Claire LaZebnik - Knitting Under the Influence

Lucy groaned. “Will you just tell me?”

“It's Kevin. He proposed and Kathleen accepted, just like we thought. But she doesn't know he's calling us-he snuck off to call because he wants to fly us to Hawaii first thing tomorrow as a surprise for her. Because they're going to get married there in two days! Can you believe it?”

Lucy sank into a chair. “Holy shit.”

“He said if he flew her family out, his family might feel hurt, and he doesn't want to get into any of that, but he knows she'd want us to be there with her. There's a nine a.m. flight tomorrow, gets us in at noon, and the wedding would be the next day. We could take the red-eye back that night and only miss two days of work.”

“This is unreal,” Lucy said.

“I know! So what do you say, Luce? Should we do it?” She shook the phone at her. “I have to give him an answer. He's waiting.”

“What are you talking about?” Lucy said. “Of course we're going. We have to go.”

“What about work?”

“Fuck work,” Lucy said.

“Yeah,” Sari said. “Fuck work.” She punched the hold button again. “Kevin?” she said. “We're in.”

After she'd hung up, she looked at Lucy. “Fuck knitting, too,” she said. “Don't we need new clothes for Hawaii?”

“We do,” Lucy said. “We do we do we do.”

When Lucy walked into her apartment several hours later, something felt wrong. It took her a moment to figure out what it was: David hadn't come warily prowling in to greet her, like he always did when she came home these days. She called for him and he still didn't come. She dropped everything she was carrying and went from room to room, calling him.

No David.

Lucy searched through the apartment again. This time, she got down on her hands and knees to look under sofas and tables. She even threw in a few high-pitched “Here kitty-kitty-kitties” just for the hell of it. No David.

She felt suddenly really worried. The kitten had recently become curious about the bigger world outside and, several times over the past few days, he had gone darting out the door when she opened it, scooting between her legs and around her feet. She always chased him down and brought him back, but it was possible he'd snuck out that morning when she'd left, without her even noticing. Which would mean he'd been out of the apartment-maybe even out of the building-wandering alone for over three hours.

“Shit,” she said out loud and ran into the apartment corridor and then down the stairs and out into the street, calling and running, searching desperately for a tiny kitten who had gone missing in a very big, very dangerous world.

“I can't find David,” she said into the phone half an hour later.

“The cat or the lab partner?” Sari asked.

“This isn't funny. I got back from knitting and he was gone. Sari, I’m worried he got out of the building and is lost somewhere.”

“Did you look outside?”

“I went around the whole block. I can't find him anywhere.”

“I’m sorry, honey,” Sari said. “But cats usually find their way home, don't they?”

“Big cats do,” Lucy said. “Big grown-up cats who've lived for a long time in one place and who have sharp claws and can defend themselves against any danger-they find their way home. But little tiny kittens who haven't even been in the world very long-”

“Don't start imagining the worst.”

“Too late.”

“Well, then, stop imagining the worst. I’m sure he'll come back.”

“Are you really sure or are you just trying to get me off the phone?”

“A little of both, actually,” Sari said. “I’m sorry, Lucy, but I’m overwhelmed with everything I have to do if I want to be able to leave tomorrow. I can't just disappear-I need to find replacements for all the kids I see. So I’m sort of losing my mind right now. But I honestly think David the kitten-being the most amazingly wonderful and brilliant kitten in the world-will find his way back to your side safe and sound before the end of the day.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Lucy said. “Go do your stuff. I’ll see you in the morning.” She hung up the phone and stared at it miserably for a minute. Then she got up off the bed and went through the apartment and opened the front door and called for David again. Then she went back into the apartment and called for him some more. Then she went out of the apartment and down the stairs to the street and called for him some more. Then she went back into the apartment and checked inside the stove and all the cabinets in the kitchen. Then she got out a suitcase and opened her underwear drawer and stared at its contents without seeing them for a minute or two. Then she got up and opened the front door and called for David.

“This is insane,” she said out loud. She picked up the phone again.

There was no answer at David's apartment, but she waited, knowing it would ring through to his cell. “Hey,” he said once it had, “what's up?”

“The kittens missing,” she said. “I can't find him anywhere. I think maybe he got out this morning, which means he's been gone for hours.”

“Oh, shit,” he said. Then, “Well, at least it's not dark. The coyotes shouldn't be out yet.”

“Thanks,” she said. “Thanks for bringing up coyotes. Where are you?”

“Having coffee.”

“With someone?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh,” she said. “I was hoping-I mean, I was thinking-that maybe you could come help me look-but you're busy, so-”

“I’ll be there in ten,” he said and hung up.

It was closer to twenty, but Lucy didn't complain.

“I looked around the block,” David said as she let him in. “No surprise reappearance here, I assume?”

Lucy shook her head. She suddenly didn't trust herself to speak. At the sight of David's familiar, slightly homely face, she was overwhelmed with the desire to burst into tears. She fought it desperately. But it must have shown, because he said, “Don't worry, Lucy. He'll turn up. Cats have a way of being okay. This is where that whole nine lives thing really comes into play.”

Lucy nodded but couldn't manage a smile. “He's so little,” she said. “He's so little and I was responsible for him.”

“Come on.” He put his arms around her and she rested her head against his shoulder. “You're being silly. He's a cat. Cats always escape. And they always come back.”

“Unless a coyote gets them. Or a car hits them. Or-”

“Someone sells them to evil scientists to experiment on?”

She pushed him away. “That's not funny.”

“It's a little bit funny.”

“I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “No more jokes. Let's focus. Is your phone number on his ID tag?”

“He doesn't have one. I kept forgetting. I was at Petco a million times, but I just kept forgetting, but if I’d only just gotten him one… I’m such a fucking idiot!” And with that, she finally burst into the tears that had been threatening to break through for the last half hour.

“Come here.” David steered her to the sofa and pushed her down on it. Then he sat next to her and took her hand. “Take a deep breath, Lucy, and calm down. The guy's only been missing a few hours. Cats often vanish for days and then reappear. He's going to come back. But we might as well do what we can to help. Do you have any photos of him? We could put them up somewhere.”

“I didn't have any batteries in my camera,” Lucy said, extricating her hand so she could use her knuckle to wipe away the tears under her eyes. “I tried to take his picture-I wanted to-but I didn't have any batteries and I kept forgetting to get new ones.”

“You need some help running your life,” David said.