– Oh, God!” Kelly looked at her watch and almost ran, “I’m going to be late… What will William say?
It was freezing cold and Kelly, hiding her nose in a warm scarf, carefully walked around the puddles covered with thin ice.
Near the bus stop, she slipped. A boy, about ten years old, looked at Kelly laughing.
– Do you need help?
She shook her head. How can you help? The light coat she bought turned into a dirty rag. She knew William would not be pleased…
– And you are not in a hurry now? – the boy, apparently, did not think to lag behind her.
She stood up, trying to somehow shake off her coat, looked at him angrily.
– Don’t be angry! I didn’t mean to offend you. Just… Here! Take it, huh?
And he handed her a bundle. Kelly unwrapped it and gasped!
– I have to go to school and it’s going to freeze outside. I can’t keep it – we have dogs. I already missed the first lesson. Of course, my mother is a smart woman, but if I skip other lessons, she will not understand!
The tiny kitten trembled in her hands.
– Money cat… – Kelly automatically reached out and stroked the kitten.
– What?” the boy raised his eyebrows in surprise.
– Money cat. Do you see the color? All the colors are mixed. They say that such cats bring happiness, good luck and money to the house.
– There! That’s what you need! For good luck! Please take it!
Kelly shook her head.
– I can’t! I’ll never have time to mess with it…
But the boy was no longer listening. He put the kitten in Kelly’s hands, waved, jumped on the bus and drove off…
– It will bring happiness! For sure!” – fragments of his words disappeared in the street noise, and Kelly suddenly realized that she was standing in the middle of the street, wet, dirty and with a kitten in her arms.
She was late everywhere and now she had nowhere to hurry…
– Here… – Kelly suddenly smiled – And the day is not boring at all… What should I do with you now, my happiness?
Kelly hugged the kitten and stroked it.
– I’ve never had a cat before. How should I treat you? What are you eating?
The kitten mewed pitifully, and Kelly sighed. Okay, what do we do now? Not to leave the poor thing in the middle of the street? For some reason she felt sorry for both the cat and herself. So she was the same. Unrepentant and unwanted since her mother died…
The phone in her pocket rang, and Kelly tucked the kitten into her pocket.
– Warmer? Yeah!
She looked at the screen and grimaced. Oh, what will happen! William called…
– Where are you?” his tone was icy, and Kelly, out of habit, prepared to make excuses.
– I’m outside the house, at the bus stop. I slipped…
– You did what?
– I slipped…
– I see. How long do I have to wait for you?
Kelly sighed, wondering how long it would take her to get cleaned up.
– I asked! How long to wait? Mom won’t be happy if we’re late.
– I… – Kelly prepared to answer, but then a small pink nose appeared from under the coat, and the kitten sniffed.
Kelly flinched and almost dropped the phone.
– William, I don’t think I can go to your mom’s today. I’m all wet and dirty, and…
– Do you hear yourself? Do you understand what you’re saying? Or is this all a game to you?” William, as usual, started to argue, and Kelly pushed the phone away from her ear. “We’ve been planning this trip for so long! I told my mother to set the table. But I’m bringing a bride! And you do this?!
– But we’ve already been there. She knows we want to get married.
– And you think that’s enough of an excuse?
Kelly was silent, looking at the kitten who was staring at her intently.
– Are you listening to me? Why are you silent?” William’s monologue ended and Kelly realized that he was calming down.
It was always like that. First emotions, and then a calm conversation. At first she did not understand how to get along with it. William was the first guy she had ever had a long-term relationship with. And his manner of communication was incomprehensible to her, but there was nothing to compare with. She did not know how to communicate with a man.
Kelly grew up in a very calm environment. Mom, grandmother, grandfather – no one ever quarreled. Kelly did not remember her father.
He died when she was very young. Her mother decided that her personal life was over with the departure of her loved one and devoted herself to her daughter, caring for her elderly parents and work.
Kelly, like her mother, was a late child. And if Kelly’s mother came along when her parents were in their forties, Kelly was born when her mother was forty-three.
– Why so late, Mom?
– Because she was stupid. I decided to make a career… I should have done it sooner, Kelly, I should have… And not just you, apparently. With me gone, who will you be left with?
Kelly didn’t even want to think about that. She knew that her mother’s worry about not seeing her grow up was so strong, as if she knew something in advance.
