Like Cats and Dogs

by Kate McMurray

  What about the whole focusing on herself thing? She was pretty happy about her job. It was going well, even though she was losing sleep over a pending discussion about money with Diane. Still, she liked the challenge of demonstrating that she could expand the business in a viable way. And she loved her apartment, she loved the cats, she loved her friends. And she loved Caleb. Being with him would make her happy. And if the ultimate goal was to be happy, shouldn’t she go for it?

  “You’re not talking,” said Caleb. “Please say something. What do you think? Am I too late, or…”

  “No, you’re not too late,” Lauren said, the words coming out a little watery. “This is…” She held up the keychain. “You’re really serious. You want us to be together.”

  “Yes. It was wrong of me to end things without really trying to make it work. I’ve regretted that since the moment I walked out of your apartment. I just didn’t know how to give you what you wanted. But now I do. So, yes, I do want to be with you. And, hey, all your closest friends are here to bear witness to it.”

  “You invited them?”

  “Well, I invited Evan. He took some liberties.”

  “You’re welcome!” Evan shouted from across the room.

  Lauren laughed. “Well… I mean, I can’t believe you…”

  “Lauren. Letting you go was a stupid thing for me to do. I was wrong about us. Yeah, we argue about dumb things sometimes, but that just means we’re both passionate people with strong opinions, and the truth is, toward the end we agreed more often than we didn’t. Anything we disagree on is something we can work on together. I mean, I may even come around on the whole keeping-a-cat-as-a-pet thing.”

  Sadie wandered over then and rubbed up against Caleb’s leg. Caleb bent to give her scritches on her head.

  “Well. I’ll believe that when I see it.” Lauren took a deep breath and looked at the keychain again. Could she deal with Caleb’s baggage? Yeah, she probably could. “You mean it. You want to be with me?” Every time she repeated it, it felt truer.

  Caleb opened his mouth to say something, then snapped his jaw shut, then shook his head like he’d made a decision. “Yes,” he said. “I want to be with you. I love you.”

  Well, there it was. They loved each other. And hopefully that was enough. They could work together on everything else.

  “Please say it’s not too late,” Caleb said. “You want to be with me too, right? I’m not just embarrassing myself in front of all your friends so you can kick me to the curb, am I?”

  “No, I…” Warmth spread across Lauren’s chest. This was really happening. Caleb was standing here telling her he wanted to be with her, he loved her, and they could have what she’d wanted for them since the first time she’d realized she liked him more than she hated him.

  That line between love and hate really was thin, wasn’t it? Or was it a coin that was easy to flip around?

  She smiled. “You’re not too late. I’ll take you back. I love you, too.”

  His whole face lit up. “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Kiss her!” yelled Evan.

  Caleb laughed. Then he closed the distance between them, cupped her face, and placed a perfect kiss against her lips.

  Lauren parted her lips to let him in more deeply, putting her hands on his shoulders, then behind his head to pull him closer, and he put his hands on her waist to hold her there. And they kissed right there, in the middle of the cat room, with the whole crowd of friends and customers looking on. Their relationship was secret no longer.

  Lauren eased away and took a step back. Everyone was staring at them with giddy expressions on their faces.

  “You know,” Lauren said to Caleb, “normal boyfriends bring their girlfriends flowers. Not cheap keychains.”

  “Sure, but I also know a lot of flowers contain toxins that are bad for cats.”

  Lauren laughed.

  Paige stepped forward. “I’d offer you privacy, but, well, this is a place of business and it’s the middle of the day.”

  Lauren was tired of having an audience anyway. To Paige and Monique, she said, “You guys have got the rest of the day handled, right?”

  “Absolutely,” said Monique, smiling.

  “Cool. Come on, Caleb, we’ll go to my place.”

  She grabbed his hand and started leading him toward the door. There were some hoots and hollers from the peanut gallery.

  “You…consulted with Evan to do all this?” Lauren asked.

  “Yeah. Was that the wrong thing to do? The cat application thing was his idea.”

  “It was probably exactly the right thing to do. Evan has been rooting for us all along.”

  “Really?”

  “He’s a smart guy.”

  He was so smart, in fact, that he’d run into the back and returned with Lauren’s handbag. He handed it to her and then said, “You crazy kids get out of here.”

  Lauren squeezed Caleb’s hand. “All right. Let’s go, Caleb.”

  ***

  As he crossed the threshold, Caleb realized the last time he’d been in Lauren’s apartment was the day he’d left her. It felt a little strange to be walking back into it now.

  “Pardon the mess,” said Lauren. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to come over today.”

  Caleb looked around. The apartment wasn’t messy so much as a little cluttered. The blanket on the sofa was askew, there was an empty coffee cup on the table, and she busied herself now with picking some errant pieces of mail off the floor.

  “Molly can’t abide my leaving mail on this table,” Lauren said. “I’m forever picking it up. Anyway.”

  And now it was awkward. Where should Caleb stand? What should he say?

  Lauren pulled the keychain he’d given her out of her pocket and hung it on a hook next to the door. “This is really a key to your apartment? It’s not just some old key you put on here to make a point?”

