Starlit Paws

Catastrophe

Hi all, thank you for your interest in Starlit Paws! this is an ongoing project and a slow-burn romance. Chapter 1 is dedicated to the destruction of planet Earth so we get to learn a bit about the main character Ulric before everything gets turned upside down.  I hope you enjoy!

Note: This is an ongoing story and is constantly under revision. You are witnessing my writing process in as raw of a form as it can get! I encourage you if you are reading this before the work is completed to check for updates as I will be going back through chapters adding/editing details along the way. 

A deafening slam resonates through the apartment, and the pictures hanging along the hallway sway slightly. Ulric's fists were pale, nail marks embedding themselves into his palms.

Unbelievable!

He throws himself on the sofa, its legs squealing in protest against the laminate floor, and forcefully grabs his phone thrusting his fingers swiftly across the contact list until the name Izzy Young appears. A couple of rings and Izzy's comforting southern draw answers.

"Hey Sugar, how are you?"

"I can't believe Ray, he is being ridiculous!" Ulric runs his fingers through his mahogony brown hair as an exasperated sigh comes from the phone.

"Well hello to you too. Ulric, isn't this the 5th time this week you've called to complain about Ray?"

Ulric thought back to the other calls this week, to him they all seemed to be pretty significant. Dirty clothes right outside the hamper, then dirty dishes left in the sink, and now insults.

"This time is different. Can you believe he called me self-absorbed? Me!" Ulric said, pushing himself off of the sofa and pacing back in forth in front of the makeshift entertainment set.

"Everything I do is for Ray. I keep a clean house, I cook, I make sure his work clothes are laid out for him daily, and he thinks I'm self-absorbed because I don't want to go bird watching with him?"

"Honey I think you are not seeing the bigger picture. Let's be honest we both know you can be self-absorbed."

Ulric's mouth hangs and then he snorts.

"Izzy. He wanted to go do bird watching. BIRD WATCHING!"

"That doesn't sound so bad to me, sounds relaxing. Besides don't you always pick the activity, and wouldn't you think it a bit self-absorbed if everything you do is all about what you like?"

Whose side is she on anyway?

Ulric's pace quickens a retort on the tip of his tongue, but Izzy responds first

"You are blowing this thing way out of proportion."

"I didn't blow anything out of proportion, I ---" Izzy's chuckle stopped him short, his face turning pink.

"Ulric. If we recap some of our conversations this week. You started an argument because there was a single sock outside of the hamper."

"It was right next to the hamper!"

"And the single fork in the sink?"

"You know I like  an empty sink."

"And the misplaced shoes and the soap dispenser were a quarter of an inch from their normal spot? Need I continue?"

A pause hung in the air. The memories pour in, from when they first moved into the cozy townhome nuzzled away just on the outskirts of Knoxville. Six months ago felt like years, the days flew by with date nights, cuddling, gaming, and more cuddling.