The Magnificent Cat by Nadia Ramadan (early reader chapter books .TXT) 📕

profession, but anyways my boss here said that he will let me sing in this bar for some few weeks."

"That’s so good" Wade replied" this is actually a good idea, I would love to see you sing, it’s a step forward"

"Thank you" Lisa replied shyly.

"Ok I think I better go now, I have something to do" Wade said as he wakes up

"Thanks for stopping by" 

Wade walked next to the door and stopped; he then turned to Lisa and approached.

“I’m Wade” he said as he lends his hand for a shake

“Lisa” she replied as she shakes him smilingly

“Who knows we might meet again” 

“Of course” Lisa replied laughingly “I will still be serving here tomorrow morning”

“No, I meant at the Fantastica stage” Wade continued as he heads to the main door "Remember to follow your dreams, and don’t ever give up, because I will someday see you dancing and singing on the Fantastica stage"

Lisa looked at him as he closed the door and smiled to herself "Waw" 

 

The next day in Bevin is a sunny day, James walked out of the house with Mr. Picklock behind him; they stopped at the Verandah and stared.

"You should control your temper James" Mr. Picklock said immediately.

 "I understand" James answered "I am just starting to hate this place I don’t know why, but maybe it's because noting is changing, everything seems the same for the last three years , and that’s not good"

"Don’t worry" Mr. Picklock replied "you will be fine here plus you wanted to tell me something yesterday…about Ray’s daughter or something?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Patricia" James said as he looked at Picklock

"Patricia Greenwood!" Bacilli interrupted annoyingly "Damn the Greenwoods are becoming famous around here"

"I was not talking about Ray" James said angrily as he looks at Bacilli

"I know I know" Bacilli continued "you are talking about the girl…the daughter of our new boss!"

"Don’t you have some work to do" Picklock interrupted as he looks at Bacilli

"Yes sure" Bacilli said as he walks off.

 

Wade took the elevator which led straight to the office. He then went to a corridor which led to the first iron door of the office, he then took his private key and opened both door.

The first thing Wade saw was Ray sitting at his seat and Armand sitting at his table with a stranger standing right next to him.

“Oh, hello Wade we were waiting for you” Armand said nicely

“Hello Armand, I hope I am not late because it seems like you are having an important meeting here”

“Yes we are” Armand replied “I would like you to meet Mr. Stubbs; he is here for a deal about the Magnificent Cat”

“Ok” Wade replied 

“He said that his deal is fair and he would like to hire the Magnificent Cat for good purposes”  

“Yes, of course, that’s why we are here serving justice” Ray interrupted 

“I will pay you $55 million if you-” Mr. Stubbs started

“You are borrowing it for three weeks Mr. Stubbs so why don’t you make it $65 million” Ray said furiously.

“Ok how about $60 million if you don’t mind I can pay you the rest in the second week of my contract” Mr. Stubbs pleaded

“Deal” Armand replied.

Wade got up from his seat and said “Ok I will get the papers ready to register Mr. St-”

“Hold it Wade” Armand interrupted “Ray will take care of this; from now on Ray is my right-hand man”

Wade looked at Armand surprisingly and turned. He then saw Ray looking through some of the most important files and writing things into it, files that are highly secret, files that only he and Armand used to have access to. But now all what he could see is Ray using them and updating them.

“I think I should handle this sir, because I-”  

“I told you Wade!” Armand said angrily this time “Ray is my right-hand man now and he can do anything in this office in addition I told him everything about the business, he is now like a second boss, can't you all understand that!”

“Of course” Wade said angrily as he turned from Armand to Ray “so I don’t think you need me in here”

“Sure we need you Wade” Armand said surprisingly “you will have to sign these papers as a part of our agreement, don’t you want to do that?”

“Of course” Wade said lowly, still fuming about the situation. 

“So Mr. Stubbs….. The Magnificent Cat is yours now but of course it’s still under our control! And we will have to receive the $55 million by tonight at least or otherwise it will disappear before you know it, and also you can be dead and buried at our backyard, how about that?”

"I understand the rules Mr. Walker, no need to get serious and spine-chilling here I will make sure you get your money by tonight” Stubbs said while picking his brief case “I’ve got to go now perhaps you will send me this young man to pick up the dough”

“No" Armand replied "I will send someone else, perhaps James or Bacilli, just make sure you take delivery from someone tonight remember the code?” 

“Yes” Mr. Stubbs replied “I will be waiting”

Stubbs walked out of the office blissfully and nodded to Armand and Wade while leaving, as the second iron door closed behind him, Armand turned to Ray and shook hands with him.

“We did a great Job here partner, to tell you the truth I don’t even care if Mr. Stubbs is using the Magnificent Cat for good purposes, all what I care about is that our illegal business is going on smoothly and greatly” Armand said laughingly 

“That’s what I’m talking about” Ray replied happily.

