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“Yeah, it definitely wasn’t the best, but the cat is a cutie, and he’s the one I’ll be dealing with the most, so I’m not too worried.” Yet, anyway. Besides, this is a short-term care situation.
“Mm, the human variable is always the thing, isn’t it?” Kat gives me a sympathetic smile.
We spend the next half hour making a list of her inventory. Because of my robust social media following, I have a few sponsors who provide free pet supplies in exchange for product placement in videos. It’s helpful for keeping costs down, and I pass on the perks to Kat, with the approval of the sponsors, of course.
I take a few videos while we test out the promotional items. I’ll edit them later, at home, and then upload them to our social media accounts later in the week. “We need to find a night to go out for dinner or something non–work-related,” I say once we’re finished with the filming and the inventory order.
“Agreed. Maybe we can plan something next week?”
“We should probably schedule it if we want it to happen, since we’ve been saying this exact same thing every time we see each other for the past month.” I flip over to my calendar in my phone.
“Good call.” Kat does the same, and Tux headbutts the device, clearly wanting her attention.
“What about Thursday? I’m done at five.”
Kat’s eyes light up. “I actually have a date.”
“What? Since when? Why is this the first I’m hearing of it?”
“It just happened today. He works at the pet store a few blocks over. I’ve told you about him before. His name is Brad. I had to grab some emergency cat treats because we ran out.”
“Oh, I remember. Who asked who out?” Kat has been crushing on him for a while. Enough that she stops there to buy slightly overpriced cat treats on a semi-regular basis, hoping to run into him.
“He asked me.”
Her blush makes me grin. “Well, we definitely need a lunch or dinner or coffee date after your actual date so I can get all the details.”
We make a tentative plan to have lunch or coffee, depending on time constraints. Both of our schedules are pretty full, but a date is exciting.
I gather my things, and Kat pulls me into a hug, transferring tabby fur onto my shirt and cardigan. It’s the reason we both carry lint rollers in our purses at all times.
It’s closing in on eight by the time I get home from the café. Both my mom’s and my sister’s cars are already in the driveway, which isn’t a surprise. My mom doesn’t usually go anywhere in the evenings, and my sister, Hattie, is in her final year of college. She’s typically home at this time of night, unless she has an evening class or a study group. I’m too busy running my business to have much of a social life. It helps that Kat is also in the cat business; otherwise, we wouldn’t see each other nearly as much.
I open the front door and call out, “Hello! I’m home!”
“Hi, Kitty Kat! I’m watching Two and a Half Men, and Hattie’s in her room working on an essay, I think,” my mom calls out.
I toe off my shoes, leave my purse by the stairs, and follow her voice to the living room.
I find my mom sitting where she always is at this time of day: in my dad’s old lounger. It’s beat up and threadbare, and the footrest sometimes gets stuck in the up position, but it’s full of memories, so we keep it. I can’t imagine what this room would look like without it.
Every night after dinner the routine is the same. We wash dishes and clean up the kitchen. If I have paperwork or social media posts to manage, I’ll join my mom in the living room, while she watches reruns of Dad’s favorite TV shows. It’s been like this ever since he died a decade ago. And before that, when he was alive, I would bring my homework to the living room, set up a TV tray, and work on it while he watched TV and my mom worked on the word games in the newspaper.
She pauses the show, stopping it in the middle of a laugh track. “Have you had dinner yet? I made lasagna. There are leftovers in the fridge.”
“Thanks. I’ll heat up a piece.”
“There’s some salad too. It’s Caesar, so hopefully it’s not too wilted. It’s been a couple of hours, though.” She frowns for a moment before her mouth tips up into a smile. “How about you bring it in here, and we can catch up on your day during the commercial breaks?”
The shows are recorded and still include all the commercials. They’re a throwback to my teenage years and the time before our lives were changed by loss.
