I packed all the food that I wanted from Marie's fridge and kitchen cabinets. I knew that I was going to need some heavy dose of comfort today in the form of loads of sweets and ice cream.
I managed to keep it together until I reached the door to my basement, but as soon as I closed the door, I couldn't hold it in any longer and tears fell down in a waterfall.
I cried because of all the fights with Russell, Adam, and Marissa, but I was the most upset about Lucky. I had pushed him away and then shouted and tossed him out in the street like trash. I cried because I missed Jules so much that it hurt.
I wished she was still with me, helping me go through this. I missed her silent companionship, her watchful gaze, the warmth she brought to my heart when she rubbed her head on my arm, or when she curled up on my lap to listen to me rant about my life. With Jules, I didn't feel so alone.
And I never felt so alone in my life like right now, but I was the only one to blame for my solitude this time. Lucky was never coming back now, not after the way I'd treated him.
I sat on my carpet with bags of food scattered all around me and buried my face in my hands and cried. If Jules was still here, she would have licked the salty tears off my face and meowed in concern until I stopped crying. She was my best friend, the one I came running to whenever I had a problem, or whenever I was sad or upset.
I blinked startled by a low 'rwrrrrr' rumbling in front of me, and for a moment, I thought I would see Jule's big blue eyes staring up at me. But instead of blue eyes, I saw mismatched green and yellow, filled with concern.
Lucky tapped lightly at my leg with his paw, to get my attention, or maybe it was only his way of saying 'There, there, now. Everything will be alright.'
"Lucky!" I yelled in surprise and launched at him, squishing him with a big hug. "You came back! I can't believe you came back!"
I may have squeezed him a bit too tight because he whined in protest and squirmed in my arms, trying to wriggle away from me. I let him go, laughing and crying at the same time, feeling so relieved because I had Lucky back in my life.
I wasn't alone anymore, he was here again.
"I'm so sorry for kicking you out like that. I was really mean to you. I'll never do that again to you, I promise. Will you let me make it up to you?"
He watched me suspiciously and let out a tiny meow of agreement.
I stood up, dabbing at my eyes, then I hurried to the kitchen to start the food preparation that I was planning to make for Lucky. He was going to have the most epic feast of all time.
When I had everything placed neatly on a tray, I walked back to the living room, sat on my carpet, and put the tray in front of him on the floor.
"Here you go, all the best food for you. Are you feeling lucky or what?" I joked and rubbed his head playfully, which earned me a mighty glare and an upset hiss of ′You're pushing your luck, missy. If you weren't crying your eyes out a second ago, you would so be seeing my deadly claws right about now.′
"All right, sorry! I forgot you hate any sign of affection. My bad. Now, come on, eat up! This is all for you." I gestured to his tray.
I had put all kinds of food that I knew cats loved in that tray. It was a feast to be served to a cat king. His eyes were wide in awe at the delicious treats that I was offering all in one go. He squirmed on his spot, trying to decide which prize he was going to gobble up first.
I watched him scarf down his food with a big grin stretched on my face. I was so glad that Lucky was back! And it was a joy to see how much he was enjoying his meal. He noticed my eyes on him and glanced up in mid-chew, with a mouth full of ham.
"Wrowpfh?"
"Is your food good?" I asked, smiling. I wanted to please him so badly, to make up for the horrible way I had treated him at the store.
He shot me a look of 'You're weird, human, quit staring at me while I eat' before he continued eating.
"Hey, I'm not weird! I'm just happy that you're back." I told him, laughing. "But you might want to take it easy there while you're inhaling your food," I advised, playfully. He was going at it like he was suffering from starvation.
He stopped eating, raised his head, and let out a tiny burp before he went back to eating like a savage again.
"I had a cat before you came along, you know," I told him with a chuckle. "Her name was Jules. Mom, I mean, Marie, gave her to me when I was little. We grew up together. She was like my cat sister, we did everything together. She was the best cat in the world..."
He continued eating, not paying much attention to me. "I'm not saying you are not a great cat, but Jules was really the best. I miss her every day." And then an idea suddenly struck me. "You know what? Let me get her box, I'll show you her favorite things!"
I grabbed Jule's old box from my closet and quickly scattered her things around the floor. Lucky had finished eating all the food that was in his tray and was now spread lazily over the carpet, trying to digest everything he had devoured.
His furry belly was big and round like a football, and only his tail would flick occasionally back and forth, whenever something I was showing got his interest. But he was too full to move or come inspect it for himself. He listened to my show-and-tell presentation and watched me reminisce about Jules with half-open sleepy eyes, as I went through all the things in the box.
I told him old stories about her, stories that I have never told anyone before. And for the first time in a long time, I talked about Jules' death. I told him how I had left her sunbathing for a second at the park one day, and went to get a drink with a friend who sold hot dogs at the park when a dog attacked.
She was very old and didn't resist the injuries. It had been my fault. Jules was very temperamental and used to provoke every animal that passed by her, especially dogs. I knew she did that. I shouldn't have left her alone, even if I had been only a few feet away from her. It was my fault.
It was nice to be able to talk about Jules again. It was as if sharing these stories made the weight on my chest become lighter somehow. Even though it still hurt, because the loss and guilt were still there, it hurt a little less when I wasn't carrying it all locked up inside.
