Passionate Exchange

Chapter Forty-Two

Do you remember when I said I was going to forget that anything ever happened between us? I meant it. Did I say that it would be easy? No. Am I currently walking to work on my day off to distract myself? Yes.

I walk out of the store and in the direction of the flower shop, toying with the little pin of a black cat in my hand before placing it back into the brown paper bag.

I decided to take a detour and pick up something for Melissa from the store. I went in there with no idea of what I could get her but while I was walking down the aisles, trailing my fingertips against the shelves, I remembered something that happened a couple of weeks ago at work.

"Favourite food?" I ask Melissa. We're waiting for a customer to come in but, by the looks of the weather outside, it doesn't seem likely that someone's going to want to go outside and buy flowers. There's more rain falling right now than I've seen since I came here.

She twirls a pink tulip in her hand, humming as she thinks. "It has to be pumpkin pie."

"I've never tried that."

"You haven't?" She gasps in shock. "Remind me when Thanksgiving comes around to bake you one."

I nod. I'm sure if it's made by her it's bound to be nice. "How about your favourite colour?"

She answers almost instantly. "Easy, gold."

"And your favourite band?"

"The Rolling Stones." She starts bobbing her head slightly as if she were listening to their music right now.

"An English rock band? I didn't pin you as the type to be into rock music."

She laughs lightly. "What can I say? I'm full of surprises."

I'd only ever listened to The Rolling Stones a couple of times when my dad would blast their music in the kitchen. He always liked to listen to something when he was cooking, he said it helped him focus. I'm not sure how that made sense, but he was right, his food was always better with the music.

"And you?" She questions.

"Let me think," I tap my fingers on the wooden counter, staring out of the shop window. Something sitting in front of the door catches my attention and distracts me from the question. It's definitely not a person, it's too small. I squint my eyes slightly. "Cat!"

I rush over to where it's sitting patiently. "Your favourite band's a cat?"

I open the door and it walks straight in, rubbing itself against my leg. "No, I mean there's a cat." I step out of the way so Melissa can see it and her eyes light up.

"Oh my god, what are you doing here, kitty?" She holds her hand out for it to sniff and then runs it through its black fur lovingly.

Of course, the cat doesn't answer her. If it did, I would be very concerned. She cradles it in her arms and takes it through to the back before putting some water in a spare bowl. She places the bowl down and the cat starts drinking from it.

"Let me guess, you're a cat person?"

She doesn't take her eyes away from the bundle of fur. "Surprise."

The cat stayed with us for a while. We never found out its name so we both just called it kitty. It had a collar with an address engraved into it but no name. When the rain stopped, we let it go outside. Melissa told me later that day that she had a black cat when she was younger that looked exactly like that one. She said she'd always wanted to get another one but never had the time. Obviously, I couldn't get her a cat so a pin of one is the next best thing. It'll go with the assortment of other ones she has.