A city of contradictions.

Natalia stared out of the window, watching her new surroundings whizz past. Giant shrub-like trees lined the streets. The city was incredibly green, with lakes and parks; bridges that intersected it and a bustling skyline.

The radio played in the background, so they didn't have to speak. The music of choice being country, of course. A young female melancholic voice harmonising over a sad melody.

Natalia bit back a chuckle.

The man driving her noticed and paused his watch over the wide motorway to give Natalia a sideways glance.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing..." Natalia offered reverting back into herself. Everything was just as she expected, if not a little cliche. She was just missing seeing a couple of Stetsons and the picture would be complete. But she didn't want to share this thought with him, she'd already offended him just by existing it seemed, so she kept her opinions to herself.

Soon they got off the motorway and were driving down smaller residential areas. Less put together, you could see deprivation in the worn and sun-beaten wooden houses looking more like shacks than homes that people were meant to live in. Brown faces catching her eye as they drove past.

Natalia gazed on solemnly, the enormity of her task suddenly dawning on her. How was she meant to relate to these kids? She was from the other side of the world, would they have even have anything in common?

They arrived at a part of town that was clearly much nicer, a quarter of an hour later, the line of gentrification was clearly drawn on the sand and the demographics had changed considerably.

They pulled up to a cul-de-sac.

"This is you," he said.

Natalia climbed out of the car, the door to a white house with a generous porch was already open and a blonde woman, whom Natalia guessed to be Ella, was supervising some handymen.

When she spotted her, the woman flew off the porch and down the path, to the kerb where they were parked, taking Natalia into an aggressive embrace.

Not one for physical contact with strangers, Natalia froze, her body going rigid. Ella noticed and pulled away with a final, hearty squeeze.

"I'm sorry, I'm a hugger," she laughed and Natalia couldn't help but smile back at her warm friendliness.

"Gabe! Bring those bags in so I can get her settled."

'Gabe. So that's his name,' Natalia thought. She realised that he hadn't even introduced himself. What a rude, rude man.

"Did he behave himself?" Ella asked in between a gaggle of other questions and a long monologue of plans that she had for the first week of term. Natalia tried to follow the one-sided conversation but the jet lag was catching up with her fast.

"Uhm, I guess," Natalia said noncommittally. She wasn't one to complain or tell tales, and she still didn't know what Ella's relation to Gabe was

"Oh honey, he's just a grouch don't take it personally."

Natalia definitely was. She could see him scowling at her from the corner of her eye as he opened the trunk of his car and fished out her luggage. Natalia tried not to notice the way that the muscles in his sculpted arms bunched and flexed as he moved, or the way his broad shoulders were showcased in the T-shirt he wore.

Ella pulled her into the house, "I'm sorry for the mess; they'll be gone before you know it. I just wanted everything to be perfect for you."

Natalia was overcome with a rush of emotion that she couldn't explain at Ella's words. "It's perfect."

The house was a small two bedroom, done up tastefully in whites and soft tones of browns. The furniture was old but clearly taken care of. Natalia couldn't wait to put her personal touch on the decor, she was going to get lots of plants, candles and cozy throws. She just needed to find the nearest Ikea and she'd be in her own personal nesting heaven.

She looked out in the garden, the grass was neatly cut and there was a plain white set of outdoor furniture. With almost year-long sun, Natalia was keen to make that area a bit more homely, she snapped a picture of it to Lima who would share her enthusiasm, no doubt. They both loved an outdoor vibe.

"The fridge is fully stocked, if you need anything you have my number. I'm just a short drive away and Gabe lives just across from you," Ella instructed as she said goodbye at the door with another hug. And what did you know? The emerald green truck was parked outside of a house exactly parallel to hers. She couldn't imagine the circumstances in which she would have to ask him for help but she filed that little tidbit away for future use.

"I'm hosting a brunch tomorrow and then we have our annual staff barbecue. I'll write you all the details later."

Natalia nodded relieved that she was going to be reminded via text. Right now her priorities were a shower and sleeping for a hundred hours.

She shuffled upstairs, carrying her backpack that contained all her night essentials. She would come back for the heavy luggage later.

She was out like a light after her shower, waking up starving a couple of hours later. She rummaged through the fridge and found the ingredients for a sandwich.

She connected to the WiFi as she waited for the hot water to boil in a saucepan on the stove. She couldn't find a kettle, she couldn't even find a tea bag, luckily she had brought a jumbo pack of her favourite Earl Grey tea all the way from Old Blighty.

She had slept for hours, her phone automatically adjusting to her new time zone and informing her that it was nine in the evening. She responded to all the messages of well wishes on her phone and updated her brother and Lima on her first few hours in the States.

She decided to sit out on the porch with her cup of tea, after inhaling the sandwich she made. She wanted to get acquainted with the new night sky that she would be living under.