Every time Kelly reached another major milestone in her life, whether it was the transition from elementary to middle school, or the end of ninth and later eleventh grade, or entering university, her mother breathed a sigh of relief.
Kelly did not know anything about her weakness until the last. Her mother was hiding, not wanting to worry her daughter. And only when it became clear that nothing could be done, she sat Kelly down in front of her and said:
– “My daughter, I have done everything I could for you. Now you have to do it yourself.
She sighed and hugged Kelly, who burst into tears.
– Kelly said, “Don’t cry. We’ll cry together later. In the meantime, listen to me very carefully, this is important. Here in the folder are the documents. For the apartment and the car. You’re a jealous bride now. So choose your husband very carefully. Don’t be in a hurry. And keep quiet for a while. The less he knows about you, the better. Look closely. If you see that your interests are more important for him than his own, then get married and be happy.
– And how will I know?
– I’ll tell you how I knew your father was the best, and you think about it, okay?
Kelly nodded.
– You know we were in the same class. We didn’t know each other very well, we just said hello. We both lived in the dormitory. As ordinary students live – we ate the scholarship in a week. My parents helped me, because they lived in the village. My father brought me monthly parcels in bags. And vegetables, and twists, and meat.
And your father had no one. His parents had passed away, and his aunt lived far away. He managed to cope as best he could. And then it happened that my mother became weak. Very weak. For two months my father nursed her while I was taking exams. He forbade me to come.
And for the first time I was without their help. I managed the first month, but the second month it got worse. And food would be good. I would have survived it somehow in the hostel. They do not abandon their own there.
But, I managed to weaken too. A lot. My roommate went home for the holidays after exams, and I stayed. I was afraid to return home yet, so as not to add something extra to my mother. And so the first two days seemed to be nothing, and then I felt worse.
There was almost no one in the dormitory, everyone had left. The guys who stayed started to cook some soup or something. And they could not find salt. They sent your father to look for it. And he found it. Only not the salt, but me. I didn’t understand anything anymore. I hadn’t eaten anything for three days. I woke up and didn’t know where I was, who I was. The room was not mine. Next to the cup of tea is a plate of broth.
What are you laughing at? Later I found out that he pawned my mother’s wedding ring to buy chicken and medicine for me. The only memory I have of her…
– This? Kelly touched the ring on her mother’s hand.
– Yeah. He bought it back later and put it on my finger when we got married. We barely knew each other, Kelly. If a man is capable of such a thing, you should marry him!
Kelly laughed.
– He will show you everything himself sooner or later. The main thing is not to rush into the whirlpool with your head, even if you fall in love. Promise me.
– Mom…
– Promise!” her mother’s voice became serious, and Kelly nodded hurriedly.
– “Okay.
– And don’t you ever, ever, ever let anybody be mean to you. If you ever notice it, drive them away. Nothing good will come of it.
Kelly was silent, then stroked her daughter’s cheek.
– I understand that all my talks are about nothing now. But I really hope that when the time comes, you will remember what I said.
And now, looking at the kitten who was staring at her so intently, almost without blinking, Kelly suddenly remembered everything her mother had told her.
She put the phone down.
How? How could she forget everything? Did William really look like the man her mother had described? And is it necessary to endure such an attitude further, even if you feel some feelings? A day, two, a year…
Kelly suddenly realized that no. Definitely not! After all, this is not love. You don’t talk and do that to your beloved…
She suddenly realized that she had heard William’s marriage proposal, but he had never talked to her about love. He thought it was unnecessary. Why talk if everything is clear?
– Well, I don’t understand!” Kelly said out loud and came to her senses.
Putting the phone to her ear again, she stopped William.
– Do you love me?
He stopped talking so abruptly that Kelly thought the connection was broken. But he spoke again:
– “What’s wrong with you, I’ve been talking for an hour and you ask me some weird question and expect me to answer you?
– Yes,” Kelly said simply, stroking the kitten with her fingertips.
William was silent, and Kelly realized that he simply did not have an answer to her question.
– Be happy, William. I hope you meet someone else who can answer a question like that. And don’t call me anymore, okay?
Kelly did not wait for William to answer her and ended the call. Her soul was so sad that she wanted to cry.
