This story contains cats in non-sexual situations. If you are not a fan of cats, cat humor, or romance between cat lovers...then, really, what are you doing reading a story with this title, in the Romance section? Move along, there are lots of other great stories for you to read here.
Rob sat on the faded blue cloth of the loveseat and simply relaxed. That and an old coffee table were the only pieces of furniture in the living room of his new apartment. He still had a long way to go to make this place home, but this moment was incredibly soothing. It felt like an enormous weight had been lifted from his shoulders, like it was the first time he had actually been relaxed in years. A seagull cut loose with its raucous scream as it winged across the darkening sky. Even that sound, to Rob, was familiar and comforting. Sleep took him quickly, and he had a gentle smile on his face as he slumped over on the loveseat and slept.
His divorce had been ugly, but that made sense when you considered how ugly the entire marriage had been. Why two people who were so ill-fitted thought they could make a serious go of it probably boiled down to hubris and denial—at least on Rob's side of that ledger. The only positive thing to come out of it was a lovely daughter, Abigail. Rob had packed his belongings—mostly consisting of boxes and boxes of books—and had driven two thousand miles to start over again in this Gulf Coast town.
Coming from over a mile up in the Rocky Mountains, the entire drive had been down hill. The last two days of the journey, Rob had kept the windows rolled down on his truck. Despite the heat of the day, that welcome humidity and dense air felt like heaven on his skin and entering his lungs. He had lived at elevation for over two years, but it never felt like there was enough air in the air to him; he was constantly short of breath and gasping after minor exertion. He had been to Florida a few times over the years, but not this part of the state.
He was surprised to find that it wasn't the isolated little town he had expected, but was now a suburb of Tampa. It didn't deter him—it wasn't like he hated people or wanted to move to a small town. It just wasn't what he had expected when he accepted the job offer. He had figured out the difference when he had begun making online queries for an apartment in the area. The sheer number of available apartments, as well as the higher prices for many of those places, clued him in before he ever saw a densely packed street map.
Rob was one of those really annoying people (in his own words) who lose weight when they get out of shape. He smoked cigarettes and drank coffee, but didn't snack or work out these days. Despite being a little over six feet tall, he was very thin and weighed only about 175 pounds. In his younger days, when he had lifted weights and run three to five miles a day, he had weighed closer to 220.
He was almost fifty years old, but still had a full head of slightly wavy dark brown hair. The last few years he had taken to shaving his face clean. His moustache and beard had become a gnarly patchwork of gray, white, black and brown hairs when he decided that mess had to go. The net result was that he actually looked younger now than he had a decade ago. He had just started to get 'crow's feet' in the corners of his eyes, and he had to wear glasses to drive, but otherwise he was remarkably fit and young looking.
When he arrived at the office of his new apartment complex, then, the office manager was surprised to see him. She was close to his age, but he looked substantially younger than the gentleman she had been expecting after talking with him on the phone. This had been the case Rob's entire life. He had been carded for cigarettes well into his thirties, and when he would occasionally have a beer or two, he would still have to produce a photo ID.
The apartment manager was also surprised because he had paid the rather prohibitive pet deposit on his apartment, but he didn't actually own a pet. His wife had been allergic, so he had not kept any pets other than the aquarium full of fish that he had left behind. He looked forward to having a cat again, but he didn't have one yet. That would take another week—and it would change his life.
In the meantime, he was learning his way around his new home town. Figuring out the traffic going to and coming home from work, where to get groceries, where to buy his furniture; all of these things took time. At the same time, he also needed to learn his new job. This was in an office building, and he was a charismatic fellow who fit in immediately. He was skilled at telling amusing stories, and had a repertoire of 'clean' jokes that helped endear him to his coworkers and managers alike.
He was also hard-working and very smart. Rob was far too self-effacing, and this had hurt him throughout his life. He was terrible at self-promotion, despite the fact that he took pride in his competence and the quality of his work. He could have been running the entire business at triple his salary if he just set his sights higher. However, that wasn't his style. He was perfectly happy to fit in, and to work hard as part of a team.
At the end of that first week of work, Rob walked into his apartment and finally felt like it was home. He had furnished the place decently, if not expensively. It was comfortable for him. It was tidy and uncluttered. It was time for him to get a cat.
He would have done it earlier, but he knew there was still too much moving in to do. A cat would be uncomfortable with all the comings and goings of furniture delivery. He had assembled four large bookcases, as well as a computer desk and office chair. He had hung up artwork around the place, most of it his daughter's work.
He also had his smoking area set up on the balcony of the apartment. Rob smoked less than half a pack a day, largely because he had quit smoking indoors twenty years earlier. Empty coffee cans served to collect the ashes and cigarette butts. Once he had changed out of the dress shirt and tie, and had a relaxing smoke on his balcony, Rob mentally prepared himself for the next big step.
He got in his truck and drove to the pound.
Rob had to smoke again in the parking lot before he could go inside. He was far too sensitive, and he had to tell himself repeatedly, "I'm only here to get one cat." He wasn't looking to save some wild animal and have it tear up his new apartment; he was looking for a cat that had once had a home. Unfortunately, there were two of those cats in the pound, both meowing pitifully at him and pressing against their cages, desperate to be petted. Rob couldn't help himself. He paid the fifty dollar fee for each of the sad cats.
The young women who worked at the pound were a little surprised when he asked if he could leave pictures of the cats as well as his contact information. It simply wasn't something they did; they were just happy when someone would claim one of these animals so they didn't have to 'put it to sleep.'
"These cats obviously belonged to someone," Rob explained. "I have a fourteen-year-old daughter, and if she lost her cat, it would be devastating. If someone shows up looking for their lost pet, I'll be happy to give it back to them and come back for another one."
They took a picture of the long-haired light grey tabby and the almost-white Burmese, writing Rob's cell phone number on the back of the pictures as they came out of the printer.
As he left with both animals, Rob was pleased to see that they got along well. The two of them curled up together in his passenger seat. Their purring made him feel less like a sucker for having taken them both. He did stop at a pet supply store on his way home to get them food, litter boxes, toys, and a scratching post.
Rob's reward was a blissful evening with a lapful of purring fur and companionship. He could not get the smile off of his face. This was something he had missed for the entirety of his marriage. Once again, he fell asleep on the worn but comfortable loveseat.
Over the following three weeks, Rob began to get his body back into shape. The apartment complex had a trio of gym areas. One had weight machines, the second treadmills, elliptical and biking machines, and the third had free weights and exercise mats. It had been a while, so he was careful not to overdo it early and thus kill his enthusiasm. He also enjoyed swimming in the two pools that were closest to his apartment, and the attention that came with the swimming.
He considered himself out of shape, but only because he was aware of what his 'prime' had looked like. His wife had shown almost no interest in him, sexually, in a decade. It was nice to be noticed, even if the girls checking him out were far too young for him. The young, obviously gay guys hitting on him were also a bit disconcerting. Neither group seemed put off when he flatly said, "I'm fifty." They were surprised, but undeterred. Rob wasn't up to entertaining such a shallow relationship, as tempting as it might be.
