The dappled sunlight danced on the nearby trees as Lierin Quincaryn fled through the woods. Someone was following her, and they were closing in. She held a hand to her wounded side, blood trickling down her armor as she looked over her shoulder, trying to discern her pursuer's whereabouts. They were...maybe 50 yards behind. Her elongated fae ears picked up the faintest whistling sound..an arrow! She dodged it with a roll, grunting as her wound protested. She was moving much slower than usual. Things were looking bleak. She was now certain that the blade that gave her wound was dipped in basilisk poison, so she didn't have much longer. She needed an antidote fast, but she was at least 2 miles out from the village of Cletharda. A snap of a branch sounded 20 yards away.

  Gods...they are getting closer.

  Another whistle of an arrow, however Lierin was not as fast this time as it grazed her shoulder. She hissed, pulling out her sword.

  I will have to face them...she thought.

  A hooded figure stepped out from a nearby tree. His stance...it seemed familiar. Did she know her pursuer?

  His gait changed to a strut, with a sinister air as he removed his hood to reveal dark long curly hair, a strong chin and striking green eyes settled on hers.

  Lierin gasped. "Rolim!"

  It was her mate. Her mate...wounded her?...is trying to kill her? It didn't make any sense. There has to be an explanation. Her eyes began to water as she took in his handsome form.

  Rolim grinned, and opened his mouth to say...

  BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

  Beatrix groaned. Ugh! It was just starting to get good!

  Another dream inspired by her current Romantasy binge read, A Betrayal so Heartless, one of the most popular reads right now according to the r/Romantasy subreddit. It was a good slow burn full of betrayal and new beginnings. Beatrix's phone alarm read 7:30 am as she turned it off. She laid there in her cozy, warmn bed for a minute, feeling her body sink further into the mattress as she stared up at the ceiling, imagining a life like Lierin's. Sure...she was betrayed by her mate...but eventually she would meet some hot fae prince from the kingdom of Ecrela who would be her new love interest and she would gain some cool new ability she never knew she had (this was a reread). At least she had a life that was exciting. Her day to day involved sword fighting, befriending magical creatures and meeting fae royalty. Beatrix's day to day involved...excel spreadsheets, corporate bullshit and overbearing managers. She worked at a well known Fintech company, Nile Inc. as a data analyst. It was a very boring job that sucked the life out of her.

  With a heavy sigh Beatrix rolled out of bed, stepping into her slippers and shuffled to the kitchen to make some very strong black tea. Coffee was definitely needed today too if she was going to get through her 5 back to back meetings today. Her boss wasn't happy with her lately, said she was not showing enough ownership or initiative. She scrubbed her face with her hands and sighed again, longingly wondering what it would be like to have chosen a different path in life. Perhaps a job more fulfilling? Who knows. She didn't know where to start.

  Beatrix scooped a couple teaspoons of Almond Sugar Cookie black tea into her ceramic teapot she got from a trip to Japan, then filled it with hot water from her Japanese hot water dispenser. She gazed out her window to the Seattle skyline, waiting for her tea to brew.

  If I had another chance to start over...what would I do? She thought. At the age of 30, she was young enough to consider a career pivot. She knew she liked helping others, she loved animals, and had thought about teaching martial arts after getting her third yellow stripe in Wing Chun class. There had to be something out there for her. Right now she just felt like she was floating along a lazy river, life starting to pass her by on the riverbanks.

  Her phone buzzed with a text. Tapping it to view the message while gently pouring her tea, she saw that it was from her friend Natasha.

  Karaoke again tonight? :)

  Beatrix smiled, and texted back Of course! She supposed blasting Pink Pony Club at the Crescent Lounge would cheer her up. It always did.

  Another buzz from her phone. This time it was Mom.

  Have a great day at work today! Remember this weekend is the Dads' birthday celebration.

  She took a sip from her tea after blowing briefly over the top, then texted her reply.

  Of course. At the Mexican place right?

  Mom thumbs upped the text. Wow, look at her, using emojis.

  Caught up with texts, Beatrix allowed herself to stew a couple more minutes about her career choices, sipping her tea, before getting ready for work.

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  ***

  It was a busy Monday morning in the streets of Belltown Seattle as Beatrix headed out the door of her apartment complex. Commuters were honking at each other, bicyclists dodging pedestrians as everyone was in a hurry trying to get somewhere. Beatrix barely had time to duck in and grab a coffee at the closest coffee shop, a cat cafe called Whiskers and Beans. Sadly, she didn't have time to play with the cats today. She made a mental note to get up 20 minutes earlier next time so she could give her favorite cat there, an orange tabby named Cheeto, plenty of skritches. Cheeto, perched on a diftwood cat tree in the corner in the cat section of the cafe, lazily watched her exit the coffee shop.

  Beatrix checked her phone for the time, 8:20 am. Crap! I've got ten minutes to get to work. She took a big swig of her oat milk latte and picked up her pace. Whiskers and Beans was about a 15 minute walk from work, so she would definitely have to hustle to get there on time.

