56: Cats

**Lucien**

Tristan was not a morning person. In fact, this was the foulest mood I’d ever seen her in. Fortunately, as soon as she’d gotten into the car, she curled herself up against the seat, and after a few minutes of driving, had fallen asleep. Unfortunately, when we finally stopped in the parking area of the shopping centre, I had to wake her up and, in all honesty, I was terrified- and rightfully so. Nonetheless, I tapped on her shoulder gently, to which she responded by punching me in the face, with full force, I might add.

I yelled out in pain, and once she realised what she’d done, she immediately turned towards me and began apologising profusely while she gently touched at my cheek. For such a hard hit, it healed quite quickly and although I would have loved nothing more than to give her a taste of her own “silent treatment” medicine, the fact that she was so uncharacteristically apologetic seemed compensation enough.

“Fuck I’m so sorry!” She said once more, genuinely still upset that she’d punched me in the face. I smiled and took her hands in mine before kissing at them gently to finally calm her guilt. Then I leaned in and whispered in her ear, “You don’t have to be so rough. Save it for the bedroom instead, Love.”

I could hear the familiar quickening of her heartbeat, feel the heat on her skin and see the pink tinge against her cheeks. “Let’s get going,” she said, clearly embarrassed. I nodded and let go of her hands gently before exiting the car with her.

Tristan was in charge of finding new curtains since they bothered her so much. While she got busy searching through the curtain aisle, I got busy looking for new lightbulbs, paint and then I stumbled upon the gardening section. I’d always been a fan of flowers. Damon’s mother, Rose, spent a lot of her time in the garden, and when I was younger, I often joined her. To be honest, I was more interested in digging up the earthworms from the soil and observing them as they squirmed around on top of my palm. But I always enjoyed spending that time with her, and so, moved by the memory of her, I took a few of the flower seeds from the racks. Along with it, I began to collect a rake, a bag of good soil and then two pairs of gloves. I’d build up a garden in memory of Rose since her memories were one of the few from the past that I wanted to keep.

Once I was satisfied with the few items I’d found, I began searching for Tristan, after which we paid before exploring more of the stores in the shopping centre. Nothing seemed to catch our interest, until Tristan and I stumbled upon a pet store up ahead which, surprisingly, she dragged me into. The entire thing was strange, but it began to get even stranger. She was in this sort of child-like state of wonder which only grew when she stopped next to a large cage-like contraption housing a few kittens. The sparkle in her eyes, it was unmissable. I was almost too afraid to speak or ask her any questions. I didn’t want her to snap out of this strange and yet purely wonderful state.

But I wasn’t the one who disrupted it. Instead, one of the pet store employees approached us with a smile on her face. “Good morning ma’am, sir. Are you two looking to adopt a kitten?” She asked sweetly.

Tristan shook her head, no and said. “I can’t have pets around where I stay… but would it be okay for me to hold one?” The look on her face was so sincere and pure and innocent that not even a heartless beast could have refused her. The pet store employee nodded her head, reached down and gently picked up a beautiful black kitten. She handed her over to Tristan who stared at the creature excitedly.

“I’ll leave you to it.” She said glancing between the two of us and then disappearing further into the store.

Tristan then sat down on the floor and placed the kitten in her lap gently. She stroked at her fur and the kitten leaned into her touch eagerly. Now, until this point, I’d been watching her in silent wonder. This was a new side of her, and I was very curious to see more of it.

“I didn’t know you had this side to you…” I said softly as I gently lowered myself onto the floor, across from her. She hesitated a moment before she spoke, almost as if she were trying to recollect an event buried deep within her head.

“When I was younger there was this stray cat that always hung out around the house. He was small and bony and covered in ginger fur that was frizzy and rough to the touch. He was my little secret, you see, because I knew that my parents wouldn’t allow me to keep him- we didn’t really have enough money to feed ourselves, let alone take in a cat. So, I’d sneak some of my food to him every single day. I called him Caleb.”

She then fell silent for a moment, and I could tell, by the way she subtly touched at her chest, that she was in emotional pain. Instinctively, I reached a hand out towards her and placed it gently on her shoulder where I began to rub reassuring circles against her skin, with my thumb. She took in a deep breath, swallowed and then continued to speak.

“The night of the fire I’d snuck him into the house, and as always, he slept at the foot of my bed… when the fire broke out, I tried to get him to leave but he refused to leave my side. The last thing I remembered was the smell of his burning fur and that sad look in his green eyes. I don’t think he was as lucky as Jasmine and I were. I don’t think he survived that fire.”

By then, she was cradling the kitten in her arms, almost protectively. I believe that if she had it in her, she would have cried at this moment. But she didn’t. Instead, she continued stroking the cat gently and bit deeply onto her bottom lip so hard, that I feared she’d draw blood. Every time I thought I’d finally figured out the emotional depth of Tristan, she surprised me. I wanted to see more of her, of this vulnerable, emotional, *real* version of her

“Why didn’t you try to get another cat later on… did your adoptive father not approve?” I asked, trying to uncover more.

“My father isn’t too big on pets… and besides, I eventually forgot all about little Caleb.” She said softly. “When I decided to give up my emotions I kind of let go of who I was before. It didn’t fit into the life or world my father lives in.”

In all honesty, her father sounded like an ass, and I was sure that *when* I eventually met him, I’d probably hate his guts. Tristan was just a little girl when her parents died in that fire and she was separated from her sister. She didn’t need to be stripped of her personality and made into the shell of the girl she once was. Instead, she needed love and comfort and understanding, something I too, did not have growing up.

Eventually, Tristan set the kitten down again and she made her way into my lap. She was curious and small and beautiful and when I brushed my fingers against her fur, she purred softly. I could see the appeal. I wasn’t really a pet person myself but for Tristan… I could be.

“I think she likes you,” Tristan said as she neared me. Eventually she was right next to me and suddenly, my heart began to beat erratically against my chest. Her hand brushed over mine as she stroked at the cat’s fur too and I began to feel a strange nervousness and the familiar urge to kiss her came over me once again. For a brief minute, she looked up at me and held my gaze. The moment was so intense and so electrifying. I could feel the blood rushing through my ears and hear my heartbeat beating against my eardrums. My throat felt dry and my skin felt warm and clammy. In all honesty, the feeling took me back years to my first crush, only these feelings that I felt now, were much more intense.

But alas, the moment was short-lived when the pet-store employee arrived to put the little kitten back in the large steel contraption again. The feelings never left though, and as we walked back to the car, we did so in a shy sense of silence. Something had changed between the two of us, something rather exciting.