Love me, Feed me, Dont leave me

Chapter 1: Strange Beginnings

There was something about him, his powerful stance, his stern but loving deep, dark eyes and his ochre fur that bewitched me. It was the same. The same thing every night. Ever since I could remember. Every night the silhouette would step closer muttering the words ''Love me, feed me, don't leave me" but before he could reach me I would wake up. Ever since the day I first dreamt of him, it was my dream to start a restaurant. Garfield Eats.

It was a terribly rainy day, and yet again, Garfield Eats had seen no customers. As the years went by people began to forget the beauty and majesty of Garfield. All they saw was a lasagne eating cat, no one understood him like I did. No one could see the raw strength in those bulging dark eyes, the noble tilt of his chin and the ethereal aura which seemed to envelop his form. To everyone else Garfield was just a character, someone to laugh and relate to. However Garfield was so much more; a deity, a being which surpassed any other creature on the planet.

The only other person who came close to sharing my love of Garfield was my coworker Teya. I had discovered her –what seemed like a lifetime ago– on the street clutching a furby. I approached her, recognised her as a fellow garfatarian. I asked her what was wrong and she confessed to me that she had been fired from her last job due to her dedication to Garfield which then led to her becoming evicted from her apartment and subsequently homeless. My eyes widened in shock as I listened to her story— How dare they discriminate against my people!

I then led her into my restaurant. She gasped as she saw the pictures of Garfield plastered on every wall, the hand clutched around her furby master began trembling as she absorbed her surroundings. I sat her down and fixed her a garfaccino, offering her a permanent job at my humble restaurant.

The two of us were an inseparable pair, spreading our love of Garfield through our famous garfield gherita and ​​garfaccino in our entergaging restaurant experience.

I was closing up the restaurant when I heard a startling noise coming from the outside dumpster. It was unlike any noise I had heard before. I poked my head out the door. The rain was belting heavily but I could make out the words "love me feed me don't leave me" being uttered in the direction of the dumpster. I knew those words and I had known them for a long time. Could this be him? The connoisseur of the famous big cow lasagna and Garfaccino?

~~~

I cautiously approached the figure hunched over the dumpster, my bright orange tailored suit quickly becoming a soaking wet mess. It seems as though the silhouette noticed my presence as well. His head snapped towards my direction and as our eyes met, I felt a spark of electricity. A feeling of comfort and belonging ran throughout my body. It was him. The furry of my dreams.

"G-Garfield?" I stuttered as I looked onward in awe.

"Yes Nathen it's me." The figure said in a deep sultry voice.

I couldn't believe that THE Garfield was eating from MY dumpster. How could he have known my name?

"I thought no one cared about me anymore. What are you doing here? I think you might have the wrong establishment-"

Before I could finish my sentence, he pulled me into a warm embrace. "Nathen I have been looking for you for so long and finally, on this dreary night I have found you. You have been appearing in my dreams for years and I have left my life behind. I divorced my wife and left my kids just in case one day I could find you.

Garfield's fur smelt of his famous frozen big cow lasagna. As we gazed into each other's eyes I felt his embrace tighten. Our faces were slowly moving closer, his whiskers softly grazed my cheeks until Teya came bursting through the door with Thursday on her shoulder and a baseball bat in hand, but just like I did, she stopped dead in her tracks after seeing the other worldly deity that is Garfield. "LET GO OF NATHEN- oh wait- is that..."

"Nathen I thought we were alone?" Garfield said, perplexed, removing his soft warm arms from my waist.

"Garfield, meet my lovely friend Teya, a fun fact you should know is that his real name is Strange Æons."

Garfield turned to look at Teya to gaze upon Thursday, though he was a little confused at the sight of the young furby overlord, he thought nothing of it.

"I would love to be invited inside," Garfield said gently "I am not partial to the rain."

We led him inside and he took a seat in our diner. I of course rushed into the kitchen to prepare one of our famous first class dishes, the Garfield gherita. As I sprinkled the cheese on top of the Garfield shaped pizza, I wondered about the interaction with Garfield earlier this evening. Were we about to...kiss? Garfield, the ethereal being he is, liked me? Of course not. Imagine that.

Garfield took one large bite out of the garfield gherita and let out a grateful moan. I blushed and shyly looked away as he began gobbling down his pizza. Teya approached the feasting cat cautiously, "Would you like some of the garfield secret sauce?" He looked confused for a moment but then nodded enthusiastically. He continued to inhale the pizza at record speeds and I gazed at him in rapture. It was almost... beautiful the way he shovelled sliced into his mouth, letting the special sauce get into his whiskers and all over his pink button nose.

He then paused to look up at me and my heart faltered. His eyes were filled with passion and my cheeks burst into flames. Teya then hurriedly announced that she needed to feed her son, bingus, and escaped through the door in record speed.

Me and Garfield were now alone. My heart began to race and my palms grew sweaty. I'm sure he noticed because his eyes didn't move from mine as he finished licking the pizza grease from his fuzzy lips.

"Nathan?" he asked, his voice huskier than normal. "Y-yes?" I stuttered in reply.

"Would you like to try some of my...secret sauce?"

My eyes widened in astonishment and my face turned bright red as I fumbled out my next words, "what- um...I-" he interrupted me by getting out of his seat and sauntered towards me with a smirk but as soon as he got close, he slipped in a puddle of water left by the aftermath of the downpour and was knocked unconscious.

I let out a shocked gasp and I called out to Teya and Thursday. We hauled the cat up the stairs to my second story apartment above the restaurant and placed him delicately upon my bed in my Garfield decorated room. Even though he was brutally knocked unconscious, he still looked like a scrumptious Garfield gherita. I sat in the room a little longer before leaving and turning the light off but something compelled me to tell him. Stuttering, I mustered up the courage to say "Garfield I-I love you." I turned and exited the room, but something abruptly stopped me. Behind me, I heard the sheets stir and a familiar husky voice mutter "Nathen... don't leave me." I turned back around to face the cat lying in my bed.

How could I resist? I longed for his embrace. I climbed under the covers and once again he wrapped his arms around me and soon enough we both fell into a deep slumber though I still wondered if Garfield had heard my confession.

~~~

Authors' note:

This fanfiction is collaboration with my friend Matilda. After hearing about Nathen Mazri's ingenious business Garfield Eats, we couldn't help imagine the motivations behind Nathen's passion. Me and Matilda rapidly transformed into avid Garfatarians, analysing Nathens connection with the cartoon cat. We realised that Nathen's love was more powerful than we had expected. Thus this work of... fiction?... was born. 

We love you Teya.