– What are you looking at? You can scratch me with your paw. What do they say if it’s bad? Cats scratch?” Kelly picked up the kitten and wandered home.
…Her coat hung on her wet, it was cold. She added a step and soon was almost running, not noticing the tears rolling down her face.
Not immediately getting the key in the lock, she went home, took off her wet coat, sat down on the floor in the hallway and cried out loud.
Two years together, so much happened and it all ended senselessly. Why did she think that something good would come out of it? Why didn’t she remember what her mother had told her right away.
– Because I didn’t want to be alone!” Kelly said it so loud and clear that the kitten sitting next to her on the floor arched its back and hissed.
– Kelly reached for the cat and picked it up, calming it down.
She twisted the kitten in her hands and sighed.
– A growl and that was enough. You’re so skinny! Come on, let’s try to feed you.
Kelly suddenly realized that she was very hungry too. She poured some milk into a glass and took a piece of bread.
– It’s delicious… I haven’t had milk in ages… – Kelly smiled – Talking to a cat. I’ve made it! However, you may be my only company now. So I’ll talk to you, okay?
The kitten tore itself away from the bowl and looked at her in a way that made Kelly cringe.
– You’re too weird…
She washed the glass and picked up the kitten.
– Let’s go take a bath, sweetie!
As she watched the little furry lump sniffling next to her, Kelly mindlessly clicked the TV remote and thought about the fact that William hadn’t called again.
So, everything was right… Everything was right… But it didn’t make it any easier.
The next day she had a day off. On reflection, Kelly did some general cleaning and then sat down on the floor with her laptop.
– All sorts of strange and unusual thoughts come into my head! – Kelly stroked the cat, and opened tab after tab in the search engine. – Maybe it’s time to change everything, huh? The most difficult thing is that I already did. So let’s try something else, huh?
She had wanted to change her job for a long time, but all the time she did not dare. The furniture salon where she worked was small and there was nowhere to let her imagination run wild.
Mostly people came to order standard kitchens and cabinets.
Kelly offered interesting options, but most often they refused them, preferring something simple and not always comfortable.
At home, she painted her interiors, bringing to perfection the ideas that came to her mind. In the folder with finished works there were already a lot of finished works, but there was nowhere to apply them.
Kelly shuddered as she came across another tab advertising a contest for young designers.
– That’s it… – she sent an email. – What are you looking at? Scary…
The kitten huffed, and Kelly smiled involuntarily:
– I see how you feel about that, too.
The answer came to her in two weeks.
During this time she managed to meet with William to give him the things that were left in her apartment.
Their conversation was short and about nothing. By tacit mutual consent, they did not pursue their relationship.
This surprised Kelly a bit, because William was always very emotional, but she decided that everything was for the best.
She did not want to quarrel or hear something else unflattering in her address. She realized that in some ways she was grateful to William.
After all, what happened to them is also an experience. And even if nothing happened, next time she will try to be more attentive.
Opening the letter with an unfamiliar address, Kelly realized that her hands were trembling. After reading the text, she did not immediately understand what was written there. And when she understood it, she shouted joyfully.
– I did it! No, wow! I did it!
She was offered a new job in a large design studio. And even if it was only the beginning, because she was hired with a probationary period, but the foundation was laid.
And three years later, Kelly, going to work, will open the door. And the cat, which had never tried to enter the entrance before, suddenly rushed past her feet down the stairs.
And she ran after him, leaving the door unlocked. And when she caught him and turned back, she saw that a guy was standing on her stairwell.
– You forgot to close the door.
He handed her the keys that Kelly had forgotten in the lock and stroked the fluffy frolicker.
Then the guy introduced himself, reminding Kelly that good manners still exist.
And their acquaintance became the first step to go through a strange and difficult path in which there was everything: her successes, which he rejoiced, and his failures, in which she supported him, and the turn that fate made, giving him the opportunity to show himself exactly as his mother told Kelly.
And Kelly, having gone through difficulties, realized that next to this man she will always be easy and calm, because she will never be alone.
And there will be a wedding, and children will be. And the fluffy cat will carefully watch her family, diligently fulfilling its purpose.
After all, it was once said about him that he should bring happiness.
So he brings it! And the fact that people are strange and do not believe in such things is not his problem.
To hell with them! Let them be happy…