by Wayne Lincourt
The sun surrendered its pitiful attempts to break through the soggy overcast and a chill descended with the lowering light. Cassie numbly made her way towards the flat on Chelsea to teach a yoga class, her feet tracing the familiar route like an automaton. The dampness, it seemed, had seeped into her soul.
The morning had begun like any other. Punch off the alarm, jump into the shower, slip into her dress, grab a cup of tea and a scone, and head for the office. She’d been working long hours putting together an investment strategy to steer her company through the troubled waters that the economic downturn had churned up, and it was paying off. Earnings were on the way up again after three down quarters.
Michael, her boss, had been the one to present her ideas to the board, but she didn’t mind. He’d explained that they simply wouldn’t take her unorthodox methods seriously given her youth and lack of real world experience. He called her his rising star.
The company didn’t allow romantic entanglements between employees so they’d had to keep their relationship secret, meeting covertly in out-of-the-way spots so that none of their co-workers would see them together. The thought of his dreamy blue eyes, and the memory of his lingering kiss the night before as he was leaving her place, gave her a warm glow inside despite the chill in the air.
Cassie’s work space was in a cubicle outside of Michael’s office and she glanced in his doorway, hoping to see him ensconced behind his big mahogany desk. She wasn’t surprised that he wasn’t there, just selfishly disappointed. After all, he was a valued man at the company and often spent more time conferring with other executives than he did working in his own office.
It wasn’t until quitting time, in fact, that Michael put in an appearance. He had a stack of documents in his hand and glanced up at Cassie with a scowl as he went into his office and closed the door. A few seconds later her intercom buzzed. Michael instructed her to come in to see him as soon as the others had left.
What happened then left her in shock. He told her that the company was downsizing and that her job had been cut. He was sorry but there wasn’t anything he could do. And, oh, by-the-way, he didn’t want to see her anymore. Their relationship was over. Just like that. Like it was nothing. Like Cassie was yesterday’s newspaper, something to be put out with the trash.
She didn’t know how she’d made it home and changed for yoga. And here she was, walking down the street, still functioning, but more like a machine than a human being. Empty. Alone. Worthless.
It was the sound that caught her attention. A scraping of metal against pavement. Glancing into the alley, Cassie saw a scrawny little black and white kitten licking an empty sardine tin, trying to get a morsel of nourishment from the empty can. The plight of the helpless kitten tore at her heart.
She took a step into the alley which sent the kitten scampering between a dumpster and a brick wall. There was just enough space for it to squeeze into, out of reach. Cassie squatted down and stretched out her hand. “Oh you poor thing. I won’t hurt you.”
She tried to coax the kitten out, but it was too frightened. Seeing a piece of string nearby, Cassie picked it up and started dangling it in front of the kitten, pulling it across the pavement in jerky back and forth movements. The kitten tried to resist, tried to stay safe and out of reach, but the instinctive pull was just too much. It pounced on the moving string, trapping it with its paws.
Cassie scooped the kitten off the ground and cuddled it against her. She felt the rapid heartbeat beneath the soft fur and nuzzled the kitten with her cheek. It seemed that she needed the kitten at that moment as much as the kitten needed her.
“Someone threw you away too, did they? But you didn’t give up. No. You’re a survivor.”
Then it hit her. She wasn’t giving up either. Her friend Mary worked for a competitor and had been imploring Cassie to join her company. Well that’s what she’d do. She’d join Mary’s company. And she’d damn well put Michael and his ungrateful company out of business!
“Hope. That’s what your name is,” she purred to the kitten. “I think we’re going to be very happy together.”
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