  “Those are real keys. I meant everything I said. That’s why I got witnesses.”

  “You didn’t have to go that far.”

  “Yes, I did. I had to do something to prove I’m serious. I do trust you, you know. I mean, maybe text before you come over, but you really are welcome at any time.”

  Lauren laughed while rolling her eyes. “Text first. Of course.”

  “If I don’t answer, I’m probably sleeping. I do that on my day off a lot.”

  Lauren shook her head. Caleb couldn’t interpret the look.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I’m not asking for free and open access to your apartment, but you’re already putting restrictions on this.”

  He was about to protest that this had not been his intention, even though he was still a little nervous about her just barging right into his space, but then Molly darted out from under the sofa and streaked across his path, which startled him so much he tripped backward. He caught himself on the arm of the sofa, but he cursed.

  Lauren rolled her eyes. “You afraid of my cat?”

  Her tone was adversarial, and Caleb couldn’t exactly blame her. She’d agreed to take him back, but he still had a little work to do to make her trust him “I’m sorry,” he said. He sat on the sofa. “This is going all wrong. I was joking. I mean, I do trust you, but—”

  Lauren sat beside him and put her hand over his where it rested on his thigh. “It’s okay. We haven’t been dating very long. I never even needed that much from you, not this soon. I just wanted you to open up a little and accept that something had changed between us. That we were starting to mean more to each other than just sex. Now you and I can be together and see where it goes.”

  “I know. I understand that. That’s what I was trying to show you. Did I bungle it?”

  “No.” She smiled.

  “Because I’ve changed. You changed me.”

 
She blinked a couple of times. “Are we having a romantic comedy ending? Is this like every other Julia Roberts movie?”

  He laughed. “I’m just a boy…sitting next to a girl…asking her to love him.”

  She smiled. Her eyes looked a little watery. “Have you changed?”

  He took a deep breath. “If I haven’t, I want to. I’m tired of feeling the way I have since Kara left. Putting on armor may keep me safe, but it sure is lonely in there. And I honestly don’t know if you and I will work out. I just know my life is better with you in it. The more time we spent together, the more I started to feel like myself again, and not the jaded asshole I’d become. I will probably never be the old Caleb again, but I am this man now, and I want to be open. Unlocked. Not closed.”

  She smiled, definitely teary now. She leaned forward, cupped his chin, and pressed her lips against his.

  That was when he knew they might be all right. If he remained open to Lauren, they would figure the rest out.

  He slid his fingers into her hair. He’d missed this hair, missed the silky feel of it between his fingers. He’d missed her voice, he’d missed the freckles across her nose, he’d missed how heartfelt and genuine she was. He’d missed this woman, period. He deepened the kiss and pulled her into his arms, and before he even knew what was really happening, she was straddling him on the sofa.

  “Are we doing this?” he asked, her hair hanging down around his head like a curtain.

  “Yeah, we are.”

  He laughed, encouraged by the growl in her voice. “This is the easy part, you know.”

  “What, the sexy bits?” She grinned. “I know. We’ll have to work at the other stuff. As long as you’re willing, I am, too.”

  “For you? Anything.”

  They kissed again. Caleb settled back into the sofa and took Lauren into his arms. And he felt…content. Right. Like everything was falling into places. Why had he been fighting so hard to accept this in his life? He’d been so sure Lauren would betray him the way Kara had, but this felt different. He’d learned things in the decade since he and Kara had made a commitment to each other. He’d changed. Things would be different this time. And rather than be afraid of what the future might hold, he’d be open to it.

  “So, ah…” Lauren said with a smile, running her hands down Caleb’s chest. “Should we, um, seal the deal?”

  “Are you making a sexy double entendre?”

  “I am.”

  She waggled her eyebrows, which made him laugh. Had he laughed this much with Kara? No, he didn’t think so. And he would stop comparing Lauren to Kara, because this was a different relationship with an entirely different woman, and the potential was there for this to be something really amazing, as long as he stayed open to it.

  Epilogue

  Lauren was putting her earrings in as she walked out of the bedroom. Hank was asleep on the living room rug, with Molly curled up in a ball against him.

  Lauren shook her head. Of all the developments of the last few months, the fact that Hank and Molly got along was the strangest. When Diane had agreed to lease them this place—a two-bedroom up a floor from Lauren’s old one-bedroom—Lauren had been convinced putting the animals together would end with Molly scratching Hank’s face off, but they’d become fast friends instead.

  Caleb was in the kitchen pouring himself a bowl of cereal. He was still in his gym clothes, beads of sweat standing out against his hairline. His one complaint about the building was that it wasn’t near any good places to run, so he’d taken to running on the treadmills at the gym across the street instead. Lauren felt a little bad about that, but not enough to give up her discount on the apartment. There were New Yorkers who would have killed to get the kind of deal they had.

  “We still on for dinner tonight?” he asked, his mouth half-full of cereal.

  “Elizabeth’s at six, yes. See, I’m getting better at letting go and delegating. The Cat Café is open until eight today. Paige is closing.”

