CHAPTER THREE: MY PRECIOUS COMPANION

After my shift ended, I checked on Joanna. She seemed a little shaken up, but otherwise fine. Then, she left with Claire, another waitress who lived in the same block as her. After they left, I bid farewell to Sara, who stayed later than everyone else as usual. Besides being the bartender, she handled the closing too, so she was the last to leave after closing the bar.

I took the can of pepper spray in my hands from my bag and started walking towards my home. As I walked, I thought of what happened earlier in the club. I didn’t know if it was just the lights playing tricks on my eyes or if I really saw the black mist flying from my hands into Eric’s mouth. But then again, no one else seemed to see it, and nobody seemed to think of Eric’s condition as anything else other than the aftereffects of his drinking. So, maybe it was just that and I didn’t have to worry about any sudden supernatural powers.. I laughed to myself. I was being ridiculous. If I could just wish and get things done, life would have been a lot easier!

I stopped walking when I felt as if I was being watched. I turned around, tightening the hold on my pepper spray can, and checked around. But there was no one around. I must be having paranoia since I was walking alone in the night. I was usually not bothered by it, but maybe I was more shaken up by the fiasco at the club than I knew.

I reached my apartment, and after finding the keys from my bag; I opened the door.

A few days after I started working in the club, I was offered that month’s salary in advance and I accepted it. I was planning to hunt for a cheap rent apartment, but my friends from the club Rachel and Gabriella invited me to join the three-bedroom apartment they were sharing. There was another girl with them, but she moved into her college dormitory and so they had a spare room.

I fell in love with the modern-looking apartment at the first glance. The walls were bare, and the furniture was minimal, but everything was neat and that was what mattered to me the most. I agreed to be their roommate and slowly, we three became as close as sisters.

But a few months ago, Rachel had some issues in her family and had to leave the job and move back to Seattle, her hometown. We all were devastated and the night before she left, all of had a sleepless night of movie marathon with tubs of ice cream and popcorn. We laughed, cried and hugged each other. We promised that we won’t let the distance come between our bonds. After she left, we kept in touch with each other through Skype as promised. She looked a lot happier in her small town than she did here, and I was happy for her.

It was just Gabriella and me from then. But last month, her boyfriend of five years, Martin proposed to her and asked her to move in with him. She was hesitant to leave me alone, but I assured her that I would be fine. She packed her things and left the apartment two weeks ago. She was feeling guilty and offered to pay her half of the rent till the end of the year, but I refused because I used to get a lot more tips from my admirers than she did, and so I had my savings. I didn’t have much other expenses and I could afford to stay here, at least for now.

So, it was just me in the apartment from then.

Once I dropped my bag on the couch, I left the apartment and went to my neighbor Mrs. Blake’s house. I rang the doorbell. After checking through the peephole, she opened the door with a welcoming smile. Mrs. Blake lived alone in her house after her husband died and they had no children. She was a motherly figure to us girls, and now she was even protective of me since I lived alone in the apartment.

After greeting her, I entered her home and my eyes met the greenest eyes I had ever seen and I fell in love with him all over again.

I went to him and picked him up, cuddling him to me.

"Hello! Did you miss me? I know I missed you!" I cooed at him.

He jumped off my arms with a growl and walked away with his tail held high. Oh, he pretended that he didn’t like my attention, but I knew he did.

I smiled after remembering how I had brought him home just a few days ago.

After Gabriella left, and I was alone in the apartment, I enjoyed the solitude at first. In the past two years, I rarely had much time to myself and I felt that the quiet was good for me. But after a few days, it seemed to get a little too lonely, and the apartment felt too big for just me. However, I didn’t want to leave it either. It was the only home I had, well the only one I remembered, anyway.

So, on the weekend, while I went for a run, I stopped in front of the pet house and on a sudden whim, decided to buy a puppy. But as I looked around for a dog, a white fur ball caught my eye. As I went closer to have a peek, I saw that the fur ball was in fact a cat. Normally, I was not a cat person, and I preferred dogs as they tend to be loyal companions where cats were too arrogant for my taste. But I just had to have this one when he looked up at me with the greenest eyes I had ever seen in any living thing. I didn’t even pause to think about it as I paid for him. The next thing I knew, I was back in the apartment as a proud pet owner.

But since I had to go to the club in the evening, and I couldn’t just lock him up alone in the apartment, I asked for Mrs. Blake’s help. She was apprehensive at first since she had no experience with pets, but I assured her that he would be good. I brought him a spare litter box and cat food to keep in Mrs. Blake’s home.

But I was in for a shock when I came back that day after work to see all her furniture scratched away and the cushions of her couch sprawled out. He didn’t do anything of that sort in my apartment, and it seemed as if he didn’t like it when I left him at the neighbor’s house. I apologized to Mrs. Blake profusely on behalf of my cat, and I offered to pay for repairing her furniture. She waved off my apology and just asked to replace her couch cushion as she didn’t care for the scratched table. I was really lucky to have such a kind neighbor.

So, the next day, we both were doubtful when I left him in her care, but I had no other choice. I couldn’t just bring him to the club, could I? I was relieved when I found her home just as I saw it in the morning when I came back from work.

After that day, he seemed to get into the routine and didn’t make any more troubles. Now he was as at home in her house as he was at mine. And Mrs. Blake didn’t seem apprehensive of pets either. I guessed that she would get one of her own soon after spending time with my cat. It would be really good for her too.

I took my cat and went back to my apartment. I put him down and leaned down to talk to him.

"Hello Morris, were you a good boy to Mrs. Blake today? You didn’t cause any troubles, right?" I asked him in a baby voice.

Well, I named my cat 'Morris'. So what? I didn’t want to name him something ridiculous like Fluffy or Snowbell. No offence to those who named their pets those names, but it just wasn’t the thing for me. Though men always seemed to be interested in me, I didn’t want any drama in my life. And trust me, having a man in your life always brings melodramatic drama, and I had enough drama in my life, what with my lost memories and freaky admirers. So, Morris was going to be the only man in my life for now and he deserved a manly name.

I hugged him to my chest, and he cuddled into me with a meow sound. I nodded my head sagely at him, as if he had just parted some profound knowledge to me.

"Yes, I know! It is you and me against the world, buddy!" I declared.

I relaxed into the couch with my precious companion.

As the day ended, the things that happened in the club were just a distant memory in the back of my mind and I almost forgot about it. When I slept that night with no worries in the world, I never thought that life as I knew it was going to change forever..