Stray!

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After hanging up my phone, I went back to work. I was only partially confident that the cat was actually Cara. I'll never know for sure unless she decides to change back in front of me...I hope she isn't too mad. I need her back home. I sighed as I walked out of the elevator headed out of my office.

"Hey...Chris y'know I'm free this weekend. What are you doing?" Camilla asked me on the way to my car.
"I'm hopefully welcoming someone home..."
"Oh...a girlfriend?" Her voice dropped.
"Something like that. I have to go, okay?"

I got into my car and cranked it up. Before I started to pull out of the parking garage, I plugged the address from my text messages into my preprogrammed Maps app and took a beep breath. The entire ride to the destination was spent thinking of ways to apologize. When I finally pulled up to the house it was...bigger than mine? It looked nice from the outside. I sat in my car for a minute or two, trying to gather myself. If it's her I'll apologize and bring her home. If it's not her...I guess I'll keep looking. I got out and knocked on the front door. A shorter man opened the door and greeted me.

"Chris? About the cat?"
"Yes. May I?"
"Yeah sure man. Come in."

I followed him inside to his living room where there was a kitten identical to Patches clawing at a ball of yarn. My heart skipped a beat. If it's her then I can finally stop killing myself with guilt and apologize. The kitten stopped playing with the yarn and just stared at me. Those are definitely her eyes. I haven't seen anything else with the same eyes as her. It didn't move when I went to pick it up.

"Is she yours?" He asked.
"Looks like it...but I need to test something. She um...opens doors."
"There's a room down the hallway. You can try that."
"Thank you."

I carried her down the hallway to the room in question, put her down inside the room, and waited.

Cara

I fought myself hard on whether or not to transform. A small part of me missed Chris but a big part of me was hurting. If he's not gonna commit to me and do nothing but string me along, I'm better off here with Donald. I could live as a cat forever. Donald never yelled at me and he gives me all the attention I could want. And he doesn't know my secret. I scratched at the door lightly. I had made my decision. I'll be Donald's cat for the rest of my life. Wander around the street during the day as a human and come here and be a cat forever. Chris opened the door.

"I guess...it's not her..." He mumbled.
"Ah, I'm sorry man. I'm sure you'll find her, though. Seems like she was special to you."
"Yeah...she's probably the first thing I really loved in years. I'll keep looking for her."
"Don't give up."

He nodded to him on his way out. Though after hearing him say he loved me, I impulsively followed him to the door. When I tugged on his pants leg he stopped. He scooped me up in his arms and held me, scratching me gently behind my ear. I purred, realizing how much I really missed him.

"She seems attached to you too. Maybe try the door thing again?"
"...Maybe."

He put me back in the room, expecting me to transform. This time I did. I turned the knob slowly and cracked the door. He peeked in, his eyes widening slightly.

"...Patches."

I nodded. I could tell he wanted to hug me. I wanted to hug him. But there were two problems with that. I'm naked, and Donald doesn't know I'm human.

"She's your cat?"
"Yeah...she's definitely mine..." he smiled.

I hid behind the door to change back and strutted out to my original owner. He picked me up in his arms.

"Thank you so much for finding her and keeping her safe. Thank you for putting out those fliers. I don't know what I would've done if I had never found her."
"Don't mention it. She looked too um...domesticated to actually be a stray."
"Thank you so much."

Chris reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and handed Donald some cash.

"You don't have to pay me."
"No, I do. This cat means more to me than I could explain. You deserve this."
"Thanks. You take care. It was nice meeting you."
"It was nice meeting you too."

Chris and Donald said their goodbyes and he carried me down to his car. Once we got to his house and he got me inside, I changed back. He damn-near tackled me. He held me tight in his arms. I hugged him back.

"Don't you ever run off on me like that again. I was fuckin' sick, Cara."
"You didn't seem like you wanted me around. I was hurting."
"Of course I want you around. I love you!"
"Chris..."

I pulled back to look up into his eyes. He had just said something I never thought he'd say to me.

"I love you. Okay? Don't run off on me again."

He crashed his lips against mine. I kissed him back of course. He finally stopped sending me mixed signals. He wrapped his arms around my waist, picking me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he walked us to his bedroom. We collapsed into his bed. He held me close for hours. When he looked at the clock it read 9:53pm.

"I need to take a shower. Don't move."

He got up and gathered supplies for his shower while I laid in the sane spot. I reflected on the last few days. I spotted my note on his nightstand. Looking around, he still hasn't cleaned up the last mess I made. I got up and started to clean up. I didn't notice how long it took but Chris ran downstairs almost in a panic.

"Cara..."
"I'm just cleaning up."
"Yeah, but you weren't in bed when I came back. I got abandonment issues now. You gotta tell me when you're leaving."
"I'm sorry. I'm not gonna leave again I promise."

He stroked my hair, placing a kiss on my forehead.

"I was a mess without you around. It was lonely."