Stolen Love

Chapter Ten

I exit the hotel and wrap my jacket around my shoulders.  It's surprisingly chilly for a summer night and I walk briskly down the road to try to escape from the chill.  I try to stay on the roads where there are other people and lights that are on, but eventually I have to leave the safety of the public and walk down a deserted street.  I've been trying to avoid alleyways, since what happened last time I went down one, which happened about two months ago. 

I'm walking down the street when I hear a noise behind me. I stop and turn around, to see a cat.  It had bright golden eyes and black hair.  I wouldn't mind if it ran in front of me, I've never believed in those superstitions.  The cat meowed and slowly walked gracefully toward me.  I don't know if it was trying to show me it wasn't going to hurt me, or if it was being cautious of me.

"Well hello there, beautiful." I whisper to the cat, slowly crouching down toward the ground, forgetting I was in an alleyway.  I held out my hand, showing I wasn't going to harm it.  It walked up to my hand and rubbed it's head in it, softly purring.  I could see it's whole body now, and I saw a cut running down it's left hind leg. "Oh my gosh! You're hurt! Poor baby," I coo to the cat. "I'll have to take you home and clean you up." I tell the cat, as if it can understand what I'm saying.  I pick it up and cuddle it up to my stomach.  I'm surprised it doesn't react negatively, which makes me think it's not a stray.  I stand up and start walking towards the house again.  I look down at the cat, and it's looking up at me with what looks like adoration. 

We made it home with no interruptions, thankfully.  I walk in and sit my purse on the table by the door. "Hey, Lex, I'm home!" I yell out, wanting to show her what I found while walking home.  "I'm in the kitchen!" She yelled back.  That's when the aroma's came drifting to me and I took a deep breath in, trying to guess what we were having.  "Steak?" I called out while walking toward the kitchen. She looked over her shoulder as I walked in. "Nope. Salmon," She said, chuckling. "You really do suck at guessing and smelling." She looked down to see what was in my arms and I saw the biggest smile I've ever seen cross her face.  And I'm not kidding when I say she looked like a beautiful Cheshire cat.

"I found it in the alleyway and it was hurt. I couldn't just leave it there, it could have died." I told Lex, which only added sympathy to her eyes. "Oh, you poor little thing. I wish I could pet you, but I'm too busy cooking this here steak," she rolled her eyes as if that was the dumbest thing she'd ever heard. "I mean salmon." I started to laugh and walked towards the bathroom to get the first aid kit.  The second time I've had to use it in less than 6 months.  I opened up the kit and took stock of what we had.  I had a little gauze, what was left of what I used to wrap around my head; some band-aids, but I wouldn't be using those on the cat; some antiseptic and some cleaning wipes.  The cat looked into the kit then at me with a look of confusion on its face, like it was asking where everything was.  I laughed at its expression and started to clean it up.

"You know, I don't know if you're a boy or a girl, and I keep calling you an 'it' in my head." I tell the cat, trying to wipe the blood out of it's fur. I lift up the cat and take a quick glance towards its tale. I don't know why, but I've always been squeamish about the private parts, even if it is an animal.  "Yep, you're definitely a male." I state, and I feel my cheeks turn red.  Like I said, I don't like the private areas. He looks up at me and I would swear he was smiling! "Don't you dare laugh at me! I'm sorry if I get embarrassed at the mention of some personal areas." I tell the cat, and for some reason, it is easy to talk to him. I've always found it hard to talk to people about my problems, so I would just bottle them up in my chest.  So I find myself talking to the cat about everything from my father to the rape until I'm done bandaging it up.

 After dinner, I tell the cat, "I'll go get you some milk." I smile at the cat, scratching behind its ear. I get it some milk and take it into my bedroom, the cat following me with a small limp. He walks over to the milk and starts lapping it up, while I sit on the bed and look at him. "I wonder what I'm going to name you." I question myself.  All of a sudden, a name pops into my head. Charles.  The cat remind me of him, the way he walked and the emotion on his face. "Charles, but we'll call you Char." I tell the cat, which makes it stop drinking and look at me. "Haha, you like that name, huh?" I ask the him. "I do, too." I whisper to myself. I lay across my bed on my stomach, and rest my chin in my hands. "I met this man at work. His name is Charles, too." I tell him.  He stopped drinking and walked over to the bed and jumped up on it.  He walked over and lied down beside my arms.