inside.
Oliver was on the couch watching
television after work one night when the doorbell rang. He glanced at the
clock. “It’s a little late for salespeople,” he said. “I wonder who it is.”
“You don’t really have any friends,”
Jeffrey noted. Oliver glared at him. “I didn’t say you shouldn’t have
any friends,” the cat explained. “You just don’t have people over. I’m not
complaining; it makes my life a lot easier. I don’t want to have to sit here
saying meow and licking my butt every time you have company.”
“You still lick your butt,” Oliver
said, going to the door.
“ You lick your butt!” Jeffrey
declared.
Oliver was more than a little
surprised to see Sally waiting on his doorstep. “You busy?” she asked. She held
a paper grocery bag in one arm.
“I…no, not really. What’s going on?”
Sally stepped past him into the
house. “Nice place. I’ve never actually been inside before.” She’d been outside
just once, he remembered, helping Tyler rescue him from a Kalatari ambush.
They’d fled the city shortly after and Oliver hadn’t gone back to his own house
for several days.
“Hey, crazytimes,” Jeffrey said from
the couch.
“Hey, dog food,” Sally said. She
walked over and scratched the cat behind the ears. Jeffrey stretched out and
purred loudly.
Oliver closed the door behind her,
still unsure what she was doing there. “Do you need something?”
“I brought you some stuff,” she said.
She took a large bottle of tequila out of the bag.
“Oh. Um…I don’t really drink.” This
was an unprecedented level of familiarity coming from Sally. For a brief moment
he wondered if this was her way of hitting on him, but he dismissed that idea
almost immediately. Sally wasn’t one to beat around the bush; if she’d actually
had any romantic interest in him, he wouldn’t have to wonder about it.
“You don’t think you can drink with
me?” she asked. “Don’t worry. I got some margarita mix to go with it. You like
them blended or on the rocks?” She looked at him. “You’re probably a blended
guy, right?”
No, she definitely wasn’t hitting on
him. “On the rocks is fine,” he said, just a bit defensively.
“That’s what I like to hear. And I
got movies.” She reached into the bag and fished out two shrink-wrapped DVDs
she’d probably picked up at the grocery store.
Jeffrey looked at the covers. “ Back
to the Future and Star Trek IV ,” the cat said. “Oh, I like that one.
Chekov says he has to find the nuclear ‘wessels.’ It’s funny because Chekov is
stupid.”
“No, Chekov has an accent ,”
Oliver said. He looked at Sally, now even more confused. “Is movie night a
thing we’re doing now?”
“Why not? I didn’t think you’d be
doing anything.” She looked around. “You’re not, are you? Nobody else is here?”
“Just us.”
“Then get us some glasses and let’s
do this.”
Jeffrey insisted they watch Star
Trek IV first. “San Francisco looked so crazy in olden times,” the cat
said.
“This movie isn’t even 30 years old,”
Oliver said. “It’s not exactly ancient history.”
“It is when you’re a cat,” Jeffrey
said. “They probably didn’t even have litter that clumps.”
“I honestly have no idea,” Oliver
said. “I don’t think all that much has changed for the average cat, though.”
Oliver felt himself getting tipsy by
the time Sally started Back to the Future . “Some people need a car to
travel through time,” she said, leaning back on the couch. “We’d just need our
machine.”
“I’d go back to the time of the great
cat ancestors,” Jeffrey said. Oliver had told him all about his visit to the
vault the night he’d come home from his trip there. “I’d bring them Friskies
and they’d worship me as a god.”
“What would you do with our time
machine, Oliver?” Sally asked. “What would you really do?”
“I still don’t know,” Oliver said. “I
might go to the
Oliver was on the couch watching
television after work one night when the doorbell rang. He glanced at the
clock. “It’s a little late for salespeople,” he said. “I wonder who it is.”
“You don’t really have any friends,”
Jeffrey noted. Oliver glared at him. “I didn’t say you shouldn’t have
any friends,” the cat explained. “You just don’t have people over. I’m not
complaining; it makes my life a lot easier. I don’t want to have to sit here
saying meow and licking my butt every time you have company.”
“You still lick your butt,” Oliver
said, going to the door.
“ You lick your butt!” Jeffrey
declared.
Oliver was more than a little
surprised to see Sally waiting on his doorstep. “You busy?” she asked. She held
a paper grocery bag in one arm.
“I…no, not really. What’s going on?”
Sally stepped past him into the
house. “Nice place. I’ve never actually been inside before.” She’d been outside
just once, he remembered, helping Tyler rescue him from a Kalatari ambush.
They’d fled the city shortly after and Oliver hadn’t gone back to his own house
for several days.
“Hey, crazytimes,” Jeffrey said from
the couch.
“Hey, dog food,” Sally said. She
walked over and scratched the cat behind the ears. Jeffrey stretched out and
purred loudly.
Oliver closed the door behind her,
still unsure what she was doing there. “Do you need something?”
“I brought you some stuff,” she said.
She took a large bottle of tequila out of the bag.
“Oh. Um…I don’t really drink.” This
was an unprecedented level of familiarity coming from Sally. For a brief moment
he wondered if this was her way of hitting on him, but he dismissed that idea
almost immediately. Sally wasn’t one to beat around the bush; if she’d actually
had any romantic interest in him, he wouldn’t have to wonder about it.
“You don’t think you can drink with
me?” she asked. “Don’t worry. I got some margarita mix to go with it. You like
them blended or on the rocks?” She looked at him. “You’re probably a blended
guy, right?”
No, she definitely wasn’t hitting on
him. “On the rocks is fine,” he said, just a bit defensively.
“That’s what I like to hear. And I
got movies.” She reached into the bag and fished out two shrink-wrapped DVDs
she’d probably picked up at the grocery store.
Jeffrey looked at the covers. “ Back
to the Future and Star Trek IV ,” the cat said. “Oh, I like that one.
Chekov says he has to find the nuclear ‘wessels.’ It’s funny because Chekov is
stupid.”
“No, Chekov has an accent ,”
Oliver said. He looked at Sally, now even more confused. “Is movie night a
thing we’re doing now?”
“Why not? I didn’t think you’d be
doing anything.” She looked around. “You’re not, are you? Nobody else is here?”
“Just us.”
“Then get us some glasses and let’s
do this.”
Jeffrey insisted they watch Star
Trek IV first. “San Francisco looked so crazy in olden times,” the cat
said.
“This movie isn’t even 30 years old,”
Oliver said. “It’s not exactly ancient history.”
“It is when you’re a cat,” Jeffrey
said. “They probably didn’t even have litter that clumps.”
“I honestly have no idea,” Oliver
said. “I don’t think all that much has changed for the average cat, though.”
Oliver felt himself getting tipsy by
the time Sally started Back to the Future . “Some people need a car to
travel through time,” she said, leaning back on the couch. “We’d just need our
machine.”
“I’d go back to the time of the great
cat ancestors,” Jeffrey said. Oliver had told him all about his visit to the
vault the night he’d come home from his trip there. “I’d bring them Friskies
and they’d worship me as a god.”
“What would you do with our time
machine, Oliver?” Sally asked. “What would you really do?”
“I still don’t know,” Oliver said. “I
might go to the
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