I put her things back in the box, and Lucky and I watched some movies together on my laptop for the rest of the day. He was the best movie companion ever. If only I knew that all I needed to subdue him was to stuff him with insane quantities of food, I'd have done this sooner.
When it became dark outside, I realized it was time to hit the shower and start to get ready for bed. I stopped by the bathroom door and as I watched Lucky licking his paws and grooming himself, I decided he was in need of a bath as well.
I filled the bathtub with water and got everything ready before I tried to lure him in. If he was anything like Jules, I needed to be prepared for a fit full of hiss as soon as he realized what were my plans for him in that bathroom.
"Lucky! I have a surprise in here, come see!"
He poked his little head through the door gap and looked curiously inside.
"Come in, come in." I urged and he stepped cautiously inside. He was no fool though and he knew something was up. I could tell by his flat ears and his half-crouch. He was in a flight-risk stance all right.
The second he was inside the bathroom, I took a big step to the side and shut the door on his back. He jumped startled and stared at me with eyes wide and alert.
"I'm sorry, but I had to lure you in or you'd never come inside. It's time for your bath!" I announced to his startled whiskers.
When he realized what I meant to do, he bolted for the door and started to meow and scratch at the wood like a maniac.
"Come on, Lucky. This is not so bad. It'll be over in the blink of an eye, you'll see!" I tried to reassure him. "I'm going to shower too. So we'll both be clean, what do you say?"
I took my sweatshirt off and he stopped clawing immediately. Then he turned to me with his ears perked right up in attention while he watched me take my clothes off.
I was meaning to wash him in my panties and bra, to make less of a mess, but I changed my mind and rummaged inside the dirty laundry basket for pajama shorts and a T-shirt to put on. Lucky was looking at me kind of funny and I felt a bit awkward standing only in my underwear in front of him. He sat on the tiled floor and watched as I put my old smelly pajamas on, waving his tail back and forth, clearly enjoying the view.
"You don't like people watching you eat, but you sure like watching people get undressed, huh?" I said and he let out a silent meow.
"Come on now, time for your bath." I picked him up and to my utmost surprise, he let me, without one single whine of protest, which was a first-ever for him.
I washed and scrubbed him vigorously while he splashed around and made such a fuss in the water that in a matter of a few minutes, he had my shorts soaked up and the white T-shirt I was wearing see-through and dripping wet. His yellow and green eyes were fixed on my chest the entire time.
When I decided he was clean enough, I put him on the bathroom rug, to get him dry. "For someone who was clawing his way out of that door, you suddenly seem very happy about this bath now..." I murmured, rubbing an old towel all over him.
I didn't know why I was so weirded out, he was just a cat after all. Old Jules had seen me in my naked a thousand times and it never bothered me one bit, but with Lucky... I don't know, it felt different somehow.
I sat on the edge of the tub, as I dried him out, and Lucky was outstretched towards me with his front paws resting on my knees when we locked eyes.
He caught me by surprise and leaned close until our noses were bumping.
I thought at first that he was going to bite me, but he surprised me yet again when he licked my nose instead.
He whipped his head back and stared at me with wide eyes that silently screamed 'I can't believe I just did that!′ and he scurried to the door with a mortified look on his face.
"Okaaay. That was weird." I mumbled to myself while I went to open the door to let him out. He shot like a bullet out of the bathroom and disappeared under the furniture. That cat was truly the weirdest ever. I shook my head and slowly shut the door, so I could finally have my shower.
When I was finished, I walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped over my head. I had completely forgotten about Lucky's odd behavior by then. I was ready to go to bed and get some well-deserved rest in my clean and comfy new pajamas.
"Lucky?" I called out, trying to locate him. It was almost impossible to track a black cat in a dark room though. "Are you hiding somewhere?"
Two glowing orbs shone like beacons in the dark, reflecting the bathroom light, from under the couch. "Hey, there you are." I sighed in relief and walked to the couch, crouching next to it to have a better look at him and make sure he was okay.
He retreated back under the couch, hiding out of sight. "All right. I hear ya. The bath was too much and you don't want to talk right now. I'll leave you alone then." I chuckled, happy to know he was still in the room with me.
I finished drying my hair and slipped quickly inside the covers of my bed.
"I don't know about you, but I can't sleep without reading at least a couple chapters of a good book," I said to the dark room and picked up the Wizard of Oz from my nightstand.
I opened the book where I had left it the previous night and read the chapter out loud again. By the second page, Lucky had sneaked out from under the couch and was inching closer to the bed to listen. By the end of the chapter, he was perched on my shoulder, watching the pages as if he could really read them.
He seemed to like stories as much as Jules. I made a mental note about this so I could use it as a bribe in the future.
Lucky succumbed to sleep before I did. He curled up over my shoulder, like a warm fur coat made of darkness. Late into the evening, I closed the book as quietly as possible so I wouldn't wake him up and slowly turned the lights off, so I could go to sleep too.
Lucky curled up peacefully on my pillow, his belly rising and falling as he breathed deeply in his sleep. I rested my hand gently on top of him and smiled.
I had a new friend. A very annoying and weird new friend, but a friend nonetheless.
I felt so happy.
That night I fell asleep with a light heart and luck finally on my side.
...