The Empire State Cat's Christmas Gift

by Nic Tatano

  Shelley slowly nodded. “Well…do you believe him?”

  Tish shook her head. “I don’t know. I mean…geez, Shelley, how the hell can I keep seeing a guy whose partner represents a sleazeball like Brent? She claimed he’s a relative and paid her way through law school and that she had no choice but to take the case, but I don’t know if that’s true either.”

  Shelley sat on the edge of the desk. “You want me to find out? Should be easy enough.”

  “How will that change anything?”

  “We would at least know if his partner is telling the truth. That should be worth something.”

  She shrugged, staring at the cat as she was now purring. “What the hell, knock yourself out.”

  “So, what about Spence?”

  “I don’t know. Things were going so well…” Her eyes welled up. “Dammit! If I hadn’t taken this case—”

  “I wouldn’t be working for you.”

  “Huh?”

  “I could work for any attorney in town. I work for you not because you’re a great lawyer but because you’re a great lawyer with a big heart. You couldn’t turn down a case like this because you actually care about clients who need help and that woman is desperate. You always do the right thing, Tish. When I came here it was a job, but now it’s a cause. I admire you more than anyone I know. You’re my role model and you have made me a much better person.”

  A single tear rolled down her cheek as she looked up and locked eyes with Shelley. “Thank you.” Her voice cracked and then the waterworks started to flow.

  Shelley leaned over and gave her a hug. “It’ll work out, sweetie. Trust me.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Shelley poked her head through the door to Tish’s office. “Hey, it’s almost seven. I’m heading home. You should do the same.”

  “Thanks for staying late. I’ll give you the overtime.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take half a day off sometime when we’re not too busy. Why don’t you go home?”

  “Because I live in a hotel which is not remotely a home and if I stay here and keep working it will keep my mind off…”

  “You hear from him?”

  “No. I’ll give him this, he’s smart enough to leave a woman alone when she’s mad. Every time the door opened I figured it would be him.”

  “I’ve been thinking about this. You have friends who work for big firms that sometimes take on sleazy clients. What exactly is the difference with this situation?”

  “His is a two-person firm.”

  “What difference does it make? If he’s not working the case it should not be a factor in your relationship.”

  “The whole thing about him supposedly not knowing until last night… I dunno, it doesn’t sound right. By the way, I looked up his cases in the law database. He’s represented some pretty shady corporations in the past. So I need time to think.”

  “Well, don’t think about it too long. Guys like that don’t grow on trees.”

  “Yeah, I know that too.”

  “Hey, I could use a glass of wine. Wanna join me?”

  Tish was about to answer when she heard a faint rattling noise.

  Then Socks jumped off her desk and ran behind the bookcase.

  “Socks, don’t go back there—” Her eyes went wide and her pulse spiked as she saw the cat disappear into the air vent. “Socks! Oh my God!”

  “What?”

  Tish craned her neck to get a closer look. “Sonofabitch! Those idiots that built the bookcases forgot to put the covers back on the air vents! Socks is in there!” Tish called the cat but there was no response.

  Then they both heard a voice.

  “Hey, there you are. I missed you last week. You want some treats?”

  “What the hell?” Tish whipped her head at Shelley. “She’s in somebody’s office.”

  “C’mon, let’s see who’s still here.” They headed to the hallway. “I’ll go this way, you take the other end of the hall.”

  Tish quickly walked down the hall, noting only one of the glass doors had light behind it.

  Spence’s law firm.

  “Oh, you gotta be kidding.” She opened the door and heard something in a back room. She followed the sound and then saw Spence on the floor petting Socks while the cat ate some treats out of his hand. “What are you doing with my cat?”

  He looked up, startled. “Whoa, Tish, you scared me.”

  She pointed at Socks. “So what are you doing with my cat?”

  “Seriously? She’s yours?”

  “Yeah. Her name is Socks.”

  The cat finished the treats and nuzzled him on the arm. “Tish, she’s been dropping by most evenings for the past few weeks. I had no idea she was yours.”

  “So this is the stray you were telling me about? I thought you were talking about a cat coming by your home.”

  “And I thought that’s where you kept your cat. At Madison’s place.”

  “On the weekends she’s with me at Madison’s. During the week I keep her at the office since she can’t stay in the hotel. So what’s the deal, you lure her through the air vent and feed her treats?”

  “Yep. Shake the bag and she comes running. When she showed up the first time we were worried she was hungry so Ariel gave her a can of tuna, then I went out and bought some stuff for her in case she came by again. Which she does every night.” He pulled a catnip mouse from a box and tossed it to Socks, who immediately grabbed it. “She likes to play. She’s probably just bored at night. They are nocturnal creatures, you know.”

  “Are you implying I don’t give my cat enough attention?”

  “I’m just saying she’s alone in the office after you go home and obviously she’s a very social cat. At least now I know her name and who she belongs to. You really should put a tag on the collar.”

  “I’ll take it under advisement.” Her eyes widened as Socks crawled in his lap and licked his hand. “By the way, did you ever feed her Italian food?”

  “No, but I had chicken parm takeout one day for lunch and later I noticed the container was licked clean.”

