Part 15
Two weeks later I woke up to feel light and tentative steps towards my feet. I stirred but didn't open my eyes, unbothered by the movement. The steps made their way towards my head, and I suddenly found my face being sniffed by a small furry creature. I heard Rich giggling beside me in the bed, and I gently patted the mysterious animal as I opened my eyes.
"Ohh my God!" I exclaimed with delighted surprise as I found myself face to face with a young Persian kitten with beautiful white fur. It let out a soft meow and nuzzled into the crook of my neck. I felt an immediate attachment towards it and lifted it up in my arms, pecking it on the forehead. I wasn't normally a cat person, but this kitten instantaneously stole my heart. Rich rolled onto his side and draped an arm over my waist.
"The Thompson family downstairs had about four kittens they had to sell. I saw this critter and fell for her straight away."
"Her? Ah, so we have a little lady in our home now." I playfully scratched the kitten behind the ears. "Woman woman woman!" I yelped in my 'I Am Woman' voice. Rich giggled again and tickled the new addition to our family beneath the chin. "What's her name?"
"She doesn't have a name. We have to decide on one."
"Well, until we do, we'll call her Anonymous, alright?" I joked. I looked at my fianc�e and stroked his cheek with my hand.
"You're a sweetheart, you know that?" I murmured as I leaned in for a slow and sweet kiss. As we pulled each-other closer, Anonymous crawled up to our faces and rubbed her nose against our cheeks, its coldness making us laugh and break the kiss.
"I think she wants in on this!" Rich scooped Anonymous up and sat her on his lap. "Do we have a jealousy issue here?"
"She's only known us for a few minutes and already she's getting possessive!" I added, gently tapping my fingertip on Anonymous's nose. "You'd better get used to it, madam, you'll be seeing a lot of it."
As we played and teased with Anonymous, I glanced at the table clock beside the bed. It read 8:30am.
"Oh shit!" I cried, quickly crawling out of bed. "I'm late for work!"
"Paul?"
"What?" My voice was muffled as I dove into the walk-in closet.
"It's Sunday."
The realisation dawned on me. Heaving a sigh of relief, I walked out of the closet and flopped back onto the bed, chuckling at myself. Anonymous crept onto my chest and looked down on me as if to say that she was the 'king of the castle'.
"She's definitely found a mate in you!" Rich commented, toying with the fluffy white tail swaying back and forth. After a moment he pecked me on the cheek and said as he crawled out of bed, "I'll make us breakfast, okay? You stay in bed and tell her all about yourself."
"Yes sir," I replied cheekily, throwing a pillow at him. He ducked out of the room quickly, leaving me alone in the bed. Anonymous looked down at me in an oddly expectant way. I gently held her paws in mine and made conversation.
"So...Anonymous...how do you feel being so suddenly thrust into this new family? More importantly, how do you feel about us giving you such an awful name?"
I chuckled. "Don't worry, it's not permanent. Your dad and I will probably decide on a proper name for you during breakfast...You're probably wondering about that. Having two dads, I mean. We used to be in a band together. We really liked each-other but we didn't become a couple until about six or seven months before the band broke up. There was another man with us - his name was Tim. He did some pretty horrible things to try and keep your daddy and I apart."
I sighed as memories flipped through my mind like looking at a photo album. "Well, we don't have to worry about him now. He's back in Australia with his wife and kids and he'll never bother us again."
I became aware of my engagement ring on my finger and held it up in front of Anonymous's face. "You see this ring? Richie gave it to me. He said to me when he presented it that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me." Anonymous sniffed at it curiously. "To tell you the truth, I can't imagine life without him now. We've been through quite a lot together. We haven't set a date yet, but we will soon. We don't know where we're having it, though. One day we wanted a Victorian sort of ceremony, then the next day we were keen about having it on a boat in the Thames. We'll work it out."
Rich teasingly began to make meowing noises from the kitchen as he prepared our breakfast. I smiled and called, "Don't bother, Rich, we've got the real thing right here!"
I looked up at Anonymous, who by now had made herself comfortable on my chest and was settling in for a nap. I stroked her fur and leant back into the pillow, closing my eyes.
"I didn't used to think that true love existed. But i've found it with Rich. I don't ever want to lose him."
+++++
The next morning was hectic as I rushed back and forth in Dragoon, serving customers and tidying shelves and racks. The store had opened their annual 40% Off Sale that day and we found ourselves with more customers than usual. Although there were four of us working, we still had our hands full.
After what seemed like an eternity, my boss could see the strain in my face and good-naturedly let me go on my lunch break early. I carried my wallet and my mobile phone outside with me and headed towards the nearest caf�. Once I found an available table, I collapsed into it and heaved a sigh, running my fingers through my hair and reaching for the beverages menu. After a few moments I felt someone tap me on the shoulder, and I turned my head to see Justin standing next to me, dressed in a smart grey suit and his hair tied back in a loose ponytail.
"Well, hello there, kind sir!" I greeted him in a mock British accent.
"Do you mind if I join you?" he asked.
"No, no, go ahead. It'd be good to have some company, actually. Work this morning has been an absolute nightmare."
"But you've come out unscathed, I assume?" He slid into a chair opposite from me.
"Aside from the migraine of the century, i'm fine. So how's work been for you lately?"
"Stressful, of course. But that's to be expected in my line of work."
I nodded, remembering that he was working in a moderately high position at a bank located in the CBD. "It definitely wouldn't be easy."
For what I estimated to be forty-five minutes we sat at our table, sipping coffee and talking; about work, our lives, London and whatever else happened to pop up. I glanced at my watch and realised that my lunch break would end soon and I would have to start making my way back to Dragoon. Justin kindly offered to accompany me back.
Once we arrived at the doors of Dragoon, I turned to Justin and said, "Well, this is it. Thanks for walking me back. I enjoyed the company."
"Likewise. Listen, what are you doing this evening?"
I briefly thought about any plans Rich and I may have made that evening, but none sprung to mind. "Rich and I haven't got anything planned. Why?"
"Well, it's just that i'm going to be in your area tonight and I didn't want to just turn up uninvited, so would it be a disruption if I went to your apartment tonight?"
"No, I don't see any disruption. See you then."
"Take care."
Justin gave me a little wave with his hand and walked away from me. I could hear commotion inside the store and turned to enter when a stranger bumped into me, obviously in a hurry to get away from something or someone.
"Hey!" I exclaimed, my side throbbing from the impact, and tried to see the face of the person who'd bumped into me. They went by so quickly and in such a panic that I couldn't get a close look, but as I watched the person darting through the crowd I saw that it was a man, tall with short dark hair and dressed in black.
It looked frighteningly like Tim.
'No, don't be stupid.' I shook the idea out of my mind. Tim was back in Australia with his family. Surely it couldn't have been him. He wouldn't have been so obsessed with me that he'd followed me around the world just to cause more havoc, would he?
Part 16