Karen Anne Golden - The Cats That 03 - The Cats That Told a Fortune Read Online Free

was attracted to him.
    “I asked him to be my guest at the party.  And he said yes,” Michelle said happily.  She began singing Daft Punk’s song “Get Lucky.”
    Katherine said with a wink, “Let’s not get too lucky, because it’s the first date.”
    Still singing, Michelle left, then called through the door, “See you Wednesday for the practice session.”
    Katherine sat back in her chair and reflected that her first class was the worst class she’d ever taught.  She was curious about the Sanders family and wanted to ask Jake about them later, at lunch.  She worried about possible repercussions of throwing Barbie out of her class.  She desperately wanted to text her friend in New York, but figured Colleen would be too bummed out about Mario to text back.
    As Katherine mounted the stairs to her office, Iris was on the other side of the partially opened door, yowling sweetly.  Katherine grabbed her around the middle and gave her a kiss on top of her head.  “Where are my other kids?” she called, walking to the atrium, but no other cats were present.  “Must be sleeping, right, Miss Siam?”  Katherine’s house phone rang and she put Iris down to answer it.  It was Jake.
    “Hey, are you still coming to my class?” he asked.
    “Of course, I wouldn’t miss it.”
    “Great!  We’re still going to lunch afterwards, right?”
    “ Definitely. I’ll see you later.”  Katherine hung up and immediately went upstairs to freshen up.  Today was the part of Jake’s course on Prohibition where he dressed up like John Dillinger, the notorious Indiana gangster.  She chuckled to herself, Geez, I hope he doesn’t wear that get-up to lunch!
    *               *              *
    Katherine made the trip to the city in record time.  She had a lead foot when it came to the accelerator.  She finally set the cruise control on the new Subaru, lest she find herself doing eighty in a fifty-five MPH zone.  Arriving on campus, she couldn’t find a parking space.  She’d never seen so many cars, so much traffic, and so many students walking about, heading for their classes.  It seemed the parking spaces required a special permit, and since she didn’t have one, she didn’t relish parking and then having her new car towed.  She tried several parking garages, but each one was full.  Pulling up along a curbed sidewalk, she lowered her window and asked a university cop what to do.  He directed her to the outskirts of the campus to park at the stadium parking lot.  It took a full twenty minutes to walk to the lecture hall where Jake was teaching.  She followed Jake’s scribbled directions, but got lost several times, and lamented that all the brick buildings looked the same.
    It was a typical, breezy fall day, so Katherine’s short-cropped hair was standing up on end.  A quick run into the ladies room solved that problem, but by the time she got to the lecture hall, only a few seats were available at the very top, in the nosebleed section.  When she walked in, Jake stood in front of the podium, dressed like Johnny Depp in Public Enemies .  His haircut even matched Dillinger’s. Katherine gulped, and managed a smile.  Jake smiled back and winked.  She could feel his eyes watching her as she ascended the steps.  She prayed she wouldn’t trip and go flying into a row, but managed to find one of the last seats available.
    The class was packed.  The students were lively.  Katherine could tell everyone thoroughly enjoyed this part of the lecture.  A gaggle of admiring female students sat in several front rows, reminding Katherine of a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark in which Harrison Ford’s character was teaching a class.  But none of the girls had flirty messages written on their eyelids.
    When the lecture was finished, Katherine patiently waited for the students to leave, then walked down the steps.
    “What did you think?” Jake beamed happily. 
    Katherine had to