The night air was still and warm, not too dissimilar to what she had been used to when she lived in the Middle East. Except, out here she could hear the crickets chirp and it was surprisingly quiet. There were no cars, sirens or trains. Just pure quiet.

Her eyes involuntarily found the green pickup truck parked opposite her. The lights were on. She imagined him splayed out on the sofa watching tv with his wife or perhaps his girlfriend, she hadn't seen a ring on his finger earlier.

A noise brought her out of her thoughts, a scuffling noise. Being a city girl, Natalia was absolutely not used to any outdoor animals. She debated going back inside, but hadn't seen anything yet, maybe it was a cat. She hoped it was a cat.

The noise got louder. This time with scratching and what sounded like claw-tipped feet running.

That was it for Natalia. She got up abruptly, placing her cup of tea on the wooden floor.

But came face to face with the ugliest cat she had ever seen in her life.

She screamed with surprise.

Fear, and all the overwhelming feelings from the day taking over.

The animal was large, the same size as a house cat if not a bit bigger. Grey spiky fur covered its hefty body with faint stripes, it had large ears, a white face and a long snout packed full of teeth. It had small and beady eyes but the singular worst thing about it was the tail.

Natalia wanted to vomit when she noticed the long, thin and pink appendage; completely devoid of any fur just like a rat's tail.

She screamed again, even louder than before.

The animal wasn't budging. It was between her and the front door, making disturbingly strange noises.

Natalia decided, if this little ugly creature wanted the house, that it could keep it.

She turned around and ran off the porch, not knowing where she was going, but just wanting to be as far away from that thing as possible.

She ran smack into a warm solid wall and screamed with utter surprise again.

Screaming, was fast becoming her only response to stimuli in her hyper aware state. She felt a strong grip on her waist and opened her mouth to let out another scream when she felt a firm hand on her mouth.

"Hey, what's with all that screaming. Is everything alright?" a deep voice said. The accent and cadence were somewhat familiar to her.

She looked up and it was him. She was gazing into shining green eyes, in the dimly lit street.

Natalia breathed deeply through her nose; bringing up her hand to peel his, away from her mouth.

"Uh-uh, you gonna scream again?"

Natalia shook her head, vigorously. Her heart was still hammering in her chest. She felt weak from all the exertion. He let her go, but stayed close.

"T-there was a thing, an ugly thing... a huge rat-cat thing on the porch and..."

The man stifled a laugh, she could see the corners of his eyes crinkling but his mouth staying firm and serious. Natalia felt the pinprick heat of anger coursing through her limbs.

"It's not funny!" She smacked him on the chest, coming in contact with solid muscle, and slightly hurting the side of her hand in the process.

At that he let himself be overtaken by the mirth of the situation. His body shaking with laughter.

Natalia stared at him, her body hot with anger.
He stopped laughing when she saw the expression on her face.

"C'mon, let's go see about this rat-cat thing," he motioned. Natalia crossed her arms.

"No, it's their house now. I can just sleep out in the street, it's fine."

He chuckled. "C'mon, quit being a baby."

Natalia followed, trailing closely behind him and when they got to the house, the coast was clear. There was nothing in front of the door.

He turned around with a raised eyebrow. Natalia's cheek heating up with shame and indignation.

"It was right there!" she insisted.

"Okay," he said. "I'll take a look around just to be sure."

Natalia watched him furtively, sceptical of his quick and ineffective scans around the porch, the metal dustbin and the further down the sides of the house.

"You probably scared the possum away with your screaming," she heard him say as he came back into her line of vision.

"A possum?"

"Yeah, you never seen one before?"

"I'm from London, where would I come across one?"

"Right."

There was an awkward silence, Natalia looked down and then noticed her attire.

She was dressed in old grey lounge shorts that came down to the top of her thighs and a boxy T-shirt that barely covered her midriff.

She had completely forgotten she had dressed for comfort and only meant to be outside for a little while; not meaning to run into anyone. Her cheeks warmed up even more with embarrassment when she remembered the feel of his warm skin on hers.

"Thanks..." she whispered.

"Gabe," he filled in. "Gabe Mercier."

She already knew his name but she wasn't going to snitch on herself.

He wordlessly walked her to the door. "Are you gonna be okay. Do you need me to tuck you in?" he joked. A half smile playing on his lips.

The small change in his expression transformed his face, he was handsome to start with, but he was now devastatingly so.

"No, thank you." Natalia scurried inside shutting the door loudly, with deliberate force. Her heart was beating so loudly again, she could feel it in her ears.

She could hear his laughter trailing behind him as he walked back to his own house.

She laid her head on the kitchen breakfast countertop. Feeling the cool surface on her hot face. She was a walking embarrassment.

She was going back to bed and maybe she'd wake up to find that it had all been a surreal dream.