Side Effects

Three Weeks Later

6:30 Friday Night

Natasha brushed a strand of her nut brown hair away from her face and behind her ear. Her eyes dark brown eyes were focused on the screen of her computer. She had several reviews that she needed to write up before she could leave work for the day. Closing her eyes for a moment to try and collect her self, she sighed. Concentration wasn't happening as it usually did. It had been several weeks since that really weird dream about the cat, and it still left her unsettled. That next morning she was shocked when she was chatting with Kevin over her breakfast, he had scratches on his face, kind of like the ones in the dream. When she talked to him about it, he told her this story about a lady at work that was hyped up on meds and attacked the pharmacist and he had helped pull the crazy lady off the poor pharmacist and in the processes she had clawed his face.

Working her bottom lip between her teeth, Natasha tried one more time to figure out what about the whole thing was nagging at her. It wasn't like she had never had a weird dream before. Letting out a small sigh, she turned her eyes back onto the review she was in the middle of writing. There was a new exhibit coming up at the gallery in the next couple of days and she was trying to write a description of the pieces to lure the audience in, much less hopefully get some of pieces sold. The artist called them Dreamscapes, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, they were very good, but disturbing on some level.

Looking over at some of the snap shots she took of the some of the canvases, looking for words, she paused over the piece called Cream. In the pictures it seemed as if the artist was blending a long legged naked woman and a long legged cat together into one entity that was enjoying a bowl of cream. Natasha look at the picture as if it would open up and tell her what was bugging in. Sighing, she looked up at the clock and decided to call it a day. The words were not flowing for her and she was tired. The sleep at night had not been all that plentiful as of the last couple of weeks, and perhaps if she had a glass of wine or two she would be able to fall into a deep sleep. Shutting down her computer, Natasha locked her desk up and grabbed her pocket book. The rest of the gallery was dark. The staff had cut out early to get their weekends started. Making sure the front doors were locked, Natasha exited through the gift shop and pulled the door shut tight behind her. The lock clicked into place.

Pulling her tan trench coat around her closer, she could still feel the chill of the October wind try to push through her. The sky was quickly darkening and it looked like it was going to rain. Not wanting to waste any time getting back home, she decided to take a quick short cut through on of the side alleys. The last think she wanted to do was get caught in a down pour. The clattering of her heels echoed as she walked down the alley. Click Click Click it reverberated. A car back fired some where in the distance and then much closer a woman could be heard screaming at some one in rapid fire spanish. The thunder rolled. Rounding the corner to exit alley, Natasha tripped quite suddenly. Completely losing her balance she tumbled to the ground. Her knees hit the un even pavements and little rocks dug into her skin. Her pocket book bounced a few times before settling in a mud puddle. Slowly Natasha began to pick herself up off of the grimy pavement. Her hands ached slightly from skinning them as she had placed them hands down in front of her to prevent her from kissing gravities gift. Pausing for a moment as she got to her knees, she heard it again, a plaintive little mewing sounds. Glancing around at the increasingly darkening alley, she finally saw it. The object of her tumble. It was a kitten. A dirty calico kitten with huge black spots on it, that looked like it might have broken its leg. Trying to brush some hair thad had escaped its confines behind her ears, she sighed again.

Picking up the kitten, Natasha tucked it inside of her coat and bent down slowly and picked up her pocket book. There were only a couple more blocks to go before she was home and then she would talk to Kevin to see if he could handle the mewing little ball of fluff. If anything he would know what to do, thought Natasha as she slowly began to limp home.

8:30 pm

Kevin stirred a giant pot of boiling pasta on the stove. The noodles were almost done and the sauce simmered in a pot. The smells of oregano and thyme waifed up into the air and filling the air of the apartment. Kevin enjoyed cooking, but hardly ever did it. It seemed that work had a way of filling up all the extra nooks and crannies of his life. It seemed like ages since he had been out on a date and it seemed like now he was even taking work home with him. The experiment had gone for the most part well with Tish a few weeks ao, but something was off about her and he wasn't entirely sure what it was. She wasn't talking to him about what ever was bugging him and then out of the blue she came home early with a bed ragged kitten looking like she had been in a bar fight. There was dirt on her nose and her hair was falling out of that sophisticated chignon that she normally work. Talking a look at her Tish, he had told her to shower up and get changed while he tried to figure out what to do with the kitten. Currently the kitten was sitting on the kitchen table lapping up some of the cream he had put in a saucer for it. Looking at the kitten, he could tell that it was going to need a back and possibly a visit to the vet. It was going to be impossible for them to keep the kitten, because of their no pets clause on their lease. Glancing at the kitten to make sure it wasn't getting into trouble, he lifted the pot of boiling noodles off of the burner and strained the hot water off of them into the skin. The steam from the noodles puffed up and around his face, making his glasses steam up. He put the pot back onto the burner and turned it off and waited. Tish should be coming out of the bathroom any time now.

As if on queue, Tish came out of the hall way in to the kitchen. Her long brown hair was damp and pulled away from her face. The long wet strands hung about her face, the heat from the long shower caused her cheeks to be flushed. . A long T-Shirt covered her skinny frame that came down to the tops of her knees. There where a small bandages on her knees, covering up her bruised knees. Looking at her, Kevin marveled at how long and thin her legs were under the shirt.The shadow of the shirt barely hid the shadow of her valley. Bringing his eyes back up to her, face, he noticed he tired she with all the circles beneath her eyes..

"Have some pasta, and get some sleep, I will take care of the kitten," said Kevin trying to put Tish at ease.

"Thank you,"said Natasha full of gratitude. Kevin watched Natasha drop down into one of the dining room chair. The kitten crawled around on the table mewing. Natasha scooped it off the table and dropped it in to her lap and then smiled tiredly at Kevin.

"I thought that perhaps a cup of tea might help you sleep," said Kevin as he placed a fragrant herbal brew in front of Natasha.

"Thank you," said Natasha softly and began to eat the pasta slowly. Taking a few sips of the tea, Kevin watched Natasha begin to slowly nod off. Smiling to himself as she began to doze, he relieved her of the kitten. He watched as Tish gave him a wobbly smile and then started to walk back to her bed room. Picking up the kitten Kevin held the dirty fur ball in front of his face. It was dirty and rather vocal, but it was kind of cute underneath all the grime. Whistling to himself, he took the mewing kitten to sink and drew some water. Taking a clean towel from a drawer, Kevin dipped it in water and started to wash the dirt away. It would only be a matter of time, before the tea would have some effect on Tish. Until that time, getting the kitten clean could easily fill the time.