Wade looked at them as they congratulate and appreciate each other, he could only see the fact that Armand is so happy with his new co-worker. Armand turned to Wade and said "Aren’t you happy?"

“What…?” Wade asked

“Aren’t you happy for this deal?” Armand repeated  

"I am" Wade replied lowly "I am happy for you…I mean us…or"

"Come here" Armand said as he walked closer to Wade and gave him a hug.

Ray looked at them and then turned away. 

"We are all one team now" Armand said as he looked at both Ray and Wade. 

 

They all know that the pressure of controlling the Magnificent Cat is not simple for a single person to handle. Especially when dealing with vicious rivals, such as Ruddick and Alden.

 

Ruddick and Alden are the most brutal and vicious people in another town called Slycity. They have already known about the Magnificent Cat and are always finding a way to seize it, for they have always thought that it was theirs and only theirs.

Ruddick is the big boss and he is constantly trying to find a way to get the Magnificent Cat, while Alden is the one who takes serious action. Anyhow, they are up for no good. All what they think about is too use the Magnificent Cat in a very terrible and violent way.

 

Chapter 5 - Lisa meets James

James woke up from his seat and stood next to Mr. Picklock.

“Can I be excused; I will go and take a walk, if you don’t mind” 

“Oh no I don’t mind, James” Picklock answered laughingly" you sure need a walk, just take your time and I will see you later” 

“Ok” James replied as he leaves the verandah.

 

Lisa has just finished serving her last customer, and was ready to shut down the pastry bar.

“Wait a minute Lisa, just leave it for a while, and let’s talk” Jessica said happily

“Alright, what do you want to talk about?” 

“Everything” Jessica replied “about the fact that the boss is giving you a chance to sing here in our bar!”

“Yeah, I know, I think it’s time I have to proof myself that I am a good singer”

“Sure you are Lisa! I think that you are even much better than what you think”

“Yeah" Lisa said smilingly "Wade told me that someday I will be singing at the Fantastica stage”

“Wade? Who is Wade…?” Jessica asked surprisingly “is there someone you are not telling me about?!”

“No, no” Lisa replied “I just met him last night, I mean he…”

“Last night?" Jessica said teasingly "why didn’t you tell me about him!? Do you know what that means?”  

“No I don’t know, and will you stop teasing here!”

“Why not” Jessica replied “are you not inte-”

“There is someone else I am actually thinking about” Lisa interrupted.

“Who is it?”Jessica asked curiously

“It’s that guy……. the one who came here the other day…very weird behavior, he’s name is John or Jam-” 

“James!” Jessica shouted 

“Would you shush?” Lisa said angrily

“I am just surprised, for I’ve heard that he’s all about trouble, but…well… I think he is so attractive, and not to mention HOT!”

“Yeah I know” Lisa replied lowly

“Well did you talk to him?” 

“No, no” 

“Well why not I don’t think that there is any harm in trying”

“Well, I will think about that…an-”

“Speaking of which have you heard about the dance on the 5th street?” Jessica interrupted.

“You mean the ghoul’s bar?” Lisa asked

“Yeah, that’s it, it’s going to be fun and plus it’s the 60s week and there will be a lot of rock and roll!” 

“Yes that will be nice” 

“Will you be there?” Jessica asked 

“Well I don’t think that I have anything else better to do, so I will b-”

“Great” Jessica shouted “we are going to have a lot of fun!”

 

The little doorbell of the bar ringed softly as James opened the door. Everyone looked steadily and saw James.

“Oh look what we got here” Jessica said teasingly “speak of the devil, oh…. Maybe you should ask him to take you to that dance!”

“Shush…, Jessica you are too loud, can’t you notice that he might hear you” 

“It doesn’t matter! Anyways I am leaving now, good luck!” Jessica said as she took her bag and winked at Lisa while leaving.

Lisa smiled to herself and turned back to rearrange the glasses on the shelf.

“Can I have a drink” James asks as he seated himself on the bar’s counter which is right in front of her.

“So what shall I get you” 

“Just vodka”

“Coming right up” 

Lisa was only thinking about how she is going to talk or at least start a conversation with James. The way he moves and the way he sits and talks, all of this is making an impact on her, sometimes she feels that she can’t even resist him.

She took the glass from the shelf and placed it in front of him. She then poured the drink into it and smiled. Suddenly the drink fall of her hand and the whole bottle broke into pieces. Every remaining staff in the bar turned to see what was going on.

“Are you ok?” James said worryingly “why are you shaking?” 

“Oh, sorry I’m ok” Lisa said while collecting the broken pieces from the ground.

“Just leave it” James said as he continued looking at her “I will pay for it”   

“No, no you don’t have to do that, it was my fault and I have to pa-”

“Leave it to me, its ok” James insisted 

“Thank you” she replied lowly

He opened his wallet and placed a large amount of money on the counter.

“You guys over there must