Absence Makes the Heart Grow fonder

Dinner with Garfield

It took a lot of convincing to get Bacchus into his crate, which is why I had to make sure I was ready to go half an hour before I left. He was a sweet boy, quite fat but not unhealthy (and the vet told me that), and I got him because of how lonely I was. No boyfriend since college for me, and even then Charles was only half a boyfriend. Too busy working to have any friends, I figured a cat would be the easiest thing for me to have, the easiest thing to take care of. I suppose I went to bars sometimes, spoke to a couple of people, engaged with my coworkers every now and again, but still I was just as socially anxious as I had been my whole life, if not worse.

Finally, after a lot of pushing and prodding, and bribing with treats, Bacchus was in his crate ready to go. He meowed as I carried him down the stairs and into the passenger seat of my car. Singing his praises, I slipped into the drivers seat and started the car, briefly checking the address Richard had given me. Feeling a little protective, I quickly double checked that everything was okay for Bacchus before driving off. The closer I got the more my heart picked up, and I was, much to my embarrassment, reminded of the time I thought I was having a heart attack. Shaking my head at the memory, I sparked up a cigarette whilst in traffic, rolling the window down and resting my elbow against it, the other hand on the wheel. It was a nice spring day with a steady breeze, something I hadn't really been able to think about or focus on for a while. As I sat in my car, I thought about my life, about the stress of my job that was getting me nowhere. What was it all for? But before I could come to any valuable conclusion, the light switched to green and I had to focus on the road.

I parked on Richard's street ten minutes early and I took the time to catch my breath. His apartment building was, much to my surprise, really quite nice. It matched every building on the street, it had great big windows on every floor, and was covered in climbing Ivy. In front of it were some beautiful bushes, decorated with budding flowers. I spent my time imagining him and his daughter leaving for school in the morning; picturing Richard as a father would have been hard if I hadn't seen how he gushed over Olive in the cafe. She would have had a tight ponytail, a pinafore on top of a white shirt, little Mary-Jane shoes and a pink backpack, and he'd be wearing his smart clothes ready to get to the office after dropping her off. He'd hold her hand tight even though they'd only walk down a few steps and to the car.

Then I saw myself there, standing in the doorway and waving goodbye.

The sound of Bacchus meowing brought me out of this fantasy, and I cleared my throat before checking my watch. Now I was only five minutes early, and that was fine because I was always at least five minutes early everywhere. Swiftly, whilst trying to look a little cool incase Richard was watching, I got out the car and went round to the other side to get Bacchus before going into the building and up to the second floor. Before knocking, I ran a hand through my hair, not really believing that this was happening, that I was at Richard's apartment. He opened the door enthusiastically, relieved to see me. "Francis, hello!" He exclaimed, welcoming me in. With a smile and a nod I walked in, glancing around at the hallway. The walls had definitely been white at some point, but with the natural wear and tear of life the paint was a little chipped and stained.The floor was a light wood colour and had recently been polished. All across the walls were photos, photos of Richard, Olive, and what must have been other family members. School photos across the years, photos of different landscapes, they were quite beautiful.

"That must be the special guest, Garfield," Richard said, loud enough for Olive to hear as he shut the door. She ran into the hallway from the living room excitedly, practically bouncing off the walls. She looked like a cool kid, she wore jeans and a Garfield T-Shirt. "Gee, can I see him!?" She asked, looking up at me with pleading eyes,
"Of course!" I said enthusiastically. I put the crate down on the floor and opened it for Bacchus to crawl out. Cautiously he walked out, sniffing at the air, and that was when I realised that I could smell lasagna wafting in from the kitchen. "Remember what I taught you," Richard said a little sternly. Olive nodded and kneeled down, holding her hand out towards Bacchus who walked over and sniffed. Satisfied, he pressed his head against her hand and Olive excitedly petted him, giggling with glee. "The real Garfield!" Was what she kept saying. Unable to hide my smile, I looked at Richard, who seemed to have the same amount of joy as I did plastered across his face. That was when I realised he was wearing an apron.
"What's the apron for?" I asked, entertained by the sight,
"Well I'm cooking lasagna!"
"Yeah!" Olive chimed in, "don't you know it's Garfield's favourite?"
"Of course I knew that, I just wasn't sure if an apron was necessary for lasagna. My sincerest apologies," I said with a chuckle.
"Speaking of lasagna, I better go check on that," he said, disappearing into the kitchen.