My Twisted Tale of a Life

The Call

Did I just hear correctly?

"Kim, what's in the box?" Willow asked.

Kim just grinned at us. I couldn't turn to get the box as my ankle was wrapped, and now severely swollen.

"Here, I'll be right back. There's a couple other things I left in the car. Willow, can you sit here for a minute? Don't tell Tay what it is, I wanna see her face. "

It was kind of hard to miss what was in the box, what with the sound it made.

"Willow, did I just hear a meow?"

She didn't give me a yes or no, but a simple smile. I tried to peer into the box, and she scooted the box even further away.

"Nope, no peeking!"

Kim came bursting through the door. She's always been so little, and she's never had much muscle, so when she came in carrying a litter box that had cat litter, cat food, cat bowls, and a cat bed, you could say I was definitely surprised.

"Alright, Willow. Let's show her what we got her!" Kim said super perky after she finished setting down everything she had carried in on her last trip to her car.

Kim sat by my feet, and Willow picked out a kitten from the box. It was a solid white kitten, and it was extremely furry. It looked to be about 5 weeks old.

"I know how much you like cats, and I know it's only you in the apartment, and that really you only have Willow and I, so we thought we'd get you a roommate. In my neighborhood there was a cat that had a litter of kittens. After she had the kittens, she just kind of dumped them on the side of the road. By the time I had noticed them, they had almost been hit by a truck, so I created a bit of a commotion trying to save them. After I had them all in a box, she was already gone and nobody has spotted her since. She just abandoned them, so I've been trying to take care of them. I figured you might want one. There's two other ones, if you'd want to take them in as well, Tay. I know you're good with animals. " Kim explained to me.

"I suggested she give you this kitten, but there's also a full black kitten and a kitten that has black and white spots all over it. You'd like them all. But, while she got them ready, I went out and bought the stuff for you to keep them here. We thought you'd like it. " Willow added on.

"I honestly don't know what to say. Thank you guys, so much. Yes, of couse I'll take the other two kittens. I think I'll call this one Charity. She's adorable. "

While I was talking, Willow took Charity out of the box and layed her on my lap. She immediately snuggled up against my stomach and began purring. I could tell that she had found her new forever home, because there was no way I was going to get rid of her, no matter how much trouble she caused.

*****

I don't remember falling asleep last night.

Charity was lying next to me, Kim was laying behind my legs at the other end of the couch, and Willow was in the recliner. My alarm was going off, and I knew I had to get to my interview at Buckie's. I moved slowly, seeing if my ankle was fine. Luckily, it was. Charity climbed into my lap, meowing softly to notify me she was there. I pet her while I wrote a note to Kim and Willow.

Hey guys! Sorry I didn't wake you guys up this morning. Stay however long you want, and go ahead and chow down on whatever you want, you guys know where the kitchen is. Go ahead and bring the other two kittens over, and lock Charity in my room once you leave, as well as the other kittens when you bring them over. I'll tell you guys how the interview, game, and audition went later. Thank you both for last night. Love you guys.

I set Charity next to Kim, and I headed to my room to get dressed for the day. I wore one of my college shirts and skinny jeans to the interview, which I know wasn't really appropriate, but I was rushing. I grabbed my soccer duffel and stuffed my soccer ball, cleats, and shinguards in the bag. I threw in my uniform and socks as well. I hurriedly put together an outift for me to change into once I showered after my game. Then, I headed out the door to begin the busy day.

*****

I was in the shower rinsing all the dirt off of my body, thinking about the day so far.

The interview was easier than I had expected, but they asked some bizarre questions. Nobody commented on my outfit, though there were people waiting for interviews who looked a lot worse than I did. I really didn't want the job, but I needed it.

The game was difficult. I played my hardest, as I always did. My ankle didn't swell up, but I had to be benched the last half of the game to prevent it. This was one of the last few games before tournaments began, and I could tell that the coach was disappointed in me. I had to sit out. I couldn't risk my ankle being injured before the biggest audition I had yet to face.

I got out of the shower and I got dressed in my pink shirt and white skirt. I was so nervous.

******

"Hey Kim! I know you and Willow are out together right now. Just wanted to remind you to drop the other kittens off sometime today. Thought I'd let you guys know that the interview went well, we won our game today but I was out the last half, and my audition went pretty well. I was really nervous, and there were a lot more people there than I thought there would be, but I hit all of the notes and I made them laugh, so I guess that's good. I also called the guy from the park. I'm heading to the coffee shop now to meet him. I'll tell you guys about that later. Alright, I gotta go now. Bye. "

I hung up the phone and headed into the coffee shop where I scanned the place for the face of the stanger who approached me at the park. He waved at me, and I went to sit by him. I ordered a simple french vanilla latte, and he offered to pay for it. I turned a bit pink when, not even five minutes into our date, my phone started ringing.

"I am so, so sorry. This'll be just a minute. I'm really sorry. " I told him, while answering the phone.

The phone conversation lasted less than five minutes. It was only Buckie's Burger Palace calling me. Hi, is this Taylor Autumn? Yes, this is she. Hi, this is the mananger at Buckie's Burger Palace. I just wanted to let you know that you got the job here, and I wanted to know when you could start. Oh, wow, thank you! I can start tomorrow if that's okay? Yes, certainly. If you could stop by later tonight, we already have uniforms layed out in the back, so you can get whatever size fits you so you're prepared tomorrow. Thank you, have a nice day!

"Sounds like you just got hired. " said the mystery stranger, who I realized had a raspy voice.

"I suppose I did. " I chuckled. "I'm Taylor Autumn. It's a pleasure to share a coffee with you. "

For some reason, I kept getting the urge to giggle at the stupidest thing.

"My name is Steven Forman. The pleasure is mine. "

Suddenly, our date was interrupted by another phone call. Only, this time, it was Steven's phone.

"Excuse me one moment. " he told me. I smiled politely. "Kim, yes, I'm here. We can go to the movies next weekend. I can't talk right now, I'm busy. I'll talk to you later, okay? " he ended the phone call and put his phone in the pocket of his jacket, and smiled at me. "Sorry, I guess my friends miss me. Where were we? "

I opened my mouth to respond, only to be silenced by the ringing of my phone again. When I saw the unknown number, I almost declined the call. However, I've learned that you need to answer sometimes, especially when you're applying for different jobs or to be on different teams, are visiting multiple doctors, or are auditiong for roles in different shows. I held my finger up, motioning to Steven that I'd be just a moment. This date was off to a terrible start.

"Hello?" I answered nervously.

"Hi, is this Taylor Autumn?"

"Yes, this is she. May I ask who's calling?"

"This doesn't happen very often, so you're a special case. This is one of the people who were a judge today at the auditions for Wicked the Musical. Are you free to talk currently?"