slowly. He was right. Of course he was. Relationships were based on respect and caring, at least the good ones were. Stefan was never really interested in her as a person, only in what she could bring him in terms of bragging rights and offspring. The old Witch truly was a wonder.
“It feels good to hear that, Uncle Uzzi. Thank you,” Toni admitted. “Um, my ex really shook my confidence. I’ve been gun shy ever since.”
“Of course you have, You are a woman who feels things deeply, and I imagine he cut you very badly. I am sorry for it, but hiding out won’t help, you know? You might not want to hear this, but I think you let this person have too much control over you, Toni. It is time to let him go,” Uncle Uzzi stated strongly.
She could have cried at how simple the solution was. Blocking the man’s number and deleting his texts did nothing to stop his hold on her. He was still fucking with her life, and Toni had had enough.
“You’re right. You are absolutely right. I am beginning to think I let Stefan mess with my head because it was easier than trying to work through our differences or admit that I was wrong about him,” she confessed.
For the first time since they broke up, Toni did not feel guilty about it. The past year, she had been beating herself to death every time she thought about her ex. Thoughts like what was wrong with her, and the feeling she was not good enough, had haunted her. But just saying out loud that maybe he was not the man for her sort of clicked everything into place.
Toni felt relieved.
“Uncle Uzzi, thank you. I think that did help.”
“Good. Now, about finding you a match, my dear,” he continued. “I think if you allow yourself the right to be happy, you will find it, and if you are open to the opportunity, you might find the person the Fates have picked out just for you.”
“Well, wait a second. I mean, I was too busy to ask for your help before and now my integrity is being questioned at work. I could even be sued! The timing just sucks. I think you have definitely helped me see Stefan and I were just wrong together, but even that is still new,” she said.
“Sometimes we need someone to help us through the healing process, Toni.”
“But, Uncle Uzzi, what kind of mate would I make right now with all of these problems?”
“My dear, you would be surprised. Will you hear me out?”
“I suppose so.”
“Good, now how do you feel about weekend getaways?”
“Like a vacation?”
“Precisely! I know the prettiest little woodland area with cabins for recreational use. It is completely Shifter friendly. You could give your Lioness space to roam, hunt, even swim.”
“I mean, that sounds great.”
Toni shrugged, listening as Uzzi continued to list the pros of a mini vacation in wonderful detail.
It couldn’t really hurt, could it? Going away to meet a strange man might be fun. It was definitely romance novel worthy, and Toni was an expert with thousands of titles read and even more loaded onto her eReader.
At the very least, she could forget about work for a little while. And what was the worst that could happen, a bad date? She’d had those already.
One little dinner, then she could spend the rest of her time on a relaxed impromptu vacay reading and letting her Lioness roam the forest. It sounded like a dream.
“Uncle Uzzi, I am in!”
What did she have to lose?