I'm not exactly sure to explain this, so allow me to start from the beginning. As these things tend to happen, I was getting over a girl. Not just any girl, but the one who I'd thought I'd be spending the rest of my life with. The one who I'd invested five years with. The one who I thought I knew better than anyone else in the world.
She turned out to be the one who decided she had to find herself… by sleeping with my roommate.
Deciding to let her work that out, I'd left Seattle and moved to Denver. I'd never been here before, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Let me tell you, they're not kidding about how beautiful this state is.
But I'm a lawyer and let me assure you that uprooting myself, quite suddenly, wasn't exactly the best idea for my professional life. I'd earned enough experience to not have to take the Colorado bar exam, but not enough to dodge being a junior associate at a large firm out here. So I was back to working hundred hour weeks and discovering that I wasn't as young as I used to be.
Every day, I'd come to my empty apartment around midnight – no more roommates for me! – I'd throw a meal together, and watch TV on the couch until I fell asleep. Then I'd wake up and do the same thing all over again. Sundays were the only exception. I'd go to church before work.
That all changed one night in the middle of last December; I had come back from work and dropped onto the couch when I heard a noise out on my – generally unused – balcony. I live on the top floor of my building so I was quite curious as to what was out there. I opened the door and there she was, soaking wet, and shivering. The woman who was going to change my life. Oh, and she happens to be a cat.
Now I'm going to tell you right up front that I'm not normally an animal person. I've got nothing against them, per se, but I've just never really felt the need to have a pet.
But there was something about her that was different. I knew I had to take her in and I didn't hesitate when I picked her up and carried her into my apartment.
Into my life, really.
She was almost entirely gray. The very tips of her ears and her tail, however, were white. That night, however, she really was a pathetic looking. Fur soaked by the falling snow, paws cracked and frozen from walking on the ice, ribs poking at her sides evidencing her malnutrition. Even apart from the lack of a collar, it was obvious that she didn't have an owner. And I'd never met someone that needed a home more.
However, now that I'd decided to give her one and me still not an animal person – and it being past midnight – I had absolutely no idea what to do with this little being.
"Well now what?" I muttered.
"Meo," I suppose it was supposed to be a 'meow,' but she was too down-trodden to even utter that.
"Indeed," I patted her head, and she nuzzled into the warmth of my hand. I kept it there, and tugged her up to my chest, letting her warm herself against my body, while I walked to the fridge. "Cats like milk, right? I mean, everyone knows that." I held her with one hand and retrieved the carton.
I made sure to check the date on it – with my hectic work life I tended to let things sit in the fridge long enough to qualify me for federal science grants – before I poured some in a bowl. I set both her and the bowl down on the floor, but she refused to leave me. She just stayed by my feet and looked up at me plaintively, as if asking 'Who said you should put me down?' I sighed and picked her up, leaving the bowl there.
"Another woman who wants to runs my life," I chuckled to myself walking over to the couch and settled down. "Well it's there if you want it."
"Meow," she affirmed, and snuggled into my warm lap, though making sure my hands were still on her.
I think I knew, even back then, that I'd already lost all my future battles to this little creature, now purring herself to sleep while I stroked her back.
I woke up late the next day – fortunately a Saturday – and found myself staring into a pair of slit-pupil green eyes staring back at me curiously.
"Let me guess, you're a morning person?"
"Meow."
"I see. Well we'll have to talk about that later." I rose and moved to the kitchen for my required coffee. While making it, I noticed that her bowl from the night before was empty.
"Got hungry, huh?" I gazed down at her. She was under my feet, but somehow never got in my way.
"Meow. Meow."
"Alright, well there's more, but I'm gonna have to get you some cat food or something. This is all pretty new to me."
She gazed up at me and assured me that she'd forgive me for my flaws. If you've ever "owned" a cat, you know this look.
I set down a fresh bowl of milk for her and only then started working on my own drink. "Thanks. I suppose you need a name, huh?"
She paused her lapping at the milk – which for some reason I found adorable – and cocked her head at me.
"Well I just can't call you 'Cat,' can I? Well I mean I could but it's probably copyrighted." I'm an intellectual property lawyer.
I chuckled at my own joke and sat down on at the kitchen table, a mug of coffee warming my hands. I was actually quite surprised when she jumped up on the table – leaving her milk behind – and curled up next to my arm.
"Miss me from all the way over there?" I gestured at the bowl not a handful of feet away.
She yawned and snaked her head underneath my hand. Dutifully, I began stroking between her ears.
And thus began my relationship with Arianna. Ari, for short. For the next year we lived together and it was a learning process for us both. I learned not to interrupt her baths, and she learned she liked scaring the hell out of me when I'm concentrating on something. I learned that she really liked her milk a lot more than her water, and she learned that a freshly dry-cleaned suit is a wonderful place to take a nap. I learned that she wasn't at all interested in any of the toys that I bought her, and she learned that my lap – no matter what I was doing – is her sole domain.
I'll admit, it seems a bit one-sided, but I got more out of our new arrangement than I could ever convey. Her padding underneath me, always brushing against me, listening as I worked out clients' problems actually seemed to help a lot more than staring at a blinking cursor on a blank screen. Waking up to her green eyes demanding attention, or breakfast, never failed to bring a smile to my face every morning. Having her there, waiting for me, when I got to my apartment actually made it a home.
Now don't misunderstand me, we had our share of differences too. Early on, I'd tried to make her sleep on the floor in a cat-bed I'd purchased. She wouldn't hear of it. She'd gotten very used to sleeping on my stomach and that wasn't going to change. It took a few swipes from her claws and one sharp bite before I decided to leave that alone. Also, she was a young cat still and had plenty of energy to stalk me all day long, and sometimes I just wouldn't have it. When I did turn her down she'd sulk in my closet until I changed my mind. I always did.
Oh and did she ever hate it when I started dating again.
