Claire LaZebnik - Knitting Under the Influence

“I know,” she said with a sob.

“Whoa there,” David said. “I was joking. And this isn't even close to calming down.”

“I can't help it.”

“Come here,” he said, and pulled her so her face was against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and she shoved her forehead hard into his shoulder and let herself go.

Interestingly, once she gave in to her tears, they didn't last all that long. She trembled and hiccupped and sniffed for a few minutes, while David rubbed her back and made soothing sounds. Even when the tears had stopped, she didn't move for a while, just stayed where she was, her cheek pressed against his shirt.

After a little while like that, she said, “I can hear your heart beat.”

“Interesting,” he said. “Would you say it's got a hip reggae kind of a beat?”

“It just sounds normal to me. Tha-boomp, tha-boomp.” A pause. Then: “I need a tissue.”

“You've been doing pretty well with my shirt up till now.”

“Sorry.” She righted herself, embarrassed. “Hold on. Let me go wash my face.”

In the bathroom, she splashed cold water on her face and toweled off. There was a bottle of suntan lotion on the vanity, and it occurred to her she shouldn't even go to Hawaii if David stayed missing-she'd need to stay and keep looking for him. And even if she did find him, she'd have to get someone to take care of him while she was gone. She hadn't even thought about that before. She was a bad, bad pet owner.

When she came back out, David was sitting at her computer. “I found a Web site about missing pets. They say the first thing you should do is check with all your neighbors.”

“I don't know my neighbors,” Lucy said. “I’ve never even met them. Oh, except for the time I yelled at the people downstairs for making too much noise.”

“How long have you lived here?”

“Four years.”

David shook his head with a laugh. “You might want to work on your people skills, Lucy.”

“Do you think we should go talk to them?”

“It can't hurt.”

She liked that he didn't question her use of “we,” just stood up and joined her at the door.

“I know this may sound selfish at a time like this, but I’m really hungry,” David said when they returned to the apartment a while later, having checked in with all the neighbors who were home-no one had seen the cat-and searched around the block one more time. “How about we order in a pizza while we make some flyers? I can post them when I leave.”

“Yeah, okay,” Lucy said. She felt disoriented and dazed. The sun was setting and she still hadn't found the cat and the thought of eventually trying to go to sleep for the night knowing he was out there alone somewhere-or dead somewhere-was so awful she couldn't even think about it.

“What kind do you like?” David asked.

“Kind?”

“Of pizza.”

“Oh. I don't care.”

“Is there something else you'd rather eat?”

She shook her head. “I’m not really hungry. I kind of feel like I’m going to throw up.” She did, too. She felt shaky and queasy, even though she hadn't eaten since she'd left Sari's apartment hours and hours ago.

“Maybe you'll change your mind once it's here,” David said and picked up the phone to place the order.

They designed the flyer while they waited for the pizza to be delivered. Since they didn't have a photo of the cat, Lucy wrote a brief description, biting her lip to keep the tears back as she typed “very small, with two black dots on his nose.”

“I think you should offer a reward,” David said from behind her.

She paused, her fingers poised on the keyboard. “How much?”

“Enough so that people will bother to return him, but not enough to attract a con artist.”

“And in dollars, that would be-?”

“A hundred maybe?”

“Ouch,” she said, typing it in. “But okay. Anything for David.”

“I’ll split it with you,” he said. “Fifty-fifty. Which would be fifty-fifty.”

“No,” Lucy said. “You paid for David in the first place and it's my fault he got lost, so I should pay the whole amount.”

“We're in this together,” David said. “And he's my cat, too- remember the visiting rights?”

“You can't visit what isn't here,” Lucy said. Her voice broke on the last word.

He put his hand on her shoulder. “He'll be back.”

Lucy did think the pizza smelled kind of good when it arrived, but as soon as she looked at it, her stomach tightened and she felt sick again, all shivery with a sudden chill, so she put it back down and excused herself for a moment. She went into the bedroom. She had left her window open and it was freezing in there. She closed the window, then went to her closet to get a sweater. When she opened the closet door, she let out a scream.

David came running. “What's wrong?”

She was squatting down, her back to him, but now she stood up and turned to him, gray fur clutched to her chest. “Nothing. Nothing. Everything's right.”

“The litde guy!” He stroked the cat's head. “How the fuck-? Is he okay?”

“I opened the closet and he was just there.”

David wrinkled his nose and peered into the closet. “Smells like he left you a present in there.”

“It's not his fault-he must have been in there for hours.” Lucy cuddled the kitten tightly against her chest. “Oh, David, you scared the shit out of me. Don't ever go missing like that again.”

“He didn't go missing,” David said. “You must have shut him in there.”

“I have no idea when or how I did that. And I swear I checked in there when I was looking all over for him. I know I did.”

“Maybe he was sleeping then.”

“We should feed him,” Lucy said. “And give him some water.”

“And take him to the litter box,” David said. “There may still be something left in him, although, to judge by the bottom of your closet, I doubt it.”

He took care of the kitten while Lucy cleaned up the mess then David the human went back to eating his pizza while David the kitten crouched on the floor and lapped eagerly at some water. Lucy sank into a chair and took a deep breath. Everything was okay. She had her kitten back.

“Sure you don't want any?” David said, as he took another piece of pizza from the box.

She realized with a sudden ache in her stomach that she was starving. Relief had brought back her appetite with a vengeance. “Yeah, actually, I do,” she said. She reached over and snagged the biggest slice that was left and devoured it.

She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten a slice of pizza like that-the whole thing from the top of the triangle to the bottom, without bothering to blot the grease with a napkin or pick the cheese off or leave the crust or play any of her usual calorie-cutting games.

“I can't decide who looks more blissed out, you or the cat,” David said as she swallowed the last bite. “Of course, the cat has a slight advantage in being able to lick himself clean.”

“Does that mean I have pizza sauce on my face?” Lucy said. She didn't even care. Nothing bothered her. David was back, safe and sound.

“Just a little. On your chin.”

She swiped at it with a napkin. “Did I get it?”

“Not yet.” He leaned forward. “Right there.” He touched his fingertip lightly to the right side of her chin.

She wiped at the spot. “That better?”

“Yeah.” He was still leaning forward.

“Thanks,” she said.

He let his arm fall. “Want another slice?”

“God, no. It was good, though.”

He closed the pizza box and stood up. “I should probably head off.”

“Oh, right.” Her contentment suddenly dropped away. “You left someone waiting. I’m sorry I wasted your whole day. And for nothing.”