  While waiting for the light to change to cross the street, Beatrix checked her Nile Ring app, which her team used to communicate with each other via instant messaging. Four messages from her boss. Her heart sank. In a cold, unfriendly manner, he said he was still not happy with the data trends analysis paper she was writing and it needed more work, despite this being the 4th draft she sent to him and getting completely different feedback every time. Beatrix sighed, and started typing a response while the light changed and she began crossing the street.

  She was nearly to the other side when she heard a soft mew behind her. Beatrix whipped her head around, nearly spilling her coffee. There, sitting in the middle of the street, impossibly, was Cheeto. He gazed up at her and meowed again, this time in a somewhat sassy manner.

  "Cheeto! OH MY GOD what are you doing there!" Beatrix screeched. This time she definitely dropped her coffee.

  The light was now green, and cars started honking.

  "Euuargh!! Hold on!" Beatrix yelled at the honking cars. "Come here, Cheeto, it's ok!"

  She held out her hand frantically to the cars as she hurried over to Cheeto to scoop him up. A visibly angry Prius driver swerved around her, shouting something indiscernible out the window as she quickly scooped up the cat and started heading back to the sidewalk. Meanwhile, a large truck was taking a sharp left turn from the adjacent street, heading straight for them. The driver was talking to a passenger, not really watching the road. Heart pounding, Beatrix was still trying to cross the street, busy traffic on the right side not letting her pass despite the precious cargo in her arms. She decided to turn around and try to go the other way, but the truck was almost on them. Cheeto mewled again, this time more worriedly, while she ran and leaped onto the sidewalk, the truck barely missing them both.

  "My goodness are you ok?!" a middle-aged woman asked as she helped Beatrix up from the ground. She had a kind face, and was the only person that seemed to notice the almost accident.

  "Yeah, I'm just glad I got to him in time before something horrible happened," Beatrix said. Cheeto started to squirm impatiently in her arms.

  "I better get him back to the cafe. Thanks for helping me up."

  "Of course. Now you take care of yourself dear." The kind woman smiled and went on her way.

  That was close, I almost got Isekai'd. She couldn't help thinking of all the anime she watched that started with a scene like the one she just nearly fully experienced. Beatrix shook her head and gathered herself.

  "Alright little guy, let's get you back home." Cheeto finally stopped squirming and looked up at her silently. He slow blinked.

  Beatrix gently carried him back to Whiskers and Beans, gaining interesting stares and looks from the passerby. As she walked inside, Helen, a cafe worker was frantically talking on the phone with someone, most likely her manager. She had tears rolling down her cheek and had one hand raking through her hair. As soon as she saw Beatrix and Cheeto, the relief on her face was instant and she dropped her hand holding the cell phone.

  "Oh thank god, you found him!" she exclaimed. She raised the phone back to her face. "Yes Lacy, we now have everything under control. Cheeto is back home safe. I'll call you back in a little bit. Yes...yes it won't happen again I promise. We'll get to the bottom of this, don't you worry!"

  Helen ended the call with a big sigh and rushed over to Beatrix.

  "Oh, thank you so much Beatrix, we really have no idea how he got out. The cat closure was secured the whole time, it really is so strange! I guess we'll have to have someone come in and check everything. Lacy is pissed."

  Beatrix winced on Helen's behalf. "Of course, I couldn't let anything happen to my favorite little tabby. Sorry to hear your manager is giving you such a hard time."

  Helen shrugged, wiping her earlier tears away. "It is what it is. Hey...are you ok? You look pretty shaken yourself," she said.

  "Yeah, I'm fine, it was just a little scary. He actually ran out into traffic. Maybe monitor him closely for the next couple hours to make sure he's not too traumatized," Beatrix said as she gently handled Cheeto over to Helen, whose mouth fell open.

  "He ran out into traffic?! Oh boy, that's a lot of excitement for the little guy. Thank goodness you were there to save him! Don't worry, we're definitely going to keep a close eye on him. Thank you so much again for bringing him back and taking care of him out there. The streets of Seattle are no place for Cheeto," Helen said as she gave him a little kiss on the top of his head.

  Oddly enough, Cheeto appeared calm now and looked up at Beatrix lazily. Was he purring? Strange cat.

  "Well, guess I'll be off then, I'm late to work."

  "Oh gosh you better get going then! Thanks again Beatrix, really. The next coffee is on us, no next 5 coffees!"

  Beatrix smiled and waved as she exited the coffee shop. She pulled up the Nile Ring app, and checked for the angry messages from her boss she knew would be there. It was 8:40 a.m., so she was 10 minutes late for her first meeting of the day.

  8:33 a.m. Where are you?

  8:35 a.m. Are you coming to the bi-weekly manager meeting or not? I was expecting you to provide a status update to the Trends Analysis project.

  8:40 a.m. .......

  Beatrix sighed, and started typing up a response as she walked towards work, this time taking a different route to avoid the traumatizing intersection.

  I'm so sorry, I was walking to work and I saw a cat in the road with oncoming traffic and I had to save it. I'll be there in 10 minutes. I promise it won't happen ag..

  Suddenly the ground fell out from beneath her, and she was falling, phone flying from her hands. She waved her arms frantically, trying to grab something, anything, but only found air and she gazed up. As she saw a circle of light above her gathering distance with every second, she could have sworn she saw the silhouette of a cat looking down at her. Then, there was nothing.