How we were chosen - Nikita, part III

 The story continues...

(from How we were chosen - Nikita, part I, How we were chosen - Nikita, partII) 

Surely she’ll be gone. Surely her full belly will have given her the energy to follow her curiosity elsewhere. These and other thoughts attempted to quell his nervous anticipation and growing excitement as he biked through the empty lot.

The last time he biked away, he had taken his time returning to the security office of the campus, gathering his things, and clocking out of his shift for the night. It had been a long day and fatigue weighed his every move. A budding longing in his chest also slowed him. Saying good-bye to his best boy Rodeo almost a year ago had left a bleeding hole in his heart, and tonight a faint silhouette of his new green-eyed friend was unexpectedly starting to take shape there. Even as his tender uncertainty tarried his routine, the pins and needles of a waking in his heart told him to take one last ride back to where they’d met. Just in case. Just in case.

A grin spread wide across his face as his eyes sought and found her where he’d left her. Curled up comfortably in the middle of the parking lot, a ball of fur the pupil of a spotlight eye cast by the streetlamp overhead. Exactly where he left her. She had not moved an inch, only settled in wait for his return. She lifted her head as he neared, and welcomed him back with a single scratchy “meow.” “You waited for me, huh?” he chuckled “Well, I guess you’re mine.” She stood, stretched lazily, and looked at him expectantly. “One last thing,” he said, “my car is on the other side of campus...so you’ll have to ride with me on my bike.” Her eyes stayed on him unflinchingly. “Think you can handle it?” She purred in response as he swooped her up in his arms. Astride his bike, he gripped the handlebar with his left hand as he cradled her in his right. Just as a flash of doubt crossed his mind about the achievability of this comic feat, she stuck her front paws out and casually placed them on the handlebars as well. His laughter rang out clear and pure in the still night air. “Okay, then. Here we go.”

Any passerby would have done a double take at the impossible sight of a man and a cat riding a bike together, but for them it couldn't have felt more right. He looked down to see her pink nose lifted and eyes squinted into the wind. “You know, I’ve never had a cat before” he said, and marveled at the way she turned her head and meow-ed in response. In that moment, his heart was full. “Let’s go home, Nikita” he said. And they did.

***favorite moment of the day: snuggling in bed with Chad, Lola, Bella, and Nikita.


 

How we were chosen - Nikita, part II

The story continues...
(from How we were chosen - Nikita, part I)  

There she is, he thought with surprising relief as he biked toward the lone figure in the distant light.  Yet some how he was only vaguely surprised to see her still sitting there patiently, rhythmically swishing her tail.  It was as if he'd wished her there by putting the can of tuna and opener in his pocket when he passed through the office.  She was in the exact same spot as she was in 30 minutes ago when he promised to come back - as if no time had passed at all.

"Hello again" he said, "look what I brought you."  This time he swung his long leg easily over the bike, popped the kickstand and sat down in the middle of the pavement with her.  He took his presents out of his pocket and she began to purr affectionately, pacing back and forth, pausing occasionally to rub her head against his knee.  He'd barely put opener to can and she started gently pawing at his hands - her ravenous eyes pleading with him as she meow-ed her scratchy little meows.  He chuckled and obliged.  It took her all of 90 seconds to devour the entire can. He couldn't help but smile, watching her lick her chops with satisfaction and clean her paws with royalty-like daintiness. 

Then they just looked at each other for a while. His heart ached a bit with memories of the last time he was looked at with that same kind of open gaze. It had been almost a year since the utter heartbreak of that loss, and remembering it, he gave her one last pet and stood.

Back on his bike, he looked again down at those expectant green eyes and recognized the stirring in his chest. "I've got to go back to the office now, but if you're still here after I punch out I'll take you home." No sooner had the words left his mouth, he shook his head and laughed out loud at himself and the ridiculousness of talking to a stray cat in a deserted parking lot in the middle of the night.  Still, there was something about her...the way she looked at him...like she'd heard so much about him and was intrigued to finally meet him.

"Alright, then." He said awkwardly to the air. Then he biked away...still feeling her watching him.

...to be continued...

***favorite moment of the day: making Chad laugh.