Precious [h.s.]

Chapter 44

Wish I were with you, but I couldn't stay
Every direction leads me away
Pray for tomorrow, but for today
All I want is to be home

"Broccoli, tomatoes, olive oil." I write down on the list the last things I need to buy, searching my brain for what else I might need to cook what I have in mind.

"Evie," I call for her, needing to feed her before I leave. "Evie, where are you? I'm leaving." I look for her in the kitchen, in her bed in the living room, and in my bedroom, not finding her anywhere. "Where is this cat?" I ask myself, only now noticing how the balcony door is not fully closed. "For God's sake," I mumble, checking the clock on the wall and making sure that I'm on time.

I step outside, spotting her sleeping on my neighbor's couch. Because there's no space between our balconies, the space is only divided by a few bars so she can easily slip between them.

"You're a bad cat. Don't make me come there. Get here right now," I whisper-shout at her, not wanting the old lady living next to me to think that I'm a creep.

Even after my attempts of bringing her back, she doesn't make any move, looking at me and playing with the fringes of the cushion placed on the couch, totally ignoring me.

"Maybe I should have adopted a dog." I give up on trying to get her to come back by herself and head to my neighbour's door, knocking and waiting for her to open the door.

"Oh, Harry, hi! How are you, my dear?" The old lady appears in front of me, wearing a floral dress and curlers in her gray hair.

"I'm fine. I'm good." I look behind her, seeing my cat enjoying the sun. "Um, my cat just jumped on your balcony and I'm about to leave, so I don't want her outside or anything. She's crazy and she really likes to play and to go outside, but I'm afraid of leaving her alone." The woman glances towards the far side of her house, seeing what I'm talking about.

"Don't worry. I'll bring her to you." I wait by the door as leaves to bring my cat, petting her as she walks back to me. "There she goes." She hands Evie to me and lays eyes on the list that I'm still holding. "You've got quite a list, don't you?"

"Yeah, I'm cooking dinner for me and my girlfriend. Tomorrow is her birthday."

"How cute." I smile, nodding my head. "I'll be out of town. I'm going on a vacation with my sister, so you won't have to worry about making noise or anything." She laughs and winks, but I just look at her, trying to understand what she means.

"What noise?" I ask, but just as the words are out of my mouth, I realize what she was talking about. "Oh." I can't believe she said that. "Oh, that noise. I'm, um, sorry if we ever bothered you. I...I didn't know the walls were so thin." I step back towards my apartment, doing my best to get away from this situation. Fuck my life.

"Don't worry, dear. Have fun."

"You too. I mean, on your holiday...or whatever. Thank you for giving my cat back. Goodbye." I close the door behind me, taking in the interaction I just had with my neighbor. Was she actually talking about that? Are we that loud? Or are old people just nosy?