I slammed my car door as I stepped into the cool December air, armed with a black coffee and a scarf that I hadn’t bothered to wrap around my neck more than once. The traffic on the way over made me late for the final product meeting and I knew Jen would be furious. I gave my hair one final comb-through with my fingers and checked my reflection in the side mirror before locking the door. Half of my lipstick had been lost to the coffee cup on the ride over, but it was too cold to fix it outside.
The plant that housed administration was tucked away in a large meadow. The property spanned a few acres before morphing into an expansive wooded area. If I didn’t know nearly everything going on at the company, I would have thought we were up to something sinister. Most people see little reason in a drug company housing itself so far from civilization.
The explanation I got was that the founder loved hunting, so he put his production plant in the middle of a forest. Employees were encouraged to use it for sport, but it wasn’t like any of us had the “down time” to spend romping through the forest. Our patents were running out one after another and the pressure to create the next “Viagra” was at an all-time high. My tardiness would not be taken lightly.
As I walked to the building, I had to pass the garden that flanked the entrance on both sides. In the summer I found it quite beautiful, but the pervasive brown of the slumbering plants in the winter made me tired. It was as though everything had a chance to take a break, except for me. Of course, if I had the choice, I wouldn’t have been working at that place. People have to make a living, though.
Just as I was about to pass the wall that marked the end of the garden, I heard a twig snap to my left. Against my will, my body, already on edge, pivoted toward the sound. A lean, long-haired cat had just jumped from the wall and landed on top of a dried out tiger lily. He looked at the plant as if contemplating whether or not to eat it.
When I was a kid we had a calico that would lurk around our backyard. We didn’t know if it was a stray or not, but Mom only let it inside when it snowed. I wondered if it had owners, and if they were worried about it when it was trapped in our house, eating the scraps from the table. Mom would never invest in proper cat food, so I went to the library to read up on cat cuisine to make sure she wasn’t poisoning it. I’m not sure she would have cared even if she was.
The cat in front of me had the dead lily between its teeth and was pulling at it with all its strength. I wasn’t sure if it was playing, but I knew lilies were poisonous. I was already late anyway, so I took off sprinting toward the cat. Instead of running off, it took a mild interest in me, turning its head with the plant still in its mouth.
I stopped an arm’s length away from the cat and dropped my coffee on the ground, panting from the mild exertion; I told myself it was the cold. The cat dropped the plant and walked toward me, stopping to rub its head against my leg. I bent down to pet it as the image of Jen’s angry face snapped to the front of my mind.
I was already late, anyway.
My heels were hard to squat in, so I tucked my coat under myself and sat on the ground. The cat stopped its movement and sat beside my legs, facing me. It looked curious, or at least interested, as if I had something to say.
“What?”
The cat started prodding at my legs.
“This isn’t your seat, cat.”
It settled itself on my lap. I thought about pushing it off, but it started purring and I didn’t have the heart. I might as well hand in my resignation at this point. I didn’t even know how much time had passed since I started my walk from the car. I turned my head toward the office and laid back as I held up the edge of my scarf for the cat to play with.