  “You shouldn’t leave stuff out like that where she can get it.”

  “I don’t think chicken with a little tomato sauce on it is going to hurt her.”

  Tish folded her arms and put one foot in front of her like a ticked off parent. “She’s not your cat, I’ll decide what she can and cannot eat.”

  He held up the bag of treats. “Are these acceptable?”

  “They’re fine, but…she’s my cat!”

  He got up, picked up the cat and handed it to her. “I understand that, Tish. I was just being nice to her and we like her.”

  “Ariel plays with her too?”

  “Yeah, she loves cats. And I guess this proves I love cats.” He gave her a smile that softened her a bit.

  “I cannot believe you bought her toys.”

  “Like I said, she likes to play. She had a field day with one of my neckties so I figured I’d better get something else.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I can buy you a new one.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. And it was an old tie.”

  “Well…thank you for being nice to her.”

  “You’re very welcome.”

  “I’m…sorry I got upset with you. About the cat.”

  “Nothing to apologize for, Tish. You obviously care a great deal about her.”

  She locked eyes with him for a moment. Neither said a word for what seemed like an eternity.

  “Look, Tish—”

  “I have a lot of work to do.”

  He nodded, his eyes suddenly sad. “Sure. Anyway, I’m glad to know she has such a loving owner.”

  The words hit her in the soul as her eyes welled up, the words thick in her throat. “I’d better go.”

  She turned and left the office, just before the tears began to flow.

  Shelley spotted her from the other end of the hall. “You found Socks!” She started running toward Tish. �
�Where was she?”

  “In another office.”

  Shelley noted Tish was crying. “Awww, look at you…tears of joy for finding your cat. You were worried that you lost the little dickens, huh?”

  “Yeah, but that’s not the only reason… She was in Spence’s office.”

  “Oh, wow.”

  “She’s been going there every night after I leave for weeks. He…feeds her treats…and…” Her voice cracked and she lost it. “He bought cat toys for her.” She broke down in a flood of tears. “And he plays with her because…because…he thinks she’s lonely at night.”

  Shelley took her by the arms. “Honey, you’re in emotional free fall. Pull the ripcord.”

  “Sorry.” She wiped her eyes with her free hand as she tried to compose herself. “I didn’t expect the cat to be in his office…or for him to be taking care of her. He works late and he shakes the bag of treats and when she hears it she goes to his office through the vent. And then he plays with her.”

  “Yeah, I can certainly see why you’re mad at the guy. He sounds like such a horrible person.”

  “The cat and the trial are…two different things.”

  “Right, he’s Socks’ surrogate by night, evil attorney from hell by day. Sure, let’s go with that.”

  “It’s too much to process, Shelley.”

  “C’mon, put Socks to bed and let’s go get that glass of wine. Someone needs to get her head on straight. Because that’s one hell of a boyfriend you’re throwing away.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Two days later, Tish still didn’t know what to do.

  She simply couldn’t dismiss the fact that Spence’s partner would be going up against her, representing a client that the entire city of New York seemed to hate with a passion. And that he might possibly be helping her with the case. Which, if she lost, would really hurt both her client and her financially. She’d even stopped going to Benny’s cart in the morning, not wanting to run into Spence.

  Because she didn’t know what she would say if she did. Every time she tried to get mad the image of him playing with Socks put her anger on the back burner.

  One thing she did know.

  She missed him terribly. Which made no sense since they’d only been out a few times and she’d never gotten attached this quickly. And there was another question.

  Did he miss her?

  He hadn’t called, emailed, texted or dropped by her office. Was he giving up or giving her space?

  He had to be giving up. Men didn’t know about the space thing. And even if they did they wouldn’t do it.

  Her friends assured her it would all work out. But she’d heard that before and it hadn’t.

  Dating another lawyer was truly filled with land mines she hadn’t anticipated.

  She headed across the hotel lobby when a clerk at the front desk called her. “Ms. McKenna?”

  She stopped and turned to him. “Yes?”

  “I have a delivery for you.”

  She headed to the desk, half expecting some legal documents. Instead the young clerk handed her a bottle of orange juice with a yellow sticky note attached. He laughed. “We do have room service here, you know.”

  She read the note and couldn’t help but smile.

  Breakfast without Tish from the hotel is like a day without sunshine.

  “It’s from a friend who is reminding me of something.”

  “Ah. Well, you have a nice day.”

  “You too.” She headed out the door and across the street to Benny’s cart.

  He looked up and smiled as he spotted her. “Well, look who finally showed up. She never calls, she never writes.”

  “I got your message.” She held up the bottle of OJ. “So stop with the guilt. I wasn’t avoiding you, Benny.”

  “Good, ‘cause I woulda been deeply hurt. Anyway, I know the whole story, kiddo. You and I need to talk.”

  “Uh-oh. This sounds like a lecture from Dad coming my way.”

  “I’ve had a lot of practice with my own daughters. By the way, what is Tish short for?”

  “Patricia.”

  “And your middle name is?”

  “Megan. Why?”

  “Patricia Megan McKenna, you are going to listen to some advice, young lady.”

