When I got to my apartment I was beyond exhausted... That was one hectic shift, I thought to myself. It was already past one when I checked my watch. I'm not going to complain but I'm not going to lie either.... Yeah, the hours I had to work did suck but the tip's I made were so worth it.
I walked up the steps that glistened under the building's light. Surprisingly, the rain had finally stopped. I got out my keys to unlock the door and then made my way inside to the lounge with a huge bag full of the clothes I had on to school and my umbrella. I was still in my working uniform but I was so tired that I ended up lounging on the couch and putting on the TV.
I placed the bag of clothes on the floor beside the couch and placed the umbrella on the glass table as I began to flip through the TV channels. I didn't even bother to put on the lights and the only light in the room was the light that came from the TV screen. Flipping through the channels I found nothing interesting to watch when I heard a meow...
I looked around the room from where I was sitting, then I looked to the couch I was sitting on for any signs of a black cat but there was nothing.... Not a single cat in sight. I got up from where I was after checking the couch properly to make sure that the cat wasn't there. I looked around the room again and then I turned off the TV. Once the TV was switched off the room was pitch black but somehow the moonlight still managed to filter in through the curtains which had been closed.
Still standing after getting up from the couch I made my way towards the kitchen. In the darkness I could still find my way around even though I couldn't see very well. But then again, I lived in this apartment for 2 years so of course I knew my way around the place. As I walked towards the kitchen I heard another meow and the pita patter of paws on the wooden floor.
"Meow, meow..." I heard again. It's the cat... she must be hungry, I thought.
When I entered the kitchen, I turned on the light that was on the right hand side of the doorway. I went towards the fridge and took out some canned tuna. I was so busy today I didn't even have time to make a stop by the pet store for some cat food. So I guess tuna will just have to do for now. I placed the tuna in one of the plastic containers I had lying around in the kitchen and put the container carefully down on the floor close to the doorway.
I was about to leave the kitchen when I heard another meow, meow and the pita pattering of paws.
"Here, kitty, kitty...." I said as I waited for the cat to come and eat but the cat didn't come. I waited and waited but still nothing. I wonder why she's not coming, I thought... obviously she must be hungry. I mean, I never fed her since this morning. Then I remembered that I didn't even bother to give the poor thing a name.
Gosh... I thought, I'm such a bad owner. I brought the thing here to live with me and I didn't even give it a name or better yet fed it. It's official, I'm a terrible person, I thought to myself. Shame the poor thing must be starving.
I called for the cat again.. "Here, kitty, kitty..." but still nothing except for the pita pattering of paws and meowing. I peeked out the doorway of the kitchen to see if the cat was coming but the passage was completely empty. I looked around again to lounge that was still dark and as my eyes adjusted I managed to see movement. It seemed like the cat and then in the next moment it was gone.
As I waited in the doorway where the kitchen light shone I heard meowing once again but this time it was coming from my bedroom. So I headed to my bedroom and checked if the cat was there but when I turned on the room's light there was nothing. I searched the room to make sure that the cat wasn't there.
"Here, kitty, kitty..." I said as I looked around, "come out, come out, wherever you are..."
I looked everywhere in my room, I even checked under my bed and the dressing table but still nothing.
"Here, kitty, kitty..." I said again as I looked for her. Where could that cat be?... I thought. I walked in the lounge area again and looked around but still nothing.
Then I checked the couch but still not a cat in sight. After checking every possible place the cat could be in my apartment I still turned up with nothing. Going to the lounge once again I looked around and found nothing but after turning on the light... there in the corner of the couch, rolled up in a little ball of black fur was... the cat. It looked at me oddly with its enlarged shiny bright green eyes as the light went on and it tilted its head sideways, almost as if it were saying "I was here the whole time... Do I look invisible to you?.." I just looked at the cat for a few minutes before I picked it up gently and took it to the kitchen.
As I placed the cat down beside the plastic container, I rubbed it gently as I felt its soft fur and it purred in content. It then looked to the container with the tuna and began to eat.
"I wonder what I should call you?..." I said as I thought to myself and then looked to the cat again. I then saw that it wasn't a female cat but a male one.
"Okay..." I said out loud to myself, "so it's clear that you are not a girl and I can't call you something like Emily so.... I guess, something like Felix could work?..." I said to myself as though I was asking the cat a question.
"Yeah," I said again to myself still looking at the cat, "I think the name suits you... and it's Felix almost like feline since you are a cat."
When the cat was finished eating it looked at me strangely and tilted its head to the side with a curious expression on its face before rubbing its head against my leg and then purring. Well, you know how the saying goes... "Curiosity killed the cat" or in this case helped me give it a name.
"Okay," I said as I knelt down and rubbed the cat, "I'll take that as a yes... so Felix it is then."
So I gave the cat the name "Felix."
To be continued...