  “I’m very proud of you.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  He grinned at shoveled another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. “I like how those earrings go with the new ring.”

  “Yeah?”

  He smiled again.

  “All right, buddy. Calm down. You look like a cat who just caught a mouse.”

  “I’d say more like…a dog…who caught a cat?” Caleb laughed. “That metaphor doesn’t work at all, does it?” He set his now-empty cereal bowl aside.

  “Nope.”

  Caleb hooked his arm around Lauren and pulled her close. He gave her a quick kiss and said, “I love you. That’s all that matters, right?”

  “Yeah. I didn’t know you’d end up being this sentimental, though. Kind of makes me want old jerk Caleb back.”

  “Really? That guy’s a dick.”

  Lauren laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Go shower, big guy. We’ve both got to get to work.”

  A half hour later, Lauren walked into the Cat Café, the morning rush already in full swing. After ascertaining that the counter crew had things under control, she walked into the cat room and spotted Evan sitting at a table in the corner. He’d been working out of the Cat Café for the last few months, finally having given up on finding a good café from which to freelance. Working from home didn’t seem to be ideal, since he’d recently acquired new neighbors in the apartment next door, a lesbian couple who had quite loud, passionate arguments, based on Evan’s descriptions.

  Lauren knew a little about that.

  Although she and Caleb argued hardly ever these days, they still had the occasional dumb arguments over who forgot to pick up milk or whose turn it was to clean Molly’s litter box. Caleb got grumpy on rainy days because Hank was sometimes a little too precious about getting wet and there wasn’t much in the way of good park space within a ten-block radius, especially as all the new high-rises were eating up downtown Brooklyn. They could both get worked up about their interpretation of a newspaper article or an episode of television, but more often than not, arguments like that ended with them making out on the couch, so it wasn’t all bad.

  In fact, they were pretty happy these days. And Lauren was about to make Evan happy, too.

  Lauren walked up to Evan now and placed a ten-dollar bill on the table.

  “What’s this for?” asked Evan.

  “You told me when he proposed, I owed you ten dollars. I never welch on a bet. So, there you are. Ten dollars.”

  “He proposed? Are you kidding?”

  “Nope.” She held out her hand to show the ring.

  “Holy shit!”

  “He proposed last night. In the most Caleb way possible. On the pretense of needing to help Hank stretch his legs, we walked up to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and he proposed right there, with the skyline and everything, under the stars. It was pretty romantic.”

  “Aw. I knew that guy had it in him. Are you guys over the moon or what? You picked a date yet? Can I be your best man?”

  “Yes, I’m very happy. No, we haven’t picked a date. And yes, you can be my…man of honor.”

  Evan grinned. “I’ll take it.” He clapped a few times. “Oh, girl, this is going to be the most fun.”

  “Really? I never would have guessed you’d get much into wedding planning.”

  “Hey, my love life is DOA right now. Work is a little slow. I need a project.” Evan shrugged. “Also, I told you so.”

  “I know, I know. I should listen to you more often.”

  “I am usually correct. Oh, speaking of, there’s your man.”

  Lauren looked through the glass door. Caleb had just gotten in the coffee line, as was part of his pre-work routine. He looked up and saw her standing next to Evan. He waved. Evan waved back.

  “Am I the first person you told?” Evan asked.

  “Yup. Before Facebook, even.”
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  “Wow. I’m flattered.”

  “Is Paige here? I didn’t see her at the counter?”

  “Do you not know your own employees’ schedules? I know them and I don’t even work here.”

  “What?”

  Evan laughed. “Paige had some big date last night. I’m betting it was a disaster, just like all her other dates have been lately. Either way, she took today off. I haven’t heard from her yet, though, so maybe it was fine.”

  “A big date? Do you know who with? Was it that fussy chef Lindsay has been trying to set her up with?”

  Evan shrugged. “She didn’t say.”

  As Lauren moved to go tell Caleb to have a good day, Evan called out, “If you’re going up there, can you get me a blueberry muffin?”

  “Yes, fine.”

  Lauren walked through the door. She slid into the line with Caleb and took his hand. “Good morning again,” she said.

  “Morning. Everything here looks under control.”

  “Yeah, it seems to be. Although I can’t wait until we finally find the right pastry chef, because we’re already down to the last bagel, and it would be nice if we had someone in back who could, like, whip up another batch.”

  “Are bagels really the sort of thing you just whip up?”

  “I dunno. I don’t know how to make bagels. I’m just saying.”

  “Did you figure out the health inspector situation?”

  “Diane’s lawyer is supposed to come by tomorrow.”

  They got to the front of the line then. Caleb ordered his regular coffee to go and Lauren asked for a couple of muffins.

  After Caleb doctored his coffee, he gave Lauren a kiss on the cheek. “I gotta go take care of some animals.”

  “My hero.”

  “I’ll check on that kitten Mitch brought in for you and let you know at lunchtime if I can. If not, I’ll see you at dinner. Fiancée.”

  Lauren smiled broadly. She liked the sound of that. “All right. Fiancé. Have a good day.”

  He smiled. “I will. Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  Lauren watched him go. Then she turned back to the cats.