  “Ah, the full name thing, I know it well. Go ahead, Dad. Hit me.”

  “Spence really was coming to tell you about his partner on Monday morning. I know that because he was here asking me for advice about what to do. He’d only found out you were on the case the night before when he got back from Vegas because his partner never told him. He went to his office before he came to see you because he forgot his cell phone.”

  She studied his face. “He tell you to say that?”

  “You’re a lawyer, you know when someone’s lying. Do I have that look?”

  Tish locked eyes with him. “No, of course not. But I know you have an ulterior motive to get us back together.”

  “Because I’m an excellent judge of character and I think you guys belong together.”

  “Maybe, maybe not.”

  “Well since you’re off to such a good start you owe it to yourself to find out. And I am batting a thousand when it comes to fix-ups.”

  “I dunno, Benny, I can’t get past the fact that he already helped with the Peter Brent case against my client. She really got screwed.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been reading about that. What a cheap bastard. He’d better not show up at my cart. He’ll get a soda shaken, not stirred. So, no chance of settling, huh?”

  “Apparently not. And a million bucks would be pocket change to that guy.”

  “Hell, you should be able to win if public opinion is any indicator. Everybody hates Brent. A lot of people are boycotting his products.”

  “Yeah, but you know what they say about juries, Benny.”

  “What?”

  “They’re made up of people too stupid to get out of jury duty.”

  He laughed a bit. “Yeah, guess so. Anyway, how long you gonna give Spence the silent treatment?”

  “Uh, it’s a two-way street. He hasn’t called me either.”

  “He’s not going to because you’re the one who is mad and therefore the ball is in your court. And I told him that when a woman is angry, you give her space.”

  “It figures you would know that. I’m impressed. I had not run into a man with that sort of knowledge before.”

  “Basic life skill. Most men learn the hard way, so I try to save the younger guys the trouble. This is why we invented man caves. When the woman in your life needs to be left alone, you don’t badger her, you go shoot pool or watch football. Or, ya know, play with the woman’s cat.”

  “Just what I need, more guilt.”

  “Not many guys would do that. But you’re a smart woman, you probably know that already.”

  She sipped her juice. “You’re a very wise man, you know that, Benny?”

  “Then perhaps you should accept my wisdom and go talk to him. And even though you’re mad at him, he’s not mad at you. Not even close. I’m not sure the man is capable of being angry.”

  “Yeah, he seems really very calm about everything. The most easy-going man I’ve ever met. He’s a good balance for me. In case you hadn’t noticed, I have a tendency to get a bit emotional.”

  “And I shouldn’t say this, but he misses you like you wouldn’t believe.”

  “I shouldn’t say this either, but I miss him a lot too.”

  Benny put his palms up and shrugged. “So what’s your praab-lem?”

  *

  Tish had been on the fence about talking to Spence, but after her chat with Benny she was leaning over to his side. However, she still had no idea how to do it. She entered her office and found Shelley already sorting through the mail. Her assistant looked up and studied her face. “Ah, no morning scowl. Is the great wall of Tish breaking down?”

  “Just had a long talk about the Spence situation with someone I trust.”

 
; “What am I, chopped liver?”

  “No, but you’re not an older married guy.”

  “Nor do I aspire to be one. So what’s the advice you got?”

  “That I should go talk to him.”

  Shelley nodded. “Sounds like the old married guy has a good head on his shoulders. Oh, speaking of Spence, his partner sent over some stuff for the Brent case. It’s on your desk under the furry paperweight.”

  “Did she come by personally?”

  “Nope. Her intern delivered it.”

  Tish nodded and headed into her office where she saw Socks curled up atop a stack of files. The cat spotted her, sat up and meowed.

  And then she noticed the red, heart-shaped metal tag on the cat’s collar. “What the hell? Shelley, come in here a minute.”

  Her assistant poked her head in the doorway. “What?”

  She picked up Socks. “Did you put this on her collar?”

  Shelley moved closer. “Nope. What is that?”

  They took a close look at the embossed tag.

  My name is Socks

  If found, call Tish McKenna

  212-555-0101

  Shelley smiled as she read it. “Well, looks like someone put an ID tag on her. Good idea considering she likes to wander through air vents and could easily get lost.”

  “And it wasn’t you?”

  She rolled her eyes. “No, it was the cat fairy who shows up in the middle of the night. Of course it wasn’t me. Tish, if you use the process of elimination, you know damn well who put it on her.”

  Tish sat down putting the cat in her lap. “Why would he do that?”

  “Do I have to shoot you with the clue gun? It’s an olive branch.”

  “You think?”

  “Oh for God’s sake, Tish, enough! Get your ass down the hall and talk to the guy. I can’t take another day with you moping around here. You miss him so bad it shows. And I saw him in the elevator today. Poor guy looks like he’s in mourning.”

  “What would I say?”

  “Well, for an ice-breaker I’d start by thanking him for the tag he put on Socks. Then you might segue into an apology for not being understanding.”

  “You think I was wrong, don’t you?”

  “Yes. There’s no question.”

  “So you don’t think I was understanding?”